- This page is about the NES port. For the original arcade version and direct ports of it, see Super Contra.
- This game is known in the PAL region as Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces. Not to be confused with the Game Boy game Probotector 2.
| “ | The power of Contra is once again in at full strength. A super-powerful alien army and astonishing battlefield with high-tech weaponry awaits. |
„ |
| ~ Translated tagline from the Japanese back cover |
Super C is a run-and-gun platformer video game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is an enhanced conversion of the original arcade video game, Super Contra. It is the sequel to the original Contra. Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the two heroes of the first game, return as the protagonists in this game as they are sent to thwart another alien invasion.
While home computers of the era received direct ports of the arcade game, also under the title of "Super C", the Famicom/NES received this conversion, which features several new levels, enemies and bosses, and changes the main antagonist of the game.
The original Japanese version of this game retained the full title of "Super Contra" (Super 魂斗羅 Super Kontora?), while the European version was retitled as Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces.
This conversion has been re-released on various other platforms since its original release.
Plot[]
A year after the battle with the Red Falcon organization, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are sent on another mission. This time, the alien forces have taken over an allied military base somewhere in South America, possessing most of its troops. Bill and Lance must not only fight against their former comrades-in-arms, but also newly mutated forms of the same alien creatures they fought during their previous mission, as well as new alien monstrosities they may encounter along the way.
Overview[]
The original arcade version of Super Contra features less levels, and the game ends with a final fight against Emperor Demon Gava. This is changed on the NES conversion. The levels on this port are a ruined military base (with an army helicopter as the boss) standing before Fort Firestorm, which appears as the second level (boss: tank with three soldiers. Only the top driver needs to be taken out in order to go further though). The third level is a jungle, reminiscent of the first level of Contra, although later on it changes into an earthquake crumbling area (with a hi-tech wall defense mechanism that comes out of the ground as the boss). Later on, the next level is a green in color high-tech base, which the player needs to climb up. After defeating the boss of this area, a machine shooting multiple laser beams, the player enters a mountain area, the fifth zone. The player has to climb up this one too. There are some military complexes by the end. This is the last time the default soldiers appear in the game. Here, the boss battled is an alien mothership shooting skulls and small bugs at the player. After, entering an alien lair. Instead of fighting the usual soldiers, the player battles spider-like aliens. After passing multiple difficult corridors, the player has to battle a miniboss, and then take out Emperor demon Gava himself. The seventh level is a continuation to the alien base; it is mostly made up of dead alien eggs. The main enemies in this level are skeleton-like soldier aliens, possibly those are skeletons of soldiers who were mutated by the Red Falcon. This level also marks the reappearance of Buggers, which appear much smaller here. By destroying a skeleton boss (similar to the third boss of Contra), the player enters the final level: Red Falcon's Poison Palace. It is very similar to the final level in Contra, with many purple faces spitting bugs at the player, and swarms of aliens lurking at them. The ceiling falls on the player in one section. The final boss in this game is Shadow Beast Kimkoh, who comes out from an earthquake at the end of the level. After his demise, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean escape from the area in a helicopter.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay remains largely similar to the NES version of Contra, the main difference being that the enemy soldier sprites have been replaced with green versions (pink in the Jungle and Base Area 4 stages) simply running toward the player, and red ones occasionally firing a gun. Other differences are that gameplay appears to be slightly bigger than in Contra. Bill's pants are slightly more turquoise in color (so is Player 1's life counter) and the Fire Ball has been replaced by the Flame Thrower, which fires huge balls of fire instead of a continuous stream of small circling fireballs. The Spread Gun's bullets appear bigger than the ones in Contra, and certain enemies also throw grenades at the player.
A unique feature in this game is a top-down view employed in the Base Area 2 and Alien Area 1 stages, which serves as a replacement for the pseudo 3D third-person view from the two "Base" stages in Contra.
The soundtrack has been updated too, featuring seven unique themes for the stages (Base Area 3 and Alien Area 2 share the same one), and it resembles the actual arcade soundtrack more than Contra did.
Stages[]
| Stage | Name | Minibosses | Boss | Music |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base Area 1 | - | Great Heli | Thunder Landing |
| 2 | Base Area 2 | Tucker ×3 | Magnus | In a Tight Squeeze |
| 3 | Jungle | Spidal | Sensor | Jungle Juncture Creature from Outer Space |
| 4 | Base Area 3 | - | Laser Chandelier | No Escape |
| 5 | Base Area 4 | - | Giralal | M-3 |
| 6 | Alien Area 1 | Suspicious Face | Emperor Demon Gava | Hotter Than Hell |
| 7 | Alien Area 2 | - | Dethgerbis | No Escape |
| 8 | Alien Area 3 | - | Shadow Beast Kimkoh | Deathbed |
Reception[]
IGN rated the NES version re-release of Super C on Wii a score of 7.5/10.[1][2]
Ports, remakes and compilations[]
- Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra - A 2002 compilation of Konami NES games including Contra and Super C, as well as all three NES Castlevania titles.
- Contra Anniversary Collection (PS4/XONE/Steam/Switch) - A 2019 compilation of most Contra titles, including Super Contra.
Codes[]
- Note: All codes presented here were obtained from the Super C – Cheats page at GameFAQs.
Super C (NA)[]
- 10 lives (Player 1): At the title screen, press Right, Left, Down, Up, A, B, Start.
- 10 lives (Player 2): At the title screen, press Right, Left, Down, Up, A, B, Select, Start.
- Sound Mode: At the title screen, hold down A + B, then press Start.
- Retain old score and number of lives on new game: After beating the game, at the title screen, press A, Start.
- Retain old score on new game: After beating the game, at the title screen, press A, B, Start.
Super Contra (JP)[]
- 30 lives: At the title screen, press Right, Left, Down, Up, A + B.
- Stage Select: At the title screen, press and hold Down, while holding it, press Start and immediately hold Select.
Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces (EU)[]
- 30 lives (Player 1): At the title screen, press Right, Left, Down, Up, A, B, Start.
- 30 lives (Player 2): At the title screen, highlight "2 Players" and press Right, Left, Down, Up, A, B, Start.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
.png "Super C NES title (USA).png (5 KB)")
(North America)
.png "Super C NES title (Japan).png (3 KB)")
(Japan)
(Europe)
(Japan)
Packaging artwork[]
_-_01.jpg "Super Contra - (NA) - 01.jpg (2.67 MB)")
(North America)
_-_01.jpg "Super Contra - (JP) - 01.jpg (186 KB)")
_-_03.jpg "Super Contra - (JP) - 03.jpg (200 KB)")
_-_01.jpg "Super Contra - (EU) - 01.jpg (810 KB)")
(Europe)
Promotional artwork[]
Miscellaneous[]
_-_01.jpg "Super Contra (NES) - 01.jpg (1.88 MB)")
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The "C" in Super C and Operation C was originally intended to be short for "Commando" and not "Contra". This is stated on the box and packaging materials for all the home versions of Super Contra in North America (including the DOS and Amiga versions). This was likely due to the word "Contra" being associated with the Iran-Contra affair, which was still going on at the time.
- In the Super C instruction booklet, Bill Rizer is referred to as "Sergeant Bill Ko", in reference to Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko, the main protagonist of the 1955-1959 sitcom The Phil Silvers Show. Likewise, Lance Bean is called "Corporal Lance", in reference to the "Lance corporal" military rank.
Related products[]
- GameCenter-CX - Seen on Season 20, Episode 235.
- Konami Ending Collection - A soundtrack compilation containing themes from various Konami games, including Super C.
- Music from Konami Antiques ~Family Computer~ - A 13 discs soundtracks compilation. Contains themes from various Konami NES games, including Super C.