Contra is making a return after a successful run more than 25 years ago in arcades and on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Contra: Evolution is the first official mobile version of the platform shooter that also spawned the now infamous Konami code.
Konami worked with publisher CocoaChina/Chukong to make the game, which was originally launched in China earlier this year and briefly appeared in the US App Store before being pulled. The premature launch was available for roughly 36 hours before the error was realized and it was removed. Today's launch is said to be an improved and optimized version of what showed up back in late May and early June.
The publisher's US-based general manager Lei Zhang pointed out that Contra is an iconic title in China. Kids grew up playing the game and it's synonymous with video games in the country. As such, it was downloaded millions of times before today's international launch.
The game uses a floating joystick for default controls but if that simply won't cut it for you, it's slated to receive native game controller support when iOS 7 launches later this year. Also, if you're concerned about the game being as difficult as the original, fear not as the mobile version supports multiple difficulty settings.
Contra: Evolutions is available as of writing in Apple's App Store for $0.99 for the iPhone and $2.99 for the iPad. We're told that a version for Android will be available via Google Play within the next couple of months before being released on the Amazon Appstore for Android.