NES A to Z vol 30

Contra is the Nintendo classic. This is probably the single best co-op shooter ever made before the Xbox era. It just got so much right! The control is dead on, the music is awesome, the two-player is mostly excellent (except when your partner rushes the screen and you get raped from behind). Easy win.

This game is so strange. It says Contra on the box but it feels nothing like Contra. One question: What went wrong? It’s jerky, the flicker is terrible, the graphics look nothing like Contra. Just not very good overall.

What is this game? I’ve seen the movie and skateboarding is NOT a very large part of it. Why am I on Sweet Street being attacked by endless cops and rabbits throwing ice cream cones? None of the answers to those questions matter, because the game sucks.

It’s two-player so that is a huge plus. You need to manually change gears which adds considerable gameplay to a generally simplistic concept. There is also some kind of fuel mechanic which I didn’t figure out. I assume there is a way to conserve fuel and actually finish a race? If that is the case, this game is fun.

The graphics are pretty goofy, but it looks like a solid two-player adventure game. You go around stabbing people in the face with a knife, taking their money and using it to probably buy power ups. What more can you ask for from a NES game? How about great box art? This game delivers.