Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) Playthrough
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- Опубліковано 13 січ 2025
- A playthrough of Konami's 1992 run-and-gun shooter for the Super Nintendo, Contra III: The Alien Wars.
After knocking it out of the park with their NES adaptations of Contra in 1988 ( • Contra (NES) Playthrough ) and Super Contra ( • Super C (NES) Playthrough ) in 1990, Konami went full-bore in creating the third mainline game of the series. Contra III: The Alien Wars (known as Contra Spirits in Japan and Super Probotector: Alien Rebels in Europe), originally a SNES exclusive that released in early 1992, continued that trend and quickly earned itself a reputation for being the best Contra game yet.
It is the year 2636, and Red Falcon's invasion force has returned to Earth to carry out another of its genocidal campaigns. Jimbo and Sully - descendants of Bill and Lance - now stand poised to take on the renewed alien threat.
Contra III takes the elements that defined the first two Contra titles and polishes them to a blinding finish. The action is now split between side-scrolling, top-down, and auto-scrolling segments spanning six stages, and each features a non-stop barrage of impressive set-pieces and boss fights. The pacing gives it the feel of an action movie more than a game: you'll rarely go more than a few screens without encountering some sort of unique challenge to break up the flow of the action, and there's a huge amount of variety between them.
The presentation has been similarly amped up. The massive boss monsters make use of fancy Mode 7 rotation and scaling effects, explosions and enemy sprites regularly flood the screen without much slowdown or flicker (until you set off a bomb, at least), and the synth-heavy soundtrack does a nice job of setting a driving tone that suits the action well.
The controls are responsive and make good use of the SNES pad's extra buttons, and though you only see the proper ending by beating it on hard, the difficulty settings are well-balanced to accommodate players of all skill levels.
Contra III: The Alien Wars was a pitch-perfect 16-bit update to one of the NES's most beloved franchises, and despite being such an early release for the SNES, it's still looked upon as one of the system's best titles. In this era of gaming, Konami, it seemed, could truly do no wrong.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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![[SNES] Contra III The Alien Wars - 2Players co-op longplay (SA1-Root Patched)](/img/n.gif)
Let's attack aggressively!
I'm glad Lance specified that, otherwise I wouldn't know how to approach this game.
But I was planning to attack timidly.
"It's time for revenge"😠
I love how Contra 4 voiced both of these lines with a Southern military strongman drawl if you pick Jimbo or Sully as a character.
Wholesome comment.
This is the best one. That feeling when you L+R dual flamethrowers and jump is insane as a kid.
Still is
It’s such an impractical move to use in actual gameplay, but man, is it fun.
@@amso7169 It can help in a pinch, but yeah, it's risky. You lose both weapons when you die. Really only helpful for the first half of level 1, and occasionally on a topdown level when I'm cornered.
❤
Yes!!!! The gameplay is so much faster than previous. Graphics so much better as well
The first 2 levels of this game really made my elementary school afternoons a joy to experience.
For me, it was after-school daycare. This game was a sure winner when it was put to the vote, every time.
Contra III was developed by Konami with a team led by Nobuya Nakazato. Although this was Nakazato's third year at Konami, Contra III is the first Contra game he worked on, having only previously done informal playtesting for Super C (1990). He believed the original arcade version of Contra (1987) was difficult to play because of its vertical screen, but he did enjoy the Famicom port. Nakazato's team worked in Konami's new offices in Tokyo, seated next to the arcade team that had developed Contra. Nakazato shared progress on Contra III with the arcade team and received positive feedback. In early coverage, the game was known as Contra IV. Nintendo Power reported the name change to Contra III: The Alien Wars in its coverage of Winter CES in 1992.
Nakazato believed Contra had a low-budget movie theme. To emphasize this, he asked the sound team to change the music as the stages progressed to give a cinematic style. He also believed the action in earlier Contra games is too realistic, so for Contra III he wanted to include more comical elements. He was concerned the change may upset series fans, but believed it would be more entertaining. One scene added to accomplish this is a sequence where the player hangs from flying missiles. This strains the Super NES's sprite capabilities, so the team used background tiles to draw the helicopter and missiles in the scene. Making the graphics appear to move like sprites in the foreground required clever programming tricks. The Super NES allowed for "raster scrolling", which allowed the programmers to change the graphics for each scanline. The programmers shifted the vertical sync and cut off the sprites at the scanline. The restriction is that graphics can only move horizontally along the scanline to achieve the illusion that they are actually sprites in the foreground.
Nakazato was concerned the traditional pattern of weak enemies followed by a boss fight was becoming mundane and did not want players to feel "in for the long haul" every play session. To combat this, he established a key concept for something interesting to happen every three screen scrolls. This made the game content feel more dense and gave it a "boss rush" type feel. Nakazato believed Contra III's fast-paced action was going against the trend of home console games shifting to slow-paced strategy and role-playing games, and is good for quick-starting stress relief.
Contra III was released in Japan on February 28, 1992, and North America on March 26 of that year.
The SNES is incredible hardware, and that is one hell of a developer. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Most will do the bare minimum and port a game with as little effort and budget put into it. You can tell Contra 3 was a true labor of love, and dedication to this profession.
0:40 (Japanese version _(Contra Spirits)_ translated into English)
*Now, the greatest battle of Contra **_(the Soul Army)_** begins.*
[Bill»] "They... are unforgivable."
[Lance»] "Let's greet them in a flashy way!!"
Thanks ^_^
Aggressively stroll down memory lane.
The ending credits hit so hard what an epic feeling
I love this gem. I play if often. People say they have favourite games but do they really? I never grow tired of this game despite being 12 when this game came out. Glad I have my two carts of this game. Gotta preserve video games at all cost.
Amen to that. Video games are art and should be treated as such
I wish I had the carts. All I own are digital versions of this game. Oh well, at least I'll always have Gradius 3. 😄
This game is literally perfect!!
That 4th level really is hard even on easy mode. Ive only finished this game on easy mode and a lot of continues lol. What a game it is when you are a child.
One of the first games I got for my snes, back then Konami was untouchable.
I love the Contra games on both the SNES and Genesis. They are both action-packed and very hard. Glad I get to play these on my PS4, but boy are they HARD!
While the 11 year olds of today are playing Roblox, I was playing this when I was 11
@@firesocks2017 Brilliant observation!!! Kind of explains a lot, doesn't it?
Those 2 games alone require a lot of practice to beat them, both will beat you senseless until you get good enough.
@@Bloodreign1 Most definitely. I played the crap out of the NES and SNES Contra games back in the 80s and 90s, and beat one of them for the first time just a couple of years ago... 🤣
And if you liked that opening, I'd just like to point out that this game predates the Independence Day movie by about four years.
First of all, NintendoComplete, I've been a fan of you for several years now, and I get so positively, in a GOOD way, mad with you over how good you are when gaming. You absolutely killed this playthrough of Contra 3, which is beloved to me and my siblings. I end up fussin' at the TV of how good you are and that means you're doing something right! LOL! Keep up with the amazing gaming! You, the late Saikyomog, and XRavenXP are one of the best in retro gaming! Love and lovingly hate you-BlackEssence🤣
Hahaha thank you very much 😊
This is such an over the top tribute to 80s masculinity that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was clinically proven that it could cause early puberty just by playing it.
Can confirm this is true. I was 9 when this game launched and I immediately became a man. I had my midlife crisis at 20.
My voice dropped an entire octave the first time I played Contra 3.
Broke: video game causes violence
Woke: video games causes puberty
As a kid, I couldn't beat this game without having the Game Genie because I frequently died in this game.
I think it was legally required of every player to strike that pose at 3:28
Something tells me that Bill is going to take a long nap after this
Never finished it, was too hard for me. Especially last levels. How do I know? Because later, with internet, I suddenly recognized I died on the last bosses. So technically I almost finished this game.
Still prefer Contra Hard Corps. Thank you for great walkthrough as usual!
0:37 Looks like a demon, doesn't look like an alien.
what makes u think those 2 types of entities are any different!
I got this game as a Christmas present sometime ago... I need to start playing at some point!
What?! What are you waiting for dude? This is the best Contra game ever. Get on that quick.
@@AltairEgo1 Affirm! I'll jump on it ASAP.
@@vgaoct91 yeah, attack aggressively!
Best contra and run n' gun period. I still remember when I was obsessed with speedrunning this game and clocking in between 10-15 mins on hard with my playthroughs. I seriously cant wait for Operation Caluga!
That's ridiculous haha, but nice! I don't think I've ever even come close to finishing it in that time.
You must be an absolute beast on extreme mode in Galuga then.
I remember getting this game in '92, just after my eighth birthday. I was so blown away by just how incredibly gritty & bad-ass this game was! I deeply loved both Contra & Super C on NES, but this game absolutely took it to the highest level of intensity that I've appreciated my whole gaming life.
Between the incredibly dark, apocalyptic visuals and the atmospheric masterpiece of a soundtrack, this game truly is a standout legend of the 90's gaming era!
I really hope Konami brings Super C, Contra III & Contra Hardcore back like they did the original with Operation Galuga remake (an absolute must-get for every fan of the series). Playing original formula with modern graphics & controls is a dream come true for this 40-year-old, kid-at-heart Contra mega-fan! 🤘🏻
One of brother and ours favorites! Ordered it blind in the mail from those old funco mail order lists!
I all ways loved this contra series I remember watching my brother and his friends play it and I still like the contra series
One of my favorite games as a kid, even though I couldn't get past the third level!
Best Contra ever!
Definitely one of the top five greatest games of my childhood right there with turok evolution for the GameCube fall breakers for PlayStation 1 Jade emperor original Xbox all these games for the greatest cult classics of gaming history
This game is a masterpiece. Everything in it is excellent. It is the best Contra game I ever played. To the people who say Hard Corps is better, I say b***, please.
The soundtrack is the one with most "epicness" released on the SNES, and the 4th stage is the most action packed stage in the history of videogames, since you start shooting at enemies on a motorcycle, jump to a helicopter and finish on a freaking rocket going after the last ones getting away.
If the 90's was the decade of things "extreme", Contra III is the game that defines that decade.
Totally agree with you about Hard Corps. It's a good game, but I don't like it nearly as much as this, pretty much like how I prefer CV4 over Bloodlines.
Yep, Contra III is orders of magnitude above and beyond Hard Corps, as in essentially every SNES vs. Genesis comparison. Personally though, much as I love this one, I still think it is my third favorite, behind the two NES games.
@@isd8894Well, to be fair, Contra NES is legendary. So it's a perfectly fine choice. Super C was pretty fun too.
Hard Corps is an awesome game but this is a bit better. Hard Corps can look a bit ugly at times even if it does have some amazing effects for a Genesis game.
I don't know what all the hype was about before. For a few years we had everyone saying "Hardcorps good, Contra III bad, me no like mode 7". Now people are coming around again after playing more Contra games, and realizing that Hardcorps core gameplay and level design is not particularly comparable to standard Contra gameplay loops.
So those who really liked the platforming, meatier levels, and not having aim lock that needs to be toggled off, probably came back to Hardcorps and realized, it's not much of a Contra game at all. It's its own thing. Nothing wrong with that, but I want the classic Contra experience.
If I want a game with only boss battles, I'll play Chaos Field.
But yeah, Blazing Chrome is everything Hardcorps should have been. If it had been designed like that, I'd be more inclined to say it's on the same level as Contra 3. Because Blazing Chrome was an incredible game. Weapons, the controls and movesets. Not having to play it on a 6 faced controller with no shoulder buttons, the graphics, music, everything in it is awesome.
Jesus, this is the most ballsy style of playing I've ever seen, in probably any video game, ever. It's like a half hour of someone going "ehhh, I have enough time to keep shooting".
This was the very first game I owned on the Super Nintendo!
Hard as nails game but man is it fun. Holy crud, you did great on the final boss! 😦
Thanks! That boss is so f'ing hard. You can get totally screwed with some of those attacks it pulls out.
@@NintendoComplete Yeah.. Searle, and Emperor Gava by proxy are real pieces of work... I wish I was as talented as you!
@@bruzzunathtuchThanks 😊
It's not "LET'S ATTACK AGGRESSIVELY!!" but more like "ˡᵉᵗ'ˢ ᵃᵗᵗᵃᶜᵏ ᵃᵍᵍʳᵉˢˢᶦᵛᵉˡʸ"
It's time for revenge!
Such a good game! This and X-Com where my favorites when i was young. Still play them to this day! :)
That epic opening, with the city being razed, and the alien head in the sky, with the eerie whine is still seared in my brain. I remember watching "Independence Day" in the theater, with the scene of the same thing happening to the White House; being scandalized, and loudly blurting out "They stole that from Contra 3!"
This game has the same replay value as the first game on NES. This is absolutely one of the most phenomenal games of all time. I used to be able to end this game on HARD MODE on my own but I can't do it anymore. Truly an engaging game, I wish the SNES would have did better with the DOUBLE DRAGON GAME. Double Dragon 2 on NES is one of my all time favorite 2 player beat'em up games and there never was a better sequel after that one, SADLY!
18:40 i dont even know this feature exist
Dark Souls: i have the most difficult bosses.
Contra III: Alien Wars: Bitch please.
That konami intro 🙃!! Memories in México i used to play in the snes
The art style in this game is so metal slug-ish
The Images of our Heroes at the end of EVERY stage are the Merriam Webster Definition of Glamour Shots.
*That is exactly what they just are.*
22:00 I see where Scorn got their ideas from lol thats litterally their main protagonist
Just in time for the new Contra game coming out later this year, huh?
Huh? Which one?
@@romad6963 Contra: Operation Galuga.
I am proud that i am probably the only 15 year old in this generation to beat Contra 3 on Hard
This game is really good but I feel that the short length really holds it back- especially in comparison to it’s successor, Hard Corps, which fires on all cylinders in every aspect. What a batshit insane game Hard Corps is…
Except the damned Jungle Stage, and that boss you chase down a corridor that takes forever to arrive at it's final destination, and finally take damage. For some reason the devs took a game where other stages had high intensity, and absolutely lowered it for that level. It's like that level doesn't fit in with the rest of the game at all.
The most impressive thing in this run is that you picked the S-L combination instead of the C-H or maybe C-C. I never pick the Laser power-up in this game.
I rarely use laser. Guess he wants to mix things up. It is at the very least a high damage weapon.
this would give a modern child nightmares
I finally finished Contra 3 The Alien Wars today which is the hard move/true ending version! Oh my god, this video game was gorgeous, emotional, wonderful and amazing!!!!!!!!! The ending was amazing!!!!!!!!! After wiping out the alien and final alien yucky nasty vomit brain!!!!!!!!! Both Bill and Lance has saved the world from the alien war invasion and saved all the citizens!!!!!!!!! Contra 3 The Alien Wars was an masterpiece!!!!!!!!! Thank you Contra 3 The Alien Wars for being one of the best 2D Platformer video games I have ever played along with Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Celeste, Pizza Tower and SANABI!!!!!!!!! Thank you Contra 3 The Alien Wars goodbye and farewell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Some bosses look inspired by final bosses from NES Contra, but take 10,000 times as many bullets to kill
Amazing this one hasn't been done yet. One of my favorites as a kid, if only I knew to mash the shoulder buttons to make the spinning against the stage 5 boss more bearable I'd have probably been able to beat it on Hard back then.
It took me forever to figure that out too
Nice moves, kid. Nice moves.
9:30
Toughest mini-boss ever!
Too unpredictable with a very limited opportunity to attack.
Always lost everything here on hard mode.
The toughest part in Hard mode for this boss is that it can continue to move vertically up and down to home in on you when its moving in with its drills. It can't do this in lower difficulties, if I recall correctly. It requires a lot more planning in where to climb to determine a safe spot since you need to account for all the extra space.
The Flamethrower is the only decent weapon during the climb at 8:45.
Owned it, played the living crap out of it.
This may be a shock to everyone, But I actually downloaded this game via the Wii virtual console as I was curious to see how this game stands since not many people nearly praise this or put it in line with contra and super c on nes, but I say this game easily stands tall with the nes games. I love how you can switch 2 weapons *2 spread guns baby 😎😎* the music is honestly my personal favorite on the snes, all of it was original music *the final stage in particular 😍 what a way to end things with a bang* the controls are tight and responsive from running to even jump and shoot both of your weapons, plus the line "let's attack aggressively" never left my mind 😍🙏 I say this is was a great start point for me, contra and super c on nes are great, but contra 3 i feel rises up next to next to them, weird however there is no konami code here *thank goodness for farming spots to rack up on lives*
The Japanese version has codes, all removed from the US release.
You cheese the baddies with that flamethrower
Damn.
Thanks for the childhood memories, I like the fact you died a couple times makes it much more realistic to actual gameplay back in those days.
Let's attack aggressively!🥰
This game creeped me out as a kid so I can't beat it. I only enjoy watching grown ups beating this.
Always had trouble with this game only made it to the 3rd level. Your good
The best Contra.
Not to brag, but I finally beat this game on hard. No spirits, just the western one. I had to up the lives to 7 though. No Konami code, 2 lives to spare on Searle.
This game is tough as nails.
Contra and Super C on the NES and Contra III on SNES are shooter genre perfection! The 2-player cooperative gameplay was a game changer, too. Contra Hard Corps on Sega Genesis was also a worthy installment in the series. Sadly, the subsequent Contra games on the more powerful systems after the 16-bit era fell short in my opinion. If they just stuck to the proven Contra formula & suped-up the graphics these next gen systems were capable of, it would've been great.
Nice gameplay.
The game was so fun playing with friends back then😂 we barely could beat the second level
I prefer *_"Hard Corps"_* for Sega Genesis, but *_"Contra 3"_* still rules.
The Jungle stage kind of ruins it for me, especially that boss you chase down a corridor, having to avoid it for so long before you can finally damage it. Drags down the pacing of a game that otherwise blazes by (Stage 1 set the tone that should've been the entire game). The story also became more anime like, considering the first 3 games prior, Contra, Super C, and Contra III seem more film like in how they were presented.
Otherwise as someone who owns both Contra 3 and Hard Corp, both are a nice challenge, but can be quite the bear for more inexperienced players, especially those that don't know about Hard Corps slide move that will save their life more often than not.
I'm playing this game RIGHT NOW ‼️
2636 AD. They were sure as hell not going to let this game setting become dated by that 200X crap.
Hell movies do it too. Terminator's date in the "future" is 2030. Honestly think Contra makes a better terminator than most terminator films.
28:13 similar to the game Metal Slug 6 but it falls!!?
Looks like they capitalized on the popularity of Terminator 2, Aliens, & Predator films of the day!
It feels a LOT less like „LET’S ATTACK AGRESSIVELY!!!!”, and more like „Let’s Attack. And agressively too.”.
I seldom made it past level 2 without my older brother. It was too hard and my brain couldn't comprehend it. lol
Hardest Game
this is absolutely bonkers. This game is like all the acid and demons communing in gleeful satanic alien splendour on fire, drinking brain slurries
A classic for sure.
Along with Mario World and Super Ghouls n Ghosts, this was the best SNES title.
1 of the best games!❤
Soundtrack still epic
how do you switch between the 2 guns
This is absolutely impossible where I play very hard like before!!!!!!!!
that was a hard game. I can't get past the boss at 10:30. Looks like you need the flamethrower. A game with absolutely 0% degree of failure required.
Oh the memories!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Sorry I forgot what does 2a and 2b stand for
Could never beat this game. You make it look easy 😂
I don’t know if that game will come to Nintendo switch online.
I always thought having robots in germany instead of the soldiers was stupid...also the change of the name's game into Probotector. But hell.....does the NTSC version have lags. I swear the PAL version runs way smoother. Especially the fight against the wall crawler.
Well done and thanks for the upload. I used to play this 2player with a work mate during our lunch break, but we never beat the brain 🧠 at 25 mins. It was hard but we had some much fun🥲 i didn't realise we were so close to the end. I haven't seen or heard from the guy (knicknamed the Groganator) in maybe 15-18 years but together on our lunch breaks we beat double dragon, turtles in time, golden axe 1-3, streets of rage 1-2, but could only get to the final boss on Sof3, and got our arses thoroughly kicked by Battle toads with DD.
But that's enough of my trip down a fond memory lane.🥹
The series that tells you to never stop shooting, and they ABSOLUTELY MEAN IT! This game turns boys into men, probably women too if they play it too much.
came here because i'm too bad to actually get past the second level
Beat this in 2 player mode, my buddy and I were in perfect sync 😂
The gun is so cool
4:50 7:07 12:39 16:56 19:30
Why does this game only have six levels?!
I forgot how much i hated/loved this game. Especially those top down levels.
Finally, a victory pose! If you played this game, it's a cardinal rule😂 4:48
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Whos here because of Angery Nerd? ..FK YAHHH..😮😮😮😮😊😊😊❤❤❤❤😅
I'm sure I've already watched your video of this game...
TL;DR - They attacked aggressively.