• February 2006, 11:25, Tommy Montgomery
• June 2006, 10:55, Freddy Andersson
• December 2006, 10:50, Ray Cullen
• May 2007, 10:40, Freddy Andersson
• December 2007 10:32, Freddy Andersson
• February 2008 10:24, Freddy Andersson
• May 2008 10:17, Freddy Andersson

I never stopped playing this game after I got the 10:24 run. I improved it second by second. I remember I got 10:21 a couple of times before I got 10:20.

As a motivation I wrote down every attempt on a paper when I first started to improve my 10:40 record. And for those three improvement I have done, the amounts of started games is about 1150. I guess around 800 of those attempt were for this improvement. And I promise. 800 attempts maybe doesn't sound very much. Specially when just 150 of those attempts actually beat the game. But playing Contra as fast as possible sure is tiresome. I can't tell how many times you really push the "b" button in a run. Just take a look at the first Base level, how many shots I do. And I think the amount of bullet streams is just about half of the amount of pushing I do on the "B" button.

I cant remember anymore how many times I had to take breaks from this game for a day or two because of the vibration muscle in my arm was too tired.

I also figured out two new ways to hold the controller to shoot a bit easier and faster. This helped a lot actually and if I learn those grips even better in the future I guess it would help me shaving seconds in other games too, like Mega man or Metroid.

One of those grips is to put the NES controller on my knee. But the most useful one is probably laying the nes controller in my left hand and use it to stop all the vibrations, hard to describe but I guess I'll show a picture of it sometime.

I think this is about the 25th time I submit a speedrun to SDA. This is probably the best one. It's not the one that have taken most time to complete. But I guess it is the hardest one to beat.

Most games are random, just like contra. But the good thing with contra is that even if you get some bad luck you can still beat the record if you play enough good. That's probably the reason why I have kept playing this game. I never thought about this one a year ago. But with the correct strategies you can pretty much finish it without dying over and over again. Even random enemies can be taken down just as they pop up. you can notice that I shoot lots of unnecassary shots. that is to prevent random idiot enemies and also to prevent lag in the "hangar"-level. I failed once during this run though. you will probably notice it in the end of energy zone. I knew an enemy could show up here. It is one out of a hundred just like in many other spots. I have played the game enough to know where those spots are.

I guess this is an intresting game to run and it fits my game type perfect. It is the old school type of game where you have to shoot without any use of rapid fire and turbo buttons and at the same time controlling the character, jumping around and such.

This run maybe doesnt look very perfect. Maybe it doesn't look better than my 10:24 run.
Maybe the common comments give you some answers.

• Jungle
  It's just to run 'n gun here. Restart if you have bad luck on the boss. I had to dodge one bullet. If it would have been 3 or more I would definately have restarted.

  There is a faster way to beat this boss. If you enter from the top plattform and jump shot him like in the TAS. Probably doesn't even earn you half a second and the chance for success is 1 out of 20.

• Base1
  Room 1-5 is the highlight of the run. Maybe not super entertaining but I think this is one of my best runs ever for this part. I keep pushing the fire button between the rooms to keep the rythm of the spread gun, it is very tiresome but I made it. except when there are things I can use to charge up the spread gun, like the rolling things on the floor.

  Room 6, the boss room wasn't good at all. I usually kill him a few seconds faster.

• Waterfall
  the jump over that flame is risky. I just try to do it safe. I could have jumped a little earlier but I can't control how high the jumps will be. It's always a little different in this level. sometimes, In some spots I now and then jump two floors instead of one. also something that I can't control with my skills.

  I almost killed the boss before he close his mouth. My chance for success on this trick was more than 50 % in the last 100 attempts. I'm very disappointed that I didn't get the dream fights against this or the next boss.

• Base2
  This is probably the most important level in the game. I did everything as I use to. I thought the boss fight would have ben better though. When you enter the boss room and get rid of the 3 machines there are 4 eye-things you have to shoot when they are drawn together. I was extremely close to kill the right eye before it is impossible to hurt him. I can't kill him BEFORE it is separated because it is out of my leauge to get a perfect spread rythm that fast. though, It is within my leauge to hit him with a big wave of bullets the moment it is separated. this way, if it is done correctly, I can still hurt those eyes even if they are separated. I found out that if I do hit him the right moment I use to succeed. But as you see... I failed this time. Not because of bad luck. I was just a little bit too slow.

  The second eye is a lot easier because I have lots of time to charge up a good spread rythm.

• Snow field
  This level is very easy for me to finish. At least before Stanski told me that it's not necassary to stop for the bombs. I dont know how many times I screwed up my runs here. Also. My jump button for my NES controller was kind of bad. I knew that my dear NES pad would end his career soon. It's kind of fun. NES Pads can handle a lots of things. But when I have been playing Contra I can feel how the pads get worse after every 100 attempts :P

  Well, I slipped the grip of the controller a bit on the second tank and didn't jump-kill him. I thought my timing for the jump over the last bomb attacks was a little bit off so I had to make a short stop. Other than that, the level was well done.

• Energy zone
  I had some bad luck here but I made it through anyway. Those enemies that were following me in the first fire part could have killed me. This is one of the few spots that can be very unfair. you have to stay sharp and you can always survive with skills. But the problem is that the enemies simply can show up 1,2 or three of them and you can't tell exactly when. If you add another one showing up from the right side of the gap and release a bullet in this situation. that would probably kill me.

  After I jumped that gap I jumped a little bit late between those bullets from the two machines. which means I ended up on the platform ( a mistake of mine )

  I take "b" because skip the invisible item is a bad idea. the fire is random and I have to stop a few times and wait without the item.

  When I pass the last flame there is a "shit!"-moment...I use to aim a wave of bullets where the last enemie can appear one out of a hundred. I knew it so well. That one have killed some runs earlier too. This time I could thankfully jump over his bullets. Actually, I have done just like this once, back in an earlier attempt.

  I had a new strategy for the boss for this improved record. I was prepeared to stand under his arm and kill him very quickly if he tried to shoot at the start. This time though, he started running forward which means a slower but a bit safer and less entertaining fight.

• Hangar
  I had a lot of luck with timing the spiky pillars. I never had to wait a lot... On the other hand the NES platform expert and for the moment SMB3 WR holder failed with the jump on a vehicle in a slow running game like contra. Looks terrible And I don't want to blame my mistake on my shitty controller but I have no choice ;)

• Aliens Lair
  Easiest level in the hold game. You need some focus, thats all.

The best thing with this game is that you can always beat this game a lot faster, humans can not even be close to the limits. In theory. If you can shoot perfectly fast and with perfect release of all bullet streams the game can be beaten in under 9:30. Add another player and you can beat it in under 9 minutes. though, we will never see those times on any serious record sites. though, I belive that I, with a better controller and some more practice, should be able to finish this game under 10 minutes. But for now, it's out of my league. but it will keep edging my dreams.

Thanks to:

• Tommy "Tmont" Montgomery - for the first submission.
• Ray "croc doc" Cullen - For challenge, motivation, strategies and more.
• Joe Stanski - For inspiration and a couple of tips.
• "Verberos" - Because of a 10:50 run at youtube, gave me some ideas and time savers.
• SDA crew - thx for the existence of SDA and you guys are doing.
• And there is also the forum and chat guys. And my friend "Nystroem". Who told me to stop playing Contra over and over again. he is worrying to much. Im okay you know.

A few years ago, I was on this kick where I'd try to do incredibly difficult or crazy things in my old NES games. I had played these games so often when I was younger that I became bored with beating them the "standard" way, so I thought I'd try things to liven them up. One of these games was Contra. Back then, I thought the ultimate test of my skill would be to beat the game without dying. When I eventually accomplished this and told my gamer friends, they were very impressed, thinking such a feat impossible. I became known as The Contra Guy. ("Do you know my friend Ray? Well, he beat Contra without dying!!!") Deep down though, I didn't think the attention was all that deserved.

I realize that Contra has a permanent place in the hearts of many. Many people fondly remember playing it when they, like me, were just starting to get involved with video games. At that time, I thought Contra was a very hard game - I would never think about playing it without "the code" - and many others had the same experience. When they grew up, they either stopped playing video games, or moved on to new ones. And, the last memory they have of the game, besides how fun it was, was its difficulty. The game isn't really that hard though; we were simply novices.

That's why I thought beating the game without dying wasn't as impressive as my friends made it out to be. So, I went back to the drawing board and created a new challenge, one that I truly think is the hardest thing to do in this relatively easy game: beating the game without dying, and without picking up any weapon upgrades or invincibility, and doing it as fast as possible. Because well, let's be honest, after picking up the spread gun and letting loose with a constant barrage of red bullets, the game is cake.

Here's a rundown of each level:

• Jungle - Other than having to wait a second to get up close and personal with the boss, this is a perfect run. I'm especially proud of the jump over the pit by the last giant turret.

• Base 1 - I went through the first three rooms as fast as I had hoped, but my timing was slightly off in the 4th, and I accidentally hit the wire in the 5th room. I could've beaten the boss faster too, but oh well.

• Waterfall - I hesitated by the first stationary soldier, and my aim was off on the giant turret before the last moving platform, causing me to waste time waiting on that platform. The boss battle went as planned.

• Base 2 - The 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th rooms were perfect. In the 1st room though, I started a second or two late, and in the 3rd, I stopped shooting prematurely. In the 8th room, I played it safe by ducking instead of dodging. For the boss, it took me 3 rounds per head. I think 2 rounds per head is possible, but I was mainly focused on avoiding the bubbles.

• Snow Field - This could've been tighter; I hesitated by some of the bombs. The first mobile soldier after the last tank almost killed me. I'm satisfied with the boss. I don't think it's possible to beat it in one round.

• Energy Zone - This level starts out great... until I get to the 1st set of horizontal flames; my thumb missed the jump button. I wasn't any better on the 2nd set. And I'm lucky I didn't die when I missed the jump over the vertical flame by the invincibility. I'm not too happy with this level, but the boss wasn't too bad. Due to his random nature, you take what you can get. I've had much worse battles, so I kept playing.

• Hangar Zone - At this point, I'm still speed running, but I'm more concerned with survival. I played it safe by the two claws immediately after the invincibility and by the last group. The first soldier after the final set of spike walls nearly got me. I was one second away from throwing my controller.

• Alien's Lair - The shrimp were my first priority; I didn't want one to bite me in the butt. Next, I was so focused on avoiding those white spidery shots that I missed the raised platform right under the 4th spitter. I could've beaten the boss faster, but I'd come too far to risk doing something stupid.

I hope you enjoy the run.