Contra Force

About Contra Force

Contra Force (1992) is Konami's North America-only NES run and gun, originally a separate Japanese game called Arc Hound, in which a four-person task force fights terrorists rather than aliens.

Contra Force in Depth

In 1992 C-Force, a task force of former military professionals, is formed to protect Neocity from terrorism. When their informant Fox warns leader Burns that the Head of Intelligence is being threatened by the criminal organisation D.N.M.E., Burns arranges to meet him at the harbour, only to find Fox dead. Unlike other Contra games, the villains are human terrorists rather than an alien menace. The player chooses between four characters: Burns, the leader; Iron, a heavy weapons expert; Smith, a sharpshooter; and Beans, a demolitions expert, who differ in weapons, speed and jumping ability.

Five stages, the Warehouse, Harbor, Mati Building, Aircraft Rumble and Blue Group Headquarters, alternate between side-view levels, where characters run, crouch and jump, and overhead levels with eight-way movement, all with shooting in eight directions. Instead of instant power-ups, a Gradius-style meter advances one step with each briefcase found in the destructible scenery, and the select button claims the highlighted upgrade, from each character's two special weapons to turbo fire and an invulnerable rolling attack. A pause menu lets players switch characters, assign one to a second player, or call a computer-controlled partner for five seconds with one of six strategies from defensive to offensive. Each character has three lives, so switching before one runs out keeps the game going, and continues are unlimited.

Making Contra Force

Konami first developed it as Arc Hound for Japan, announcing it in Famicom Tsūshin and in company brochures, but that version was cancelled. The game was still localised for North America as a Contra spin-off, at first scheduled for winter 1991 ahead of Contra III, then delayed until a few months after it, so the Super NES game, previously called Contra IV, was renumbered before release. Its plot and setting are unrelated to any other Contra. Reception was mixed: AllGame's Brett Alan Weiss criticised the slowdown and sprite flicker but praised the added strategy of choosing between characters with their own skills and weapons.