My Played Video Games Review: Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Super Nintendo

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Contra III: The Alien Wars is a run-and-gun shooter video game developed and published by Konami of Japan for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom in 1992. This was the 3rd entry of the Contra series in video game consoles.

Though many gamers arguably claim this as the best of the Contra series in 2D, I feel it lacks the character, branching paths and wacky style of Contra Hard Corps for the Sega Mega Drive of which I posted a review before.

Super Famicom box cover art for Japan. The game was called Contra Spirits. (Image source)

The Story

Year 2636, the year the Notorious One unleashes a horrific alien onslaught.

Go through a melting hot massacre on a high-speed voyage to the guts of the archenemy alien. The Boss enemies are so gigantic, that your screen can hardly hold them. You will need to wield artillery powerful enough to make today's weapons look like toy guns. The Contra legacy is here and alive and dangerous!

Box, manual and cartridge of the game. (Image source)

The Graphics and Sound

Contra III really looks cool. There is a great amount of detail and variety here with many monsters of all kinds and sizes, good level design, and plenty of mini-bosses that show us what the console is capable of. You will never get bored of the crazy action scenes that you will experience here.

The sound effects are okay. They are quite distinctive, especially the funny scream of your dying character. The music is a bit better but not as good as the previous 2 Contra games' themes on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

Gameplay video sample of Contra III: The Alien Wars on the Super Nintendo. Watch in 360p for near TV resolution of that time.

The Gameplay

This is still the typical Contra game where you run and kill everything that appears before you. Enemies will appear from all directions and you destroy them with the cool weapons of the game. You can hold 2 weapons in your inventory which means that you can toggle between them anytime. The action of the game is hard, big and intense.

In 2 levels, the view and the controls change with an overhead view and you will be moving your character in all directions shooting away.

Contra III is filled with enemy bosses. Their patterns are good but almost too good at times making some bosses more irritating than others.

Gameplay is good because of the great 2 player option. 2 players operating on the same screen doubles the explosions, the guns, and the fun. Also, the hard mode gives the true ending of the game.

My Verdict

Contra III: The Alien Wars is more of an arcade experience than a console. It is also a game that is worth it for running shoot-'em ups or Contra fans. For the casual player, who is merely playing the game and preparing to jump to another, its difficulty is scary. And its gameplay greatness is hidden.

Play it on the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom or play it on a reliable emulator. Play it with a good friend for maximum fun.

Let's keep on gaming in the free world!