Guide #102: Contra: Boss Strategies and Other Things V1.15 (10/19/99) (Corrected a fact about the Base stages' Power-Ups ; Changed the name of one of the Power-Ups [Thanks to DragonKnight Zero on both of these]; Finally filled in how many sections there were :P) By "Emptyeye" (emptyeye@juno.com) This guide appears at www.gamefaqs.com and vgstrategies.about.com There are 7 Sections I: Version History II: Absolute Basics III: Power-Ups....What They Do. IV: Level Help V: Other Tricks VI: This Guide's Future VII: Legal Stuff Section I: Version History V1.0 (9/16/99) (First Release) V1.1 (9/20/99) (Modified the Strategy slightly for the third Boss; Fixed some typos) V1.11 (10/8/99) (Added another tip, thanks to Spoondog; Fixed a small typo.) V1.15 (10/19/99) (Current Version; Corrected a fact about the Base stages' Power-Ups; Changed the name of one of the Power-Ups [Thanks to DragonKnight Zero on both of these]; Finally filled in how many sections there were :P) Section II: Absolute Basics This Section will help you get used to the basic controls of Contra. Note that this is for the actual NES Version of the game; emulator users will have to go somewhere else for their info. Sorry. Well the Control Pad moves you around, A jumps, and B fires. With certain weapons, you can just hold down B and get rapid fire. You can control in which direction you want to shoot by pressing that direction with the Control Pad. You can drop from platforms by pressing down (Which also lets you duck) and A. Pretty simple huh? Section III: Power-Ups....What They Do. This section goes into detail about each of the various Power-Ups in the game. Since they all look the same (Red Wings), I Just put the letter of each Power-Up in parentheses next to it. Rapid Fire (R): A misleading name. You don't actually get rapid fire, it just makes all your shots travel a little faster. Most noticeable in the Base Stages. Machine Gun (M): Gives you Rapid Fire and turns your shots red. Pretty useful really. Flare Gun (F): Sends fire in a spinning pattern towards your enemy. Powerful, but too slow to be of much use. Spreader (S): Sends out 5 red bullets in a spreading pattern. The faster you fire it, the less bullets you get per shot until they all leave the screen. VERY useful. Laser (L): My favorite weapon in the game. Shoots out a slow but VERY powerful laser across the screen. Also gives Rapid Fire. Kind of. Barrier (B..Don't ask me why): Makes you invincible briefly. Good stuff. Smart Bomb (No Letter): Destroys all enemies on screen. Not as useful as it seems because it pops in the wrong places. Section IV: Level Help This section, to start anyway, will have the Order of Power-Ups listed for each level, as well as how to beat each boss. The best Weapon to beat each boss is listed next to it in parentheses. (NOTE: Occasionally 2 Power-Ups will enter the screen at the same time. These will both have the same # and will be followed by a letter (T: Top. B: Bottom. L: Left R: Right. M: Middle). (ANOTHER NOTE: If you have problems with a particular area of the game, E-Mail me at the address provided at the top of this document, and I'll help you through it and add it to the guide. PLEASE SPECIFY what game you need help with, as I've written more than one guide, you know :) ) (ONE LAST NOTE: I made up these Boss names. If anyone knows the real names of the Bosses [Red Falcon excluded], please E-Mail me and you'll get credit for the submission.) (YET ANOTHER NOTE: DragonKnight Zero informed me that the Power-Ups you get in Stages 2 and 4 [The Base Stages] are in fact NOT completely random, but depend on the room you happen to be in. Here is what DragonKnight Zero told me, in quotations: "Base information: This applies to the bases in stages 2 and 4. The powerups in the bases are not randomly generated but are based on which room you're in. I can't remember the complete list off the top of my head but I know in Base2, there's a Barrier in the fourth room and a Spreader in the sixth. Also the first has nothing, second is Fire, third has Laser, fifth an R, seventh and eighth I believe were Machine gun and Fire but I forgot what was where. Base1 has two Rs, a Machine gun, and a Fire gun but again, I don't know which rooms they correspond to." He also told me to just hang around in each room until a red guy came around, and shoot him to see which Power-Up was in what room, which I'll do eventually. Thanks!) Level 1: Power-Ups: 1- M 2- R 3- S 4- F 5- S 6T- R 6B- L BOSS: Base Guards (S or L) This Boss consists of 3 parts. The top part is a single soldier who appears out of hiding and fires shots at you at regular intervals. Just blast him as soon as he emerges and you should have no problem. The middle part is made up of 2 Turret guns that fire Bombs at you. These can be taken out by standing on the second platform from the top and firing at them, but watch out, as occasionally its shots can reach YOU as well. The bottom is the actual base entrance. Just run right next to it and pump bullets diagonally into it. You fight all three parts at once, but it's not that bad because 1. The bottom doesn't actually DO anything, and 2. You can take out the top part before it ever gets a chance to fire at you. Level 2: (To come in time....) BOSS: Base (L) I guess the best way to do this is in an ASCII Diagram, so here we go... ------------------------- | | ------------------------- | 1 2 3 | | | | 4 5 6 | ------------------------- X Now, in this Diagram, Points 2, 4, 5, and 6 represent Weak Points of the base. Points 1 and 3 are guns that fire out 3 spreading bullets. X is you (NOTE: You are obviously movable). The Laser is good here, but the Spreader (When used incorrectly) will actually put you at a DISADVANTAGE because, once the 4 Weak Points are destroyed, you enter another phase, and if the guns are still remaining, you have to deal with THOSE too. ALSO, you can only hurt the guns while they're firing at you, which isn't as big a deal as it seems. The best order to take out the 6 points, IMO anyway, is: 4, 1, 6, 3, 2, 5. After you take those out, the boss becomes a bubble which moves back and forth across the top of the base. It shoots rings of fire down at you, which can be dodged or destroyed. Just dodge and return fire, jumping up at the boss to decrease the distance your laser has to go if you'd like. Level 3: Power-Ups: 1- F 2- L 3R- R 3L- B 4- S 5- M BOSS: Alien Base Guard (S) This boss, much like level one, consists of 3 parts. There are 2 Arms which swing about, randomly shooting fire (Which CANNOT be destroyed) at you. These will sometimes stop and "Follow" you around. They can only be hurt on their very ends. The Face will also randomly spit fire at you, which spreads out. Note that you can only hurt the face while it is doing this. Focus on killing the Arms, first the right, and then the left. It's easy with the Spreader because your aim doesn't have to be very precise, and you may also score some hits on the Face as well. When those are gone, the Face will ALWAYS shoot fire at you. Just get under him and shoot straight up, dodging to the left slightly when it shoots fire at you, and repositioning yourself to fight back. Level 4: (See Level 2...) BOSS: Base 2 (L) Once again, it's ASCII Diagram time.... --------------------------- | | --------------------------- | 1 | | | | 2 3 4 | --------------------------- X Now here, X is again you, and you are again movable. 1 is the Spreading-Fire Turret, and 2-4 are the Weak Points. But here, we have another interesting element thrown in: Enemy soldiers. The first wave will be your normal One-to-Two- Bullet firing ones, I.E. the red ones you've encountered throughout the game. The SECOND wave will be Bat-Soldiers. These are blue soldiers that try to swoop down on you. These two waves will alternate throughout the fight. These soldiers should take precedence over everything else in the fight, IMO. When you're not distracted with these soldiers, you should be taking out the Weak Points and Weaponry in the order 3, 1, 2, 4. After you do this, there will be no more soldiers. But we will (As in Level 2) enter another phase of combat. Here, you fight 2 things I really can't describe, which are positioned at the top of the Base. These are tougher than the thing you fought in the First Base for 2 reasons (3 if you count the obvious strength in numbers thing): 1. They split apart and come back together, and can be hurt ONLY when they're joined (When you see 2, not 4). 2. They shoot slow moving bubbles which are heat-seeking and VERY tough to destroy, although they can be jumped over. They can ALSO shoot these bubbles when they're NOT joined. So, take out the right one first, again jumping at the Boss to reduce the Laser's traveling time. Then go after the left one. The move on to Level 5. Level 5: Power-Ups: 1- M 2- R 3- F 4T- R 4M- Smart Bomb 4B- S Mini-Boss: Tanks There are 2 of these in the level. The tanks slowly roll toward you. They will then shoot out 3 set of 3 bullets. Then they fire a 10th and final bullet, and begin rolling toward you again, not stopping. They can't be jumped over, but if you stay to the far left of the screen, they can't shoot you if you just stand and blast straight at them. BOSS: Alien Ship (S or L) The Alien Ship will randomly appear in a certain spot. It will simultaneously fire bombs straight down while sending out smaller ships that go to the edges of the screen, down the edges, and finally along the ground. The bombs it shoots can be destroyed, and so can the ships, which is why the Spreader works well here. Eventually it will disappear and reappear somewhere else. You can use the Laser here, too, but you'll have to do some fancy jumping to dodge the ships, whereas the Spreader will take out most of them before they become a threat. Level 6: Power-Ups: 1- M 2- L 3- B BOSS: Cyborg (S or L) The Cyborg has several attacks to deal with. He will walk from side to side, while occasionally stopping at the edge of the screen to jump high into the air or to throw what seem to be spiked frisbees at you. If he walks toward you, take a running jump over him. Also jump over any frisbees he may toss your way (You can jump 2 at a time). As he's walking toward/away from you or jumping, you can and should shoot him. As you weaken him he'll turn from blue, to purple, to red before finally blowing up. Level 7: Power-Ups: 1- F 2- R 3- B 4- M 5 (Occurs almost immediately after 4)- S BOSS: Lair Entrance (L or S) This Boss is very Pattern-Specific. It will shoot bombs from the two pods along the ground. These bombs will explode into 3 smaller bombs, then hit the ground. Then, soldiers will rush you from the door. The Weak Point here is the Cross above the door. Just run up to it and pump bullets diagonally into it. Jump over the rightmost bomb when it comes your way. What being near the door does is make the soldiers appear from the LEFT side of the screen instead. Just shoot them and continue shooting the Cross until it blows up. You may have to repeat the pattern of Jump-Turn-Shoot, but that's okay. Level 8: Power-Ups: 1T- M 1B- B 2- S Mini-Boss: Alien Head The Alien Head doesn't move, it just hangs over you and occasionally shoots out shrimp with teeth, which can be avoided by jumping over them. Just aim at his head and shoot, while dodging the shrimp. It's even easier if you grabbed the Invincibility beforehand. BOSS: Red Falcon (S) Your final challenge...the Red Falcon. This Boss, besides having one of those Pods that shoot out starbursts along the ground (You should destroy it before actually seeing the Red Falcon), has 4 pods near it that spit out spiders. Two of the pods are on top, 2 on bottom. The ones on top will generally spit out spiders that start on the ceiling then drift down to the floor. I like to destroy the bottom 2 pods first, by crouching and shooting at them (Crouching isn't necessary if you have the Spreader). I also, naturally, shoot the spiders that pose a threat to me. Then I like to fire diagonally upward at the Red Falcon itself. As you weaken it, it will start beating quicker and quicker. Just keep shooting at it, while also dealing with the spiders, and you'll get to watch the ending. Really! :) Section V: Other Tricks Just what it says, other tricks to help you survive in the game. -Leading off...the Konami Code. Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start as the title screen is scrolling to begin with 30 Lives! hit Select before hitting start for 2 players. -If you're playing a 2-Player game, and one player loses all of his lives, he can press A to take a life from his partner and rejoin the action (Assuming the partner has at least one life in reserve). -In the Base Stages, if you crouch WHILE holding Up on Controller TWO, your shots will go high, as if you weren't ducking. Not overly useful unless you have six hands, but still, it's a trick. -In level 4, with some weapons, you can crouch and destroy the red shield around some of the pods you have to kill to advance, even if the shield ISN'T low. I know you CAN'T do this with the Laser, but I'm unsure about anything else. As always, E-Mail me with help and get credit for the submission. -Spoondog(spoondog@inetnow.net) Informed me that in a one player game you can use one controller to control the player and the second to fire his bullets (Hence why the Base Stages trick works). When you get to a tough boss (Tanks in Level 5) use BOTH controllers to fire. I followed up on this and found you can ALSO control the MOVEMENT of the player with controller 2. In other words, you can control the blue character (Player 1) with controller 2 if you're so inclined. Don't ask me how this is helpful, but the double-fire trick is kind of cool (Again, though, you need a friend to make it work to its fullest). Thanks! Section VI: This Guide's Future This guide was pretty hastily written (Yes, 2 days is quick for me), in response to Contra being the number one requested NES game on gamefaqs.com. As such, it will probably be updated with people needing help or whatever. So, until that time comes, I will see you later... -Marc Section VII: Legal Stuff This guide is copyrighted by me; However, you can do pretty much what you want with it except A. Sell it for cash (If I wanted that I'd be trying to find a publisher right now), B. Quote parts of it directly without putting the quoted parts in quotation marks and naming me as a source (THAT IS PLAGIARISM!!), and C. Say you wrote it (See B). A special thanks to Every guide that ever printed the Konami Code (For said code), to FuncoLand (For selling me my copy of Contra), to whoever on gamefaqs.com requested a guide for Contra (For the inspiration to write this guide), to Spoondog (For the Double-Fire trick), to Dragonknight Zero (For letting me know about the Barrier's name and the base Power-Ups), and to.....The Lagged Riftez Man (For nothing in particular).