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 The first Contra game will be the focus of this addition of Throwback Thursday. Konami developed Contra in 1987 for the early NES system, and will always be known as the best game out of the entire series. Playing as Bill Rizer or Lance Bean (if you were playing co-op) you battle an evil organization known as Red Falcon who wants to take over the world. You start your adventure by having your character dropped into an undisclosed location somewhere in South America with a machine gun and three extra lives; the rest is up to you. That is unless you knew the super secret code that would give you 30 extra lives, and allow you to run through the game without a care in the world.

 The background for the game like I said before, takes place in a dense jungle environment. Lush trees, vegetation, and the occasional waterfall were just a few of the things you would pass-by on your adventure. I must admit that the graphic style of this game was and still is one of its major selling points. Bright colors are scattered all throughout the game and draw your attention to key areas of your surroundings, delivering a rich visual experience you won’t soon forget. Everything from the character rendering to the backgrounds and alien bosses are exceptionally well drawn.

 I can pretty much sum this game up with three little words: run and gun. Contra is an action-packed game that is primarily a side-scrolling shooter, but occasionally cuts into an overhead scene. Continuously running and jumping over obstacles in your path, you battle your way from one end of the screen to the other to reach the infamous boss fight. Most of the combat you’ll be involved in will pit you against the minions of the Red Falcon Army with the occasional alien interruption.

The weaponry designed for the game was like nothing we’d ever seen before back in the eighties. One of the particular super weapons that stood out the most was known as the Spread gun, a shotgun like weapon that packed a punch. This weapon would fire off red ammunition in a spreading fashion, destroying any foe that dared to step in your path. Though there were some other cool power-up weapons the Spread gun stood out the most in your tools of destruction.

 We have seen many new renditions of the famous Contra title, but the first one will always remain my favorite. The game is fast paced and action-packed leaving you with the feeling that you just got an adrenaline shot straight to the heart. Contra is challenging enough that sometimes it might get a little frustrating (especially if you didn’t use the code), but who said gaming was suppose to be easy. Having the pleasure of actually playing the game all the way through when it was first released will always stay with me as one of my greatest gaming achievements.

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