Contra: The Alien Wars

For other uses, see Alien Wars (disambiguation).

Contra: The Alien Wars
Europeantitle	Probotector 2
Japanesetitle	Contra Spirits
Developer(s)	Factor 5
Publisher(s)	Konami
Producer(s)	Julian Eggebrecht
Designer(s)	Andreas Escher
Composer(s)	Rudolf Stember
Platform(s)	Game Boy
Releasedate(s)	September 23, 1994 October 1994 1995
Media	ROM cartridge
Ratings	ESRB: T
Genre(s)	Run-and-gun platformer shoot 'em up
Modes	Single player
Input	8-way directional pad + 2 buttons

Contra: The Alien Wars, known in Japan as Contra Spirits and in the PAL region as Probotector 2, is a simplified version of Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Game Boy handheld console.

Version and gameplay differences

In this port, the level structure has been altered in some stages, with some areas having been either slightly changed or shortened.

Changes include:

• Unlike the original game, this port only features a single player mode.
• In Stage 3, the Factory Zone, the level ends shortly after the second vertical section and the player is directly transported to the Big Fuzz boss fight (without having to fight Brother Robots Kenny 1 & 2 first).
• The Air Battle level (Stage 4) was removed entirely.
• Many of the enemy bosses and minibosses were removed. These include:
  • Magnus Mk. 2
  • Garth Base
  • Brother Robots Kenny 1 & 2
  • Tetranducker
  • Rocket Ninja Sasaki
  • Anti-Contra Battleship Dodriguez
  • Gomeramos King
  • Metal Alien
  • Living Brain Organism Searle
  • Six Men Feromedos
• In the last level, a total of three Java minibosses are fought; the latter two in order to compensate for the removal of other two minibosses: Gomeramos King and the Metal Alien.
• The two final bosses were removed: Living Brain Organism Searle and Six Men Feromedos, and the game ends immediately after defeating Gava.
• The Laser Gun does not appear in this version.
• The player no longer has the ability to hold two weapons, but can still carry and use Bombs by pressing the SELECT button.
• When pressing ↓ on the directional pad, the player character crouches instead of adopting a prone position like in the original game.
• A strafing ability was included in order to compensate for the absence of rotation in both top-view stages.
• The background music was changed in certain areas, particularly the main boss theme and in the second top-view stage.
• A password feature was added.

This version consists of four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard and Maniac, with Easy mode cutting the game's length at the third stage. All three remaining modes feature the same ending.

The game features Super Game Boy support, which provides a custom color scheme and enhanced sound effects.

Trivia

• This port was the last Contra game to be released for an 8-bit system.

Related products

• Contra III: The Alien Wars – The original Super NES game this game is a port of.
• Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX – Another port of Contra III for a handheld system.