Series

Contra

14 games, 1987–2019.

Games

Mechanics

Mechanic	Contra 1987	Super C 1990	Contra Force 1992
Auto-scroll	Player-pushed
Cheat code	On the title	On the title
Continue	Limited	Limited
Extra life	Repeating	Repeating
Gravity	One gravity	One gravity
Jump	One speed	One speed
Rank	Loops and guns	Loops and guns
Variable jump height	None
Weapon pickup	Replace	Replace

A marked cell changed from the game before. “Uses” means the game has the mechanic, with no variant recorded yet.

Every claim, by mechanic and game

Concept	Contra 1987	Super C 1990	Contra Force 1992
Auto-scroll	On the side-scrolling levels of the US NES Contra the screen moves only while a player passes X 128 (176 when two are playing), by that player's speed, and not while the other player is left of X 33; on the boss's screen it takes over and scrolls on its own to reveal the boss. Code
Cheat code	While the title screen scrolls in, the US NES Contra compares each new d-pad, A, or B press with a ten-entry table, Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A. A wrong press sets the count to `$FF`, which stops the check until the title starts over. The full sequence sets a flag, and a new game then gives each player 29 lives in reserve instead of 2: 30 lives instead of 3. Code	The US NES Super C checks a different code from Contra's on its title screen: six presses, Right Left Down Up A B, against Contra's ten-press Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A. Like Contra, a wrong press locks the check out. The code raises the starting lives byte from 2 to 9, where Contra's raises it from 2 to 29. Code
Continue	A new game of the US NES Contra gives each player 2 lives in reserve (3 in all) and the game 3 continues. A death with none in reserve puts that player in game over, and each game over spends a continue; with none left, the CONTINUE/END choice is skipped. Code	The US NES Super C allows 2 continues a game, where Contra allows 3: the count is set to 2 at the start, and each game over spends one before offering CONTINUE/END. Code
Extra life	The US NES Contra awards its first extra life at 20,000 points and each later one 30,000 points past the last threshold, and caps lives at 99. Code	The US NES Super C awards its first extra life at 30,000 points and each later one 20,000 points past the last threshold, the reverse of Contra's 20,000 and 30,000, and caps lives at 99 as Contra does. Code
Gravity	uses	The US NES Super C keeps Contra's outdoor jump: a take-off speed of `$FB`.`$F0` (4.06 px/frame up) and gravity of `$23` a frame. Super C caps a fall at 5 px/frame and jumps out of water at `$FD`.`$00` (3 px/frame). Code
Jump	A jump in the US NES Contra sets the 16-bit vertical speed to `$FB`.`$F0`, a rise of 4.06 px/frame (`$FC`.`$90`, 3.44 px/frame, in the indoor base levels), and the jump routine adds `$23` to it every airborne frame, 0.137 px/frame², without reading a button: the jump's height doesn't depend on holding A. Code	uses
Rank	Each completed loop of the US NES Contra and the strongest gun either player holds both shorten the timer between random soldiers: from the level's start value (144 on level 1), 40 comes off per loop, counting up to 3, and 5 per point of weapon strength (S 3, M and L 2, F 1, the default 0). Code	The US NES Super C takes 16 off the delay between random enemies once the game has been beaten and 4 for each living player holding the spread gun. The delay's start is read from an eight-entry per-level table with an index that isn't the level; the disassembly reads it as always `$80`, a value the table doesn't hold, and the atlas hasn't confirmed it. Where Contra counts loops up to 3, Super C keeps a beaten-once flag that stays at 1; where Contra reads every gun's strength, Super C counts only the spread gun. Code
Variable jump height	uses
Weapon pickup	Touching a weapon item in the US NES Contra adds 1,000 points and dispatches on the item's type: R sets the rapid-fire bit, M, F, S, and L replace the gun (keeping rapid fire only when the new gun is the one held), B starts an invincibility timer at `$80` (`$90` on level 7), and the falcon destroys the enemies on screen. A death resets the gun to the default. Code	The US NES Super C dispatches a weapon item on its type: M, S, L, and F replace the gun, R sets rapid fire, B sets an invincibility timer to `$80`, and the falcon destroys the enemies. A new gun drops rapid fire even when it's the gun already held, where Contra keeps it for the same gun. Code