Board games publisher, Blacklist Games, is releasing Contra: The Board Game, based off of Konami’s popular Contra series. The box itself uses the NES cartridge design to show off its 8-bit classic roots. It’s 1-4 players with the task of taking down the Red Falcon organization.
In the classic 8-bit and 16-bit games, there were only two players: Bill Rizer and Lance Beam, but they were identical in terms of playing and abilities.
Not so with Contra: The Board Game. Each of the players in Contra is a Commando with certain skills and abilities. Bill Rizer is the leader so tactics and strategies will be his forte. Lance Beam is quicker and jumps higher than Bill; Lance also looks a bit like Liu Kang. Sweets Manson (AKA Ms. Harakiri) from Contra: Rogue Corps uses stealth and infiltration to go around and defeat her opponents. Lucia (pronounced “Lusha”) LCR-0 from Contra: Shattered Solider and Neo Contra is a “bionoid Super Solider” that focuses on tech and hacking.
Along with using the standard dice for movement and attack, each of the Commandos has special cards the players can use to enhance their movements or attacks. For example, Bill Rizer can use “Pinpoint Accuracy” to choose a Commando to increase an attack. Each player can use as many cards as desired, but use them all up too soon, and he/she will be at a disadvantage.
The enemies and bosses will also have cards for a counterattack and reinforcements. For example, a “Sniper Recruit” card can cause 2 damage. A single successful hit from an enemy will cause a Commando to lose a “life”. If all Commandos playing lose all of their own four lives, it’s game over.
Finally, the stage also has a turn in the form of obstacles and other environmental hazards (such as “avoiding Sentries” and “Low on Ammo”). The stage also acts as a “timer” so if it runs out of cards to draw, it’s game over.
Contra: The Board Game is still in development, but Blacklist Games will release it early next year. So far, however, Konami hasn’t made a statement regarding this development. Hopefully Blacklist and Konami are actually collaborating with this because neither website has acknowledged each other.
Waiting for further development.
Sources: Polygon and Blacklist Games
