Contra Force

NES1992

  1. JP—
  2. NA1992
  3. EU—
  4. RU—

Contra Force came out only in North America, on the NES, in 1992; in Japan it had been announced as Arc Hound (アークハウンド), a game unrelated to Contra, but that release was cancelled. No current re-release could be confirmed on our check date.

Contra Force is a run-and-gun game that Konami developed and published for the NES, released only in North America in 1992. It started life in Japan as Arc Hound, a game with no ties to the Contra series; when the Japanese release was cancelled, Konami localized it for North America under the Contra name. Its delay pushed it past Contra III: The Alien Wars, which had been planned as Contra IV and was renumbered.

The game swaps the series' aliens for human terrorists. Players choose between four members of the C-Force team, Burns, Iron, Smith and Beans, who differ in weapons, speed and jumping ability, and the five stages alternate between side-view and overhead stages. Instead of instant power-ups, a Gradius-style selection bar fills up as players collect briefcases.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Contra ForceInfobox gives September 1992, the text says October 1992; TCRF's text mentions late 1991. A Japanese Famicom release as Arc Hound was cancelled NES 1992 Konami 1

Also known as: Arc Hound JP1アークハウンド JP1Contra 3 NA1

Box art by region

  • Contra Force box art, North America release
    NA Contra Force

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TitleNES (NA)

    The game began as Arc Hound, a Japanese Famicom game unrelated to Contra; after the Japanese release was cancelled, Konami localized it for North America as a Contra spinoff.1

  • ContentNES (NA)

    Konami first announced it as the third console Contra game, but the delay pushed it past the planned Contra IV, which was renumbered and released as Contra III: The Alien Wars.2

  • ContentNES (NA)

    Unused data shows Burns was meant to throw grenades by hand rather than fire them from his gun; the animations exist, but there are no sprites for the overhead stages.2

Reception

Reception was mixed. AllGame gave it 3 out of 5, criticizing the slowdown and flicker but praising the strategic differences between the characters.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2tcrf.net

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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