Contra blasts its way onto mobile as a side-scrolling shooter, and so far fans aren't happy

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Contra is a classic run and gun shooter from Konami that has seen many followups since its debut in 1987 as an arcade game. It would seem Konami saw fit to lend the license to Tencent, so TiMi Studio developed a free-to-play interpretation of the classic sidescrolling shooter. It’s called Contra Returns, and it’s now available on the Play Store. As you can guess, this is a gacha game that’s packed with in-app purchases, as well as a VIP system, and worse yet, user reviews are pretty negative thanks to the game’s aggressive permissions.

You can watch the latest trailer for Contra Returns above. As you can see, the game almost looks the part, thanks to its classic side-scrolling action, but that’s only half the story here. This is a gacha game, and the grind wall hits pretty early. There is an annoying forced tutorial, multiple currencies, a VIP system that rewards spending, not to mention in-app purchases that range all the way up to $109.99 per item. You can purchase skins, materials for weapons, as well as a primary in-game currency. You’ll collect cards to unlock heroes, which are all ranked, and there’s weapon gacha too, where your weapons are also ranked. The game offers multiple servers too, which is a big no-no when offering a VIP system. After all, how will everyone show off their expensive purchases if they have to worry about their server dying before they get a chance?

Left; Contra or PUBG? Right; game settings

No matter how you slice it, Contra Returns is an extremely greedy cash grab from Tencent, which isn’t surprising but is still disappointing. Of course, everyone in the West loves to hate on Tencent for being such a greedy company (myself included), and so many of the new Play Store reviews bring up the fact the game’s permissions are numerous and unnecessary, an easy avenue to deride a game that was clearly built from the ground up to suck up as much cash and info from the player base as possible.

Well now, that’s a packed list of permissions

So there you have it. Tencent and Konami have seen fit to take advantage of the fan-favorite Contra franchise for some easy cash. As expected, the graphics are fantastic, but the rest stinks to high heaven thanks to greedy monetization, multiple servers, multiple gacha, an unnecessary VIP system, an early grind wall, not to mention iffy permissions. At the very least, the game is free, so if you’d like to take a look for yourself to see how it stacks up, you can install Contra Returns by clicking on the Play Store widget below.