Fans of Konami's seminal run-and-gun series Contra have no shortage of ways to play the classic game, whether you're a fan of the arcade original, the NES port or the numerous sequels we've seen over the years. The recent Contra Anniversary Collection brought together a bunch of them in a package that we awarded a coveted 9/10 in our review.
But you can never have too many ways to play the game us Europeans knew as Probotector, so two more methods are coming later this year courtesy of My Arcade. Known as the Contra Pocket Player (the handheld) and the Contra Micro Player (the mini tabletop arcade cabinet), players are able to link two devices together for co-op play (although it's unclear if you can connect the Micro to the Pocket). Both variants will include the original arcade version of Contra, and the Pocket Player will also include the arcade version of Super C.
We've seen various retro players from My Arcade in the past, including Galaga, Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man and Bubble Bobble, so it's no surprise to see Konami's classic join its range of mini retro 'systems'. Interestingly, the press blurb describes these as "the initial line-up" - do we really need more ways to play Contra?
Yes. Yes, we do.
Do you own any of My Arcade's previous 'Players'? How do they hold up against the versions available on Switch and elsewhere? Feel free to share your thoughts below.
Comments 41
Honestly, to me these seem to cost more than they are worth. I could see rabid Contra fans liking them; especially the mini arcade would be fun. The handheld just seems to miss the point though, especially with the recent Switch collection.
Does anyone actually buy these?
I was interested in the Pac-Man one that has Pac-Mania
Apparently the device has some weird audio issue and these aren't actually the real arcade versions
Super disappointing
That GBA looking one makes my wish for an HD GBA clone all the stronger. And a clone, not a piracy machine. One that plays all the original game cartridges. But with a modern screen, in scaled up HD, with modern brightness. Oh, and of course a rechargable battery.
After seeing what Analogue did with the NES, SNES, and Mega Drive, and knowing how many high quality screens are on the market now I know that it could be done and could be done very well.
My dream version would also support save states, a speed up function and HDMI out with support for something like 8BitDo's controllers and bluetooth headphones... but that might be asking too much. lol
If there is saving, topscores and a good price this could be fun!
@Heavyarms55 A Game Boy 'Mini' (Not actually mini, please... just an emu box in the spirit of their other throwback consoles) from Nintendo would probably sell like hotcakes.
Only consoles i'll play Contra on have to support the Konami code. Because let's be honest who nowadays has the patience to beat this game with only 3 lives and no save states?
@Heavyarms55 Have you considered just getting an original GBA with a backlit screen mod? They're not super expensive. Up scaling 2D pixel art games to HD won't really look any better than displaying them at their original resolution on a good quality backlit screen. Or are you after a big screen? As for batteries, you'd have to get rechargeable AAs and a charger. Obviously your final list of features wouldn't apply.
Doesn't look to exciting to me...I prefer the classic Hardware, or the lovely Contra Anniversary Collection
https://nerdweltenpodcast.com/2019/07/05/folge-41-die-contra-anniversary-collection/
A physical cartridge of the Contra Collection would be nice instead of these novelties
@cool_boy_mew On the bright side the real arcade Contra is terrible compared to later versions.
If it's the arcade version, they've cropped it. The display was a vertical rectangle
is it just me or does that my arcade design look very similar to the upcoming evercade system?
hey look it's the 'Evercade' and this is all you need to know about how cheap that system will be.
@lemonjellydude all the same chinese junk.
@sleepinglion its clearly the nes version.
@YANDMAN Not on the Pocket Player version. I'm with you on the micro cab, that's totally an NES shot
I tried the first Contra a few months ago on my Raspberry and wow, that difficulty was a slap on the face since minute 1. It reminded me of Ghosts'n Goblins, which is more difficult than Ghouls 'n Ghosts, way more.
So I don't see myself trying to play it on a tiny arcade cabinet. How do people play on these things, especially when the games require precision?
@sleepinglion Sorry thats what i assumed you meant.
@BacklogBlues LoL
You're not wrong!🤣
This is shelf candy at best and I love Contra
No NES version = No Buy
@AxeltheCorvikni I have the Pacman and Galaga mini arcade ones. The sounds aren't exactly like the arcade versions, but they are really fun to play. And they got my daughters playing and getting good at Pacman, so on that alone they were a success for me.
I don't know if I'd play a long game like Contra on it though, but I'll definitely get one to try it.
I have th pacman version of the gba looking one, the sound is absolutely awful.
The screens are very tiny. Even GBA has bigger screen. Are they trying? lol
Does anyone else have trouble with COOP play on the Anniversary collection? It won’t let me play coop on Contra 1, but it will let me for Hard Corps. I can’t scroll to the 2 Player option, and both Joycons control one player in one player mode.
If the price was better, I would buy one for my son. Instead I will hold out for the inevitable GameBoy or Gamegear Mini. Sort of wish that the TG-16 mini was a replica of TurboExpress.
dont buy this garbage my arcade stuff is fffffffffffffffffffff rubbish garbage and that is being nice to them.
@nab1 if you're handy with a soldering iron, you might want to check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X68pHakYqI (You actually own more games than you think!)
No mention of price, but everyone is complaining about the price.
@LinktotheFuture these are just two new entries in existing product lines. You just need to look at the older ones to find out the cost of these.
Too bad My Arcade makes crappy products. After buying a ton of their mini arcade machines I’ve given up on this company. They use poor emulation, the weakest ROMs (NES instead of arcade), and they often have terrible scratchy sound quality. Their products look good but they always cheap out on the gameplay. And their release schedule is always way off, these Contra machines prob won’t be out for at least another year or so. Their social media is bad too, they never respond to customer questions of any kind. Unfortunately, My Arcade (and Arcade Classics) are the worst mini arcade makers on the market.
If you want good mini arcades I suggest sticking with Tiny Arcades, New Wave Toy’s Replicades, or Arcade1Up.
These are really an “okay” product something a wayward family member might give you cause they heard that “he plays video games.”
The tricky thing is getting sucked into buying all of them for collectible purposes.
@mr_benn Nice, thanks for the link. I assumed there must be a way to put more games in them, I just hadn't looked it up yet. I may try this now, looks simple Thanks again!
Loool beautiful!
@Morpheel I see. Sorry everyone!
@BacklogBlues I wouldn't take you forever to beat the game without the code. it's called practice
@BionicDodo I have one of those, it's alright, but even those mods aren't as nice a modern screen. They are still more dim. A larger screen would be nice if it could be scaled nicely. As for the HD difference, have you ever seen it? Just bumping the GBA up to 480p looks great! With proper scaling everything looks much better. And on a modern screen the colors often look much better than on original hardware.
Call me spoiled by modern tech. I grew up playing on the unlit screens of the Game Boy Color and GBA but now, even going back to the 3DS feels dim and fuzzy compared to the Switch and basically any phone or tablet. Even more ideally than the clone system, we'd get Game Boy and GBA games on Switch either via NSO or released in collections. But Nintendo seems unwilling to do that for God knows what reason.
@aetios If it actually had a cartridge slot to play original games that would be stellar!
No, we don't need extra ways to play Contra, is this way is a poor way anyway.
@Heavyarms55 Yeah, I would love that. I'd buy it!
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