Contra III: The Alien Wars
| Contra III: The Alien Wars | |
|---|---|
North American Super NES box art by Tom Dubois
|
|
| Developer(s) |
Konami Factor 5 (Game Boy) Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Game Boy Advance) |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Designer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Composer(s) |
Miki Higashino Masanori Adachi Tachihi Iwase Aki Hata |
| Series | Contra |
| Platform(s) | Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Super System |
| Release date(s) |
Super NES
(The Alien Wars) Game Boy Advance (The Alien Wars EX/Hard Spirits)
|
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Cooperative |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| AllGame |   |
| EGM |
   (Game Boy)
|
| IGN |
(Virtual Console)
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Contra III: The Alien Wars, released in Japan as Contra Spirits (魂斗羅スピリッツ Kontora Supirittsu?) and in the PAL region as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, is a 1992 run and gun video 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.
Set in the futuristic year 2636, the alien invaders that were defeated during the previous installments have decided to launch a full-scale war against mankind on Earth, starting the "Alien Wars". Unlike the previous Contra games for the NES and Game Boy, the futuristic setting was kept for the American version. However, the identities of "Bill" and "Lance", the original Contra heroes, were changed to their descendants "Jimbo" and "Sully", maintaining the continuity of the previous localizations. Likewise, the alien invader was once again changed to "Red Falcon".
Taking advantage of the 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 their arcade counterparts. 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 top-view levels. Players can carry and switch between two weapons at any time, 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.
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Wikipedia