Nearly 40 Years Later, This Is Still the Gold Standard of Action Games

The action genre is a fairly nebulous one, with plenty of minor examples and riffs that stand out from other styles of gameplay. The most famous is likely the shooter, which serves as the ultimate power fantasy for players as they fight their way through virtual armies of enemies. It’s a genre that has had plenty of ups and downs over the years, along with lots of reinventions to adjust to changing times, but where the classics remain beloved thanks to the strength of their game design.

That perfectly sums up why something like Contra is still so much fun to play, even nearly forty years after it debuted. The Konami action game quickly became a success in Japan and blew up into a massive hit when it was launched elsewhere in the world. It’s generated plenty of sequels and remakes, inspired countless other titles, and remains a blast to play. Here’s why Contra is important to gaming history, and why it’s still so much fun.

How Contra Became A Massive Success

Debuting in arcades in early 1987, Contra remains an undriable piece of gaming history — and one of the most purely fun action experiences in the medium. Developed by Konami, Contra was an arcade action game that followed two commandos, dubbed Bill and Lance, as they made their way through a mercenary and alien-infested landscape while fighting the villainous Red Falcon Organization. The side-scrolling gameplay was focused on the ultimate expression of run-and-gun gameplay possible, with an emphasis on quick movement, constant combat, and relentless action.

Along with a number of upgradable weapons, the gameplay offered enough variety to keep the action from ever feeling like it got stale or repetitive. Across seven stages, players had to shift through different formats, ranging from the initial side-scrolling level design of overtaking enemy forces, before shifting into a 3D view for the second stage of the level, where they made their way through the base.

The final section of every level is a boss battle, where players battle through a set location and avoid attacks while pouring out attacks of their own. This blend of action styles gave the game a real sense of scope from a design perspective, with players often finding themselves facing new styles of threats. It was a relentless action game that feels like a direct ancestor of many shooters of the present day, where non-stop action is the focus.

Why Contra Is Still Influencing Action Games Decades Later

Originally developed for arcades, Contra quickly became a massive success for the company. The version released in the United States even became one of the highest-selling arcade games of the year. Even when compared to other successes like 1986’s Ikari Warriors, Contra felt like a real evolution of the series. Those strong sales prompted Konami to port the game over to home consoles, including the Commodore 64 and the NES, in 1988. The latter port was a unique example of developers adjusting their designs. While the arcade game possessed better graphics, the NES version simplified the visuals for the sake of a smooth running experience, while also adjusting the level design to be more effective for console players. This is the version that perhaps had the biggest impact on players, selling 2 million copies by 1991 and showcasing a few important things about the evolution of the action game in that era.

For one thing, the successful adaptation of Contra to the NES highlighted how the thrills of arcade games could be recreated on the home console, laying the groundwork for the genre to become more prevalent on home systems rather than being stuck in the arcade. It also proved that this style of multiplayer action game was a natural fit for a home audience, with the tension and stakes still prevalent even without the risk of having to spend another quarter to keep playing if you lost all your lives. As an early example of the shooter genre in the modern definition, Contra becoming such a success highlighted the genre’s popularity with players — something that has only grown over the years with refined graphics and more intricate game design. It also really solidified the pacing of the genre, something that later games like Doom would continue to push forward.

It also helps that Contra remains, even nearly forty years later, a terrific game. The strength of the game design can be found in the way it never lets up on the action, but justifies every death or loss with a sheer deluge of enemies. Thanks to the tight controls and vivid visuals — even on the lower-scaled NES version — Contra is one of those games where defeat feels earned instead of being forced upon the player. It encourages more playthroughs, driving the player to become better and more skilled with each move. Every enemy encounter could be the last, if you’re not careful. It’s an action game that helped define what that means, and remains a blast to play even decades later.