Contra is a video game series produced by Konami composed primarily of run and gun-style shooting games. The series debuted in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade game titled Contra, which was followed by the release of Super Contra in 1988 and several sequels produced for various home platforms.
The arcade version of Contra was released in February 1987, a few months after the Iran–Contra affair was made public. While it is unclear whether the game was deliberately named after the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, the ending theme of the original game was titled "Sandinista" (サンディニスタ, Sandinisuta), after the adversaries of the real-life Contras.
Release timeline
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Contra
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) |
Arcade version Koji Hiroshita NES version Shigeharu Umezaki Shinji Kitamoto |
| Composer(s) |
Arcade version Kazuki Muraoka NES/Famicom version Hidenori Maezawa Kiyohiro Sada |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| CPU | Hitachi 6309 (12 MHz) |
| Sound | Motorola 6809 (3 MHz) driving a Yamaha YM2151 |
| Display |
Raster, standard resolution (Used: 224×280) vertical orientation |
| Contra is a run and gun video game developed and published by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various computer formats, including the MSX2. The home versions were localized in the PAL region as Gryzor on the various computer formats and as Probotector on the NES, released later. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game. |
Super Contra
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Hideyuki Tsujimoto |
| Producer(s) | Koji Hiroshita |
| Artist(s) | Kengo Nakamura |
| Writer(s) | Hideyuki Tsujimoto |
| Composer(s) | Kazuki Muraoka Motoaki Furukawa |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Arcade (GX775[1]), NES, PlayChoice-10, Xbox 360, Commodore Amiga, IBM PC, Microsoft Windows |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Display | Raster, 224 x 280, vertical orientation |
Operation C
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) | Toru Hagihara Yukari Hayano |
| Artist(s) | Koichi Kimura |
| Composer(s) | Hidehiro Funauchi |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy, Game Boy Color |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Contra III: The Alien Wars
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Producer(s) | Kazumi Kitaue |
| Programmer(s) | Mitsuru Yaida Hideyuki Suganami |
| Artist(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Composer(s) |
Miki Higashino Masanori Adachi Tappi Iwase |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, cooperative |
Contra Force
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Programmer(s) | Mitsuo Takemoto |
| Artist(s) | Koji Horie |
| Composer(s) | Kenichi Matsubara Tomoya Tomita |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | NES |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) |
Single-player multiplayer |
Contra: Hard Corps
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Producer(s) | Tomikazu Kirita |
| Programmer(s) | Kenji Miyaoka |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Composer(s) | Hiroshi Kobayashi |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive/Genesis |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) |
Single-player Cooperative multiplayer |
| Contra: Hard Corps is a side-scrolling run and gun-style shoot-'em-up video game released by Konami for the Sega Genesis in North America and South Korea in 1994. It was also released for the Mega Drive as Contra: The Hard Corps (魂斗羅 ザ・ハードコア, Kontora Za Hādo Koa) in Japan, and as Probotector in Europe and Australia. It was the first game in the Contra series released for a Sega platform and serves as the first entry in the Hard Corps series, itself a subseries of the Contra franchise. It was re-released in June 2019 as part of Contra: Anniversary Collection for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows, and was also included in the Genesis Mini dedicated console released in September 2019. |
| Contra: Legacy of War |
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Appaloosa Interactive |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami of America |
| Producer(s) | Jason Friedman Michael Gallo |
| Designer(s) | László Szenttornyai Zoltán Györfi |
| Programmer(s) | Jozsef Molnar |
| Artist(s) | Arpad Balku Andras Bakai |
| Composer(s) | Attila Heger |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Release |
PlayStation
Saturn
|
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
C: The Contra Adventure
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| Contra: Shattered Soldier |
North American box art
|
|
| Developer(s) | KCET |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Producer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Composer(s) |
Akira Yamaoka Sota Fujimori |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network |
| Release |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation Network |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Neo Contra |
North American and European box art
|
|
| Developer(s) | Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Takayuki Ando |
| Producer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Artist(s) | Jim Lee (US & PAL cover art) |
| Composer(s) | Sota Fujimori |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network |
| Release |
PlayStation 2
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Contra 4 |
North American boxart
|
|
| Developer(s) | WayForward Technologies |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Konami Digital Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Matt Bozon |
| Producer(s) | William Oertel Christopher Watson |
| Programmer(s) | Robert Koshak |
| Composer(s) | Jake Kaufman |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS, mobile phone |
| Release |
Nintendo DS
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Contra ReBirth | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | M2 |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Toshiyasu Kamiko Yuji Yamanaka |
| Producer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato Hirotaka Ishikawa |
| Designer(s) | Masato Misaki |
| Writer(s) | Kenichiro Kikuchi |
| Composer(s) | Manabu Namiki |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | WiiWare |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, cooperative multiplayer |
| Hard Corps: Uprising | |
|---|---|
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Hard Corps: Uprising cover art
|
|
| Developer(s) | Arc System Works |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Hideyuki Anbe |
| Producer(s) | Hiroyuki Chiwata Kenji Yamamoto |
| Designer(s) | Hideyuki Anbe |
| Programmer(s) | Yuji Ota |
| Artist(s) | Daisuke Ishiwatari |
| Writer(s) | Seiji Fukumoto Hideyuki Anbe Daisuke Ishiwatari |
| Composer(s) | Daisuke Ishiwatari |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Release |
Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op |
| Contra: Rogue Corps | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Toylogic |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Nobuya Nakazato Daichi Kurumiya |
| Producer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Designer(s) | Katsuro Ouchi |
| Programmer(s) | Katsufumi Fujimoto |
| Artist(s) | Atsushi Yamaguchi |
| Writer(s) | Evan Dorkin Sarah Dyer |
| Composer(s) | Takahiro Nishi Takashi Okamoto |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
