About Contra
Contra is a run-and-gun game that Konami released in arcades in 1987. Home versions followed for the Famicom in Japan on February 9, 1988, and for the NES in North America that same month, along with ports for several home computers. In Europe the arcade game was renamed Gryzor and the NES version Probotector.
The story is set in the year 2633. Two commandos, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, are sent to the Galuga archipelago to destroy the Red Falcon Organization and find out what alien force is behind it. You run, somersault and aim in eight directions, shooting your way through jungles, enemy bases and a waterfall climb. Flying capsules and sensors drop new weapons, such as the machine gun, laser, fireball gun and spread gun, and one hit costs a life. Two players can play at once. The NES version is remembered for the Konami Code, which started you with 30 lives, and Electronic Gaming Monthly named it the Best Action Game of 1988.
How it runs in your browser
Pressing Play opens contragame.dev in a new tab. Its developer describes it as an unofficial, non-commercial fan project not affiliated with Konami, and the site’s footer credits the original game and characters to Konami. It’s a Godot web app that runs the game in an emulator compiled to WebAssembly, so the host serves everything and there is no file to supply, no account and nothing to install.
The site changes two things on purpose. Infinite lives are always on, with the counter stuck at 30, and holding the fire key keeps shooting. It lists eight stages, from the Jungle to the Alien’s Lair.
On 3 November 2026, in desktop Chrome, the “Enter game” button appeared after about 17 seconds. Clicking it played the opening text, then showed the title screen with Play Select for 1 or 2 players and “© Konami 1988.” The opening text and title logo are in Japanese, which matches the Famicom release, while the menu is in English. We didn’t start a stage.
Controls and devices
On a keyboard, W, A, S and D or the arrow keys move and aim, J or Z shoots and K or X jumps. Enter starts and pauses, and Shift is Select, which switches between 1 Player and 2 Players on the title screen. If there’s no sound, click inside the game or press a game key.
On a phone, the site says to turn the screen sideways and use the on-screen joystick to move, B to shoot and A to jump, with START and SELECT buttons and a Fullscreen button. We haven’t tested it on a phone. Gamepads aren’t mentioned.
Tips
Keep moving and keep firing, and aim diagonally to reach enemies on higher ledges. With infinite lives, the hard parts become practice rather than a reason to start over. For more 2D action in a browser, try Mega Man X or Sonic Mania.
Is Contra Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Contra online for free?
Yes. contragame.dev runs Contra free in a browser tab with no sign-up and nothing to install. It’s an unofficial, non-commercial fan project and isn’t made or endorsed by Konami.
Can I play Contra two player in the browser?
Not really. The 2 Players option is still on the title screen, but the site says there are no keyboard or touch controls for Player 2, and there’s no online multiplayer.
Do I need the Konami code for 30 lives?
No. Infinite lives are already switched on: the counter stays at 30, even after you restart, so there’s no code to enter.
