Anti-Contra Battleship Dodriguez (対魂斗羅戦艦 ドドリゲス Tai Kontora Senkan Dodorigesu?) is a boss in Contra III: The Alien Wars. It is a gigantic flying battleship capable of unleashing mass amounts of destruction.
Description[]
Anti-Contra Battleship Dodriguez, as its name implies, is a gigantic warship specifically designed to counteract the advances of the Contra Force. It is equipped with a wide arsenal of offensive and defensive devices designed to unleash great amounts of destruction, as well as to provide transportation for large quantities of alien troops. Despite its size, it is capable of traveling at great speeds and to fly at very high altitudes.
The vessel is so huge it actually serves as the main scenery throughout the Air Battle stage. It makes its introduction right after dealing with the High Speed Tank Booby, catching up with the players' jet motorcycles and proceeding to slowly showcase all the armaments it is equipped with.
The warship will eventually take off, with the heroes in hot pursuit on a helicopter ride while hanging from the missile it is carrying. After a miniboss fight against the ninja android Sasaki, the helicopter will fire the missile at Dodriguez with the player still hanging from it. As they approach the enemy vessel, more friendly missiles will start entering the screen from the left.
Dodriguez will then employ its last means of defense in an effort to stay airborne. It has two turrets aiming at an angle affixed on its stern, one high and one below, from which it will start shooting barrages of bullets (these projectiles can be destroyed). These turrets also generate a force field around the aircraft's exhaust port –portrayed as a large red core which acts as the ship's weak spot– and they have to be destroyed in order to deactivate it. In addition, the airship will be constantly deploying several bombs that will travel slowly toward the left. Bringing a weapon with a high penetrative capability, such as the Laser Gun or the Crush Gun, is recommended for this phase, as the player can shoot at a turret and let the projectile do its work while they concentrate back on looking for more missiles where to latch onto (the Homing Gun is one of the worst weapons to use in this phase, as its missiles will primarily focus on destroying the floating bombs and almost never manage to hit the turrets).
Once both cannons have been destroyed and the port exposed, Dodriguez will start releasing fiery projectiles that will destroy any incoming missiles they come in contact with. As such, in this phase the player is required to be very observant and use quick reflexes in order to always have a missile from which to hang on and not fall to their death. The exposed core is not only vulnerable to weapons fire but any missiles the helicopter(s) fires off that manage to make contact with it.
The whole battleship will explode once the core is destroyed, and as the smoke settles, the heroes will be revealed to be safe and sound, rescued by the helicopter.
Armament[]
| Image | Weapon |
|---|---|
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Six durable cannons, two near its front and four on its back, which unleash big electric bolts straight down. Two are located near the front of the battleship, while the remaining four are located near the back. In Hard Mode, these cannons are indestructible. |
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Three mobile turrets that come out from armored hatches; these shoot single but fast-traveling projectiles. |
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Sensor Arm (センサーアーム Sensāāmu?): A large, tentacle-like mechanical appendage which swirls around in an attempt to hit the player. It bears an exposed core at its end which can be damaged in order to destroy it. Given the speed of the battleship's movement however, most of the time the arm is simply avoided by quickly passing under it before it strikes the hero. The arm destroys itself shortly after this is done. |
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Four hatches from where infantry units come out and hang on a rail in a monkey-like manner, attempting to jump down on the player. |
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Fierce Cannon (強烈砲台 Kyōretsu Hōdai?): A large cannon pointing down at an angle. It fires a huge fireball which unleashes pillars of flames as it makes contact with the ground. To avoid getting roasted, carefully approach the cannon from the right side and lure it into firing, quickly moving back to the right as the fireball is launched. Once avoided, the cannon won't pose any further threat, as it can only fire once.
The Cannon itself can be destroyed with enough firepower. In Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX, the cannon is immune until it reaches a certain part of the center of the screen. |
Notes[]
- This enemy, as well as the whole Air Battle stage, does not appear in the Game Boy port, Contra: The Alien Wars.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Contra III: The Alien Wars, after the ship is destroyed, it is possible for the player to still lose a life during the cutscene where the helicopter saves the heroes. If the last life is lost in this cutscene, the player will have to start at the last checkpoint of the stage (if any continues are left) due to the cutscene not cutting out fast enough. This mostly occurs when the player is jumping in the air during the ship's explosive defeat, instead of holding onto a missile before it starts. This often happens as the missile the player is holding onto may still crash into the ship and drop the hero to their doom before the main explosion takes place, so it's advisable to jump to one of the leftmost missiles as the explosion begins and then not move anymore to have a better chance to prevent these accidents from happening.
- The word Dodriguez is possibly a mistranslation of "Rodríguez", a common Latin surname.