game
icon
title Contra (US, Set 1)
set name contra
manufacturer Konami
year 1987
genre Platform (hof)
category Platform / Shooter Scrolling (hof)
driver status good
driver source contra.c
snapshots MW: in game / CT: in game | title / Mr. Do: artwork / EJ: in game / PS: in game | title | scores
zoom
rating

64.2% after 70 votes
 
clones Contra (bootleg)
Contra (Japan bootleg)
Contra (Japan)
Contra (US, Set 2)
Gryzor (Set 1)
Gryzor (Set 2)
display
colour emulation good
palette 4096
display type raster
orientation vertical
resolution 224x280
frequency 60.000000Hz
sound
sound emulation good
channels stereo
controls
players 2
nplayers 2P sim
controls 8 way joystick
buttons 2
coin slots 2
hardware
cpu M6809 @ 1.5MHz
cpu M6809 @ 2MHz
audio YM2151 @ 3.582071MHz
data
version added .123u1
last change(s) none
roms
name size crc set flags sha1
633m03.18a  65536  d045e1da  contra    ec781e98a6efb14861223250c6239b06ec98ed0b 
633i02.17a  65536  b2f7bd9a  contra    6c29568419bc49f0be3995b0c34edd9038f6f8d9 
633e01.12a  32768  d1549255  contra    d700c7de36746ba247e3a5d0410b7aa036aa4073 
633e04.7d  262144  14ddc542  contra    c7d8592672a6e50c2fe6b0670001c340022f16f9 
633e05.7f  262144  42185044  contra    a6e2598d766e6995c1a912e4a04987e6f4d547ff 
633e06.16d  262144  9cf6faae  contra    9ab79c06cb541ce6fdac322886b8a14a2f3f5cf7 
633e07.16f  262144  f2d06638  contra    0fa0fbfc53ab5c31b9de22f90153d9af37ff22ce 
633e08.10g  256  9f0949fa  contra    7c8fefdcae4523d008a7d39062194c7a80aa3500 
633e09.12g  256  14ca5e19  contra    eeee2f8b3d1e4acf47de1e74c4e507ff924591e7 
633f10.18g  256  2b244d84  contra    c3bde7afb501bae58d07721c637dc06938c22150 
633f11.20g  256  14ca5e19  contra    eeee2f8b3d1e4acf47de1e74c4e507ff924591e7 
cabinet art
cabinet contra.png contra.png
marquee contra.png
control panel contra.png
flyer contra.png
PCB contra.png
additional information
info 0.123u1 [Brian Troha]

0.33b7 [Carlos A. Lozano, Jose Tejada Gomez, Phil Stroffolino, Eric Hustvedt]

TEST MODE:
  • Press F2 + F3 to enter test mode. Press 1P and 2P together to advance through tests.
NOTE:
  • It seems the second player cannot continue until the first player needs to continue also. So basically the second player has to spend most his time just waiting for the first player to lose all his lives. I took a field trip this weekend to the Family Funspot in New Hampshire, and my buddy had to spend most of his time waiting for me to die before he could continue. It's just how the game worked... I think in those days they hadn't yet figured out how continuing should work. The NES version did a similar thing - when one player was out of lives, he could suck lives from the other player until both players were dead and then they could continue. jerryjanis
Bugs:
  • I have seen that in Contra when the continue number appears, sometimes (usually the second continue) when you insert a coin and continue the game, part of the counter sprites stay in the screen. Update: This bug occurs when you continue with the timer on 10, or if you let the time run out - insideoutboy. Lord Caos (ID 00401)
  • Clone gryzor: Incorrect behavior of the Flip Screen. Smitdogg (ID 00402)
  • Clone gryzor: Side-by-side test: First this recording (showing attract mode) was to show the slowdown in Gryzor (contra.c) but it seems to been fixed pretty much with the latest 111u1, i can't really check with the pcb running at the same time as MAME atm but i did check the video and ran MAME in a window side by side... they did get out of sync. Another thing wich can be seen at the end of the recording is that the bad guys jump down in MAME but on the PCB they jump up when going off the cliff. gryzor0111u1ora Stefan Lindberg
  • contrab: When you finish this clone, instead of the credits, the screen becomes all black and the game hangs. Only happens in clone contrab (see inp file). contrab061yel Kale
WIP:
  • 0.126u4: Fabio Priuli added diplocations for Contra.
  • 0.123u1: Brian Troha added Contra (US, Set 1). Renamed (contra) to (contra1).
  • 0.122u8: Zsolt Vasvari removed colortables from Contra and a number of other drivers, as part of a larger move to phase out old-style colortables. Changed palettesize to 4096 colors.
  • 0.111u5: Canim fixed flip screen switch and changed COIN3 to SERVICE1 in the contra.c driver.
  • 0.108u5: Stefan Lindberg added clone Gryzor (Set 2).
  • 0.36RC1: Nicola Salmoria fixed sprites colors in Contra and other improvements to Konami 007121-based games.
  • 0.36b12: Patch all 64k gfx1 and gfx2 roms to 256k roms in all sets.
  • 0.36b9: Added clone Contra (Japan).
  • 0.36b5: Added proms ($200, 300 - sprite and char lookup table).
  • 5th September 1999: Jim Hernandez fixed Contra PROMs.
  • 29th August 1999: Phil Stroffolino fixed Contra background palette bank
  • 0.36b3: Yasuhiro Ogawa added clone Gryzor.
  • 0.36b2: Phil Stroffolino fixed sprites in Contra. Added dipswitches 'Cabinet' and 'Upright Controls'. Renamed (gryzorb) to (contrajb).
  • 0.36b5: Added proms ($200, 300 - sprite/char lookup table).
  • 29th July 1999: Phil Stroffolino improved the Contra driver, mapping unknown dipswitches and converting it to tilemaps. He also fixed a tilemap color marking bug.
  • 0.34b8: Changed YM-2151 sound to YM-2151.
  • 0.34b3: Juan Carlos Lorente added hiscore save in Contra.
  • 0.33b7: Added Contra (Konami 1987) and clones Contra (bootleg) and Gryzor (bootleg). Issues: There appears to be at least one incorrectly mapped sprite late on the final stage. The weapon-carrying enemies in the "into the screen" stages are supposed to be colored differently (orange). A control bit in sprite RAM exists which seems to serve this purpose, indicating an alternate palette. Sprite horizontal position is sometimes off by 8.
ARCADE RELEASE: Contra (Konami) - 1987/Feb/20

LEVELS: 3

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Contra

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Super Contra

Super C (PlayChoice-10)

Contra 3: The Alien Wars (Nintendo Super System)

Vs. Platoon

Battle Rangers

P.O.W. - Prisoners of War

Rough Ranger

Bay Route

M.I.A. - Missing in Action

Midnight Resistance

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Metal Slug

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Metal Slug 5

-

Combat School

Romset: 1185 kb / 11 files / 376 zip
history Contra (c) 1987 Konami.


In 2631, a meteorite strikes the Galuga archipelago near New Zealand, carrying with it a dormant alien lifeform. Two years later in 2633, a terrorist organization of alien origin called Red Falcon takes over the island as part of their plot to invade the Earth. Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, of the Contra unit, are sent to the Oceania island to stop the evil threat.


Contra is a hectic one or two player platform shoot-em-up featuring 5 stages. 3 of the levels are standard side-scrolling platform levels, while the remaining two are enemy 'bases'; 3rd person into-the-screen stages in which players must run down series of heavily defended corridors to reach and destroy an end-of-level boss, before moving onto the next stage.


Each player's character is equipped with a semi-automatic machine gun with an unlimited amount of ammunition and can jump, move and fire in all eight cardinal directions. Players can also move and jump simultaneously while firing. Co-ordination of the character's movement is essential as a single hit from any enemy, bullet, or other hazard will instantly kill the player's character and also eliminate the current weapon from the player's inventory.


As players fight their way through the enemy-packed levels, additional weapons can be collected. If the player loses a life, they will also lose any weapon power-up they were carrying. Available weapons are :

Machine gun [M] : Auto-fire.

Spread gun [S] : Allows the player to fire 5 shots in an arc.

Laser gun [L] : Will shoot a long laser that can take out many enemies in a row.

Fire Ball [F] : A gun which fires small fireballs in a corkscrew pattern.

Rapid-fire [R] : Increases the firing rate of the player's currently equipped weapon. Works with all weapons except the Laser.

Barrier [B] : Will make the player invincible for a few seconds.


The game's 5 levels and bosses are as follows :

Stage 1 : Jungle - Defensive Wall - (horizontal scrolling)

Stage 2 : Base 01 - Six turrets and alien eyeball - (third-person)

Stage 3 : Waterfall - Large Alien - (vertical scrolling)

Stage 4 : Base 02 - Six turrets and alien head - (third-person)

Stage 5 : Snow Field/Energy Zone/Hangar/Alien Lair - Alien Heart - (horizontal scrolling)


- TECHNICAL -


Game ID : GX633


Main CPU : M6809 (@ 1.5 Mhz)

Sound CPU : M6809 (@ 2 Mhz)

Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.582071 Mhz)


Screen orientation : Vertical

Video resolution : 224 x 280 pixels

Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz

Palette colors : 128


Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 2


- TRIVIA -


Released in February 1987.


This game is known in Europe as "Gryzor".


Note : The kanji on the Japanese version title screen actually reads 'Kon To Ra', meaning 'Soul Big Dipper Gauze'. This is an example of 'ateji', in which Japanese artists use the phonetic value of a character to fit the game's name, allowing them to write the name in kanji as opposed to a kana.


Here are the official names of the characters : Bill Rizer (player 1) and Lance Bean (player 2).


Bill Rizer makes an appearance as a supporting character in the 1992 Nintendo NES/Famicom game "Wai Wai World 2 SOS!! - Paseri Jou" (A.K.A. "Konami World 2 - SOS from Parsley Castle").


The music from the final stage is also used for the final boss confrontation in "Wai Wai World" (A.K.A. "Konami World" ) for the Nintendo NES/Famicom.


Chad Johnson holds the official record for this game with 1, 546, 600 points on July 15, 2002.


Alpha Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Konami Game Music Vol.4 - 28XA-201) on 10/03/1988.


- UPDATES -


The game's backstory differs between sources. The storyline written above is the one used by Japanese sources and later mentioned in canon in Contra: Shattered Soldier for the PlayStation 2. In the North American manual for the NES version, the time was changed from the 27th century to the present day, with the location moved from Galuga to an unnamed South American island. Bill and Lance were given the codenames "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion", names which were later used for 2 unrelated characters in the American-produced Contra 4 for the Nintendo DS.


- TIPS AND TRICKS -


* Use shots wisely : Jump shots and crouch shots allow you to attack while avoiding enemy attacks. Do not hesitate. Keep those shots going!


* Kill before being killed : if you see an enemy, shoot right away. Defeat them before they fire at you. Be the first one to attack!


* Tip for taking down the fortress : Fortresses situated at the end of eah levl have a weak point (sensor). Concentrate your attack on the weak point!

But Destroy the cannons first. Cannons will remain even if you take out the sensor first and the fortress morphs.


* Tip for 3-D levels : Destroy the weak points of each floor and stop the high voltage electric currents. Taking out the weak points quickly is key to conquerins the 3-D levels.

If you press UP on the control pad and touch th electricity, you will be stunned and won't be able to mov for a while. Don't move forward until you take out the weak point and stop the electricity.

After you take out the weak point, look at the map while proceeding. You'll know whether to go left or right.

You can dodge enemy bullets by lying down! Destroy rolling mines by using crouch shots.

As you proceed, there are weak points that are positioned so that you can't reach them. Utilize jump shots and crouch shots.


* Beware of Falling off at Stage 4 : In Stage 4 where you climb up a waterfall, missing a platform and falling down will count as a miss.


* Barrier : At specfic spots in Stages 4 & 9, you can pick up barriers that make you invincible for a while. However, there is a rule : 'A barrier will appear only when you are NOT equipped with a special weapong'.


- SERIES -
  1. Contra (1987)
  2. Super Contra (1988)
  3. Operation C (1991, Nintendo Game Boy)
  4. Contra Force (1992, Nintendo NES)
  5. Contra III - The Alien Wars (1992, Nintendo Super Famicom)
  6. Contra - Hard Corps (1994, Sega Mega Drive)
  7. Contra - Legacy of War (1996, Sony PlayStation)
  8. C - The Contra Adventure (1998, Sony PlayStation)
  9. Contra - Shattered Soldier (2002, Sony PlayStation 2)
  10. Neo Contra (2004, Sony PlayStation 2)
  11. Contra 4 (2007, Nintendo DS)
  12. - STAFF -
    • Game programmers : Satoru, Hideyuki Falco, Koichi Cobra
    • Video graphics : Kengo
    • Special designers : Ishiwari Jinbo, Passionate Norio
    • Sound editor : Kazuki Muraoka (Kazuki Jah)
    • Engineer : Rom Yamamoto
    • Directed by : Koji
    • - PORTS -
    • The Famicom/NES version has 3 additional levels. In the arcade version, the 5th level is an exceptionally long last level. The disparate elements of it were expanded in the console versions to form 3 additional levels.
    • * Consoles :
    • Nintendo NES (1988)
    • Nintendo NES (1990, "Probotector")
    • Sony Playstation 2 (2006 ,"Oretachi Game Center - Contra")
    • Microsoft XBOX 360 (2006, as a downloadable Live Arcade game)
    • Nintendo DS (2007, "Konami Classics Series - Arcade Hits")
    • Nintendo DS (2007, "Contra 4", as an unlockable bonus content)
    • * Computers :
    • Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
    • Amstrad CPC (1987)
    • Commodore C64 (1987)
    • PC [MS-DOS] (1987)
    • MSX2
    • PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2002, "Konami Collector's Series - Castlevania & Contra")
    • * Others :
    • LCD handheld game (1989, "C") by Konami.
    • - SOURCES -
    • Game's rom.
    • Machine's picture.
    • Edit this entry at Arcade-History.com: http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=contra&page=detail&id=497&o=2
resource links view in MAWS
view in CAESAR
view high score and replay at MARP
view in Progetto EMMA (Italian)
view in arcade-history.com
cheats
cheats
code comments
00000000:101A:00000063:FFFFFFFF  Infinite Credits
00000000:3B1C:00000009:FFFFFFFF  Infinite Time
60000000:0000:00000000:00000000 
00000000:1081:00000099:FFFFFFFF  Infinite Lives PL1
00100000:1245:00000103:FFFFFFFF  Invincibility PL1
62000000:0000:00000000:00000000  Select Weapon PL1
00010000:1215:00000001:FFFFFFFF  Normal Weapon
00010000:1215:00000002:FFFFFFFF  Long Laser
00010000:1215:00000003:FFFFFFFF  Short Laser
00010000:1215:00000004:FFFFFFFF  Rapid Cannon
00010000:1215:0000000A:FFFFFFFF  Spread Cannon
00010000:1215:00000014:FFFFFFFF  Fireball
60000000:0000:00000000:00000000 
00000000:108D:00000099:FFFFFFFF  Infinite Lives PL2
00100000:1305:00000103:FFFFFFFF  Invincibility PL2
62000000:0000:00000000:00000000  Select Weapon PL2
00010000:12D5:00000001:FFFFFFFF  Normal Weapon
00010000:12D5:00000002:FFFFFFFF  Long Laser
00010000:12D5:00000003:FFFFFFFF  Short Laser
00010000:12D5:00000004:FFFFFFFF  Rapid Cannon
00010000:12D5:0000000A:FFFFFFFF  Spread Cannon
00010000:12D5:00000014:FFFFFFFF  Fireball
60000000:0000:00000000:00000000 
00000000:1809:000000F0:FFFFFFFF  Sound Test Timer Stop:[PL1 Start]Next Code
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