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Contra III: The Alien Wars

Contra III: The Alien Wars

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  • Platform: Super NES
  • Release Date: 1992

Game Description

The Contra series continues with this 16-bit masterpiece for the Super NES. Much of the blastathon action is of the standard side-scrolling platform variety, but two of the six levels incorporate a surprisingly effective overhead view. Giant bosses, constant shooting action, the ability to detonate bombs, intense gameplay, huge explosions, rich graphics, death-defying acrobatics, and spectacular Mode 7 effects make Contra III: The Alien Wars one of the best platform shooters available for any system. The game could benefit from a few more levels, and slowdown occurs from time to time, but these problems can easily be overlooked in a game as enjoyable as this. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Contra III is fun, fun, fun, but I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Beware, you are about to play one of the most exciting games ever made for the Super Nintendo.

The first thing you'll notice about Contra III are the richly detailed post-apocalypse graphics; they're nothing short of breathtaking. Also, the vibrant, forceful musical score combined with the explosive sound effects really get the blood pumping as you maneuver through this game.

Contra III never lets up. As you run and shoot for your life, you'll be bombarded with all sorts of aliens. Strange creatures such as a Twylobite, a Vicious Slave Hawk, a Robo-Corpse, a Tri-Transforming Wall Walker, and a Para-Slug join forces with Snipers, Corporals of Punishment, Mutant Megasquitos, and Psycho Cyclers to make Contra III dangerously exciting every step of the way.

While immersed in a game of Contra III, you'll forget you are sitting on the floor of your bedroom in front of a mere television set, pushing buttons on a gamepad. This game really makes you feel part of the action; if it were a movie, you would eat all your popcorn and drink all your soda without having tasted either.

One of the best games in a top-notch series, Contra III has every thing you could ask for in an action-oriented video game: blood-sweating shoot'em up action; elements of war, horror, and science-fiction; huge, scary bosses; and more important than anything, pulse-pounding fun and excitement. The only real flaw is an occasional slow-down (which also plagues Super R-Type) when too much is happening on the screen at once. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Darkly rich colors and vivid detail add to the fright-factor and quasi-realism of this game. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The dramatic musical score and ear-popping sound effects couldn't be much better. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

For an action game, Contra III is surprisingly diverse in its variegated assortment of thrills and challenges. Also, it's difficult, but not frustrating. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The instruction booklet is colorful and precise, if a little low on text. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

 
 
Wikipedia: Contra III: The Alien Wars
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Contra III cover art
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Designer(s) Nobuya Nakazato
Release date(s) JPN February 28, 1992
NA April 6, 1992
EU November 19, 1992
Genre(s) Run and gun
Mode(s) Single player, cooperative
Rating(s) Game Boy Advance:
ESRB: Everyone
CERO: All Ages
ELSPA: 11++
Virtual Console
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Platform(s) SFC/SNES
Game Boy
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo Super System
Virtual Console
Media 8-Megabit cartridge (SNES)
32-Megabit cartridge (GBA)

Contra III: The Alien Wars (魂斗羅スピリッツ Kontora Supirittsu?, lit. Contra Spirits) is a 1992 Super NES video game by Konami and a prominent title in the run and gun genre. The Alien Wars was released in the PAL region under the Probotector label, as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels. In the Super Probotector version of the game, the player controls robots, while in The Alien Wars version humans. The game's tentative title was Super Contra IV, since Contra Force was originally intended to be the third Contra game, but was delayed during production, and was released after this game.[1]

Contra III is the fourth game in the series, following the adaptation of the Japanese canon in 2002's Contra: Shattered Soldier.

Plot

The game takes place in 2636, two years after the events of Super Contra. The protagonists Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are deployed once again to counter an alien invasion. In the original North American localization of Contra III, Bill and Lance were renamed "Jimbo" and "Sully" respectively. Since the North American localization of Contra and Super C on the NES changed the setting to contemporary time, while Contra III took place in the 27th century, Konami explained that Jimbo and Sully were actually the descendants of Bill and Lance from the previous games. Contra Advance retains the original Japanese plot of the game.

Gameplay

Taking advantage of the then new technology provided by the Super NES, The Alien Wars graphics improved upon those of earlier games. The level design is more complex, and provides more opportunity for interaction than was possible in previous Contra installments. For instance, players can grab on to poles and navigate them in a monkey bar fashion, climb walls and ladders, destroy buildings and scenery, and commandeer tanks.

New styles of levels in The Alien Wars involve motorcycle chases, riding on missiles, and two Mode 7 enabled overhead levels similar to those in Super Contra. The weapons system is revamped, and players can carry two weapons instead of one, only losing the one they are currently using if they die. They can also fire these two weapons simultaneously in a spin-jump circular fire pattern that hit enemies on all sides: however, being hit while doing so results in the player losing both of their weapons. Finally, the player now starts off with the machine gun — in the previous Contra games, the initial weapon was a semi-automatic rifle — eliminating the need to tap the fire button rapidly.

Lives, continues and cheat codes

Unlike its predecessors, there is no cheat code that extends the amount of lives. Instead, the player can select the number of lives to start with - three, five, or seven are the available choices. The amount of continues is adjusted according to the difficulty level (which also determines the durability of enemies). In the Japanese version, however, the player has unlimited continues regardless of difficulty, and also has cheat codes that allows the player to choose the stage and have access to a sound test mode. The maximum amount of lives that a player is able to obtain is capped, ironically, at thirty.

Difficulty

Since the North American localization has no cheat code to extend the player's amount of lives, the game is noteworthy for its high level of difficulty. There are three levels of difficulty in the game - easy, normal, and hard. Each increase in difficulty setting also alters several parts of the gameplay. For example, enemy bosses, when fought on the hard difficulty, will have new attacks or modifications to their already-existing attacks and patterns. Also, some situations in the game, such as flying in the air on missiles, become more difficult, as the missiles will travel much faster on higher difficulties. In addition, some objects and boss weak points that were destructible on easier difficulty levels will become indestructible on normal and hard mode.

Endings

If the game is finished in normal or easy mode, instead of a normal ending followed by a staff roll, the player sees a message requesting the player try a higher difficulty level. In addition to more powerful, aggressive, and resistant, enemies in much larger numbers, as well as more aggressive and resistant bosses, the final boss, when fought on hard mode, has a final form not present in the other modes. After defeating this form, which you must do while escaping the collapsing alien base, the true ending is finally revealed.

Ports

Game Boy

Game Boy port
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Game Boy port

In 1994, a port of The Alien Wars was released for the Game Boy as Contra: The Alien Wars. The port was produced by German developer Factor 5. In this version, the level structure had been altered and Stage 4 of the original game was removed. A strafing ability was included to compensate for the absence of rotation in the overhead levels, and a password feature was added. The player no longer has the ability to hold 2 weapons. This port received additional support from the Super Game Boy, which provided the game with a custom color scheme and enhanced sound effects. In Europe the game was sold under the name Probotector 2, having the soldiers replaced with robots.

Game Boy Advance

Konami re-released The Alien Wars in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance as Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX (魂斗羅ハードスピリッツ Contra Hard Spirits in Japan). The designers made changes to many of the elements of the original game. The smart bombs and the ability to wield two weapons were removed, and the overhead stages were replaced with side-scrolling ones from the game's sequel, the Sega Genesis Contra: Hard Corps. No alterations were done to the Hard Corps graphics, making for a jarring visual jump between these stages and those taken from the original Contra III. This was also the first time the game was released in Europe as a Contra game and not bearing the Probotector label. The slide move used in Hard Corps was also not included, making the levels from this game extremely difficult as they're made expecting the player to use this move to dodge enemy attacks.

Other platforms

The Alien Wars was one of a few select titles for the Nintendo Super System, an arcade system which was used to preview Super NES games in North America. Players insert credits to buy time which allows them to pick and choose from a list of available games to play. The game is identical to the Super NES version.

The game was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Europe and Australia (as Super Probotector) on January 19, 2007, and on January 29, in America.

References

External links

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