


I cannot be stressed enough: Browny is very cute. But then there’s Brad Fang, a wolfman with cybernetic arms, and Browny, a small robot who can hover. There’s Ray Powered, a classic Contra star in the mold of Bill and Lance. Hard Corps ditches Bill and Lance in favor of four new protagonists, some of whom offer distinctive modes of gameplay. Apologies to all the fans of the Alien Wars out there and the stories of Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the commandos at the center of the first three games. Konamiįor me, at least, Contra is not a series heavily focused on lore. You can even play as a man-wolf named Brad Fang. And it’s available right now if you’ve subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. By 1994, Contra made a move forward of its own, switching consoles to the Sega Genesis.Ĭontra: Hard Corps was the fourth game in the series, and it is an absolute blast. A series of sequels came afterward on various Nintendo systems, moving beyond the Reagan Era and well into the Clinton years. There’s not much evidence that the games were influenced by the Contras beyond the name, but the game’s ending theme is called “ SANDINISTA.” It’s a clear reference to the real-life Contras’ socialist enemies, so this suggests the developers knew exactly what they were doing.Ĭontra the game became a smash hit, clearly influenced by the non-stop action of ‘80s movies like Predator. Contra: Hard Corps is just one of many excellent Contra games.Ī few months after Meese’s revelation in February 1987, Konami released a run-and-gun game for arcades called Contra set in the distant future near New Zealand, although the American release altered this setting to present-day Brazil.
