It's been about 25 years now since the Contra game series first started out. This particular Konami game was famous for multiple reasons. You may remember the old Konami code that goes Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. That was the famous code from so long ago that gave you 30 lives. The Contra series has come a long way since then, with Konami bringing out new hits like Super Contra, Contra 3 The Alien Wars that was released on the Super Nintendo, which also suffered from a few slowdown issues, and then there was the Genesis version called Contra Hard Corps, another favorite classic for Contra fans out there. The next Contra game didn't really take hold until the PSX came out, then the two that followed were Contra The Adventure, and then Contra Legacy of War, both of which were big hits. Fans could now witness the Contra universe in a more 3D and realistic setting.
The introduction of the PlayStation 2 also gave the world Contra Shattered Soldier and Neo Contra, also which were excellent. Nowadays things are different, it seems Konami is more focused on games like Metal Gear and Castlevania to give much attention to the long running Contra series anymore. In fact, just last year at the E3 electronic show, Konami had displayed a new teaser trailer for a new Contra game that was originally supposed to be titled "Contra Reboot". That trailer only consisted of a few seconds showing a "flaming C" in the video, and that was it. The new Contra game was only teased and then was cancelled by Konami games development. That basically marked the end of the Contra series, as there hasn't been a true Contra game released since the days of the PS2, except on the Nintendo DS system.
The only hope now is the fact that Dave Cox, who is producer of Mercury Steam, a company who has Castlevania licensed to them, has toyed with the idea of bringing the Contra series back to life and just may be the key to giving Contra a new lease in the gaming world. But what about Konami games development? These days it seems they have their hands full with their top four flagship titles, those being Pro Evolution Soccer, Castlevania, Metal Gear, and Silent Hill. It seems they are more focused on those since sales of those have been so huge. But I feel that the Contra game series will get a second look from Konami and they will finally see that the market for it has not died at all, but just been waiting for it to shine once again.