Gryzor - Contra
Original title: Gryzor
Alternative title: Contra
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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In the year 2631, a small meteorite has fallen into the Galuga archipelago, located 20km northeast off the coast of New Zealand. Two years later, a terrorist group known as Red Falcon has seized the island in preparation for an alien invasion. The earth's marines sent two members of their elite Contra unit, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, to neutralize the terrorists.

As either Bill (player 1) or Lance (player 2), the player must get to the end of each stage, shooting everything in sight, while avoiding enemy fire themselves. The player can upgrade their standard-issue rifle into one of four different weapons, including the powerful spread shot.

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Alternate Titles
"Probotector" -- European NES title
"Kon To Ra" -- Japanese gikun phonetic title
"Gryzor" -- European Arcade/Computer title

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Trivia

On August 31, 1988, Contra was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. 

The English title of Contra comes from the way the title is phonetically displayed in Japanese, using the characters "Kon To Ra". The literal meaning behind these characters seems unimportant: "kon" means "spirit", "to" means "battle" and "ra", means some sort of cloth. Literally this would translate to something similar to "Battle Spirit Cloth". An alternate source of translation claims that the title translated is "Soul Big Dipper Gauze".

Regardless of the literal meaning, the title seems to have been written as a "gikun". What that means is that the phonetics of the title are more important than the actual meaning itself.

It has been suggested by some that the intent behind the name is even more complicated than that. "Kon To Ra" purposely chosen to sound like "Contra", a term popularly used to describe armed guerrilla forces in Central America during the 1980s. 

The original Contra and its sequel, Super Contra, were set in the distant future, during the 27th century (in 2633 and 2634 respectively). The Famicom (Japanese NES) port even had an introduction sequence detailing the plot. However, when the NES version was localized, the cut-scenes were removed due to the fact that Konami was forced use a standard Nintendo-made mapper instead of the proprietary VRC4 mapper they used for the Japanese version (Nintendo had made no such restriction in Japan regarding the use of custom chips and cartridges, thus third-party companies were allowed to take such liberties if they wanted). 

Since the US NES version had no in-game storyline, the author of the US manual took the liberty of placing the game's plot in the present. Moreover, the setting was changed from the fictional Galuga archipelago to the Amazons and the nicknames "Mad Dog" and "Scorpian" were given to the main characters, Bill and Lance (who also lost their surnames in the process).

When the series made it's appearance on the SNES in the form of Contra III: The Alien Wars, the intro made it clear that the game was set in the future (2636). Since there was no way cover their previous mistakes, the author of the manual this time declared that the main characters in Contra III were not Bill and Lance, but their apparent descendants, Jimbo and Sully.

Ironically enough, the Probotector games released for the European NES had manuals that were more faithful to their Japanese counterparts than the American versions.

The PS2 installment of the series, Contra: Shattered Solder, follows the proper continuity as established from the Japanese manuals and in-game story lines.

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Contra was voted #13 in the Top 100 Games of All Time poll published by Game Informer Magazine (Issue 100, August 2001).

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Removed content
 There are a large amount of content that was cut between the original Japanese Famicom release and subsequent international NES releases. There is an opening sequence that explains the story, as well as a map screen between stages much like in Ghosts 'N Goblins. These sequences were both cut, along with the music that plays during them. Many stages featured additional visual effects, such as blowing trees on the first stage, falling snow on the fifth stage, and literally the entire level pulsating on the eighth stage. The original version also features a slightly longer ending sequence with an added scene. There is also even a hidden stage select menu.

Despite this, the game itself plays identically, as no changes were made that affect gameplay. The large amount of content removed reduced the game's data from 2 megabits to 1, suggesting this was done to save on manufacturing costs due to using a smaller ROM size.

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The game's European release was censored, changing the main character and other human-looking enemies to robots. The game also suffered a name change to "Probotector".

Contra's infamous code for 30 lives (see Tips & Tricks), has become a minor part of video game geek culture, appearing on T-shirts and referred to in movies and television shows, and being mentioned as one of the greatest gaming moments of all time by the magazine Game Informer.

Contra appealed heavily to young, male movie crowds at the time who were still watching movies like "Aliens", and the ending environment is very similar to it. Also, the cover of the American release features two soldiers who are slightly modified and repainted images from the movie "Predator". (Both "Aliens" and "Predator" are copywrited and owned by 20th Century Fox).

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Description from the packaging  (Contra):

Pitted against the galaxy's fiercest foe, you either win or the whole world loses.
The universe teeters on the brink of total annihilation at the hands of the vile alien war monger, Red Falcon. Earth's only hope rests with you, a courageous member of the Special Forces elite commando squad.

Your mission: Battle deep into the deadly Amazon Jungle, where Red Falcon and his galactic henchmen have transformed ancient Mayan temples into awesome monuments dedicated to mass destruction. A multitude of weapons, from rapid-fire machine guns to high-tech lasers, are at your disposal as you sweat blood, fighting past 3-D mazes, underground security systems and tropical forests surrounded by giant waterfalls and alien cannons.
This is the ultimate test for the ultimate guerrilla warrior. And if your survive, Earth survives.
For one or two players.



http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/contra
