Controls

Use a joystick or gamepad if you can. On the keyboard you need separate keys for diagonal aiming, and the hero keeps running after you release the run key until you press a separate stop key. You can change the keys on the configuration screen before play. Two players can play at once, and with the keyboard all weapons fire automatically.

Cheats and codes

These come from S&F Productions and the Contra Encyclopedia. Add them as command-line arguments when you start the game.

Versions and ports

Banana Development converted Contra to the IBM PC in 1988. Konami published it in North America and Ocean released it in Europe as Gryzor. It keeps the arcade levels and bosses and offers Easy, Hard and Insane difficulty. There are no continues, and you gain an extra life every 50,000 points. An H gun replaces the arcade laser.

System requirements

The game was written for an 8088 PC at 4.77 MHz with CGA graphics and PC speaker sound, and there is no music. It checks for the original floppy as a copy-protection key disk, and the North American release was unplayable on many compatibles because of it.

How to run it today

On faster hardware the game runs far too fast. In DOSBox, lower the cycles to about 300, the value the DOSBox Staging manual suggests for a 4.77 MHz 8088, or use the X and S arguments above.

Where to buy it legally

The DOS port is not sold digitally. Konami's Contra Anniversary Collection on Steam and GOG includes the arcade Contra and the NES and Famicom versions.