Back in 1987, Konami released an arcade game called Contra. Contra is a run-and-gun game where you control Bill Rizer (Player 2 takes control of Lance Bean) as you take down an evil organization that is bent on destroying humanity while discovering the true identity of the aliens controlling them. The game was a big hit and it got ported to numerous computers and game consoles, including the NES and Famicom. It sold very well, leading to Super Contra (Also known as Super C) in the arcades and on NES as well. At this point, Contra became a franchise. It got Operation C on the Gameboy, Contra 3: The Alien Wars on the SNES, and it continued to get games on the 5th generation of consoles, as well as the 6th gen, 7th gen, and modern consoles. After Hard Corps: Uprising in 2011, the series took a break until 2019 when Konami released Rogue Corps, as well as the Contra Anniversary Collection which contains a bunch of the retro titles in the series.
The original Contra was influential for its time. While Ikari Warriors entered the scene first and introduced the concept of shoot em ups with men shooting through waves of enemies and getting power ups, Contra introduced that concept to side scrolling which made it stand out at the time. It also allowed players to aim and shoot in 8 directions, a rarity for the time. You also can’t forget about the Konami code when talking about Contra. While Gradius was the first game to include it, Contra was the game that made it popular. Another memorable aspect of Contra is its shifts in perspectives. These perspectives would change up the gameplay by turning the game into a vertical-scrolling shooter or making it so that you are shooting at targets in the background. These perspective changes added variety and kept the games fresh.
At the time of its release, Contra gained a lot of praise. AllGame editor Skylar Miller praised Contra, stating that the game “became the standard by which future shooters would be judged.” Later in 2004, the NES version of Contra was inducted into GameSpot’s list of the greatest games of all time. Nintendo Power ranked it the seventh best NES game, calling it one of the best multiplayer NES games. Electronic Gaming Monthly listed the NES version as the 45th best console video game of all time, saying it “set the standard for all two-player simultaneous action games to follow.” Several of the sequels, most notably Super C and Contra 3, have gotten similar praise.
Nintendo themselves has acknowledged the series’ popularity, with them including Super C and Contra 3 on the NES and SNES Classic Consoles respectively. There are no Contra games on the Switch online service, but that can be explained by the Contra Anniversary Collection which is available on Switch.
Overall, Contra has gained a legacy. It is an iconic series with strong Nintendo connections and has remained one of Konami’s signature franchises. It also has remained relevant throughout the years despite the admittedly shaky transition to 3D gaming. While Rogue Corps flopped, there is still hope for future installments and the Anniversary Collection has reminded people why this series is so special and why it maintains its recognizability.
Now that you are familiar with Contra as a whole, what new and exciting mechanics and features can Contra bring to the table? Well first, as Contra is a run and gun shooter, Bill Rizer would primarily be using his gun. A big feature of Contra is being able to shoot in 8 directions which can act as Bill’s tilts, and they can implement diagonal aiming which would give his moveset that sense of freedom that the Contra games give you.
But what would separate Bill from other projectile heavy characters like Mega Man are power ups. In Contra, capsules will occasionally appear in the sky and Bill can shoot them down to obtain a power up. Power ups will also drop from certain enemies like turrets. These power ups are what makes Contra Contra. They consist of:
- Spread Gun - The classic gun that fires three to five bullets that spread out.
- Machine Gun - Fully automatic gun that fires bullets faster and allows the player to hold down the button to shoot rather than tap.
- Laser - Long beam with high damage
- Flamethrower - Can fire either a steady stream of flame or fireballs.
- Homing Gun - Fires a rocket that homes in on opponents.
- Crush Gun - Fires blue missiles with short range that explodes with huge damage. The explosion stays around for a couple seconds, dealing additional damage to anyone in it.
- Wave Gun - Shoots a wide energy wave that penetrates multiple enemies.
- Plasma Thrower - Basically a shotgun
- Electro Gun - Shoots electricity
- Blade Gun - Shoots literal active chainsaws.
- Gas Gun - Shoots gas that poisons enemies.
- And much, MUCH more. Plus there are some melee weapons like knives and katanas.
Bill Rizer’s main mechanic would be this: As he is dealing damage, capsules will pop out of the opponents and Bill Rizer can pick them up to gain a random power up. When playing on his stage, capsules will appear in the air and Bill can shoot them down to grab them.
Speaking of stages, there are some good choices they can pick.
They can go with the iconic jungle level from the first game:
Or the first game’s final level:
Or the first level of Contra 3:
Any of these would represent Contra well and they can have stage cameos and enemies attacking the Smash characters. If they wanted to go the extra mile, they could have the stage be a scrolling stage to encompass the entire level and make it feel even more like Contra.
Next, the music. Here is a list of some of the notable songs from the series:
I could go on, but you get the gist. Basically, Contra has awesome music.
Overall, Bill Rizer would bring some pretty amazing content with him. A balls to the wall moveset, a cool stage, and some bangin’ music. And on top of all that, Bill would represent a brand new franchise and a genre that is arguably not represented yet. We do have Samus but I’d argue she is more of a representative of Metroidvanias rather than a straight up shooter rep.
Now, let’s discuss how Contra falls in the grand scheme of things. As a Konami series, it is definitely one of the frontrunners for the company. Bomberman’s chances are looking grim with him just getting a Mii costume. Silent Hill is another classic series, though it is very grim and thus it would be difficult to implement a fighter. Bill Rizer’s main threats are Frogger and Alucard, particularly the latter as he was considered for the base game and is a very popular and requested character. But on the other hand, Castlevania already has a lot of content that spreads throughout the series and while there is still plenty of new content they could add, it just raises doubts on them wanting to give Castlevania more content. So, if I had to bet money on there being another Konami character, it would be Contra.
But the big question is, would Konami get another character? I do think so and this is a good segway into my counter argument section. These are the other factors that I mentioned earlier that hold back Bill from being seen as likely. Here we go.
“Contra isn’t likely because Konami are a bunch of ****** and would be hard to work with.”
First, Nintendo clearly doesn’t care about controversy if last year is anything to go by. Between the Melee drama, the joy-con drift fiasco, and other situations, Nintendo has been surrounded by drama and yet they are trucking along just fine. Second, Konami negotiates like any other company. Just because they are up in their *** does not mean they will bite other companies that get close to them. Besides, we got so much Castlevania content. 2 fighters, a stage, 34 music tracks, an assist trophy, a boss, a bunch of spirits, and an entire section in World of Light. Do you really think that if Konami was that stingy or rude that they would allow this much content?
“But Konami already has so much content in the game!”
So what? I don’t see how the content for Metal Gear, Castlevania and other stuff like the Bomberman assist trophy and costume affects Contra content (Well, aside from the Bomberman costume but I will acknowledge that soon enough). Sure, Nintendo would want to go to new companies to strengthen corporate relations, but I will point out that the two third party companies from this pass already have content in the game which says a lot. Plus, we haven’t gotten any Konami characters since the base roster so it’s not like we had a Konami character in this pass, or the last pass for that matter. Meanwhile, Contra has zero representation. In addition, I have to point out that Capcom has as much content, if not more content than Konami and yet I haven’t seen anyone use this rebuttal against Capcom characters.
“But why would Nintendo go to Konami knowing that they have little interest in gaming? Konami is mostly interested in pachinko machines these days and their game releases are minimal. So why would Nintendo want to get a character from them when there are so many other fledgling companies out there?”
Admittedly, this is a good point and I can see why people think this. But that does not take away from the monetary value of Contra and Konami’s other series. Contra still is recognizable and while it is past its peak, plenty of people still know about Contra and enjoy it. Plus, I have to point out again that there are two Contra releases on the Switch, the Anniversary Collection and Rogue Corps. So Nintendo still does have an incentive to include Bill Rizer in Smash. Additionally, Smash is known for bringing attention to franchises and if Bill Rizer gets included, that would inevitably bring more attention to Contra and that may convince Konami to make more games. And if they make more games, that is more money for Nintendo as long as they have continued support from Konami.
And that’s another thing. Nintendo and Konami have maintained a consistent relationship throughout the years. They are not super close like Koei Tecmo and Nintendo are, but Konami has published plenty of games throughout the decades for Nintendo systems. Going back to the Castlevania content, that makes it seem like that they might be easy to work with too. So while Konami doesn’t have much on the horizon, I don’t see that as a big issue as the bridge is still there for Nintendo to cross over and Contra is still a relevant name.
“But Bomberman got a Mii costume during this pass. If Bill Rizer was coming, why would they put a Mii costume in with an unrelated company?”
Admittedly there is not much evidence I can bring up here other than 1. There is nothing that says that Konami costumes have to come alongside a playable character and 2. We don’t know how far in advance Mii costumes are negotiated for. So there is some room to say that maybe Bomberman was negotiated for after a Konami character could have been negotiated for. Also keep in mind that Bombeman already had a model thanks to his assist trophy so his costume would have been a quick and easy job to do, regardless of when and if a Konami character arrives in the pass. So while the costume does hurt Bill Rizer’s chances, and by extension other Konami characters, there is not enough evidence to say that this downright kills his chances. And I will stand by this point.
Looking at the evidence, I do think there is a good chance that we will get a Konami character. I’m not saying it’s a guarantee or anything, but I do think people are sleeping on them. Even putting aside Contra, they do have some solid choices. But going back to Contra now, I can confidently say that after everything that has been mentioned, Contra doesn’t get enough credit.
To conclude, Contra definitely has the merits to be included in the greatest crossover game of all time. It is a beloved series that is still going today and Konami’s door is still open for Nintendo. The earlier games in particular are major titles for their time and are all-time classics. Contra would bring great content with its inclusion and its inclusion in general would be a big deal.
Thanks for reading. I hope this encouraged you all to give Bill Rizer another look. Or at the least it gave you more interest in the series, which would be great. It would be a dream come true to see Contra in this game and I know that Sakurai would make it work in the best way possible.
Sources/Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_(video_game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_(series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot_'em_up
https://contra.fandom.com/wiki/Weapons
https://contra.fandom.com/wiki/Contra_Wiki
