That game and its sequels have taken everything that the Contra franchise did well and did it better. To add insult to injury, Contra’s decline coincided with the release of a new high-water mark in the run-’n’-gun genre, Nazca’s Metal Slug. To be frank, Appaloosa Interactive should have been forcefully disbanded after dragging the Contra name through the mud not once but twice with Legacy of War and The Contra Adventure. However, if the word were not on the packaging, on the disc, and on the title screen, no one would have believed that this was of the same pedigree as its predecessors. Contra would return to the console world in 19 with Legacy of War on the PlayStation and Saturn. Konami was unquestionably the king of the genre, with Contra and Castlevania being as sure a bet in the early 1990s as the Dallas Cowboys. Super C in 1990, The Alien Wars in 1992, and Hard Corps in 1994 are all remembered at or near the top of the action heap on their respective systems. All turned out well with the same formula, minus the forgettable Contra Force.

Konami would follow up Contra with four console sequels during the 8- and 16-bit generations. Featuring hand-drawn sprites, interchangeable power-ups, and a balanced challenge, Contra became a subject of video game lore. Almost fifteen years ago, Konami brought an arcade action game home to the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Contra shattered soldier ps2