Long before the Master Chief and Marcus Fenix became icons of video game badassery, there were Bill and Lance, two shirtless, muscle-bound dudes who took the fight to an entire army of nasty aliens — well, perhaps with the help of 30 lives apiece.
Although Contra only had two dimensions to work with, its twitchy action, grotesque monsters and pulsing soundtrack laid the foundation for generations of male power fantasy shooters to come.