You should know by now that Konami are found to be celebrating their 50th year in business throughout 2019, and the recent releases of the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection and Castlevania Anniversary Collection are worthy additions to game libraries around the globe. But Konami aren’t done yet and there’s another Collection fast approaching – that of the Contra Anniversary Collection. And now, finally, we know exactly what games will be included in the third collection of the year.
Konami have today announced the final four classic Contra titles that comprise the complete Contra Anniversary Collection. And it is this which will be seen delivering some of the most iconic games in the franchise, including CONTRA (known as Gryzor on NES in Europe), CONTRA: HARD CORPS, and CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS.
The full collection brings a diverse set of Contra classics that will be available as digital exclusives on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC, with an RRP sitting pretty at £15.99.
The full catalogue of titles in the Contra Anniversary Collection includes:
- CONTRA (Arcade)
- SUPER CONTRA (Arcade)
- SUPER C (NES)
- CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS (SNES)
- CONTRA: HARD CORPS (Sega Genesis)
- CONTRA (NES)
- CONTRA (Famicom)
- OPERATION C (Game Boy)
- PROBOTECTOR (Sega Mega Drive)
- SUPER PROBOTECTOR: ALIEN REBELS (Super Nintendo)
- Bonus eBook
Newly announced for the collection are:
- CONTRA: HARD CORPS (Sega Genesis) – A new direction in the franchise where for the first time players can choose from among four unique characters. This title also retains a primary side-scrolling perspective vs the featured overhead segments in earlier Contra titles. Additionally, the story is advanced through cutscenes and includes branching paths requiring players to make decisions within key stages.
- CONTRA (NES) – Fans can revisit the classic NES version of this original CONTRA title on current consoles, chock full of new content and added features from the arcade version.
- CONTRA (Famicom) – Also coming to the collection is the Famicom version of the original CONTRA game. This title also includes updated content and features from the arcade version, but also presentation updates from the NES version.
- OPERATION C (Game Boy) – The first handheld title in the franchise, this title is an original entry to the series and also the first to feature the now famous homing gun to save the world from a pending alien threat.
- PROBOTECTOR (Sega Mega Drive) – Originally launched in Europe, the two protagonists, Bill and Lance, were replaced with robotic counterparts along with many of the human enemies in the game. The two new protagonists, RD008 and RC011, were affectionately known as Probotectors.
- SUPER PROBOTECTOR: ALIEN REBELS (Super Nintendo) – A European launch of the well-regarded CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS, this title also takes advantage of the robotic protagonists RD008 and RC011 and delivers the classic features introduced by CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS such as holding two guns at once, top-down gameplay levels, and shooting in eight directions at will.
It’s not just about the Western versions of these games though and much like the recently launched Castlevania Anniversary Collection, those who purchase the Contra Anniversary Collection will also receive Japanese versions of six of the titles, with them arriving later as a free update. These being:
- CONTRA (Arcade)
- SUPER CONTRA (Arcade) – known as SUPER CONTRA: ALIEN NO GYAKUSHU in Japan
- SUPER C – known as SUPER CONTRA in Japan
- CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS – known as CONTRA SPIRITS in Japan
- OPERATION C – known as CONTRA in Japan
- CONTRA: HARD CORPS – known as CONTRA: THE HARD CORPS in Japan
The Contra Anniversary Collection is still slated for a release this summer. Once that full launch date is known, we’ll bring it to you!.
