If I had played this game straight through without dying, the total game time would have been well under an hour. As it was, I spent merely 3/4s of an hour replaying a particular section until I beat it. As with Castlevania, the appeal is in the challenge, not the longevity. And I was positively hurling my SNES Classic controller in frustration from Level 2 to Level 6 (yes, it only has 6 levels!). Quantity should never be confused with quality, of course, and I had a rip-roaring time blowing stuff up with Contra III.

contra 3 hanging onto missiles — Just casually hanging onto to a missile, shooting my gun…you know, the usual!

It’s the ultimate 80s action movie on steroids, where you go from simple side-scrolling mission to riding on a motorbike to jumping on and off missiles whilst attempting to take down a boss. It’s the ultimate adrenaline rush, but repeating the same minute of gameplay over and over again (thanks to the SNES Classic save system!) can be far too frustrating. Or maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age?