Overall: 9.8. This is a game that everyone knows and loves. At the time, it was such a great blend of action and strategy. The co-op mode was revolutionary since it allowed you to grab a buddy (or in my case, my older brother) and just shoot baddies for hours.

The concept is simple. Run from left to right shooting enemies and collecting weapon powerups. Each time you got shot you died. Run out of lives and it's game over. Pretty damn simple, right? Well if it was so simple then why is it so beloved? In my opinion, it's the controls. They are TIGHT. No other platformer allowed you to escape danger like Contra. No other platformer had the powerups like Contra - two words: Spread Gun.

Graphics: 7. The graphics were decent but nothing special. You experience some flickering and slow down in some areas on some enemies. You see this especially when you're trying to fill the screen with Spread Gun bullets. But, this doesn't take away too much from the game and can be overlooked easily.

Sound: 8. This game just blasts good tunes throughout the game. It pumps you full of energy while you're jumping from platform to platform, just trying to stay alive. The sound effects are solid, if a bit underwhelming. I can't really say the gunfire is realistic but what do you want from an NES game.

Addictiveness: 10. If anyone rates this game under 10, is nuts. Even though you'll die a lot (sometimes on the first level when learning), you'll keep coming back for more. You always want to keep playing trying to beat the next level. It's one of those games where you just don't want to give up. It's such a blast to play.

Story: 6. I don't know what's going on here. Something about two commandos fighting bad guys in a jungle. Okay got it. All right, now I'm fighting some aliens. Huh? Yeah, spoiler alert, you fight aliens at the end. But I guess that's all right, it all kind of works and makes sense to a little kid. Of course I liked shooting up aliens, duh!

Depth: 9. For a run and gun game, it's hard at first to say there is a ton of depth but this game was a pioneer. The various weapons and powerups spread through out the levels. The level styles change from typical horizontal sidescroller to an overhead view or to a vertical sidescroller. It's a great change of pace for the game and prevents it from getting stale. The variety of enemies isn't extremely extensive but the the boss battles have a good variety and are unique.

Difficulty: 9. Yeah, this game is pretty tough, we all know that. One hit deaths aren't something to sneeze to at. Trust me, you'll die a lot and it'll be frustrating. But this game is not unbeatable. Even without the konami code, you can still beat it. It took me about 20 years, but I finally did it and I was PUMPED. The co-op mode surprisingly makes it even a little harder since you need to coordinate movements and fight each other for power ups. But this game does a great job of making it a 'fair' difficult. You don't feel like it's just cheap or unfair. After you lose, you say to yourself, "Aww man, I know I can beat this" and you hit restart. That's a the sign of a great game right there.

Overall, we're talking about a revolutionary classic. Everyone loved this game when I was growing up and no sleep over was complete with Contra. Even after all these years, the game just doesn't get old.