Contra: The Alien Wars was one of the first Game Boy games that I owned. This was either a birthday or Christmas present, and I played the heck out of it! It isn’t as good as the SNES game, but if you wanted to take Contra on the road back in the early 1990s, then this was a great option.
This is one of the retro games that I played the most in the early 1990s, because it was one of the only games I had. I didn’t get to play on the computer all the time, and I didn’t own another console. My Game Boy was what I played the most. I’m sure this isn’t unique to me.
Like other Game Boy games, this isn’t as good as the console game. Unlike some of the other ports of SNES games, this one is at least fun to play. Contra: The Alien Wars is one of the best games on the Game Boy. Let’s get into it and see what it has to offer.
TLDR: Great Gameplay and very good Graphics
Narrative of Contra: The Alien Wars
The story in Contra: The Alien Wars isn’t all that different from the SNES game. You don’t really need a big story for a game like this, but it is nice to have. I wanted to see what it was like, since the game doesn’t really have much of it, so I looked at the game’s manual (Link).
The game takes place in 2636, and you play as a descendant of commando legends Scorpion and Mad Dog, whoever the hell they are. I’m guessing that you’re fighting against Red Falcon, but that isn’t really clear.
The player controls Sully. That is really all you need to know. Red Falcon attacks Neo City, and you need to fight through five stages to get to him. So, yeah, that’s the whole story, which is all you need for a game like this.
Overall, the story is fine. It tells you who you are, and who you have to fight. The motivations of the enemies aren’t all that clear, but they’re bad, so you have to fight them. This story reminds me of the arcade games from the 1980s where they were barebones, but nothing else was really expected.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Contra: The Alien Wars is excellent. The controls are great, the stages are a little short, and the power ups are helpful. There isn’t much I can complain about with this game. Konami did a great job with this port.
This is a short game, but there is some replay value to it. It is a fast and fun game to play. These early Game Boy games weren’t supposed to be very long. Contra: The Alien Wars is only about 15-30 minutes long, depending on how good you are at the game.
The controls are very good. Jumping and shooting are easy, and you can see where you need to jump to. Because of how short this game is, it isn’t hard to get back to where you died. The solid controls make this an easier game to get through, so it is a good thing that you can adjust the difficulty.
There are a few power ups in this game. Some are standard for the Contra series, and a few are not as useful as they could be. Here is a list:
- Concussive shot
- Spread gun
- Flamethrower
- Heatseeker
- Shield
- Bomb
I try to avoid the Flamethrower and the Concussive Shot. They have a limited range, but are pretty powerful. In the overhead section, the Flamethrower can be useful. I tend to stick with the Spread Gun.
Overall, this is a very good Game Boy game. The gameplay is excellent, and it does what any good Game Boy game does. It brings a classic console game to a handheld and delivers a fun game to spend a few minutes playing. This was a wonderful game to play on the bus or in the car.
Visuals
Contra: The Alien Wars has very good graphics. The enemies look good, animations are very good, and the levels look great. There aren’t too many sprites on the screen, which is a product of the Game Boy’s hardware. It does make the game much easier than the console games.
I love the way the enemies look in this game, especially the bosses. The boss sprites are much bigger and are well detailed. Konami got a lot out of the Game Boy here. Everything looks excellent for the time it was released.
While the levels aren’t very long, they look very good. This is just a black-and-white game, but it looks closer to the NES game. Most of the game has a lot of detail, and the opening cutscene looks very good for what it is. This game won’t blow anyone away, but it looks great.
This game throws an overhead section at the player. You have arrows that show you where to go, kind of. They can’t point in a diagonal direction, but it isn’t all that hard to figure out where to go.
Overall, this is one of the best looking games on the Game Boy. Most of Konami’s Game Boy games look very good, and Contra: The Alien Wars is one of their best. The developers did an excellent job of making everything look great and well-detailed.
9/10. I still like this version of Contra a lot! Contra: The Alien Wars is a game that I played a lot as a kid. The console versions are better, but this is a ton of fun for what it is. The graphics are good for the Game Boy, and the gameplay is solid.
Pros
- Pick up and play
- Good Graphics
- Fun Gameplay
Cons
- One-Hit-Deaths
- Can’t swap between weapons
- Short
Conclusion
This is one of the games I would stay up late at night to play. While this isn’t all that uncommon nowadays, it was something different for me back then. I had a little bedside lamp so I could read or see the Game Boy screen. This was way before handhelds had backlit screens or tablets existed.
I lost track of how many times I beat this game when I was a kid. It was one of the few run-and-gun shooters that I got really good at. I still have my original copy of the game, and it surprisingly still works, despite all the abuse it probably went through.
There is another Contra game on the Game Boy. It isn’t all that different from Contra: The Alien Wars, and I don’t know which came first at this moment. Eventually, I’ll get to that game and a bunch of the Game Boy games I own.
If you liked this post, check out some of my others on Game Boy Games. Such as Castlevania II or Castlevania The Adventure.