The code won't help you here. The Contra series has always been known for its difficulty, a near-maddening level of challenge that meant only the best and most practiced of gamers could find success in their play -- unless you cheated, of course. The famous Up-Up-Down-Down Konami Code granted players 30 lives in the first Contra title on the NES, allowing everyone significant room for error throughout the side-scrolling, gun-blazing adventure. But the code won't help you here. This SNES sequel removed the classic cheat, meaning there's no easy way out of this game's challenge factor. Contra III: The Alien Wars is tough, and you'll have to play it the old-fashioned way.
The Alien Wars was the fourth Contra game to come to the States, after Contra and Super C on the NES and Operation C on the Game Boy. It was April of 1992 by the time Contra III was ready to roll out here in America, and it did so as the first installment of the series to be built with a home console in mind (the previous games had been ports of arcade hits). The power of the Super Nintendo allowed for greater graphics, enhanced sound and unique new spins on the classic run-and-gun gameplay that was the series' signature style.
Two of those new spins came in literal form -- the second and fifth levels of Contra III combine an overhead perspective with a Mode 7-powered spinning playfield. You --or you and a friend simultaneously -- must run through the ruined environments of a futuristic Earth, hunting down and destroying enemy-generating checkpoints. The L and R trigger buttons rotate the landscape both clockwise and counter, and after searching through and scouring the revolving levels you'll find yourself in a similarly gyratory boss fight.
The rest of the game is more traditional, presented in the same side-scrolling shoot-'em-up style that formed the foundation of the franchise in the late '80s. You'll run, jump and blast your way through waves of alien enemies, collecting power-ups along the way. The grabbable gun upgrades include the classic spreader rifle, heat-seeking homing missiles, laser cannons and more. Unique to Contra III is the ability to hold two different guns at once and switch between them on the fly, as well as the addition of screen-clearing bombs that can be activated when you really get pinned up against a wall.
Contra III is arguably the best installment in the Contra series, as it polished the gameplay of the earlier titles and kicked up the action energy even higher than before. Its only drawback is its length: The Alien Wars only lasts for six levels, which is not a deep experience by any stretch of logic. You'll likely have a blast playing this one, as so many gamers did back in 1992, but it won't keep you satisfied for long. Harder difficulty settings and the ability to adjust the starting number of lives (maximum of seven) help to offset the short scope a bit.