December 2015 Run N' Gun Competition

[MetalFRO]

I think we should win.

How often does that happen? That's so cool!

I agree

Whoa!  You and Fleach had the same score. LOL

I missed that - you're right!  Something else we share is a sentiment that the game is HARD, but fun to play.  I haven't pulled Contra off the shelf for quite a while, and when I do, I always forget how difficult it is.  I have some muscle memory for Stage 1, and can usually get through it okay, but man, those base stages are a pain.  I think I prefer the Super C/Operation C overhead stages.

[FatherJack]

When I first played it a couple of weeks ago to get a feel for the game I thought it was quite chaotic and hard and a big score wouldn't be coming but after a few plays now it's not as hard as first seems. Every new stage I think here we go again but once you play a stage a couple of times it's a lot simpler. Still finding my feet with Base 2 and finding the Base Boss a bit of a pain. Great game and thought I wouldn't enjoy it this much.

Played the C64 version to compare and it doesn't come close to the NES version and won't be playing that again.

[JerryGreenwood]

Played the C64 version to compare and it doesn't come close to the NES version and won't be playing that again.

I'm playing the version on Xbox360, which is the arcade version, and it doesn't come close to the NES version either. It's not nostalgia for the NES kicking in.

The NES already has a leg up because of the 2 extra stages, but it's not just that. The arcade version just feels like it has stiffer controls. I'm not sure if the hit detection is different, but when you jump in the arcade version, you don't tuck your legs in tightly like on the NES. They are kind of jack-knifed and hanging out there.

One more vote for the NES version being the best. I wish I owned it 

 

[singlebanana]

CONTRA TIPS:

As we all know, the December playthrough is a competition, but it's still a time for all of us to get together, have fun, and talk about the games. Contra is a game dear to my heart and one that I played and beat countless times as a kid. Hell, I even remember the first time I played it; it was at a soccer team sleepover at the local community center. One of the kids brought his 13" TV and NES to the event, and needless to say, no one slept a lot that night.  For some of you newcomers to the game, and even for some of you more familiar, I thought I'd share some tips for each of the game's 8 levels:

1. Jungle - Be sure to get the Machine Gun, "M", at the beginning of the stage; this is the only weapon that you can hold the button down and it auto-fires (this is my favorite weapon behind the Spread, "S"). Though the bridges are the seemingly more direct approach, you risk dying from turret fire below and combined with from the snipers behind the bushes and the runners. The only advantage to taking the upper path is getting the Spread early. There is another one just a little further in the stage, so it's not really worth it. While firing at turrets from below, you can push down on your controller to go underwater and avoid gunfire. Clear all the turrets at the bottom of the screen before facing the stage boss (tower). Take out the sniper first, then stand very far left on the ledge just across from the cannons to take them out. Lastly, take out the door.  

2. Base 1 - If you've lost your Spread, you can still upgrade your weapon by taking out the red enemies. In the bases, I typically press down on my controller to lay down just left of center (kind of around the left outline of the bolted door). You should be able to hit the jumping enemies and if miss the green/blue ones before the red one gets there, simply adjust your placement a little. I like the machine gun here, but the Fireballs "F" are good for the boss. There is no Spread in the base. Anytime you can grab a Rapid Fire, "R", do so; it will not change your weapon type and only make it fire faster. A rapid Spread is the bee's knees. I like to move with the final boss from side to side; with the Fireballs or Spread, it's pretty easy to take out it's projectiles. If you have the regular gun, you'll have to dodge a little more, but staying in motion helps. Take out the left and right squares that fire projectiles first; if you take out the center first, the boss will begin and you will have to dodge a lot more incoming fire.

3. Waterfall - Other than the Hanger, this is the level where I typically lose the most lives. The trick is to keep moving as quickly as you can, while efficiently taking out all of the turrets.  What makes this level so aggravating is that it is vertical scrolling you can die by falling past the bottom of the screen; your jumps will have to be on point. The boulders at the beginning are intimidating at first, but you can actually walk through them when they first appear; you will not take damage from them until they start falling. I constantly fire while working my way up the waterfall and many times firing while I am flipping takes out many of the one-shot runners. The guys that fire grenade launchers from below are annoying and it's best just to keep moving up until they are out of the screen instead of trying to shoot them. There is a Spread midway through the level from an obvious item square.  With the alien fortress at the top of the waterfall, take out the "arms" first. You will have to dodge some fireballs, but after a few, the arms will extend straight down and you can get up close and rapid fire them to take the out quick. Once the arms are toast, stand left or right of center under the alien mouth. Move in and out between its fireballs and shoot it in the mouth; if you have a Spread, you can just stand left or right of center and not have to worry about dodging.

4. Base 2 - Same as Base 1, but with a few more enemies and rolling mines. There is a spread in here in the next to last room (the wall in the room does not have any guns and only one of the bubbles). Use the same technique described for Base 1 to position yourself and obtain the Spread. For this boss, you need to also take out the left and right sides first. If you destroy the center first, the enemy will start.  Try to shoot the bubbles when you can, but if you miss them, they can be jumped over. The bubbles will sweep under you after they fall and swing back to hit you, but if you jump over them (by jumping toward and over them), they will float back up to the top. The enemy "faces" take damage if you hit them with fire only when they merge together.  

5. Snowfield - Another tough stage due to all the runners, the grenades, and the cannon firing enemies. Though it seems frantic the best thing to do is take your time in maneuvering through the grenades. I constantly run and fire on the board and when I hear the "ping" from hitting the cannon firing enemies, I immediately lie down to fire because I know that a big red projectile is coming in a split second. There is a Spread on the level close to the tight jumps across the water; three flying item containers will come out just before these jumps and the bottom one contains the Spread. The two large trucks on the board seem daunting but are actually pretty easy and can be taken out even with the regular gun. As soon as the truck approaches, go immediately to the far left of the screen, lightly tap your control once to the right, and fire like hell. The bullets from the trucks will just graze your toes, but will not harm you (unless you pressed to much to the right). The boss here is pretty simple; start by firing at the center of the ship and once the UFOs start coming down, move from the center of the mother ship and alternate firing right and left to take out each UFO with a single shot. Rinse and repeat until the boss is done.

6. Energy Zone - Another one of those levels where the environment is tougher than the enemies, but once you figure it out, it's pretty easy. Lots of times in the level you have to wait for the flame throwers to fire before moving past them; the best way is to get close to them, but not so close that they can hit you. This will cause them to fire. Once they fire, you can jump across the holes. In this stage, I stay at the bottom; though some holes look to far to jump across, if you time your jumps correctly, you can barely make it (there is a lot of this in the later levels). Staying up top will make passing the flame throwers almost impossible, so take your chances with jumping. In the middle of the level, there are three sets of flame throwers. After the second set, quickly take out the sniper at the top of the platform and you will notice two flame throwers, one that fires downward and one that fires across the bottom of the floor. Nudge over to the let to get the one that fires down to activate. These flame throwers are on different timers, so what you need to do is wait for them to sync up. As soon as they do and retract, fall to the floor and quickly jump up the ledges on the right. You will notice an item box here. Shoot it from the lower ledge and fall down to retrieve the invincibility, "B", when the flamethrower retracts. With this item you can run to the end of the level through enemies and flamethrowers, if you are quick enough. This boss is annoying; he charges at you and throws projectiles. You have to jump over him when he charges and if you stay close enough to him, he will keep charging and throw very few projectiles. Jump over projectiles two at a time instead of each one.

7. Hanger - Annoying level that requires a lot of tricky platforming and precise moves. Like the Snowfield, continue firing and listen for the ping of the cannon guys and drop to the floor as soon as you hear it. Moving slowing is key and will keep you from running into the spiked walls that come up from the ground. The spikes that lower from the ceiling all have patterns, so stop and watch these patterns to figure them out before proceeding. On the big bank of spikes that drop, you have to nudge through them one at at time; a wall of spikes will come up from the ground before the last one and if you only have the regular gun, you may need to backtrack through the spikes just a little until the wall comes down. There is a Spread about halfway through this level. If you ride the second set of rail carts and jump up on a stand alone platform just ahead, the next platform will have a sniper; take him out. Jump on the sniper's platform, and proceed to the far right of the platform while staying on it. A flying item container will appear moving left to right. Time you fire diagonally right/down and the Spread will fly out of the container and onto the next upper right tier. Though this jump seems improbable, it can be made and is the best way to traverse this part. The boss is simple; run all the way to the right and fire up/right diagonally directly into the flashing square at the top of the door. With an upgraded weapon, you will take it out quickly and before enemies or fire hits you. If you have the regular weapon, do the same thing, but with runner appear from the left, shoot and take them all out, and then jump far right just before the grenade hits the ground. Continue to fire on the square after this.

8. Alien's Lair -  Not too bad if you take the proper precautions. Your first encounter will be with the alien's mouth. Stand at the large wall and fire up/right into it when it opens. The little guys that come out of the mouth should be dealt with, but sometimes require a little dodging; they are a little slow and it is manageable. There is a Spread just after the mouth; it floats from left to right in an item container right at the first set of eyes and is a must to obtain. The alien's eyes aren't so tough, but when you encounter multiple eyes at the same time, things can get hairy. Angle your fire and continue to shoot at them, but when the white projectiles they release appear, you MUST immediately take them out. They come out slow, but if you don't hit them quick, they swoop at you exceedingly fast. The alien's heart is the final boss; if you have the spread you can run up into it and fire up/right into it while being sure to fire up and right sometimes to take out the spider-like creatures. You can take out the pods on the bottom that release the creatures, but they take lots of shots and this should only be done if you are good at dispatching the creatures and jumping over them. It can be tricky when the creatures fall from the ceiling, but with time, you can figure this jumping pattern out. Taking out the heart will destroy everything.

I hope these tips help. GOOD LUCK!

[singlebanana]

And oh yeah, I grabbed an extra copy of Metal Slug 3 if anyone needs it.

I'm curious, what system?  Complete?

It's for XBox, but it's already on its way out. Sorry, this happened before your post, I just neglected to reply.

[FatherJack]

Great guide there 

[shaggy]

And oh yeah, I grabbed an extra copy of Metal Slug 3 if anyone needs it.

I'm curious, what system?  Complete?

It's for XBox, but it's already on its way out. Sorry, this happened before your post, I just neglected to reply.

No problem.  Do you know why?  Cuz my Xbox isn't hooked up. 

[MetalFRO]

Great guide there 

Agreed!  I tend to take my time a bit more on the waterfall stage, but I can see the advantage of keeping a more brisk pace through it, because enemies can sometimes respawn quickly, so moving through the stage fast eliminates the possibility of getting picked off by one.  There's a bit of risk/reward going on there, as you can milk some of the popcorn enemies for score, if you can stay alive long enough.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I have to admit, it's hard not playing Contra on an NES controller. The simple fact that the shoot controls are on the left rather than right for emulation screws with my brain.

[Fleach]

I have to admit, it's hard not playing Contra on an NES controller. The simple fact that the shoot controls are on the left rather than right for emulation screws with my brain.

Definitely! Though my controls are little simpler (WASD to move and J/K are B/A) it's still much harder than an actual NES controller. It just doesn't feel the same.

[JerryGreenwood]

I'm pretty sure the scoring will be the same for all platforms, but just to make sure, if anyone can keep a mental note and post it - how many points do a standard soldier provide (the first enemy you kill). Arcade gives you 500 points.

it's hard not playing Contra on an NES controller.

The Xbox isn't great either. Shoot is A (the bottom button) and jump is B (the right button). I'd prefer Y (left) shoots and A jumps, but you can't change it.

[singlebanana]

I'm pretty sure the scoring will be the same for all platforms, but just to make sure, if anyone can keep a mental note and post it - how many points do a standard soldier provide (the first enemy you kill). Arcade gives you 500 points.

Regardless of points, this will not change the nature of the competition. High score on any format will be determined the winner for the first period.

[Fleach]

I know Contra is a tough as nails game, but are the base stages especially hard? That's where I die the most because I have to juggle enemy fire and those rolling things.

[singlebanana]

I know Contra is a tough as nails game, but are the base stages especially hard? That's where I die the most because I have to juggle enemy fire and those rolling things.

Are you pushing down on the d-pad and lying down? You can dodge fire and shoot the rolling bombs from that position. Just lie down below your target and raise up for a second to get a few shots off before returning to the ground.

[Fleach]

I've been doing that but didn't know I could shoot the rolling bombs. Thanks for the tip!