What Ever Happened to Cheat Codes? Review of Contra - NES - 1987

Recently I was browsing the Playstation Shop just seeing what was out there.  I was stunned at the fact that games literally had cheat codes for sale.  For me this is insane, cheat codes were such an amazing part of the early days of gaming its hard for me to believe that it been bastardized to the current form of getting the consumer to pay a few extra bucks.  I don't mind paying for added content and things like that, but cheat codes?

As Boromir so eloquently put at the beginning of this article the "Konami Code" (or the "Contra Code" as I commonly hear it referred to as) is a wonderful example of that video game lore.  The Konami Code is the input UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, START and to say it is popular would be an understatement.  Here is a Wikipedia link to the games that utilized the code.  You will see that most major Konami titles utilize the code, and many other pay tribute to it.  But some games were entirely different experiences without the cheat code.

Thank you to dorkly.com for posting these reminders just in case  you ever happen to forget the code.

Contra for the NES is one of those games.  Contra is a unique game for that it was a side scrolling platforming shooting game for some levels, and a 3-D vertical shooter in others.  Overall the controls are very good, responsive and simple.  Konami always did a nice job with character models, so visually the game was also quite good.

They don't look like pansies on the title screen, what the hell happened?

The trouble with Contra is that your character is actually quite a pansy.  Instead of a life meter that you would expect to find in a game like this, your guy will literally die if anything hits him.  If he gets hit by a bullet he dies, if he touches a bad guy he dies, if he touches the bottom of the screen in the vertical platforming levels he dies. And you begin the 10 level game with three lives to spare.

I can understand the falling rocks killing you, but what the hell on the bottom of the screen  kills you?

Anyone who has ever played Contra will tell you that three lives can be spent in about 30 seconds in certain areas of this game if you have lost your gun powerups.  That is where the Konami code becomes your best friend.  Instead of three lives you begin with 30 lives, and regain those lives at your continue.  Even with 30 lives Contra gives gamers quite a challenge.  It is always fun to me to see how far I can make it without using a continue.  My last attempt was thwarted by the level four boss.  30 lives is a much better way to go through Contra.  The difficulty level is still extremely high

This is the last known photo of my poor Contra soldier before meeting his maker.

Another neat aspect of the game is the simultaneous two player option.  Instead of swapping turns, you can have two soldiers running through the level at the same time.  This makes many areas of the game a bit easier, particularly the boss battles.  Of course some of the vertical scrolling areas get tricky to maneuver.  But since 30 lives code works the same for the two player mode as well you can get away with a some mistakes here and there.

You can shoot either standing or from a prone position.  You can also shoot at angles which is nice as well.

    

This is the 3-D vertical shooter mode.  All of the controls are the same but it provides its own unique challenges.

Overall Contra really is a great game, and one of the iconic games that define the NES and its success.  If you have never played the game, it is certainly worth checking out.  And if you don't take my work on it, I dug up an amazing Contra song by Brentalfloss, and a Japanese commercial from YouTube to see if that can persuade you to play it.