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Talk:Contra (NES)

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Mortars

Ugh. Is that mortar launcher really an unused object in the original game? That video of a hacked ROM isn't terribly convincing--the author outright stated that he hacked the enemy AI. More research and a proper description, please! --BMF54123 23:34, 23 May 2010 (EDT)

I was thinking something similar. Not only that, but if the page doesn't say exactly where it appears in the video, then someone who's not terribly familiar with the game may not know what to be looking for. --Flying Omelette 23:40, 23 May 2010 (EDT)
Upon closer inspection of the video, it looks like the author just placed dummy objects (using the gun turret's opening frame) with mortar sprites on top, which shoot into the air as they scroll on-screen. Note that they only shoot once, and the player doesn't attempt to destroy them, suggesting they aren't real turrets. I can't find any Contra level editors on romhacking.net, and I'm not willing to dissect the game's level/enemy data at the moment, so I dunno how to confirm this. :| --BMF54123 00:12, 24 May 2010 (EDT)
From the video description:

Mortars (single and triple), which were not used in the original game except with the scuba divers (levels 3 and 5) are used extensively in this demo.

This sounds less like an "unused" enemy and more like a "only used in a few places, then expanded elsewhere" thing. --Xkeeper 00:20, 24 May 2010 (EDT)
I noticed that. The mortars probably exist as separate, self-contained sprites which are spawned by the scuba diver enemies, much like Kamek's magic in SMW (except these actually move on their own ;P). --BMF54123 00:38, 24 May 2010 (EDT)

Oddity Code

I don't know if this is really much of anything, but the Game Genie code I found years ago AEIIXX spawns some kind of "You" gun which makes it rain a whole bunch of cloning death upon everything on the screen.

I doubt it's really an unused weapon, but the properties are rather odd and it actually kills things, so maybe they scrapped a "Napalm Rain of Death" gun? *Shrug* -- Rick 15:22, 30 May 2010 (EDT)

Its behavior actually looks like a mix between the spread gun (5 projectiles) and the flame thrower (loopy movement). Its origin always seems to be locked to 0,0 (top-left corner of the screen), too. Interesting find. --BMF54123 17:34, 30 May 2010 (EDT)

Translation

Read you the intro screens. They are B-grade sci-fi movie ham-tastic in style. --Yumemisama 02:18, 23 April 2011 (EDT)

Button Order

Divingkataetheweirdo, you cannot get this cheat working by holding start then pressing A + B. A + B buttons tested if Start button keypress occurs only, pressed once and holded buttons have different variables in code and checked separately.

Oh, so you have to press A and B before pressing Start, I see. Thanks for catching that. --From: divingkataetheweirdo 13:16, 22 April 2012 (EDT)

Gryzor

Why should we even have this name here? The game is always called Contra in Japan. I don't know how this odd Gryzor name came through, but I think it was a random name made up by some ROM releasing groups, and even some DATs also listed the game to be called such. Due to misunderstandings over all these years this name may be worthwhile to be documented, but the current placement is quite misleading that it makes people think this is its official title in Japan. --Gilbert 21:37, 22 April 2012 (EDT)

It's the name of the European release, apparently. So say both the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles for the game. GlitterBerri 21:43, 22 April 2012 (EDT)
Only for the arcade and computer versions though, if I'm not mistaken (whereas the NES version, etc are "Probotector") --Devin 21:44, 22 April 2012 (EDT)
Yes, the arcade version is called Gryzor in some region (presumably Europe, though MAME's set information doesn't say). I don't know if Contra was ported to anything other than the NES, but the Gryzor name never stuck.
(year	source file	name	parent	maker	full name)
1987	contra.c	gryzor	contra	Konami	Gryzor (set 1)
1987	contra.c	gryzora	contra	Konami	Gryzor (set 2)
- Andlabs 21:47, 22 April 2012 (EDT)
The Arcade Flyer Archive has a scan of a Gryzor flyer which lists two Konami addresses from the UK and Germany, so presumably, those two regions would be included. // Foxhack 21:51, 22 April 2012 (EDT)
also, here are the C64 and Spectrum versions which are both called Gryzor --Devin 21:56, 22 April 2012 (EDT)

Sprite Comparisons

I've ripped some sprites from Contra and Probotector for comparison on the page, though I'm not sure how I should format them. (I also plan to rip the other graphics mentioned on the page, so please keep that in mind when formatting or making formatting suggestions)

ContraBillSmall.pngContraLanceSmall.pngProbotectorRD008Small.pngProbotectorRC011Small.png --Grandta13 (talk) 11:50, 13 July 2014 (EDT)

Also, since several enemies are in a constant running cycle, should I upload one image from the cycle, each image from the cycle, or a GIF of the animation? --Grandta13 (talk) 12:02, 13 July 2014 (EDT)

For the moment, I will just upload a static sprite from the animation. Though I do have all the frames of the animation extracted, I'll not upload them unless I get permission from an admin (I don't wan't to post excessive uploads). The preceding unsigned comment was added by Grandta13 (talk • contribs)
Animated GIFs aren't really necessary. I think static sprites demonstrate the changes just fine. --BMF54123 (talk) 16:59, 14 July 2014 (EDT)

Naming Inconsistency

I've just noticed that the names for the European version are written inconsistently (though not necessarily incorrectly). One is written RCO11 (with the letter O), while the other is written RD008 (with two zeros). I am currently researching the matter, but have so far been unable to come up with anything from a reliable source; I am currently trying to find it written in the manual or perhaps in game. I have been unable to find a scan of the manual, and I will proceed to play the game a bit to see if I can find them in-game.The preceding unsigned comment was added by Grandta13 (talk • contribs)

Based on the scan of the box from this site: http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563399-contra/images/box-58843, I have determined that the names are 'RD008' and 'RC011'. --Grandta13 (talk) 00:04, 11 March 2015 (EDT)

Konami code

Isn't the Konami code used in this game? See List of Konami code games - Contra. --Bavi H (talk) 23:58, 8 December 2014 (EST)

Never mind, I see cheat codes aren't meant to be documented on this site: Rules & Guidelinens - Don't Add This Stuff. --Bavi H (talk) 00:13, 9 December 2014 (EST)

It's odd that the Konami Code went unlisted, huh?--UltraCreep

We don't document cheat codes here unless they have special merit or are unusual or worth mentioning in some way. Please see rule #4 for details. -- Bast (talk) 06:29, 27 September 2016 (EDT)

Which version came first: FC or NES?

It seems to be a common assumption that the Famicom version of Contra was the original and that the NES version was made afterward, but some of the differences between the two outside the cutscenes and background effects, such as the fact the FC version (supposedly) starts a loop higher than the the NES version in terms of difficulty, the different stage clear theme for the final stage, the addition of a sound test, the Konami logo at the end credits instead of plain text and the use of the term "area" for levels (which is the term that the subsequent Contra games used for their levels instead of "stage") seems to suggest that the FC version was actually the later revision and the NES version was the base version. At the very least, they might had been developed in tandem, seeing how they were both released on February 1988 (normally Konami tended to release the NES localizations of their FC games months afterward, as was the case with their Castlevania games and Life Force). EGM's 100th issue seems to support the idea that the FC version was made later as well. Jonny2x4 (talk) 04:12, 28 May 2017 (EDT)

I think it's fairly evident that the Famicom version starts on a higher difficulty than the NES version.Emjeeman (talk) 19:57, 14 June 2017 (EDT)
How so? Any specific example you could give out of an increased difficulty. To be honest, I do have a hard time telling the loops apart. Jonny2x4 (talk) 03:22, 15 June 2017 (EDT)

Several sites says the North American release date was February 2, 1988, but what their source is for that info I don't know. Even if the NES version was indeed released first, the Famicom-version could still have been finalized first. You could perhaps look for ROM build dates. As for Stage vs. Area, Contra III used the former term.--Ganon (talk) 18:31, 15 June 2017 (CET)

Thanks for the correction. I could've sworn I've played some version of Contra III that used "Area" instead of "Stage", but I'm guessing I was just misremembering things since even the store demo version that was dumped recently uses "Stage". At any rate, none of the NES Contra roms seem to have any build dates on them unfortunately. However, the U.S. ROM does have an RD008 product code on it similar to many U.S. Konami games. I'm guessing that's where the Player 1 Probotector got its name from. Jonny2x4 (talk) 12:56, 20 June 2017 (EDT)

Level Select in Bootleg

So, something I'd been wondering on and off for some years, now. There is a bootleg of the NA version that features a level select right on the title screen. A level select feature is officially available only in the Japanese release, as a cheat code and it goes to a separate screen. Then there are bootlegs of Super Contra, Japanese version, that feature a level select right on the title screen as well. Just like Contra, the Japanese version already has one "officially", accessed via cheat code and it goes to a separate screen. The title screen level select is found in quite a few different Super Contra bootlegs, and likely from different creators; yet the select menu is positioned on the same spot on the screen. It gets weirder as one bootleg of the North American release, Super C, has the same title screen level select as well. Even more curious is that a bootleg of Contra Force also includes a level select to its title screen (and that game not having such a feature in any form in the official release, or not known to have one).

Are these just cases of the bootleggers simply hacking the option and functionality into the games? Or did they make an unused feature accessible? Or something else? If anyone might be interested in looking into this, let me know and I can provide the bootleg ROMs.Emjeeman (talk) 05:59, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

bootlegs are not covered here, so I doubt anyone will show interest. ReyVGM (talk) 13:41, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
It's not really about the bootlegs themselves, but whether or not they're making use of a dummied-out feature in the official releases. Also, I don't know what you mean about bootlegs not being covered here.
https://tcrf.net/Contra_Spirits_(NES)
https://tcrf.net/Super_Contra_7
https://tcrf.net/Super_Contra_X
https://tcrf.net/Super_Donkey_Kong_(NES)
https://tcrf.net/Super_Donkey_Kong:_Xiang_Jiao_Chuan
https://tcrf.net/Super_Donkey_Kong_%2799
https://tcrf.net/Tiny_Toon_Adventures_3_(Genesis)
To list a few. Emjeeman (talk) 15:55, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
Those are considered hacks/homebrew/unlicensed, not actual bootlegs. A bootleg is when you try to pass it off as the original game, and it might or might not have any modifications. ReyVGM (talk) 16:08, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
I'm going by the broad definition of bootleg that encompasses all of those examples as they are featured on the Bootleg Games Wiki, and how many of the pages on this site even refer to them as bootlegs. Anyway, my point is I'm hoping to find out more about whether a dummied-out feature was reactivated or if multiple bootleggers added the code/functionality independently of each other and it's just coincidence. Emjeeman (talk) 17:20, 25 June 2022 (UTC)