Contra lands on Live Arcade

By Tom Bramwell Published 8 November, 2006

Can you finish it in 12 minutes?

Microsoft's going commando again this morning with the Xbox Live Arcade release of Konami's '80s arcade classic, Contra - with the port once again carried out by Digital Eclipse.

Up on Live Arcade in trial version and 400-Microsoft-point full form, the 32.46MB download offers co-operative play through Xbox Live - making the most of one of the original game's more popular features.

Naturally there are also the usual array of leaderboards to see how good you are compared to your friends, along with the option of using "enhanced" graphics and sounds, with unlockable achievements completing the extras.

A quick scan reveals that you're rewarded for collecting lots of pick-ups, reaching certain points, doing well with a friend online and, for the ultimate 30-point achievement, finishing the game in under 12 minutes.

Expect a full review of the Live Arcade Contra just as we can extricate ourselves from the November deluge.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dbeamish #1 5 years ago

    12 minutes of fun? worth 400 points then ;-)

  • morriss #2 5 years ago

    If this get's a review before my mate Tiger Woods '07 I scream. I will.

    I'm not joking.

  • gizmo #3 5 years ago

    8/10

  • escapedape #4 5 years ago

    What?! I doubt I can even finish this, let alone finish it in 12 minutes! Arrrrgh!

  • Xerx3s #5 5 years ago

    What?! I doubt I can even finish this, let alone finish it in 12 minutes! Arrrrgh!

    It's one of those impossible-to-achieve points that can only be done by uber hardcore that play 24/7.

  • Thamuhacha #6 5 years ago

    >It's one of those impossible-to-achieve points that can only be done by uber hardcore that play 24/7.

    Like surviving the first 60 seconds without firing in Geometry wars? I spent 2 hours trying to do that one afternoon. Bastards.

  • Totoriko #7 5 years ago

    I think the NES version can be finished in about 20 mins

  • dryfish #8 5 years ago

    60 seconds is easy! :-)

  • Xerx3s #9 5 years ago

    60 seconds is easy! :-)

    I forgot to add ppl with no life. ;)

  • BravoGolf #10 5 years ago

    Excellent, I loved this game! I remember how tense I was playing the last boss on the second level! Funny that :)

    More info about Contra here http://www.nesplayer .com/contra/

  • jlaakso #11 5 years ago

    I think it's just great that some achievements take some doing. That's the way it should be!

    (Although the Geomtery Wars Pacifism Achivement was a piece of cake.)

  • Grim... #12 5 years ago

    Wasn't this called Gryzor in the UK originally?

  • sharpfish #13 5 years ago

    nice bit of nostaliga (as always) but really looks like shit on my 32" HDTV...

    I think most of these older arcade games should be left alone now, don't clog up Xbox live with games that are nothing more than curious relics.

    I want more NEW INDIE GAMES and quality smaller titles (like lumines but not sucking!)

  • escapedape #14 5 years ago

    Yep, I found that Pacifism achievement really difficult too!

    And yeah, I totally don't think I'll ever be able to get that particular 12-minute achievement thing...

  • dbeamish #15 5 years ago

    Gryzor was the name arcade game in some places.
    This is the original arcade Contra which was also released on the NES, which is not the same as Super Probotector on the SNES which was also known as Contra 3 in the US and Japan.

  • loeffe #16 5 years ago

    Contra is a pretty hardcore game, I wont be able to do that 12 minute thing. No way.

    But the pacifism achiev?! I got that on the first try (only tried after getting the million point one)

  • escapedape #17 5 years ago

    Well that says it all - I don't think i've quite broken the half mil mark yet...

  • sport #18 5 years ago

    Contra in 12 minutes

    Watch, learn, apply

  • Der_tolle_Emil #19 5 years ago

    Geometry Wars pacifism achievment was not that difficult. Then again I did not purchase Geometry Wars yet. I love the demo but I am just too dumb to survive the 4 minutes anyway. So I usually die before the demo runs out on me. That's why I still haven't bought the damn thing. Although I enjoy it a lot when downloading something from the marketplace.

    Regarding Contra: 12 minutes sounds hard. And I wonder why this download is over 30mb large? The nes version surely was no larger than 256kb. There cannot be possibly 30mb of background images in that download - makes me wonder how much crap gets compiled into the 360 executables.

  • haowan #20 5 years ago

    Enhanced graphics and sounds.

  • ChromeMud #21 5 years ago

    Contra is so Next Genitalia!

  • KD #22 5 years ago

    People always shout when there's a half ass remake of a old game put on live but when i took my 360 to a younger cousins small house party for his birthday all the parents there kicked off the kids from playing graw and halo 2 then forced me to buy pacman and frogger, many kids cried and the 5 adults played pacman for 5 hours straight lol. Same will go for the PS3 and Wii i bet, but its pulling interest from the older people who havent touched a console since the atari days. I just find it amusing because all the new games those old people wont play is mainly down to (quote my father here) "theres too god damn many f@@King buttons"

  • bloodflowers #23 5 years ago

    Thats it folks - game over, cancel that GOW preorder because Konami just OWNED Epic.

    Actually, how long will it be before a company puts out a 360 pad with a working d-pad? The proper one is cack. The Neo SE one is cack. The Hori one is good, but the pad shape is cack, and so are the buttons. How hard can it be?

  • EmiliasHorse #24 5 years ago

    I was looking forward to this and sadly its pants.
    The controls are awful, it's a real shame.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #25 5 years ago

    Damn this game is crap. It doesn't even run smooth - there really are slowdowns! I played the NES version back then and loved the game but sadly even with this nostalgia bonus I don't see myself spending any MS points for this.

    And yes, the controls are horrible too - and the 360 d-pad is not the only culprit here. A better d-pad would definetly help but something's just not quite right. Back on waiting for Mad Trax then.