Retro Review of Contra III: The Alien Wars

Now I know many of you may not have heard of this game but I urge you to give it a go. Contra III is a side scrolling “run and gun” action game released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Console. The fourth game in its series, Contra III is full to the brim with energy and excitement. Although it is primarily a single person game, you have the option to play with friend on the second controller. If you do choose the two-player option, you and your partner will have to be in sync to survive.

Set in the future year of 2636, alien invaders are launching an attack on a worldwide scale. Our trusty soldiers, Jimbo and Sully, must fight their way through an apocalyptic future earth and defeat the ferocious foes in their path.

Unlike the past incarnations, in this game you can hold two different guns at once and switch between them with the push of a button. This two-gun system will come in handy, as you might need different options to beat a more troublesome     adversary. Also, you can do a badass pose under an arch of fire.

And if you find yourself in a tough situation you can always deploy a bomb that will devastate all enemies around you. As you trek on through the rubble you will come across gun upgrades. These will replace your standard issue with specialty guns:

Laser (L): fires a narrow laser beam (it’s kind of shit)

Spread (S): fires six red ball shaped shots in a spread

Flame (F): an awesome flamethrower

Crusher (C): fires short-range powerful missiles

Homing (H): finds your target almost every time

Barrier (B): gives you a temporary force field

With the second and fifth level you’ll get a change from the traditional side scrolling gameplay and you’ll get a top view of the level in its place. The controls on these stages differ from that of the regular stages. The objectives here will differ as well, from a linear path to the end of the level, to fixed locations containing enemy swarms. 

The Contra series in known for its near insane difficulty level so good luck with that…

Short but sweet, there’s tons of alien slaying, motorcycle riding, tank driving, and phallic shaped mechanisms, packed into six bizarre levels. Overall, Contra III is fun yet challenging and will take you a couple tries, if not more, to conquer. Verdict: 8 flaming arches out of 10.