Arguably the best instalment in the infamous Konami Contra franchise, Contra III (aka Super Probotector in Europe) is a balls-to-the-wall run-and-gun, side-scrolling shooter than can be played one or simultaneous two-player.

The mayhem rarely stops as you blast your way from one insane monster to the next, and there are some stunning set pieces along the way. Like the swooping plane early in the first level, or the stomping metallic spider that follows you up the wall in the second level.

Playing Contra III: The Alien Wars is certainly a memorable experience.

Some people prefer the Megadrive/Genesis version of Contra, called Hard Corps, but in my opinion it is not a patch on The Alien Wars on the SNES.

More: Contra III: The Alien Wars on Wikipedia

Contra 3: The Alien Wars title screen on the Super Nintndo.

Very early on they give you a tank to drive. Which is neat!

The first time anyone sees this swooping plane, their jaw will drop.

Hanging on for dear life!

Some kind of HR Giger-influenced killer tortoise!

Contra III makes good use of the Super Nintendo’s Mode 7 video mode, with some great overhead levels.

Fairly cheesy cut scenes of our guys pulling gun poses.

This clanking spider robot is just flipping awesome!

Everything is out to kill you. You have to kill it to progress.

Big robotic ape type thing pulls the door open. This is worrying!

At one point you even get a floating bike.

An ED-209 type baddie with spheres for legs.

This level is just ridiculous! You have to jump from rocket to rocket to make your way to this boss. Great fun!

Another great overhead level. This time with pesky fire-breathing insects.

Overhead end-of-level boss with a big tentacle. I THINK that’s a tentacle.

More macho posing. It’s all very tongue in cheek.

Give this fat slug thing a dose of napalm in the face.

There are many different weapons in the game. This is rocket launcher.

The stuff of your worst nightmares!

The horror is endless! Well, not really endless. But it takes a lot to complete this game.

Another monster obliterated. Another last-second escape by helicopter.