Contra: Hard Corps

Contra: Hard Corps
North American cover art
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Director(s)Nobuya Nakazato
Producer(s)Tomikazu Kirita
Programmer(s)Kenji Miyaoka
Artist(s)
  • Shinichiro Shimamura
  • Kazuya Suzuki
Writer(s)Nobuya Nakazato
Composer(s)Hiroshi Kobayashi
SeriesContra
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
Genre(s)Run and gun
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Contra: Hard Corps, released as Contra: The Hard Corps[4] in Japan and Probotector in Europe and Australia, is a run and gun video game released by Konami for the Sega Genesis in 1994, making it the first game in the Contra series released for a Sega platform.

Set five years after the events of Contra III: The Alien Wars, a terrorist group led by the renegade Colonel Bahamut has stolen an alien cell recovered from the war and now intends to use it to produce weapons. A new task force, known as the titular "Hard Corps", are sent to deal with the situation. The game features a branching storyline with multiple possible endings.[5]

Hard Corps spawned its own series of follow-ups; including the Appaloosa-developed sequels, Contra: Legacy of War & C: The Contra Adventure; and the Arc System Works-developed prequel, Hard Corps: Uprising. Hard Corps has since been considered to be a spin-off from the mainline Contra entries.[6]: 36–37 

In June 2019, it was re-released as part of Contra: Anniversary Collection for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One and was also included in the Genesis Mini dedicated console that same year.[7][8] The game was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on October 25, 2021.[9]

  1. ^ "Timeline" (PDF). Game Players. September 1994. p. 8. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "Tough boy". Evening Post. November 19, 1994. Retrieved November 30, 2023. The original version of Probotector is about to be released on the Sega Mega Drive.
  3. ^ "You can't say no to probo". Daily Record. November 26, 1994. p. 48. Retrieved November 30, 2023. Now, after a long wait, this superb shoot 'em up is available for the Mega Drive.
  4. ^ 魂斗羅 ザ・ハードコア, Kontora Za Hādo Koa
  5. ^ "Contra: The Hard Corps developer's commentary". Beep! Mega Drive. October 1994. Archived from the original on 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  6. ^ Tatsuya Saijyou; Yasufumi Sakuma (June 11, 2019). Noboru Honda; Takeshi Matsumoto; Daisuke Yoshihara; Daisuke Kihara (eds.). The History of Contra (E-book). Konami.
  7. ^ "Konami confirms Contra: Anniversary Collection final game lineup". Polygon. 28 May 2019.
  8. ^ "SEGA Genesis Mini". Archived from the original on 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  9. ^ "SEGA Genesis™ - Nintendo Switch Online - Nintendo - Official Site".