Contra

Contra was released in 1989 by Konami; today it is an absolute NES classic. It has a few rough edges, but the game play speaks for itself. It isn't "toss-the-controller-against-the-wall" difficult, nor is it easy. It actually has a good balance of difficulty that doesn't have very many cheap points that require a good deal of luck &mdash; this game is all about skill&hellip;and memorization, but mostly skill. The original Japanese version was named Gryzor and renamed to Contra when it appeared in North America. The European version was named Probotector and changed the human heroes into robots due to censorship laws in some countries that would have restricted the game to people over eighteen.

Gryzor had better graphics and sound than Contra. For example, the title screen in Gryzor was animated and the screen between stages resembles the scrolling map in Ghosts 'n Ghouls. Many of the stages also had improved or animated sections that enhanced the game play.

On November 8, 2006 an Xbox Live Arcade port was released. This was the arcade version (not the NES version) and included both original and arranged modes of play, as well as Xbox 360 Achievements.