OH HELL YES! Oh man, and I thought it was just wishful thinking when I hoped Konami would give Contra the ReBirth treatment!

That's very interesting!

Must get!

YES!

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start!

Righteous!

Now they just need to release Gradius ReBirth in PAL territories already.

Wow what great news to wake up to! Contra 3 is one of my favourite games ever and I loved WayForward's Contra 4 on the DS too. If this is as good as either of them then I will be a very happy guy indeed! Woot!!

I like Contra 3 (in Europe it's called: "Super Probotector: Alien Rebels") on the SNES too. But when they reprogrammed it for the Gameboy Advance and released it as "Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX", I think they tampered with it. That wasn't even the same levels - some were from the Super Famicon- and some from a Genesis version. And it was much harder IMHO. I'm curious, though, which way the WiiWare rebirth goes.

I cannot imagine better news. Ever. Seriously, Contra 4 is my bible. Please got have Gamecube controller support--if I can't play this with my arcade controller I'm gonna be very sad - lookin' at you Star Soldier R...

OMG WTF. Amazing. My day is made!

I want the original NES version

Double HELL YES! I'd take this over Gradius anyday. I love Alien Rebels - I can only hope they don't make it too easy to cater for the casual crowd.

I'm getting more and more impressed with the difficulty of games on WiiWare, although outside of Mega Man 9 none of theme scream 'hardcore'. Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands are both fun and challenging titles which I guess is a good thing.

Alien Rebels was tough enough for me so I reckon if Konami take the difficulty down a notch at first then ramp it up quickly they'll be on to a winner.

Let's just hope Konami actually release this one in Europe, unlike Contra 4. Also hoping we don't wait nearly as long for this as we are for Gradius. Seeing this gets my hopes up for a Castlevania ReBirth and a Parodius ReBirth. A few questions though

1: Is this release another collection of some of the old, retro levels from the previous games with new sprites like Gradius or is this an all new game?
2: Who's the Dev for Contra ReBirth? Is it WayForward again or someone else?

Yeah, its big news. It'll probably sell almost as much as MM9, but I have no interest in the Contra series at all.

Yesssss! Contra rocks!

@Terranigma:

1 - The Gradius series has a history of re-using a lot of familiar elements from game to game - "Shoot the core!" bosses, Moai head levels, incredibly wimpy final bosses, etc. The levels/bosses in ReBirth are, by Gradius standards, fairly original, and are by no means copy/paste or anything as they all deviate quite significantly from the original. I expect the other ReBirth games to be similar - original content directly inspired by classic moments from the older games.

2 - There isn't a lot of info there, but my first guess would be that it's beind developed by Mobile21, a subsidiary of Konami who mostly do cellphone stuff and program the VC emulators, but are also responsible for Gradius ReBirth and Gradius Advance on the GBA (as well as the upcoming (Salamander ReBirth).

Wow they are going nuts with this rebirth thing! I hope this new Contra will be a solid effort and not as short as Gradius Rebirth. As long as it's good I'll be getting this on day one! I thought Contra 4 on the DS was a pretty sweet return to form for the series. Here's hoping this will be just as good.

@Prosody - No Metal Slug is like Contra

No way! I prefer Contra myself. Mostly because your character is way faster and more agile. I just think Metal Slug, while visually much more pleasing, is a little too slow.

@Prosody - yeah, similar sorta gameplay, but more "cheesy 80's action movie" than "cheesy cartoon war movie" and a more brutal difficulty. Contra III for SNES is the best one currently on VC, but all the 8/16-bit ones (three for NES, one for Game Boy, one for SNES and one for Megadrive) are worth getting, as well as Contra 4 for DS. The PSX/PS2 games are better left unmentioned.

Contra came out way before Metal slug. It's basically like a much easier version of Contra and more comical. Contra is for the hardcore who love really tough games. I like both series but I have to go with Contra being better.

wish the screenshots were bigger can't really see anything

Oh yeah! At last a WiiWare to look forward to! I´m gonna get this one for sure! Judging from the screenshots it won´t be anything special when it comes to visuals or innovations, but hopefully it plays as good as the other 2D Contras.

Contra and Metal Slug are the same run-and-gun genre, yes. But Contra is more action and testosterone if you ask me. Super Probotector/ Contra III is one of the most bad-ass games I´ve ever played.

(And here´s hoping for a EU-localisation as Probotector Rebirth Go robots!)

@Moai Head
Okay, thanks for the info.

It's really weird that Contra 4 never came out in Europe, the game actually even includes the Probotectors as unlockable characters!

I guess now we know why the original Contra isn't on VC yet

This obviously is more interesting than the Gradius Rebirth release. Gradius is great and all, but there are Soooo many shooters out on the VC and Wiiware already. Contra like games? Not as many.

I haven't said anything on here in a while but this merits a comment.

Contra's definitely one of my all time faves, and a ReBirth version is certainly exciting. I, for one, would like to hear them say the magic words.

Online Co-op.

Still keeping an eye out for this one, with my other eye on Salamander ReBirth, which better include at least offline co-op, as that's what made Salamander so special in the first place.

@Metal Slug comparisons:
I always say "Metal Slug is like Contra, but with knives." The games are only slightly different in actual play, as they are both dumb hard.

Metal Slug is dumb hard when it comes to boss fights, while Contra averages its dumb hard all over the stages and bosses. Bosses in Contra are never as hard as bosses in Metal Slug, while stages in Metal Slug are never as hard as they are in Contra, imo.

Edit: Shattered Soldier is easily one of the better Contra games. I don't understand the hate it generates at all.

Add me into the group of very interested people. I couldn't really get interested about Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Megaman 9 + others of the kind and promptly skipped them, but I hope this game to be a great one.

awesome cant wait 4 all these good wiiware titles that r out there

Wow, what's with all the good news for May 8th guys, huh?

NIce sudden announcement! Please let it have co-op...

Fantastic; we need more 16-bit WiiWare games. Hell, I wouldn't mind if the majority of games released on the service essentially used 2d graphics of roughly 16bit equivalence; it'd be much better than some of the extremely lazy 3D we've been given.

Dunno, I liked the 8bit Contras more since the levels felt less convoluted. I hope this'll be easier than Hard Corps or 4, never got anywhere in those.

We know that Konami has already trademarked Goonies and Salamander Rebirths too. I was surprised that Konami still has rights for Goonies.

After this is released can we start rumors of a Castlevania Rebirth?!!!! I have to think its a possibility

I would love to see the original Contra and Contra Hardcorps released to coinside with the Rebirth release.

And now we wait, because if Gradius Rebirth was any indication, we're not getting this soon. The graphics look a lot better for this one though. Weird that they announced Salamander Rebirth before this and Contra came out first.

2-player co-op? Instant buy!!!!!

cant wait for this!!!!

Very cool! Although I find it odd we still haven't seen the original NES version on VC yet. Hopefully Castlevania is next in the Rebirth line.

we need both ARC versions...awkward aiming system be damned, i love those games. So much more difficult than their console counterparts--still can't quite beat Super Contra due to the strange 5-credit limit, regardless of quarter count...and yes. Castlevania rebirth = never-ending orgasm rebirth.

yea if it has 2 players, definite buy.

Online leader boards like in Gradius Rebirth would be a nice addition.

Gah, so much to buy this summer. Can't wait for this.

I want this so bad!!

Why not the NES version of Contra? It's on my list of head-scratchers when I see it isn't available.

Am I the only one who thinks these screenshots look not very good. The art direction seems lacking. I'm excited, but cautious, this clearly isn't the labor of love that MM9 was. I'm personally more excited about Driift, but then I love 8-player local multiplayer games and there aren't many.

Instant buy.

I did a double take when I read the headline for this article. I know I'll be gettin' this one for sure the day it's released in America. I can't wait to see what else gets "ReBirthed."

Must.....have.....now......

Nintendo should take a stab at this rebirth thing and make new versions of classic mario, metroid or Zelda. Perhaps Sega could hop on the bandwagon and make a new 2-D Sonic. So far I think Konami has the right idea for Wii ware. Bring on more retro revivals!

Wake me up when this gets released in the US along with Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Island and Mr. Driller.
**Sets alarm clock for November**

@Link79
I defintely agree.

@Link79
I defintely agree.

Everything is in its right place now, there's peace in my heart, these news bring me joy.

Oh yes.

Yeah!!!!!
Now a retro-castlevania would be awesome!!!

Lets just hope that Konami makes a Castlevania Rebirth!

SWEET!!!! I hope they make Castlevania ReBirth as well!! Maybe Super Castlevania IV?

_yeah baby!

Hell yes, I hope we see a lot more of these franchises coming back from the dead

another wiiware game i can't wait for they just keep making great titles and i won't care about buying retail games

If this game doesn't have the code they'll be riots in the streets.

Awesome. Contra ReBirth is a must own for me.

Like Prosody, I've never played Contra before (or any game like it), so I have to ask... would it be best to download Contra ReBirth, buy Contra 4, or try out another series like Metal Slug and work up to Contra?

@Crazed
Download Contra 3: The Alien Wars on Virtual Console

I'll be getting this!

Have got!