The Famicom Disk System version of the game, Final Commando, is not quite as impressive as the NES due to the vertical-only scrolling and lack of the first mission. NES Jackal is another great Konami game, and like Contra and Super C and Life Force is a two player simultaneous game. Arcade Top Gunner (Jackal in World versions) is one long stage, no breaks, no bosses (except at the very end and its pretty underwhelming) It gets very repetitive after a while. Jackal for the Arcade came earlier (1986) than either Contra (1987) or Super Contra (1988).

The NES version gives you a break, and the Famicom version has short scenes that propel the story. Also, the last four levels in the arcade progress without a break. The level 5 and 6 bosses are treated more like the level 5 tanks. The NES's Level 3 boss is much cooler than the arcade's. The graphics use many more colors but everything appears small. Enemies are on top of you without fair warning. Using a vertically oriented monitor as the arcade original did makes sense in an overhead shooter but not in a sidescroller.

The bosses are great (except level 7, which is something of a let down, but is non-existent in the arcade version.)Ĭompared to the NES version, the arcade original has very short stages and they are very simplistic. It has good graphics (especially the Famicom version, which has animation inthe backgrounds in level 1, 5 & 8) and excellent music for its time. Contra is widely recognized as a classic on the NES.

Contra nes speed demos archive