The greatest 2D action game ever made. Play it, you'll have more fun than playing 100 bozo platformers on steam.

This is by far the most complex Contra game, featuring dashing, air dashing, bullet reflecting, and the ability to vault over enemie's backs. The game can be played at incredible speed. The level design is fantastic featuring the biggest variety ever in a contra series: wall running up ancient ruins, jumping between crocodile's mouths, auto-scrolling hoverboard sections through a city, a stealth section (the only time I've seen them done well in a 2D game), running through a factory's coveyer builts/crushers while infinitly spawning robots are being built all around you. and even a flying section where you take on a battleship. The soundtrack is killer and pushes an already intense experience into something uncomparable to any other game, except perhaps the origenal Hard Corps.

It also stands as perhaps the most difficult Contra game ever made, it's only competition being Shattered Soldier, but it also comes with an easier mode for softies.