Traps and other hazards gave Contra a platforming flavor...

Konami Code

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A--this code worked and continues to work for a lot of Konami games as a cheat code, but it's most famous in Contra, where inputting it at the title screen would allow you to start with 30 spare lives instead of just three. The original Contra was famous for its extreme difficulty. Not only did you have few lives to work with, but the levels and hazards were designed in such a way that avoiding death at certain points was all but impossible. The 30-life Konami code made the game beatable for mere mortals.

...while the corridor missions changed up the gameplay with almost a first-person shooter perspective.

Contra is one of the definitive shoot-'em-up games of all time, and along with Mario and Zelda, it's arguably one of the most revered games from the original 8-bit NES. Contra put you in the shoes of one of two burly, shirtless commandos, fighting an alien menace in the jungle. Led by the dastardly Red Falcon, the aliens came at you in hordes, requiring you to stay on your toes as you ran through the levels. Not only did you have to avoid getting hit by enemies or their weapons, but you also had to avoid traps, bottomless pits, and other hazards as you scrolled your way through the game's treacherous levels. Bosses included all manner of strange beasts, including a glowing bubble, a giant (and not-so-subtly phallic) alien head, and Red Falcon's pulsing heart.

What made Contra even more unique was the way the game could change perspective and direction on you. In most levels you simply ran and jumped from left to right, as in a platform game. But in cliff levels, you'd have to jump from platform to platform from the bottom of the screen to the top, shooting incoming enemies while avoiding hits that could cause you to fall to your death. Other scenarios placed you in a pseudo-3D corridor crawl, where you'd face off against enemies and avoid rolling barrels and other hazards while shooting locks off of doors.

Thankfully the commandos you controlled (both Scorpion and Mad Dog) were quite agile. You could run, jump, or even lie prone to fire at your enemies, and you could also shoot in several different directions. You could also upgrade your standard rifle to one of four different weapon power-ups, each labeled with a simple letter: L, M, R, or S. These represented the laser beam, the machine gun, the flamethrower, and, everyone's favorite, the spread rifle.

What truly sets Contra apart is that it remains to this day one of the best cooperative game experiences ever. Contra was already a blast to play in single-player mode, but add a friend to play alongside you and the fun increased exponentially. Beyond the hordes of enemies to shoot, the level design behooved both players to play as a team by sharing power-ups and making certain not to scroll the edge of the screen in a manner that would be hazardous to the other person. Of course, it was fun sometimes to turn the game into something of a competitive experience as well. Put it all together, and it's no wonder that Contra is one of the greatest games of all time.

When I was a child, we frequently had extended family over for banquets on weekends. A favorite activity for my cousins and me was to break out the NES and play some games. Contra was always a favorite, because of its simplicity and its timeless gameplay. Of course, familial competitiveness always came into play eventually, and the ability for the game to seamlessly morph from a friendly, cooperative experience into one that allowed us to screw each other over ("You b****, you made me fall off that platform!") made the game a big hit.