Contra Force

Contra Force begins with the player being asked to choose between one of four characters. In addition to Burns, the team's leader, the player can also choose between Iron, a heavy weapons expert; Smith, a sharpshooter; and Beans, a demolitions expert. Each character differs from each other, not just in what weapons they wield, but also in their speed and jumping ability.

The game consists of five stages: the odd-numbered stages (1, 3, and 5) are played from the standard side-view perspective, while the even-numbered stages (2 and 4) are played from an overhead perspective (similar to the ones in Super Contra and Operation C). The objective is as simple as getting to the end of each stage, fighting every enemy who gets in the way, before confronting the boss awaiting at the end. Stages in the game are the Warehouse, Harbor, Mati Building, Aircraft Rumble, and lastly, the Blue Group Headquarters.

In 1992, C-Force, a task force composed of former military professionals, is formed to protect Neocity from terrorism. One day, the team's leader, Burns, receives a phone call from their informant Fox, who tells him that the Head of Intelligence is being threatened by a criminal organization known as D.N.M.E. Burns arranges a meeting at the Harbor with Fox to learn more about the situation, only to find Fox's corpse when he arrives at the destination. Now it is up to C-Force to save Neocity from D.N.M.E.

Contra Force was originally planned to be released in Japan under the title of Arc Hound in 1991 and originally did not have any ties to the Contra series. The game was announced in magazines such as Famicom Tsūshin and advertised in official Konami brochures with a scheduled October release, but this early version of the game was cancelled.

Despite the cancellation of Arc Hound in Japan, the game was still localized for the North American market as a spinoff of the Contra series. Initially scheduled for a Winter 1991 release, Contra Force was announced as the third console game in the series, being released sometime prior to Contra III: The Alien Wars (known as Contra IV at the time). However, Contra Force was delayed to an October 1992 release, a few months later than Contra III, causing the latter game to be renumbered prior to release.

Contra Force has received mixed reception. Allgame editor Brett Alan Weiss criticized the slowdown and flicker that the game suffers from, but praised the added strategy of being able to select from different characters each with their own unique skills and weapons.