It is important to keep in mind that while the game is way way easier with the Spread Shot, if you ever lose it, none of the things shown in this video are even close to being as quick and easy without it. So anyone playing this for the first time might benefit from knowing what to do without the Spread Shot.
@@numetalinkin It really is almost that level. You go from killing a boss in 3 seconds to struggling to avoid all the little skitterers and trying to get a couple shots in on the boss here and there.
You can also use the laser and kill almost everything with 2 shots; however they have to be charged (holding the button) so good luck trying to pull that off while dodging fire from everywhere
Contra is very easy as long as you have the spreadshot. Die in the wrong place and it's a different story. Still very doable, but a lot more difficult.
Shotgun for the win. I think it's the most legendary powerup in gaming. Ever. :D Still bewildered some people actually like the laser... But hey, to each their own.
"It's so easy your grandma could beat it." Funny you should say that. I used to play this co-op with my grandma when I was a little kid! Good memories. ✌
My piano teacher was the only adult I knew who played video games back in the 80's and I remember being so impressed with the fact that she beat Zelda 2.
My Uncle beat this game in the late 80's along with many others( kid Icarus. r-type, metroid, total recall) . He was not a genius but definitely gifted. One thing he always told me is that most games usually have a few tricks that you have to use to your advantage.
R-type was hard as hell, that's impressive. I beat this one tho only using the 30 lives code. Finished Metroid in two days, Castlevania 3 in two days, but I think the one I was most proud of finishing was TMNT, that thing took about a year to finally get through. Saw Ryu finishing TMNT and it took me right back.
I feel immortal today. My 8 year old watched me beat it without dying. She was amazed, but she said no one would believe her at school that dad beat contra without dying.
You know what's really awesome? The fact that kids are STILL talking about games that many of us grew up with! We had some of the best games in the '80s and '90s, so much so that they have had a positive and long-lasting impact on generations of gamers!
@@AboveEmAllProduction So you don't don't think parents of the big video game boom generation wouldn't show their children the games they used to play? On top of that you don't think they could have possibly seen this game on their Nintendo Switch, since it's on the virtual console? It's a bold statement you made, but it was an ignorant one, too.
I've played the heck out of this and the sequel. So some advice, sometimes it is good to stop firing or slowing down how fast you're firing. A good example is at 14:25. The game has a limit to how many bullets can be on the screen, so firing too fast only gives you a partial spread. Slowing your firing speed can give your full spread shot back, which would've helped you hit the enemies. The R power up increases bullet speed. I don't know if it works on all weapons, but I can assure you it works on the most important weapon of all, the spread shot. It's important because of the bullets on screen limitation, so always grab that R!
extra tips: do not stand directly underneath the arms in stage 3. if you don't kill the arms fast enough they will try to reach you, which they can't, but a projectile can fire while that happens which can definitely kill you. the shields that block the weak points in the POV stage can be broken even in ducking position so it's even more important to duck. for the final boss it can be cheesed even easier - kill the bottom two pods and then run against the boss and shoot+hold diagonal and you can't die, and all your spread shots will always connect
Man, Ryu ran through this one like it was nothing! Yeah, the spread shot always is the way to go in Contra as it rips through everything. I think some of sequels introduced the homing shot which I found to be a good alternative as well. I didn't realize some of the bosses in this game were that pathetic. Must be like a Konami tradition? 😅
This game is much harder than he made it out to be. When you've played it a lot and know the levels, you will eventually get the spread gun and hold onto it, and then yes, a lot of the game is easy. However, if you get hit once you're dead, and then you lose the spread and the R upgrades. At that point the game is MUCH harder.
Yeah, when I played through the game my first time (with the Konami Code on a phone emulator, but still), I was surprised with how many bosses I was overall able to take down first try. Then again, I had the spread shot on me, somehow I managed to keep it for some a these bosses.
I recommend running through a few times with the 30 lives code. At first you may even need to use a continue, but as you memorize the locations of the enemies and powerups and get into the groove of things you'll be beating it with lives to spare. Then you can take the training wheels off and play for real.
@@R0B3RTP4UL50N I second that. But its also the most addicting. Would absolutely love a remake of Contra 1 or Super C in it as a rom hack since the final boss of both are present haha.
the heck? It's much easier. I say this as someone who has regularly beat both games without cheating, including 3 on hard. Maybe you rely on the spread gun too much? I personally find the spread gun to be one of the worst in 3.
@Don1103 i own super C still, i dunno if its easier or harder than contra 1 because I like it and played it much more, but its certainly harder than 3. One thing I like about super C is that the F weapon goes from the absolute worst to the best (AVGN couldnt figure out it shoots a bigger, stronger ball if you hold the button and let go for just a half-second)
I remember not even being able to beat this game WITH the 30-lives code, lol. I loved video games but never had great hand-eye coordination. When I beat a game in those days it was just out of sheer tenacity.
People are always confused about the "R"/"Rapid" item. It doesn't speed up your rate of fire, it makes the projectiles from your current weapons move more quickly across the screen. That way, you don't run into the sprite limit as often, and you can just keep firing with no "blank" rounds. Most noticeable with the spread shot. And if you get a different weapon, the speed resets and you'll need another "R".
The real challenge to this game is to keep playing the loops after you beat the final boss. Your score maxes out at 6,553,500 after that your score just stays the same no matter how many enemies you shoot. This takes about 3 hours and with each loop the game will add more enemy soldiers running at you and they will shoot at you more often. Also, after you reach 3million points the game no longer gives you extra lives except for when you kill the final boss.
Love your channel man. Love this series too! I started watching you on Shorts doing the hard Mario maker levels. Now I'm following you here. Great content!!!!
@@anonamatron Right on, I hear ya. I was thinking since he did do Ninja Gaiden, which is pretty hard it might make some sense. In these cases its a bit more of a tutorial than a total "debunking" I suppose. Maybe not as many "tricks" in Castlevania as Ninja Gaiden. Cheers.
Kudos, man. I only beat it once with the Konami Code... on a phone emulator. The touch screen sucks, but it's not like that's what prevented me from burning in 27 lives into the game before beating the final boss. Still, it was really fun, so that's what matters at the end of the day, right? With practice, I may be able to beat it with just the lives the game gives ya, some day. I mean, it's far from being the toughest game to beat after all.
@@arielperez797 have tried it once or twice! The style is honestly fantastic, and it looks really cool! The bosses especially look badass! Haven't gotten that much into it yet though. There's other games I'm setting my sights on.
I like how this series shows the best route to beat the games. So maybe a spin-off to show the more "casual" routes would be fun too (if you die, if you lose items, etc)
the best debunking yet! this game introduced me to the konami code as a child, and i still only just managed to beat it with 30 lives, and ryu just one-shot blasted through it like it was a little timmy endless easy stage. i had no idea you could cheese so much of this game like that! some of those jumps are still anxiety inducing, and you are *definitely* screwed if you ever do die and lose your spread shot at a crucial time, but this game looks a lot more doable now. (i also didn't know that the R power-ups stacked? all these years, and not until today did anyone bother telling me such a valuable piece of information...)
Not sure Ryu will ever try Doom II on ultraviolence difficulty (1994 version) but Doom II is pretty difficult if you haven't memorized maps, monster locations, monster spawns, trap rooms, etc. and most importantly no save scumming (allowed 1 save at beginning of each level). Then there is nightmare difficulty on Doom (1993) and Doom II, but that is meant to be near impossible. Still could be entertaining to see how far you can get.
I'm forever thankful for this series. I've been grinding Contra lately, and I used to always need to use the Konami code. I now can finish Contra with only 3 deaths. Working on doing it without dying still, though. Getting there!
Love this series, Ryu. Thanks for making these beloved classics feel more accessible to everyone. 💜 Would love to see a part 2 someday where you play the game as many times as you can!
I really love this series! I remember a game that was very difficult from my childhood. It was called Wrath of the Black Manta for the NES. You should definitely give it a shot.
This was one of the games that I got with the NES back then. With the code I got though it rather easily. It was also something I would keep pulling out regularly until I realized I knew the game well enough that I was not dieing at all. Wish I could still do that.
I love contra. My buddy and i once didnt turn off my snes with gradius 3 like 10 years ago, if you beat the game, it starts over with more enemies(like a few per screen), we ended up beating it 10-11 times and it started getting nuts on each restart
You SOB! haha! I remember playing this as a kid and how it just kicked my butt over and over again and you just casually go through it. All seriousness though, love the play through and the help! Keep up the great work!
As a kid, I did a challenge run where I kept playing the game over and over since it repeats when you win, until I got the 30 lives without the code. Was just kind of a fun way to prove myself.
I never thought this game was all that difficult, seeing as I got to where I could beat it without dying as a kid. Life Force was way harder to beat without using the Konami code (though that just comes to level memorization). Actually, I think this was one of Konami's easier games on the NES from the ones I recall.
I always found Life Force to be the easier of the two until I saw this video. I've beat it many times without the Konami code yet I have never beaten Contra.
@@spacetravelingcactus3450 The end of Life Force is usually where I lose my lives, at the fast part. I got like a 25% no death rate going through there, but yes, I can beat that with the 3 lives you start with. The fire level can also get me if I'm just a little off from my normal route.
@sk I think you're reading things into my comment. We all know Ryu is the only one born with the innate ability to beat specific video games in one try.
As someone who has beaten every Contra game and considers it one of their favorite games ever, this video is excellent! I do want to point out that the Laser power-up is often a good backup due to it shooting through multiple enemies at once, allowing for more safe strategies, but overall this video does a great job showing that anyone can beat Contra, something I've been saying for so long... As for a recommendation, try one of the Mega Man games. People keep overexaggerating that game's difficulty and a video like that for a Mega Man game would be great.
I think the biggest thing is the laser beams in the odd stages. If you press up at all you get zapped. Also, one of the draws of this game is its two player mode. Your partner can get you killed more than anything else by moving too fast or by lagging behind. There is also the danger of an enemy jumping at you from underneath even if they look like they can't.
I used to have this game and Life Force memorized front to back. I played Life Force again recently and got destroyed on the fire level haha. Those damn fire bursts come out of nowhere! Great video
@@mattb6522 yeah I would have said the first two but I can whip through them like nothing. Takes me an hour. However the 3rd Lolo puzzles are insane as hell. I would like to see him get through bubble Bobble easy. That boss is insane
@@diveblast7994 The Adventures of Lolo trilogy is really underrated. I haven't played them in ages, but I remember them being pretty challenging (especially the later rooms).
aww, no tagline this time. Aw well. Nice job, Ryu, as always. A game that a lot of people find very hard, but I think you could absolutely tear through if you know what you're doing is Zelda 2, sticking with NES for a little longer.
Contra is definitely one of those games where the difficulty changes depending on if it's your first or 100th time playing it. The first time will drive you nuts but once you know the power of the spread gun (Flamethrower isn't a bad backup if you get screwed on a run) and remember the layouts you can start breezing it in a couple days of trying. Though i will say red falcon's stage still gives me a w.h.u.t.a, i've gotten screwed by the "facehuggers" so many times.
@@jakoclown4175 Honestly i've gotten screwed by the default more than by F (you have to be too precise with it IMO). F works as my backup as i tend to do alot of prone and move, it's arc is about the height of anything that can come in your straight line of fire and good for close up fights (if you have to risk it). it also wrecks the boulders in the waterfalls. I usually tier my preferences as Spread, Flamethrower, Machine gun, default, then Laser (now there's a true hot garbage weapon).
Awesome series man! I love them! I beat Probotector yesterday thanks to your video😀 I know, PAL is much slower, but still😊 You should make a video about Journey To Silius. Good game and good music, but also hard.
It's only this easy with spread and playing the vertical stages with a second player is difficult because he didn't mention the camera doesn't go back down if you fall. It just becomes a bottomless pit and you die. Your teammate's progress becomes your demise lol
My favorite way to play is not just winning on one life, but to collect every power-up, even if it downgrades your weapon. It's a little trickier than it sounds, as one missed power-up is a fail. The same challenge applies to the sequel, Super C, but in that game it's even trickier because power-ups de-spawn in a short time. Also some power-ups later in the game can be rather tricky to collect (or even impossible if they are initially hit in the wrong spots.) I demonstrate the challenge in a couple vids, along with the rules in the descriptions.
It was quite a common element in games back then, especially arcade ones, with Contra itself being an arcade title originally. Basically games looping with amped up difficulty through each loop, with high scores being the main goal prior to games having actual epilogues.
it just floods the screen with more enemies and enemies shoot at you more often.... also after 3million points you no longer earn extra lives except for the extra life you get for killing the final boss. Also your score maxes out at this weird number 6,553,500 something to do with the programming, it takes about 3 hours to get this score.
@@drunclecookie216 65535 is the maximum unsigned integer that can fit into 2 bytes. The zeros must be fake (i.e. those positions are not actually stored, they are always zeros).
I wish you could have *started* the game on those highest difficulties. :P Playing through the game once in order to get a higher challenge once you can easily no-Konami-code it was tedious...
Such a great video. You should tackle stuff that is complex instead of just difficult because of enemy spam. I'm thinking Metroid and Zelda. Easy if you put the time in, but I bet people think they are really hard. Especially Zelda 2.
I remember going to the video rental store and renting this game when it was released, I think I was 8 years old then and I was hooked, addicted to this game. Good times.
You are so amazing! I've learned how to properly say Ryu from Street Fighter because of you, and now I'm learning how to beat impossible games. Thank you!
My brother and I played this game back in the day. All I remember is the first and second levels. That might say something about my abilities or both of our abilities. It was so long ago so thanks for the pointers. 16 minutes to beat Contra, pretty bad ass how you never die. That is a short game but it's definitely sweet.
Danggit Ryu...every time I watch one of these videos it makes me want to drop all of the games I'm in the middle of and go back to beat an old hard game! This one I actually have beaten, without the code, but it was 2 player. It's probably time to finally try to do it solo :)
I'm actually really enjoying this series, you just earned a new sub! One thing I want to say though, some of the tactics you use are only available to you using the spread gun, even simple things like where you stand at 2:49 to destroy the gun below you, or 2:52 to destroy one of the cannons on the right. However when you die you lose your weapon and the game instantly becomes way harder, as you have be in the line of sight of the gun to be able ti hit it. If you really wanna debunk the difficulty, use one of the worse weapons, as thats what us would be using because we died somewh ere along the way.
You shouldn't die in first place, that's the lesson to be learned here. Spreadshot makes this game really easy to clear. This isn't Contra 3 or 4 or Hard Cops... that's where this series gets actually bonkers in difficulty.
I just finished watching your vid. As much as you bragged about how easy it was, I was really surprised how many times the video got paused and footage was missing. For such a short 17 min video, I couldnt believe the amount of edits you had, Patch Adams, lol! And was that a turbo controller you used? Those spread shots were SUPER rapid.🤔
The "trolly" masher in level 7 runs on the game's global timer (as do a number of the other stage hazards - the horizontal flames in stage 6, for example (but not the vertical flames)), so the pause happens intermittently, every so often.
LOL, this is the first debunking the difficulty where I feel like the difficulty was actually debunked. The first two were like, "well it's tough as hell, but it's not impossible". Fun series. Keep it up!
Contra is one of my favorite games of all time. I got it the same day I got my NES. Back then, I relied on the Konami code to get me through but after enough practice learning enemy patterns and hazard spawns, the game is a breeze now. I will say though, as this run demonstrated, the Spread gun kind of breaks the game and makes it *significantly* easier. Trying to beat it with any of the other weapons is a much greater challenge. Some of the bosses and mini bosses take a lot more time and finesse to defeat. Still, an absolutely fantastic game that I've continued to play and enjoy for over 30 years. What a masterpiece!
i played this game a ton back in the days before the internet and when i started hearing that it's a difficult game i couldn't believe it because i'd casually beat the game without even dying once so i never understood where the difficulity is
Important note: spread shot has a bullets on screen limit. If you want to get full width spread, hold fire for a moment to let bullets leave the screen. On the other hand, keeping up a stream is generally better for directing fire in the critical forward and backward directions, so it's almost always better to keep up a consistent stream so you will have at least one bullet available
New the channel, this series just randomly came up in my feed. Loving it so far! Not sure how well it'd fit with the series, but I suggest Zelda 1 for a future Debunking video :)
That mostly the only difficulty from this game, get the spreadshot or struggle. That why i consider this game unbalanced since the whole game is design around 1 gun being broken XD
You made this game look easy but that was mostly because you were using Spread Shot. But how does the game play when a rogue bullet hits you, causing you to lose Spread? Would like to see how a Spreadless run works.
I was in a video game store the other day and this was an option to play on one of the knock off NES. I started playing and a couple of people said how hard this game was. I went on to beat the game only losing one life and that was due to the awful control that couldn't handle me jumping up the waterfall. I do remember being a little kid and being unable to beat the first stage even with the 30 life code. I can also beat SuperC without losing a life. If you know the patterns its easy. And it's like riding a bike, you don't forget it.
There was a game i never beat as a kid called ''DinoCity'' for the SNES, idk if its hard enough for this serie but its a pretty cool game, so try it out if you can
Scattershot with rapid fire and the turbo function on the MAX controller is OP AF. There's some strange dynamic where instead of being a scatter shot it starts to fire almost all the shots into a straight line just destroying everything in it's wake. I could easily beat this game with one life when I was a kid using the MAX.
If I remember correct there is a limit to how many projectiles can be on the screen at the same time and in addition the projectile in the middle has a higher priority, thus if you are firing fast enough any other projectile of the scattershot gets replaced by a new middle one. We can see that in the video multiple times when Ryu is firing too fast with the enemies at a distance. At 14:48 his bottom projectile despawns multiple right before it would hit, because he is firing too fast.
I sometimes get killed by a standard "football gear" soldier in waterfall or snowfield when they're running in or firing after just coming on screen. They're the most dangerous enemy because they're the least predictable. The only other real threat in the game is accidentally picking up an inferior weapon. It's doable without the code with machine gun or laser. Easy to beat perfect run no-death with the spread. I don't think I could do it with fire or standard weapon
Thanks for this video! Strangely, I've always sucked at video games but I mastered Contra pretty quickly. Maybe it was because it was one of the small amount of games I had as a kid lol.
I remember playing this with my cousins as a kid. I would troll my younger cousins and leave them behind during the Waterfall stage. lol If you keep climbing up that stage, you end up leaving them do their death. Despite this game being difficult, the thing that I remember about this game was the awesome 8-bit soundtrack was so memorable. My favorite were the Energy Zone and Alien's Lair theme. Of course, we can't also forget the awesome run n gun 2D platforming gameplay! You basically felt like a badass one man army taking on an entire legion and alien horde armed with your gun. The Konami code is also the most memorable thing about this game which gives 30 lives.
I've always been more of a Super C player and have barely played the first one. But this DEFINITELY confirms that Super C is much harder than the original.
@Ryu really loving the content!! I've been a fan since AGDQ 2019, you're my fav UA-camr. Can't wait to see you play Sekiro, in my eyes the hardest of the SoulsBorne franchise. Keep up the good vids!
The most dangerous enemy in Contra is Player 2 during the Waterfall stage, jumping too early and offscreening your ass.
Good times I use to laugh so hard when I did that to my little brother.
Hahaha
That's the same thing I was thinking!
ikr there's a reason ryu isn't playing two player contra loooool
Truth
It is important to keep in mind that while the game is way way easier with the Spread Shot, if you ever lose it, none of the things shown in this video are even close to being as quick and easy without it. So anyone playing this for the first time might benefit from knowing what to do without the Spread Shot.
What I learned is: if you lose the spread, restart, consider it game over.
@@numetalinkin It really is almost that level. You go from killing a boss in 3 seconds to struggling to avoid all the little skitterers and trying to get a couple shots in on the boss here and there.
You can also use the laser and kill almost everything with 2 shots; however they have to be charged (holding the button) so good luck trying to pull that off while dodging fire from everywhere
Yeah I preferred the laser shot for lile 75% of the levels. Spread is awesome but laser wrecks and can be quick cast hitting at short range
I used rapid machine gun or rapid spread...game over...
The real difficulty of Contra is playing with a friend. You won't be friends by the end 😂
Yeah, my cousin still talks about being scarred for life due to playing Contra with me when we were kids
Family is worse.
I'm a little ashamed to admit....i divorced my wife over a game of Mario Party.
@@arielperez797 lmao
@@arielperez797 hahah
Contra is very easy as long as you have the spreadshot. Die in the wrong place and it's a different story. Still very doable, but a lot more difficult.
Debunking the difficulty - Contra (NES)
It’s far from “very easy”, come on dude. Spreadshot makes it way easier, but it’s still tough
@@giovannitigalo7011 spreadshot literally is a free win as long as you take it easy and don't risk
Shotgun for the win. I think it's the most legendary powerup in gaming. Ever. :D
Still bewildered some people actually like the laser... But hey, to each their own.
"It's so easy your grandma could beat it."
Funny you should say that. I used to play this co-op with my grandma when I was a little kid! Good memories. ✌
❤️
Cool grandma
My piano teacher was the only adult I knew who played video games back in the 80's and I remember being so impressed with the fact that she beat Zelda 2.
My Uncle beat this game in the late 80's along with many others( kid Icarus. r-type, metroid, total recall) . He was not a genius but definitely gifted. One thing he always told me is that most games usually have a few tricks that you have to use to your advantage.
Good advice. Especially with older games, most have built in tricks and difficulty exploits if you just look for them
R-type was hard as hell, that's impressive. I beat this one tho only using the 30 lives code. Finished Metroid in two days, Castlevania 3 in two days, but I think the one I was most proud of finishing was TMNT, that thing took about a year to finally get through. Saw Ryu finishing TMNT and it took me right back.
Impressive . This was before the internet so guides were hard to come by
@@CharlieSoze castlevania 3 is a lot easier using the 10 lives name code
@@CharlieSoze He grew up on and had every atari system. I really think those atari games were like a pre-requisite to his NES success.
This new series you're doing is awesome.
I completely agree
Agreed!
@@MrDylan232 yes sir
I’ve discovered your channel due to this series this week, I’m really enjoying your content!
You might also like the extraordinarily hard games series from his main channel:
ua-cam.com/play/PLIX4i9q7ydDT007jwizoeXYTCxAFQN4JB.html
@@joegoodman8213 thanks I'll check it out!
I feel immortal today. My 8 year old watched me beat it without dying. She was amazed, but she said no one would believe her at school that dad beat contra without dying.
You know what's really awesome? The fact that kids are STILL talking about games that many of us grew up with! We had some of the best games in the '80s and '90s, so much so that they have had a positive and long-lasting impact on generations of gamers!
I strongly doubt an 8 year old would be discussing contra at school
@@DemureDave no 8 year old on the planet knows what contra is, sorry to burst your bucket
@@AboveEmAllProduction So you don't don't think parents of the big video game boom generation wouldn't show their children the games they used to play? On top of that you don't think they could have possibly seen this game on their Nintendo Switch, since it's on the virtual console? It's a bold statement you made, but it was an ignorant one, too.
@@DemureDave no I don't think, "insert whatever you said here"
I've played the heck out of this and the sequel. So some advice, sometimes it is good to stop firing or slowing down how fast you're firing. A good example is at 14:25. The game has a limit to how many bullets can be on the screen, so firing too fast only gives you a partial spread. Slowing your firing speed can give your full spread shot back, which would've helped you hit the enemies.
The R power up increases bullet speed. I don't know if it works on all weapons, but I can assure you it works on the most important weapon of all, the spread shot. It's important because of the bullets on screen limitation, so always grab that R!
contra's perfect because it's challenging but also totally fair
Say no to the great Reset
extra tips:
do not stand directly underneath the arms in stage 3. if you don't kill the arms fast enough they will try to reach you, which they can't, but a projectile can fire while that happens which can definitely kill you.
the shields that block the weak points in the POV stage can be broken even in ducking position so it's even more important to duck.
for the final boss it can be cheesed even easier - kill the bottom two pods and then run against the boss and shoot+hold diagonal and you can't die, and all your spread shots will always connect
Man, Ryu ran through this one like it was nothing! Yeah, the spread shot always is the way to go in Contra as it rips through everything. I think some of sequels introduced the homing shot which I found to be a good alternative as well.
I didn't realize some of the bosses in this game were that pathetic. Must be like a Konami tradition? 😅
I wanna see him beat it with the default shot, then we'll talk.
They're designed to be beatable by kid using the default gun. Of course adult using S gun will blow through it
The spread shot is OP. A lot of those easy bosses would be much harder, or at least trickier, with the other weapons.
This game is much harder than he made it out to be. When you've played it a lot and know the levels, you will eventually get the spread gun and hold onto it, and then yes, a lot of the game is easy.
However, if you get hit once you're dead, and then you lose the spread and the R upgrades. At that point the game is MUCH harder.
Yeah, when I played through the game my first time (with the Konami Code on a phone emulator, but still), I was surprised with how many bosses I was overall able to take down first try.
Then again, I had the spread shot on me, somehow I managed to keep it for some a these bosses.
Excellent editing. That was what this series needed. Primo! 👍
I recommend running through a few times with the 30 lives code. At first you may even need to use a continue, but as you memorize the locations of the enemies and powerups and get into the groove of things you'll be beating it with lives to spare. Then you can take the training wheels off and play for real.
I'm somewhat (not really) glad to say that while I did use the Konami Code on my very first run of Contra, I did beat it without using continues.
I completed this game with infinite lives just to see how this game looks and boy I wanna do it legit someday so thanks for the video
I'd love to see you debunk the difficulty of Contra 3: The Alien Wars on SNES, which personally I think is much harder.
It's WAY harder
@@R0B3RTP4UL50N I second that.
But its also the most addicting. Would absolutely love a remake of Contra 1 or Super C in it as a rom hack since the final boss of both are present haha.
I first playrd contra 3 when I was 13.... didnt beat it til I was 24.
the heck? It's much easier. I say this as someone who has regularly beat both games without cheating, including 3 on hard. Maybe you rely on the spread gun too much? I personally find the spread gun to be one of the worst in 3.
@Don1103 i own super C still, i dunno if its easier or harder than contra 1 because I like it and played it much more, but its certainly harder than 3.
One thing I like about super C is that the F weapon goes from the absolute worst to the best (AVGN couldnt figure out it shoots a bigger, stronger ball if you hold the button and let go for just a half-second)
I remember not even being able to beat this game WITH the 30-lives code, lol. I loved video games but never had great hand-eye coordination. When I beat a game in those days it was just out of sheer tenacity.
People are always confused about the "R"/"Rapid" item. It doesn't speed up your rate of fire, it makes the projectiles from your current weapons move more quickly across the screen. That way, you don't run into the sprite limit as often, and you can just keep firing with no "blank" rounds. Most noticeable with the spread shot. And if you get a different weapon, the speed resets and you'll need another "R".
I bring this game to spend the night at my best friend's house. We wake up in the morning to find his Dad red eyed and still playing this joint.
The real challenge to this game is to keep playing the loops after you beat the final boss. Your score maxes out at 6,553,500 after that your score just stays the same no matter how many enemies you shoot. This takes about 3 hours and with each loop the game will add more enemy soldiers running at you and they will shoot at you more often. Also, after you reach 3million points the game no longer gives you extra lives except for when you kill the final boss.
Love your channel man. Love this series too! I started watching you on Shorts doing the hard Mario maker levels. Now I'm following you here. Great content!!!!
Contra is an absolute gem, most definitely my favorite NES game of all time.
Another great video. Thank you. Really looking forward to you doing Castlevania. That's one I've been progressing on for a while.
@@anonamatron Right on, I hear ya. I was thinking since he did do Ninja Gaiden, which is pretty hard it might make some sense. In these cases its a bit more of a tutorial than a total "debunking" I suppose. Maybe not as many "tricks" in Castlevania as Ninja Gaiden. Cheers.
I once beat this game without losing a single life...that's how much I played it
Nice
Kudos, man. I only beat it once with the Konami Code... on a phone emulator. The touch screen sucks, but it's not like that's what prevented me from burning in 27 lives into the game before beating the final boss. Still, it was really fun, so that's what matters at the end of the day, right?
With practice, I may be able to beat it with just the lives the game gives ya, some day. I mean, it's far from being the toughest game to beat after all.
@@Mike14264 hey still pretty good man specially since the on screen controls are wonky. Ever tried metal slugs?
@@arielperez797 have tried it once or twice! The style is honestly fantastic, and it looks really cool! The bosses especially look badass! Haven't gotten that much into it yet though. There's other games I'm setting my sights on.
@@Mike14264 gotcha. Ok so at least you've played it lol. No problem good luck with your gaming. What games you got in mind btw?
Man a tear fall from my eye once i saw the notification of the video
It's just incredible how long the time passes since we were kids
love this game. played it many times over the years. its challenging, yet fun!
Shote Gun Gentry 30S
I love this new series you're doing and I LOVE Contra, been playing since I was four. Now do Super C!
I like how this series shows the best route to beat the games. So maybe a spin-off to show the more "casual" routes would be fun too (if you die, if you lose items, etc)
the best debunking yet! this game introduced me to the konami code as a child, and i still only just managed to beat it with 30 lives, and ryu just one-shot blasted through it like it was a little timmy endless easy stage. i had no idea you could cheese so much of this game like that! some of those jumps are still anxiety inducing, and you are *definitely* screwed if you ever do die and lose your spread shot at a crucial time, but this game looks a lot more doable now.
(i also didn't know that the R power-ups stacked? all these years, and not until today did anyone bother telling me such a valuable piece of information...)
Not sure Ryu will ever try Doom II on ultraviolence difficulty (1994 version) but Doom II is pretty difficult if you haven't memorized maps, monster locations, monster spawns, trap rooms, etc. and most importantly no save scumming (allowed 1 save at beginning of each level). Then there is nightmare difficulty on Doom (1993) and Doom II, but that is meant to be near impossible. Still could be entertaining to see how far you can get.
I'm forever thankful for this series. I've been grinding Contra lately, and I used to always need to use the Konami code. I now can finish Contra with only 3 deaths. Working on doing it without dying still, though. Getting there!
Thank you, Ryu! I asked for this last week and you play it 6 days later!
Love this series, Ryu. Thanks for making these beloved classics feel more accessible to everyone. 💜
Would love to see a part 2 someday where you play the game as many times as you can!
I really love this series! I remember a game that was very difficult from my childhood. It was called Wrath of the Black Manta for the NES. You should definitely give it a shot.
This was one of the games that I got with the NES back then. With the code I got though it rather easily. It was also something I would keep pulling out regularly until I realized I knew the game well enough that I was not dieing at all. Wish I could still do that.
I love contra. My buddy and i once didnt turn off my snes with gradius 3 like 10 years ago, if you beat the game, it starts over with more enemies(like a few per screen), we ended up beating it 10-11 times and it started getting nuts on each restart
I've actually made it through this game once without any deaths. Played it so much I knew where everything was and where the enemy was coming from
😂 you right. I have too. Even with a partner an letting them borrow lives.
I remember playing this in the 90's, damnnnn I cant how easy some of these bosses are LOL
Yeah after trial and error you got it..
I watched someone do it when I was a little kid. He even died by mistake early and restarted. A very early gaming memory
Yeah I didn’t have many friends growing up either hahaha I’m just jokin
You SOB! haha! I remember playing this as a kid and how it just kicked my butt over and over again and you just casually go through it. All seriousness though, love the play through and the help! Keep up the great work!
I’m having such a blast with this series! And if you’d be up for it, I’d love to see you tackle a Debunking the Difficulty episode for DuckTales!
I've been playing Contra recently so this was a nice surprise!
Your look at the camera is the perfect "See? Pathetic" face.
As a kid, I did a challenge run where I kept playing the game over and over since it repeats when you win, until I got the 30 lives without the code. Was just kind of a fun way to prove myself.
I never thought this game was all that difficult, seeing as I got to where I could beat it without dying as a kid. Life Force was way harder to beat without using the Konami code (though that just comes to level memorization). Actually, I think this was one of Konami's easier games on the NES from the ones I recall.
I always found Life Force to be the easier of the two until I saw this video. I've beat it many times without the Konami code yet I have never beaten Contra.
@@spacetravelingcactus3450 The end of Life Force is usually where I lose my lives, at the fast part. I got like a 25% no death rate going through there, but yes, I can beat that with the 3 lives you start with. The fire level can also get me if I'm just a little off from my normal route.
@@joegoodman8213 100% same pretty much
@sk I think you're reading things into my comment. We all know Ryu is the only one born with the innate ability to beat specific video games in one try.
Gladius was way harder than life force imo
I love this game, I always think of it along side with Bionic Commando, that should probably a good one to debunk! Great channel man!
As someone who has beaten every Contra game and considers it one of their favorite games ever, this video is excellent! I do want to point out that the Laser power-up is often a good backup due to it shooting through multiple enemies at once, allowing for more safe strategies, but overall this video does a great job showing that anyone can beat Contra, something I've been saying for so long...
As for a recommendation, try one of the Mega Man games. People keep overexaggerating that game's difficulty and a video like that for a Mega Man game would be great.
I think the biggest thing is the laser beams in the odd stages. If you press up at all you get zapped. Also, one of the draws of this game is its two player mode. Your partner can get you killed more than anything else by moving too fast or by lagging behind. There is also the danger of an enemy jumping at you from underneath even if they look like they can't.
Save and load state were also smashed that day
I used to have this game and Life Force memorized front to back. I played Life Force again recently and got destroyed on the fire level haha. Those damn fire bursts come out of nowhere! Great video
I would like to see either Bubble Bobble or Adventures of Lolo 3.
Level 57 in Bubble Bobble was always my downfall! 😭
@@mattb6522 yeah I would have said the first two but I can whip through them like nothing. Takes me an hour. However the 3rd Lolo puzzles are insane as hell. I would like to see him get through bubble Bobble easy. That boss is insane
@@diveblast7994 The Adventures of Lolo trilogy is really underrated. I haven't played them in ages, but I remember them being pretty challenging (especially the later rooms).
aww, no tagline this time. Aw well. Nice job, Ryu, as always.
A game that a lot of people find very hard, but I think you could absolutely tear through if you know what you're doing is Zelda 2, sticking with NES for a little longer.
Contra is definitely one of those games where the difficulty changes depending on if it's your first or 100th time playing it. The first time will drive you nuts but once you know the power of the spread gun (Flamethrower isn't a bad backup if you get screwed on a run) and remember the layouts you can start breezing it in a couple days of trying. Though i will say red falcon's stage still gives me a w.h.u.t.a, i've gotten screwed by the "facehuggers" so many times.
The " F " weapon is hot trash and your better off with default....lmao !
Silly man
@@jakoclown4175 Honestly i've gotten screwed by the default more than by F (you have to be too precise with it IMO). F works as my backup as i tend to do alot of prone and move, it's arc is about the height of anything that can come in your straight line of fire and good for close up fights (if you have to risk it). it also wrecks the boulders in the waterfalls. I usually tier my preferences as Spread, Flamethrower, Machine gun, default, then Laser (now there's a true hot garbage weapon).
I've only beat this with 30 lives. You flew through it!
Awesome series man! I love them! I beat Probotector yesterday thanks to your video😀 I know, PAL is much slower, but still😊
You should make a video about Journey To Silius. Good game and good music, but also hard.
One of my new favorite channels. Keep up the great work brother! 🙏💯👍
I’ve been watching him for about 6 years. Good to have you onboard. Better late than never 😅
Duck Tales and Bucky O'Hare are some super fun games you should do videos on :D
It's only this easy with spread and playing the vertical stages with a second player is difficult because he didn't mention the camera doesn't go back down if you fall. It just becomes a bottomless pit and you die. Your teammate's progress becomes your demise lol
My favorite way to play is not just winning on one life, but to collect every power-up, even if it downgrades your weapon. It's a little trickier than it sounds, as one missed power-up is a fail.
The same challenge applies to the sequel, Super C, but in that game it's even trickier because power-ups de-spawn in a short time. Also some power-ups later in the game can be rather tricky to collect (or even impossible if they are initially hit in the wrong spots.) I demonstrate the challenge in a couple vids, along with the rules in the descriptions.
I didn’t know that contra up it’s difficulty after every play through, I’d be very interested in seeing how difficult it could get.
It was quite a common element in games back then, especially arcade ones, with Contra itself being an arcade title originally. Basically games looping with amped up difficulty through each loop, with high scores being the main goal prior to games having actual epilogues.
it just floods the screen with more enemies and enemies shoot at you more often.... also after 3million points you no longer earn extra lives except for the extra life you get for killing the final boss. Also your score maxes out at this weird number 6,553,500 something to do with the programming, it takes about 3 hours to get this score.
@@drunclecookie216 65535 is the maximum unsigned integer that can fit into 2 bytes. The zeros must be fake (i.e. those positions are not actually stored, they are always zeros).
Did it 4 times in a row....no even a challenge at this point.....there no more bullet flying than at the begining
I wish you could have *started* the game on those highest difficulties. :P
Playing through the game once in order to get a higher challenge once you can easily no-Konami-code it was tedious...
Such a great video. You should tackle stuff that is complex instead of just difficult because of enemy spam. I'm thinking Metroid and Zelda. Easy if you put the time in, but I bet people think they are really hard. Especially Zelda 2.
I remember going to the video rental store and renting this game when it was released, I think I was 8 years old then and I was hooked, addicted to this game. Good times.
I think you're a good guy, Ryu.
You are so amazing! I've learned how to properly say Ryu from Street Fighter because of you, and now I'm learning how to beat impossible games. Thank you!
My brother and I played this game back in the day. All I remember is the first and second levels. That might say something about my abilities or both of our abilities. It was so long ago so thanks for the pointers. 16 minutes to beat Contra, pretty bad ass how you never die. That is a short game but it's definitely sweet.
Danggit Ryu...every time I watch one of these videos it makes me want to drop all of the games I'm in the middle of and go back to beat an old hard game! This one I actually have beaten, without the code, but it was 2 player. It's probably time to finally try to do it solo :)
little thing about the spread shot: when you fire it quickly, the pellets have a tighter grouping
We always assumed it was just the sprites glitching, but now that you say it out loud it was probably intended behavior.
I'm actually really enjoying this series, you just earned a new sub! One thing I want to say though, some of the tactics you use are only available to you using the spread gun, even simple things like where you stand at 2:49 to destroy the gun below you, or 2:52 to destroy one of the cannons on the right. However when you die you lose your weapon and the game instantly becomes way harder, as you have be in the line of sight of the gun to be able ti hit it.
If you really wanna debunk the difficulty, use one of the worse weapons, as thats what us would be using because we died somewh
ere along the way.
You shouldn't die in first place, that's the lesson to be learned here.
Spreadshot makes this game really easy to clear. This isn't Contra 3 or 4 or Hard Cops... that's where this series gets actually bonkers in difficulty.
I just finished watching your vid. As much as you bragged about how easy it was, I was really surprised how many times the video got paused and footage was missing. For such a short 17 min video, I couldnt believe the amount of edits you had, Patch Adams, lol! And was that a turbo controller you used? Those spread shots were SUPER rapid.🤔
Ryu plays claw so he's always had good mashing.
Many of his Mario shorts have controller cam for reference.
The developers ***really*** loved predator and alien.
The "trolly" masher in level 7 runs on the game's global timer (as do a number of the other stage hazards - the horizontal flames in stage 6, for example (but not the vertical flames)), so the pause happens intermittently, every so often.
Never found this game that difficult. Challenging but very fair.
debunking the diff got me to sub to u, good call. good series. good beard.
This series gets me pumped up.
Debunking the Difficulty of Contra III: The Alien Wars would be more difficult than unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics.
After watching this video and playing Contra, I've realized that I just suck at Contra.
LOL, this is the first debunking the difficulty where I feel like the difficulty was actually debunked. The first two were like, "well it's tough as hell, but it's not impossible". Fun series. Keep it up!
You should try playing it. It's a lot harder than he made it out to be.
Love this episode, thanks Ryu!
I remember playing this with my college roommate .
We beat it many times no death. Awesome game!
Contra is one of my favorite games of all time. I got it the same day I got my NES. Back then, I relied on the Konami code to get me through but after enough practice learning enemy patterns and hazard spawns, the game is a breeze now. I will say though, as this run demonstrated, the Spread gun kind of breaks the game and makes it *significantly* easier. Trying to beat it with any of the other weapons is a much greater challenge. Some of the bosses and mini bosses take a lot more time and finesse to defeat. Still, an absolutely fantastic game that I've continued to play and enjoy for over 30 years. What a masterpiece!
i played this game a ton back in the days before the internet and when i started hearing that it's a difficult game i couldn't believe it because i'd casually beat the game without even dying once so i never understood where the difficulity is
Wait this isn't the video I was waiting for on a Saturday.
8:41 The dudes come out of nowhere. From the from and from the back. You can get split roasted!🤣
Important note: spread shot has a bullets on screen limit. If you want to get full width spread, hold fire for a moment to let bullets leave the screen. On the other hand, keeping up a stream is generally better for directing fire in the critical forward and backward directions, so it's almost always better to keep up a consistent stream so you will have at least one bullet available
New the channel, this series just randomly came up in my feed. Loving it so far! Not sure how well it'd fit with the series, but I suggest Zelda 1 for a future Debunking video :)
You might also like the extraordinarily hard games series from his main channel:
ua-cam.com/play/PLIX4i9q7ydDT007jwizoeXYTCxAFQN4JB.html
@@joegoodman8213 oh sweet, thanks for the link ❤️
Love this. Also, answer: use the spreadshot. Without it this game is ultra hard.
That mostly the only difficulty from this game, get the spreadshot or struggle. That why i consider this game unbalanced since the whole game is design around 1 gun being broken XD
I'm also gonna add that you utilize the diagonal down shooting. I didn't see much of it used in this video. It's a huge help.
You made this game look easy but that was mostly because you were using Spread Shot. But how does the game play when a rogue bullet hits you, causing you to lose Spread? Would like to see how a Spreadless run works.
Cool! You accepted my challenge to do Contra without the 30 man code!
I was in a video game store the other day and this was an option to play on one of the knock off NES. I started playing and a couple of people said how hard this game was. I went on to beat the game only losing one life and that was due to the awful control that couldn't handle me jumping up the waterfall. I do remember being a little kid and being unable to beat the first stage even with the 30 life code.
I can also beat SuperC without losing a life. If you know the patterns its easy. And it's like riding a bike, you don't forget it.
Not gonna lie. Been waiting for this for a Long time. I crushed this game long before the internet and the code. Just started it and I'm stoked
one of my favorite series only normal i drop a like and a comment ryu playing one of the first games ive ever played thumbs up man.
There was a game i never beat as a kid called ''DinoCity'' for the SNES, idk if its hard enough for this serie but its a pretty cool game, so try it out if you can
Scattershot with rapid fire and the turbo function on the MAX controller is OP AF. There's some strange dynamic where instead of being a scatter shot it starts to fire almost all the shots into a straight line just destroying everything in it's wake. I could easily beat this game with one life when I was a kid using the MAX.
If I remember correct there is a limit to how many projectiles can be on the screen at the same time and in addition the projectile in the middle has a higher priority, thus if you are firing fast enough any other projectile of the scattershot gets replaced by a new middle one. We can see that in the video multiple times when Ryu is firing too fast with the enemies at a distance. At 14:48 his bottom projectile despawns multiple right before it would hit, because he is firing too fast.
"Now, this is the first hard boss. This guys is legit difficult."
Ryu: Destroys him in 8s. LOL
I sometimes get killed by a standard "football gear" soldier in waterfall or snowfield when they're running in or firing after just coming on screen. They're the most dangerous enemy because they're the least predictable. The only other real threat in the game is accidentally picking up an inferior weapon.
It's doable without the code with machine gun or laser. Easy to beat perfect run no-death with the spread. I don't think I could do it with fire or standard weapon
It’s the enemy bullets that make it a difficult game. They’re so small and sometimes blend in with the background. They catch you off guard.
Bro some nostalgia just hit me! I played this game when it first came out when I was little. It was so much fun!
Thanks for this video! Strangely, I've always sucked at video games but I mastered Contra pretty quickly. Maybe it was because it was one of the small amount of games I had as a kid lol.
I remember playing this with my cousins as a kid. I would troll my younger cousins and leave them behind during the Waterfall stage. lol If you keep climbing up that stage, you end up leaving them do their death. Despite this game being difficult, the thing that I remember about this game was the awesome 8-bit soundtrack was so memorable. My favorite were the Energy Zone and Alien's Lair theme. Of course, we can't also forget the awesome run n gun 2D platforming gameplay! You basically felt like a badass one man army taking on an entire legion and alien horde armed with your gun. The Konami code is also the most memorable thing about this game which gives 30 lives.
I've always been more of a Super C player and have barely played the first one. But this DEFINITELY confirms that Super C is much harder than the original.
Much harder.
Just discovered you and this series. Fantastic content. Do more of these! Ghost and goblins nes next
@Ryu really loving the content!! I've been a fan since AGDQ 2019, you're my fav UA-camr. Can't wait to see you play Sekiro, in my eyes the hardest of the SoulsBorne franchise. Keep up the good vids!