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                      --+ CONTRA +--
           FOR THE NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

Author: RobG

Contact: mrbadboy27@hotmail.com
Last updated: 1/29/01


____________________
I. Table of Contents
--------------------

I. Table of Contents
II. Version History
III. Author's Note
IV. Introduction to Contra
V. Weapons/Items
VI. Walkthrough
VII. Secrets/Codes
VIII. Acknowledgements
IX. Copyright
___________________
II. Version History
-------------------

0.7 - 1/29/01 - Walkthrough completed for the first half of the game (a.k.a. 
levels 1-4).  Also completed all the other sections. 

__________________
III. Author's Note
------------------

This is my first FAQ to write.  I still own and play the original 8-bit Nintendo 
Entertainment System (a.k.a. NES).  Contra is a game that I loved before I ever 
got my NES, and I got it for myself soon after getting the system.  I've beaten 
this game countless times, both singly and with a partner.

__________________________
IV. Introduction to Contra
--------------------------

Contra was released for the NES by Konami way back in 1988.  This game soon 
became a classic side-scrolling shooter, with a variety of weapons, challenging 
gameplay, and 1 and 2 player-simultaneous modes.  The object of this game is to 
destroy the Red Falcon, and alien who, along with its minions, has invaded the 
earth.  It's just you (or you and your partner) against the whole alien army.  
The game can be quite a challenge as you die after taking 1 hit, and you only 
start the game (normally) with 3 lives.  The controls for the game are very 
simple:

A - Jump
B - Shoot
Control Pad - Move left and right, crouch, aim weapon
(Note: To shoot straight down, you must jump up with A, then hold down while 
pressing B.)
Down + A - Drop down a level (if possible)
Start - Pause
Select - Pick between 1 and 2 players

Also, I'm not claiming to call everything by its official name, but hopeuflly 
most people won't care.

________________
V. Weapons/Items
----------------

You start out the game with just a basic single-shot rifle.  Fortunately, you 
can get more powerful weapons (otherwise this game would be extremely 
difficult).  You can only hold down B to fire multiple shots if you have a 
machine gun or laser, and this is probably the best way to fire these.  All 
bullets strike targets with the same force.  The laser strikes with the force of 
4 bullets.  Upgrades are found by shooting flying capsules, shooting upgrade 
boxes, or by shooting brownish-red colored soldiers in the bases.

R - rapid fire - This only affects the standard rifle and the spread gun.  Quite 
obviously, it just speeds up your bullets.

M - machine gun - Has the advantage of auto fire.  Just hold down B for a 
constant stream of bullets.

F - fireball - The bullets of this weapon move in a circle about as tall as your 
player while they travel forward.  I don't particularly like it because the 
bullets travel the slowest of any weapon, but you can hit enemies that are 
crouched.

L - laser - The laser strikes hard and is equivalent to an extremely fast-firing 
standard rifle.  Don't hit B rapidly with this one, or your current laser beam 
will disappear and a new one will launch.

S - spread - This one's my favorite (especially when combined with rapid fire).  
Bullets come out diagonally up and down as well as straight ahead, giving you a 
very wide range.  In a 2-player game where both players are armed with rapid 
spreads, heads will roll.

B - barrier - The barrier makes you invincible for a little bit.  You'll flash 
between red and blue.  Be very careful with it, though, because it gives you no 
warning when it's about to end.

There is also an item in the shape of a falcon that destroys everything 
currently on the screen.  However, it appears only once, about midway through 
stage 6.

_______________
VI. Walkthrough
---------------

LEVEL 1: JUNGLE

You start out the game landing on a cliff, armed with a standard rifle.  Since 
you have no ammo limit, feel free to jump around and shoot and all directions to 
get the feel of things (if this is your first time to play).  You can fall down 
into the water without being hurt/killed, so go for it if you like.  While in 
the water, you can duck as long as you like to avoid enemy fire.  If you're 
playing a 2-player game, notice that your fire won't hurt the other player (now 
that would REALLY suck!) and that you can pass right through each other.

Once you're ready, just walk forward firing your rifle.  You'll blast a soldier, 
and right after this, shoot diagonally down to take out a general and to get an 
M, which is in a box (you can only shoot these when they open up).  Right after 
this an R will fly by (left to right), which won't do anything for you if you 
have the M, but it'll be great for a second player.  Keep walking forward while 
shooting.  Take out another general down below just as you did before.

Soon you will come across a bridge which will explode as you cross.  Don't 
worry... the explosions won't hurt you.  In order not to fall, you must jump 
constantly as you cross it.  Sometimes soldiers will charge you as the bridge is 
exploding, so you might have to fire diagonally down as you jump.  After 
crossing a second bridge in the same fashion, you'll encounter the first gun 
turret in the game.  Gun turrets can shoot up, down, left, right, and diagonal.  
At the same time, you'll encouter 2 hiding generals.  You can only shoot them as 
they emerge.  Stop just a step or 2 past the gun turret and duck.  Shoot the 
generals as they emerge, and then shoot the capsule, which contains the 
wonderful S.  Now you can simply jump where you are and shoot down, and the S 
will take out the gun turret.  If you fail to get the S, you can take it out by 
jumping back and forth over it and shooting down while in the air.  Just time 
your jumps so you don't hit any bullets.  Or you could just keep running forward 
and say to heck with the thing altogether.

Continuing on, you'll encounter another gun turret and general.  An F lies in a 
box, but I definitely recommend keeping the S if you have it.  Otherwise, go for 
it.  Try to stay on the top level as you work through this area.  Soon after a 
second gun turret, you'll happen upon a pop-up gun turret on the middle level.  
It's disadvantage is that it can't shoot straight up, so just get right above it 
and shoot down.  When you get about halfway along the upper ledge that's just 
above the pop-up turret you just destroyed, another one pops up, but this time 
it's on your level.  Thankfully, you'll have ample time to duck before it fires.  
Just duck and blow it away.  Another S is in a box right before the first pit.  
Be careful, though, because a general awaits just beyond the pit.  Take him out 
before you cross (or as you cross if you're up to it).  Get the S if needed.

Soon you'll get to a cliff with several levels of ledges.  As you jump to the 
lower ledge, 2 capsules will fly by.  The bottom one has an L, and the top has 
an R.  Get whatever you want/need, and work your way up to the top.  Jump across 
from the very top.  Walk to the right half of the ledge you land on, duck and 
hit A to drop down, walk forward a few steps, and duck when you see the pop-up 
turret.  Jump across the pit, and notice the gun turret across the second pit.  
If you have the S, just duck and take it out (you have to get close enough for 
it to actually appear).  Otherwise jump the pit and take it out from above.  A 
second turret lies just ahead on the same level as the first one; drop down to 
its level to take it out.  Jump up to the top level.  The boss is just ahead.

BOSS

This one shouldn't be too hard.  First, kill the general who perches up top.  
When he emerges, he'll shoot a few bullets at you that might be hard to dodge.  
You can either jump them or move up a little and duck them.  Next, take out the 
2 things that lob shells at you.  To do this, stand at the very left of the next 
to highest level and shoot.  After they're both gone, just walk up to the target 
and blow it away.

LEVEL 2: BASE 1

This level, along with Base 2, is different from the rest of the game's levels.  
You are positioned behind an electric barrier, and enemies run across at the 
other end of the room.  If you press up, you'll step into the barrier, which 
won't hurt you, but you'll be rendered immobile for a second and won't be able 
to shoot.  And you'll be quite vulnerable to enemy fire.  Ducking will protect 
you from all enemy bullets.  To advance to the next room, you must destroy all 
targets in the current room.  There are also turrets mounted on the wall in most 
rooms, but taking them down is optional.  And if you stay in a room for a very 
long time, the targets will start to shoot at you.  But this shouldn't be a 
problem.

The first room is very straight-forward, with only 1 target in the very middle.  
Wait for the brownish-red guy to hop by (I have no frickin' clue why this guy 
would choose to hop...).  If you kill him, an R will come your way.  After 
destroying the target, the barrier will disappear.  Walk forward to room two.  
This one has a turret on the right and a target on the left.  The guy in this 
room yields an M.  Take out the turret or don't, and take out the target.  The 
third room has turrets on the left and right and one target down low in the 
center.  Soldiers will come out that toss bombs at you if they get directly in 
front of you.  You'll recognize them because they move and then pause.  The big 
proglem with the bombs is that they can kill you even if you're ducked.  So 
you'll have to either jump right before they hit or move out of the way.  Just 
watch out for other bullets at the same time.  No items can be gotten in this 
room.  The fourth room has a target in the center, a turret up above it (which 
you must jump to hit), and slots on the ground level that roll things at you.  
You can destroy these things by ducking and shooting them, or you can jump over 
them with a well-timed jump.  Get the M in this room if needed.  The fifth room 
is the final one.  Guys toss bombs at you on the run in here.  Turrets are to 
the left, right, and above.  A large target is in the middle.  The guy in this 
room gives an F.  You'll encounter a bit more fire in this room, and the target 
takes a few more shots to bring down, so be careful.

BOSS

Your view is slightly different for fighting the boss... like the normal side 
view, but your gun is aimed up.  This boss is laid out as follows:

 _  _  _
|G||T||G|   G - 3-directional gun turret
 -  -  -
 _  _  _
|T||T||T|   T - target
 -  -  -

Move to the left and stand just to the right of the center of the gun above.  
This way, you'll be inbetween the gun's central and right bullets.  But jump up 
when shots come, because the right gun still could possibly hit you with it's 
left bullet.  Take out the target first, and then blast the gun when it's open.  
Note that you don't have to be directly under the center of it to hit it, even 
with the rifle.  Take out the second gun in a similar fashion, and then take out 
the central targets.  Now for the second part: an orb will move back and forth 
up at the top and drop large bubbles at you.  Just make sure you destroy the 
bubbles and don't worry too much about aiming right at the orb.  Enough of your 
shots should hit it anyway.  It'll explode soon enough.

STAGE 3: WATERFALL



Stage 3 is unlike any other stage in that you go from bottom to top.  Controls 
are back to normal now, as opposed to the controls in the bases.  In this stage 
you hop from ledge to ledge, and the screen scrolls up once you get high enough 
up on the screen.



*** Multiplayer Note *** If you make the screen scroll up while your partner is 
at the very bottom of the screen, he'll die.  Of course, if you don't like your 
partner, this could be fun...



When you're ready, head to the right and then start jumping upwards.  You'll 
soon encounter a new problem: falling rocks.  These are pretty much easily 
avoided.  You can shoot them several times and destroy them, but I don't really 
think it's worth it (unless you're going for a high score).  An F is in a box 
between 2 rock outlets.  An L is just a few levels above the F.  Right above the 
L, you'll find a general.  Watch out for his low-angled fire as you take him 
out.  Now you'll notice someone hiding in the waterfall.  When you jump up high 
enough that this guy is at the bottom of the screen, he'll fire a shell straight 
up in the air.  When this shell gets to the top of the screen, it splits into 3 
shells, which fall back down and explode.  This scuba guy can be shot when he 
emerges, or you can just keep jumping so he'll be below the bottom of the 
screen.  At any rate, use care.  Take out the gun turret that's on the right 
side of the screen right after the scuba guy.



Now you'll see a bridge above you that has 2 flames moving back and forth across 
it.  You'll approach it from the left side.  As you jump to the bridge's ledge, 
2 capsules will fly upward from the bottom of the screen.  The one on the left 
(which should come right below you) yields a very much appreciated B, while the 
one on the right has an R.  Be sure to get the B, then cross the bridge.  Jump 
up and then back over to the left side.  You can duck directly in front of the 
gun turret and destroy it without being killed.



At this point, you must jump to a moving platform.  Carefully do this, and then 
jump straight up, remaining on the left side.  Almost immediately you get to 
jump to another moving platform, but this time you jump over to the right side 
of the screen.  Destroy the gun turret to the left, being very careful as your B 
will probably be running out now.  After jumping up, you'll see 2 scuba guys and 
a box.  It's a good idea to take out the lower scuba guy before moving up any 
further.  Shooting the box reveals the S.  Jump up and get it, and immediately 
blast the gun turret to the right.  Be aware the whole time that soldiers are 
constantly appearing at the edges of the screen.  Jump up in the air and shoot 
down and right to take out the second scuba guy, then quickly jump up 2 ledges 
in the center of the screen, since a gun turret appears on the left while you 
are shooting at the scuba guy.  You should have plenty of time to get up to its 
level before it turns enough to shoot at you.  After destroying it, jump to the 
right side of the screen.  A pop-up turret will appear above you... very easy to 
kill.  But a gun turret appears on the left at the same time, so watch out for 
its fire.  If you still have the spread, you can easily blast it from your 
current ledge; otherwise, jump up a ledge, but watch your back for soldiers 
appearing on the right.



After clearing out all the guns, jump to the left side.  An M resides in a box, 
which will be very helpful if you've lost your S.  Hop to the final moving 
platform and ride it over to the right side.  Jump to the ledge and then up 2 
more ledges and then head to the left side of the screen.  Jump up again, and as 
you do, shoot upwards to hit a general.  Even if you miss, it takes him a few 
seconds to shoot at you.  Now work your way up to the very top, shooting 
soldiers and dodging their bullets.  When you get to the very top, jump up again 
to make the screen scroll all the way up.



BOSS



Run over to the left as this boss materializes and begin firing upward.  
Tentacles come out of sockets.  They're vulnerable at their ends, which are 
reddish.  A few seconds after they emerge, they'll shoot red bubbles at you.  
The mouth will also open every now and then and shoot 3 bubbles at you.  Make 
your main objective dodging the bubbles.  Several of your shots will hit the 
tentacles as they move around.  Once one is gone, go after the other.  You can 
focus your fire on the tips when the tentacles slow down, but don't stand still 
for long, as it will soon fire a bubble.  Once both tentacles are gone, you have 
nothing to worry about.  Just stand slightly to the left or right of the center 
bubble from the mouth and fire upwards.  Shots will connect when the mouth 
opens, and this bad boy will go down quite easily.



STAGE 4: BASE 2



Back into the base again.  This time, you'll notice something a bit different.  
Most targets are covered by glowing squares, which you must take out before 
blasting the actual targets.  But somehow, you can shoot the squares with any 
gun but L from a ducking position.  You still have to shoot the targets normally 
when the squares are gone.  Also, you now have guys who roll things at you (the 
same things that came from the slots) as they run by.



The first room has 2 guns on the left and right and a target in the center.  No 
guy appears with an item in this room.  The second room has 4 non-covered 
targets at ground level and a guy with an F.  In the third room, a gun turret is 
up above 2 covered targets.  Go ahead and jump up and take out the turret to 
make things easier.  Then work off the covers as you wait for a reddish-brown 
guy with a much-needed L.  The fourth room has a gun just high enough to where 
you have to jump and shoot as you're coming back down.  2 targets are on the 
ground, but wait for the guy with a B to hop by.  Start out in the fifth room by 
taking out the central turret.  You can get an R in this room, but if you have 
L, it won't help.  Targets are on each side of the room.  The sixth room has the 
slots on the floor that roll things, so keep that in mind.  There's only 1 
target in the center, but if you wait long enough, you can get an S.  Room 7 has 
a gun right in front of you and a target above it that you must jump to shoot.  
An F is in here if you really need it.  The last room is just like the last room 
of Base 1, but this time you can get an M.



BOSS



This boss is very similar to Base 1's boss:



    _

   |G|      G - 3-directional gun turret

    -

 _  _  _
|T||T||T|   T - target

 -  -  -



This time around, things are a little bit more difficult.  Guys will walk out up 
above you from the sides and fire at you.  After you kill all of them (or they 
leave), more guys will come out, this time with wings.  They will jump at you.  
As soon as you destroy all the targets, no new guys will come out.  Also, 4 
mechanical creatures will appear at the very top.  Like the boss of Base 1, they 
shoot bubbles at you, but this time they're smaller and faster.  They only take 
damage when 2 of them come together.  If the gun turret is still around, destroy 
it ASAP.  Then just move around and fire upwards while dodging (or shooting) the 
little bubbles.  Things get a bit easier once one set is gone, and the S helps 
immensely.



STAGE 5: SNOWFIELD



Coming soon...



__________________
VII. Secrets/Codes
------------------

The only code that I know of in this game is one that Konami used frequently in 
their games.  It lets you start the game with 30 lives, instead of the normal 3, 
which makes the game very much easier.  To activate it, enter the following 
sequence when the title screen is coming up:

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A

Then just press Start, or Select and Start if you're playing 2 player.

There is also a little trick you can do in the base levels that might help you 
out.  You must be playing single player, and you must have 2 controllers.  Just 
hold down on controller one and up on controller two, and you'll be crouched but 
shoot as if you weren't (e.g. your shots will shoot higher).  This little trick 
allows you to shoot targets while you're crouching, but it might be tricky to do 
if you're by yourself.  Also, you'll have to let off of up on controller two if 
you actually want to shoot at ground level.  It's kinda neat, but I never 
seriously use it.

The only other secret I know of is stealing lives in a 2-player game.  If you're 
out of lives but your partner still has at least one in reserve, you can 
borrow/steal one from him.  Just press A, and you'll drop on down.  Keep in mind 
that this takes a life away from your partner, so try not to tick anybody off 
too badly.

______________________
VIII. Acknowledgements
----------------------

First off I'd like to thank God for giving me the ability to play games well and 
write decently.

Thanks to Konami and Nintendo for providing this great game and many others.

Thanks to my cousin Scott, who played this game with me many hours many years 
ago.

Finally, very special thanks to my girlfriend Kelly for all the love and 
motivation she constantly gives me.

_____________
IX. Copyright
-------------

This FAQ may be freely distributed wherever you'd like as long as it's in its 
original form which can be found at www.gamefaqs.com.  This FAQ is not intended 
to be sold.
