Contra Anniversary Collection Lineup Has Multiple Unique Entries, Including the Rare Probotector

Alien bug blastin' never gets old, as Konami revealed the list of Contra games coming to this summer's Anniversary Collection today. The anthology, on digital for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, brings together some of the finest in retro co-op shoot 'em up action, including a few surprises.

The games, via IGN, are as follows:

• Contra (Arcade)
• Super Contra (Arcade)
• Super C (NES)
• Contra 3: The Alien Wars (SNES)
• Contra: Hard Corps (Sega Genesis)
• Contra (NES)
• Contra (Famicom)
• Operation C (Game Boy)
• Probotector (Sega Mega Drive)
• Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (SNES)

Some of these aren't surprises, but games like Probotector bring an interesting bit of variety to the collection. Probotector is the European variant of Contra, where the protagonists of Contra as well as many human enemies were turned into robots. The Japanese versions of six games—Contra (Arcade), Super Contra (Arcade), Super C, Contra 3: The Alien Wars, Operation C, and Contra: Hard Corps—will also come as a free update, alongside a book of digital extras.

This is the last of three retro Konami game collections announced back in March, including Arcade Classics and the Castlevania collection. We enjoyed our time with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection despite a few shortcomings, as it provided a handy method for delving back into the oldest parts of Konami history.

We re-reviewed Contra 3 back in 2017 as well, and found that it holds up surprisingly well. As part of the SNES Classic Edition at the time, it stood the test of time as a "ballet of fire and blood." Really, I'm just happy to play some Hard Corps on my Switch. The Contra Anniversary Collection will hit digital storefronts this summer for $19.99.