Everyone's played Contra haven't they?

Download The Latest Patch(version 1.00BF)
September 26, 1998

About the game
Does this game really need an explanation? It's a classic! Anyway, the Japanese version is a bit different than the one we got in English. The Japanese version actually had a plot to go along with it. Doesn't really change the game play or anything, but at the same time it's kind of neat to have. Seems kind of pointless that they didn't bother putting it in our version too. Maybe they thought people outside of Japan couldn't read... or maybe the translators went on strike? Who knows, who cares, here it is now!

   

About this release
This translation was released way back in 1998. Most of the tricky stuff (all the hacking and such), was done by the MadHacker, who also organized, hosted and released the thing. So if he did that, why is it here? Well, MadHacker has disappeared long ago, possibly never to be heard from again. Only time will tell though. He made some nice pointer hacking documentation and such while he was around too. I was the one who did the translation work for the game though, and since MadHacker is gone, I figured I might as well keep it up here since I put a lot into it too. There was a bug fix doe by g8z et al which is explained in the readme. The game is fully translated, with nice spiffy title screens and everything. There are two patches, one for Gryzor, and one for the more correct Contra.

   

Why does it have 2 names?
Good question. Ask whoever was responsible for changing the name in Europe. In North America, we received Contra. The Japanese name for the game also translates into Contra (KONTORA). I suppose if they wanted to, they could have named it Contola, and it still would've been technically a correct translation. But for whatever reason it apparently was released in Europe as Gryzor. Not knowing the whole story, and just knowing that there were people who called it Gryzor, and pictures of a title screen to match, it was decided that two versions of the game would be released so everyone would be happy. I think MadHacker preferred Gryzor, though I might just be remembering that wrong, but I liked Contra myself. Either way, there's two versions there, and the only differences are the title screen and the screen that comes up if you wait a bit I think.

   

If you find any bugs
I wouldn't expect to find any bugs if it's lasted this long without them, but who knows. g8z et al found one and fixed it after all. If you find any, you could be like them and go ahead and fix it. Or you could let someone else know who has the ability to do so if you can't yourself. You could try to find the MadHacker and let him know if you really wanted, but I honestly doubt you'd be able to find him now.