Contra III: The Alien Wars

"Contra III: The Alien Wars, released in Japan as Contra Spirits (魂斗羅スピリッツ) and in the PAL region as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, is a 1992 run and gun game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Konami. It is the third console iteration of the Contra series, following the original Contra and Super C for the NES.

Taking advantage of the then new technology provided by the Super NES, the graphics in Contra III improved upon the NES versions of the first two installments, bringing it closer to the quality of the arcade versions. The level design is more complex, and provides more opportunity for interaction. For instance, players can grab on to poles or ceilings and navigate them in a monkey bar fashion, climb walls and ladders, destroy buildings and scenery, and commandeer tanks.

New styles of levels in The Alien Wars involve motorcycle chases, riding on missiles, and two Mode 7 enabled overhead levels. The weapons system is revamped, and players can carry two weapons instead of one, only losing the one they are currently using if they die. They can also fire these two weapons simultaneously in a spin-jump circular fire pattern that hit enemies on all sides: however, being hit while doing so results in the player losing both of their weapons. The player can also lock their character's mobility, allowing the player to shoot at all eight possible directions (including downwards and at angles) without moving or jumping. Finally, the player's default gun now has autofire capability (as a result, the Machine Gun from previous installments is gone). New weapons includes a whip-style Flame Gun, Crusher Missiles, and Homing Missiles similar to the Hunter Gun in Operation C. The player can also carry Bombs which will destroy almost all on-screen enemies when detonated at anytime."

Source: Wikipedia, "Contra_III:_The_Alien_Wars," available under the CC-BY-SA License.

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