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Growing up in the 80s was so much fun. The power
supply was better, schools use to share snacks at lunch breaks for free, the
traffic was lighter and there was also the video game, Contra.
Developed by Konami for the Nitendo Entertainment
System (NES), Contra stands as one of the most favoured video games in its era.
It successfully rivalled the platform game Super Mario Bros with its action
appeal. It was during a period when action flicks like ‘Rambo’ and ‘Commando’
were the in thing, so this run and gun action game was like having both ‘Rambo’
and ‘Commando’ (as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were popularly
called) on the same set. Or better still, it was like you are Rambo or Commando
since you get to control the heroes of the game.
Like all other loved video games, Contra was so
addictive that completing a tough level was much more important than tending to
school assignments. With the game starting with just three lives, players get
sucked into it with all concentrations. Jumps must be accurate, guns must
always be blazing and movement must be well timed.
The game play also includes picking up extra
lives along the way, getting a magical shield that lasts for several seconds
and shooting capsules that help you switch gun type. The different gun types
include the single shot type, the double bullet type, the laser type and the
spray type which was clearly many people’s favourite.
The game centred on one or two hero(es),
depending on whether it is a single player or double players, who were on a mission
to destroy some terrorist organization on an unnamed island. The game entails
shooting at villains while avoiding being hit by an enemy bullet, jumping over
canyons and avoiding contacts with enemy soldiers.
The game is made a little bit tough as a single
contact with the enemy will kill the player immediately and accrued benefits,
like special guns will be lost. Of course like other games, after playing for a
long time you get to discover cheat codes and short cuts. Available cheat codes
in contra include combination of buttons that gives up to 30 extra lives as
well as a combination that makes the players three times faster than the enemy
soldiers.
