History YMMV / Contra

* BreatherBoss: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' has a breather MiniBoss in the [[MultipleEndings Route B]] ending of the game. After defeating [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Colonel]] [[ThatOneBoss Bahamut]] (provided that [[RefusalOfTheCall you rejected]] [[WeCanRuleTogether his invitation]]), the player will face off against [[TheDragon Deadeye Joe]] who [[DragonWithAnAgenda doesn't care much]] [[DragonTheirFeet about Bahamut's death]]. He cannot kill the player via CollisionDamage and only has one attack: an easily avoidable horizontal shot. After Joe is a somewhat-annoying miniboss, and then the FinalBoss.

%%** The Stage 7 boss in ''Contra 4''.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** The first stage Jungle theme of the first Contra game in both the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto arcade]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk NES]] is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game aside from the brief intro music. Meanwhile, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JlGQ5orL8 metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] has gotten [[ApprovalofGod approval]] straight from the original composer himself, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY Hidenori Maezawa]].
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EcIJTPl5Qw arcade]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDIUWfSXWb8 Evolution]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GrKtnJSsMQ NES version]] of the boss theme for Base 1 and Base 2 have it all. An ominous beginning, a gradual panic-inducing crescendo, and an adrenalin-pumping climax where you really feel like you're in a life-or-death struggle taking out an alien invasion before it loops back to the start. It's so epic it should've been the final boss theme.
** In the first game, the arcade theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCzBF1Nx-cg Maze/Labyrinth Fortress 1]] and NES theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ZVP5UWiH8 Base 1 and 2]] were so iconic that their melody was incorporated into the [[UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}} Filipino]] song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbKxoz1ZfiM "Bagsakan"]] by Parokya ni Edgar, Francis Magalona, and Gloc-9.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLHnACO6JkE Hotter than Hell]] fell onto LongSongShortScene in the Arcade version because it played during the short and easily dispatched penultimate boss, before reverting to the more eerie stage music. The NES version fixes this by letting the awesome song become [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wMAFwN4JfM the stage music of the corresponding stage]] (which became the sixth stage due to AdaptationExpansion) and then ''Contra Rebirth'' elevated it, alongside with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqG7glJxM_o GTR Attack]], into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVdVHeIJ9Zg a boss battle music]], which dials the awesomeness UpToEleven.
** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5DCat7z4MIo A Spirit of Bushi]] and [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hyesg3GixQ Last Springsteen]] from ''Contra: Hard Corps'' really brings some headbanging heavy metal to the Sega Genesis soundfont.

** The first stage Jungle theme of the first Contra game in both the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto arcade]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk NES]] is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game aside from the brief intro music.
*** Meanwhile, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JlGQ5orL8 metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] has gotten [[ApprovalofGod approval]] straight from the original composer himself, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY Hidenori Maezawa]].

*** Having Contra music composer Hidenori Maezawa hear and appreciate the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] for the first time feels like a major achievement in and of itself. The composer himself said this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JlGQ5orL8 version]] is what he had imagined when he was creating the music.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk first stage]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto theme]] of Contra is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game.

*** Having Contra music composer Hidenori Maezawa hear and appreciate the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] for the first time feels like a major achievement in and of itself. Doubles as a Moment of Heartwarming.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk first stage]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto theme]] of Contra is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game. *** Having Contra music composer Hidenori Maezawa hear and appreciate the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] for the first time feels like a major achievement in and of itself. Doubles as a Moment of Heartwarming.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk first stage]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto theme]] of Contra is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game. However, having Contra music composer Hidenori Maezawa hears the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] for the first time feels like a major achievement in and of itself. Doubles as a Moment of Heartwarming.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04bPRzqEEk first stage]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_BnGAq7wto theme]] of Contra is naturally iconic and the first theme that springs to mind when people think of the first game. However, having Hidenori Maezawa hears the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykbfrf5uXY metal version]] of the Contra Jungle theme by [=VertexGuy=] for the first time feels like a major achievement in and of itself. Doubles as a Moment of Heartwarming.

** In the first game, the arcade theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCzBF1Nx-cg Maze/Labyrinth Fortress 1]] and NES theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ZVP5UWiH8 Base 1 and 2]] were so iconic that their melody was incorporated into the [[UsefulNotes/{{Philipppines}} Filipino]] song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbKxoz1ZfiM "Bagsakan"]] by Parokya ni Edgar, Francis Magalona, and Gloc-9.

** In the first game, the arcade theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCzBF1Nx-cg Maze/Labyrinth Fortress 1]] and NES theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ZVP5UWiH8 Base 1 and 2]] were so iconic that their melody was incorporated into the Filipino song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbKxoz1ZfiM "Bagsakan"]] by Parokya ni Edgar, Francis Magalona, and Gloc-9.

* UncannyValley:
** One of the final bosses of ''Contra: Hard Corps'' is an alien whose first form has a face resembling a human woman that distorts hideously when hit.
** The Jinmen-gyo ("Human-faced fish") from ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' has a realistic human face that makes it look like a giant zombie version of a Gillman from ''VideoGame/{{Seaman}}''.

** The ''[[CompilationRerelease Contra: Anniversary Rerelease]]'' as with anything done by Konami after 2020's. Take your pick between: [[NeverLiveItDown "Never forget and forgive that Konami has been corrupt since 2015/2016 and they're probably still abusing their workers! This is just a distraction, do not be gullible and give them money!"]] camp and "Hey, this is a nice collection of their golden days and works fine, plus we haven't heard anything ridiculously horrid since ''Rogue Corps'', without proofs, we cannot just assume things. Okay, we can try to move on and relive our happy past, give small praise when it's due and they're not screwing up." camp.

** ''Contra: Hard Corps'' is already quite difficult, but [[DifficultyByRegion the US version]] removes the LifeMeter system, reducing the player to a OneHitPointWonder, effectively punishing players for owning the "wrong" region of the game.

* ViewerNameConfusion: A lot of recurring bosses suffer from this in the US due to various now-obsolete {{Dub Name Change]]s and errors AllThereInTheManual. Later installments usually corrected the boss names.

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5DCat7z4MIo A Spirit of Bushi]] and [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hauWUiLUQSg Last Springsteen]] from ''Contra: Hard Corps'' really brings some headbanging heavy metal to the Sega Genesis soundfont.

%%* PortingDisaster: ''Contra: The Alien Wars'' for the Game Boy and ''Contra Advance'' for the GBA.

* NarmCharm: ''Contra III'''s [[{{Engrish}} "Let's attack aggressively!"]] Has so much DullSurprise it loops back into RatedMForManly. Or maybe [[ButForMeItWasTuesday it's just another Tuesday for our heroes.]]

* AntiClimaxBoss: The final boss of the first Game Boy installment, ''Operation C'', is just an alien lifeform in a tube that you shoot at from distance, with no other enemies or dangers in the room.

%%* ThatOneLevel: Stage 4 of ''Neo Contra''.