Contra

Konami · Since 1987

Konami's run-and-gun franchise defined two-player co-operative action on the NES. The Konami Code giving 30 lives made it the first game whose cheat code spread virally through playground word of mouth.

Contra (1987 arcade, 1988 NES) established the run-and-gun sub-genre as a distinct category within action games: continuous forward movement combined with multi-directional shooting, power-up weapons, two-player simultaneous co-operative play, and enemy and level design calibrated for moment-to-moment entertainment rather than strategic depth. The NES version's Konami Code — Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A — granted 30 lives and became the most widely shared gaming secret of the 8-bit era, spreading through playgrounds and magazines without any publisher promotion. Super Contra (1990) and Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992) on SNES refined the formula; Contra: Hard Corps (1994) on Genesis pushed the franchise's action intensity to its peak. The series' subsequent 3D entries were critically mixed, but the original NES game remains a benchmark of two-player co-operative design.