Contra: Hard Corps GENESIS

Contra: Hard Corps is Konami's 1994 run-and-gun for the Genesis, set five years after the Alien Wars. Choose one of four Hard Corps squad members — the soldiers Ray and Sheena, the werewolf Brad Fang, or the tiny robot Browny — each with their own set of four weapons, and blast through an onslaught of giant mechanical bosses.

Unlike earlier Contra games, Hard Corps features branching story paths at key moments, leading to six different endings, including a secret one. Its relentless boss-rush pacing and one-hit deaths in the Western release made it one of the hardest entries in the series, and it is now regarded as one of the best action games on the Genesis.