Does "Contra" have a plot?
In fact, we always had such questions when we were children, because most of the contacts were American versions, so we always thought that "Contra" was the two of them falling from the sky and then killing each other. Years later, because of the Internet, I learned that this game still has a plot!
In 2631, a meteorite fell to Earth.
IN 2633, A GROUP CALLED RED FALCON BRED ALIENS IN THE GARRUGA ARCHIPELAGO OF NEW ZEALAND IN PREPARATION FOR FUTURE DOMINATION OF THE EARTH.
Two Marines with unique skills, Bill Reiser and Lance Bean (Blue Reds), parachuted into the island and saved the planet by passing five levels and slashing six.
The following year, in 2634, the plot of "Super Contra" unfolded: a military base in South America was attacked for unknown reasons, and all the members were parasitized by aliens, becoming war machines like the walking dead, and Bill and Lance had to wear them again.
Although the American version of "Contra" deleted the plot introduction at the beginning of the game, it said the story as another thing in the original cartridge manual:
In the 50s of the last century, a meteorite fell in South America, and in the 30s, the Pentagon discovered that there was something different in it, and sent ace warriors - Mad Dog and Scorpion (the American name of Bill and Lance) to destroy the alien.
In addition, the American version of the name "CONTRA" does not sound domineering and mysterious from "Contra", but it seems extremely brutal.
THE AMERICAN VERSION OF THE SECOND GENERATION OF "SUPER CONTRA" IS DIRECTLY CALLED "SUPER C", AND THE "C" IN IT IS NOT AN ABBREVIATION OF "CONTRA" BUT REFERS TO "COMMANDO" (COMMANDO), AND LATER GAME BOY COMBINES THE FIRST AND SECOND GENERATIONS SIMPLY CALLED "OPERATION C" (THE JAPANESE VERSION IS CALLED "CONTRA").
In fact, "Contra" also has a very rare European version back then, probably worried that the human image fight is too violent, so both the enemy and us have become robots, but the enemy of the monster image has not changed.
However, the European version of the robot seems to exist only on home console platforms (FC, SFC and MD), the European version of the arcade is still human, and the name of "CRYZOR" for European and Oceanian players is called "CRYZOR", which also appeared on some computer platforms of the time.
("Contra" does not hide the alien elements in it, and the second-generation subtitle is "Alien's Counterattack", but the original plan was to write "Contra's Counterattack")
(PLAY CHOICE 10 VERSION OF "CONTRA" PROMOTIONAL POSTER)
The arcade version of "Contra" naturally has better graphics than the red and white machine, but both generations of games are long and narrow screens, similar to STG games like "Raiden". Obviously not as good as the widescreen effect of the red and white machine connected to the TV.
The original game was a long shot of killing all the way to the alien's lair after playing the snow, there was no level, the giant boss appeared twice, and the UFO played only a small boss role.
What's interesting is that the giant boss can pass without a shot, as long as the player moves carefully, drags the boss out, and stays low, the boss jumps back and forth, you can shoot, but the boss can't hit you.
Or do nothing, the boss jumps and jumps, jumps straight above you, and disappears off the screen.
Of course, what is more direct is the three-dimensional level of the second and fourth levels, not the red and white machine "driving pigs in the alley - straight ahead", but there are corners, so that it is easy to find the road when playing for the first time (in fact, the road is on the opposite side).
The difference in "Super Contra" is even greater, the arcade version only has 5 levels, and the memorable bosses in the red and white machine version do not appear, which is more interesting in comparison with the red and white machine version.
In addition, the arcade version of the top-down view level has an additional safety setting, which can shoot shells when it is dangerous like an airplane game.
So the question is, what if the red and white machine version and the arcade version are combined into one?
IT TURNED OUT THAT IN 1986 NINTENDO PRODUCED THE PLAY CHOICE 10 SYSTEM, WHICH IS ACTUALLY A RED AND WHITE MACHINE TO ARCADE, AN ARCADE MACHINE CAN PLAY 10 GAMES, TIME AFTER COIN-FLIPPING, PLAYERS CAN CHOOSE ANY GAME WITHIN THE COUNTDOWN (YOU CAN QUIT AND RE-CHOOSE HALFWAY), INCLUDING TWO GENERATIONS OF "CONTRA".
(TIGER handheld version of "Contra" is the printed LCD handheld we touched when we were children)
So you're an alien?!
When I first played the last level of "Super Contra" when I was a child, my first reaction to seeing "White Bone Dragon" was to travel to the "age of dinosaurs", including the long dinosaur heads in the original game.
At that time, I hadn't watched "Alien", and when I saw the last level, it was skeletons and intestines, which was quite scary, but after getting used to it, there was a different kind of beauty.
We all know that the "Contra" series is influenced by the "Alien" series of movies, the most direct example is the name of the protagonist, completely from the four leading actors of "Alien 2" - Lance Henrickson, Bill Paiston, Michael Bean and Paul Lance.
As for the "white bone dragon", the real name of the person is "ghost-headed beast"
(The ghost-headed beast in the opening animation of the arcade version, this scene is still quite scary)
The original arcade is an alien with a big head, but the ghost-headed beast has an extra eye, and the alien design deliberately avoids the eyes at the beginning, because it can make people unable to understand the mind of this space killer.
(The ghost-headed beast shape in the red and white machine manual is quite funny.) IN FACT, THE ENGLISH NAME OF THE GHOST-HEADED BEAST IS ORIAN, AND ORIAN READS IT QUITE LIKE ALIEN ERIAN)
The most alien is the final boss of "Super Contra", the Yin Beast, which is cold and terrifying, and its appearance is very similar to the masterpiece "LI" of the father of aliens, H'R' Giger.
This work is inspired by Giger's early deceased lover LI (she was also an artist who worked in the United States before committing suicide due to mental illness), and is familiar to old players, because it was later used on the cover of the horror game "Dark Bug" on DOS.
The original final boss, the Heavenly King Chuang Demon Heart, has no ability to attack, but there are dangerous alien eggs (demon egg workers) and face-hugging insects lurking around, isn't this the set of "Alien"?
The third level boss rock beast demon god statue is a double-headed alien in the arcade version, and even the iconic long pipe behind it is still seen, and the red and white machine version simply makes an alien queen.
Often considered to be a long-headed dinosaur, the Celestial King Ghost Dragon.
("Super Contra" advertisement endorsed by the Heavenly King Ghost)
Of course, let's not forget the Heavenly King Ghost, who is completely the mascot of the "Contra" series.
The arcade version can be seen with a crown similar to the alien queen on its braincase, and human corpses hanging on the surrounding walls, which is consistent with the description of the alien lair in "Alien 2".
The red and white version of the king ghost is the boss of the sixth level, but the arcade version is the final boss. After the defeat of the king ghost, the arcade version can still see the alien embryo on its brain hatch successfully, and then take advantage of the chaos to fly away, until the "Alien War" on the SFC fights it again.
Perhaps the king ghost's smile was too "beautiful", and later the American version of the "Super Contra" TV commercial simply let him act as an image spokesperson alien, wearing a dressing gown in the mansion and laughing at countless children who wanted to defeat him.
In addition, he can still be seen in "Contra 4" on NDS, and can even enter his big head.
The arcade version of Super Contra has a boss that does not appear in the FC version - Steel Alien.
The winged alien will also pop out of the mouth with a long tongue with sharp teeth, and the steel alien can still be seen in "Alien War", and it is a pity that it failed to make a reality in the FC version.
There is also a small boss that does not appear in the FC version in the first level of the arcade version - the M4A4 tank, which is very similar to the tiger tank, but it is actually a modification of the original Renzhu gun shovel.
The King of Guns - Shoot bugs with a Chicago typewriter
The two weapons in the arcade version are displayed with gun models, which also leads to the shotgun in Super Contra turning out to be a big guy with three barrels!
The original laser is not used by many people, which is not fake, but as the first gun encountered by players, its appearance is really eye-catching, isn't this the M41A pulse rifle in "Alien"?
Compare the two in almost exactly the same shape.
Fans of the "Alien" series are impressed by the M41A, a famous space marine gun in the movie, which is said to be based on the famous Chicago typewriter, the Thompson submachine gun.
James Cameron was extremely obsessed with mechanics at the time of Alien 2, and the M41A was derived from the Thompson submachine gun in general, but not entirely, and from the Remington 870 and SPAS12 shotguns.
Although it is a prop, about 4 of the many M41A can fire!
(Original "Super Contra" weapons, some of which did not appear in the game)
Several original design drafts that appear in the "Contra Collection Collection", the most impressive is the half-human, half-worm enemy image, and the half-worm man wielding a scythe, which is simply the foreplay of "Resident Evil 4".
Password Mystery - Fog of War
The spell of up and down, left and right BA is circulating among countless post-80s players, and domestic players are generally called "Contra Password", but people's real name is "KONAMI Password".
It was first created in 1985 when KONAMI employee Kazuhisa Hashimoto was in charge of transplanting "Space Cruiser" to FC, suffering from too bad technology and creating a cheat, and finally I don't know whether he forgot it or deliberately kept it, and has since become KONAMI's exclusive password.
IN FACT, KONAMI'S NAME IS ALSO A PASSWORD.
In the Japanese player community, 573 is used to refer to KONAMI, because 573 is pronounced like KONAMI in Japanese.
Later, KONAMI also developed an arcade substrate named 573 (based on PS1), and the first place score of the high-scoring gang of arcade games such as "Space Cruiser" and "Salamander" produced by KONAMI was also 57300 points.
Finally, let's talk about the plot of the "Contra" series!
The first to fourth generations are simply fighting the alien invasion, but the real beginning of the story begins with the famous villain in the series, Captain Bahamut.
In the future, Earth will be ruled by the Evil Federation Empire, and Bahamut, who was originally a soldier of the Empire, resolutely joins the resistance and becomes a hero because he is dissatisfied with what his companions have done.
The latter is the story of the first 4 generations against the Kestrel organization, and in 2639, the aforementioned Bahamut actually plotted a rebellion and disappeared immediately after the failure, followed by the plot of the four-person group of "Predator" vs. Bahamut.
2642 is the plot of "True Contra", it turned out that the so-called alien invasion was just to recapture the relics stolen by humans, and later Lance was framed, and was injected with alien cells to become a ghost, Bill had to solve the lives of his comrades with tears in his eyes.
In 4444, it was "The New Contra", Bill had to fight against the "Contra Master", and later learned that this villain who threatened all mankind was the real Bill, and he was just a clone...
The above are very general statements, after all, "Contra" has many works of a spin-off nature that are not said.
Now playing a new game, it always feels like going through a process, not willing to study the details, and boring after clearing the level. Even when playing games with high ratings, I feel average and don't know how to rate them highly.
Maybe it's a change in the mentality of playing games!
In my spare time, I occasionally reminisce about those old games of yesteryear.
Only then did I realize that I had paid a lot in the game back then, and at the same time I got a lot of happiness.
It's just that now that I play games, I don't want to put more energy into it.
Note: Contributing author "bag"
Some of the pictures in the article come from the Internet, such as invasion and deletion