Contra III: The Alien Wars, released in Japan as Contra Spirits (魂斗羅スピリッツ) and in the PAL region as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, is a 1992 run and gun game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Konami. It is the third console iteration of the Contra series, following the original Contra and Super C for the NES.

Set in the futuristic year 2636, the alien invaders that were defeated during the previous installments have decided to launch a full-scale war against mankind on Earth, starting the "Alien Wars". Unlike the previous Contra games for the NES and Game Boy, the futuristic setting was kept for the American version. However, the identities of "Bill" and "Lance", the original Contra heroes, were changed to their descendants "Jimbo" and "Sully", maintaining the continuity of the previous localizations. Likewise, the alien invader was once again changed to "Red Falcon".

Taking advantage of the technology provided by the Super NES, the graphics in Contra III improved upon the NES versions of the first two installments, bringing it closer to the quality of their arcade counterparts. The level design is more complex, and provides more opportunity for interaction. For instance, players can grab on to poles or ceilings and navigate them in a monkey bar fashion, climb walls and ladders, destroy buildings and scenery, and commandeer tanks.

New styles of levels in The Alien Wars involve motorcycle chases, riding on missiles, and two Mode 7 enabled top-view levels. The weapons system is revamped, and players can carry two weapons instead of one, only losing the one they are currently using if they die. They can also fire these two weapons simultaneously in a spin-jump circular fire pattern that hit enemies on all sides: however, being hit while doing so results in the player losing both of their weapons. The player can also lock their character's mobility, allowing the player to shoot at all eight possible directions (including downwards and at angles) without moving or jumping.

There are three levels of difficulty in the game - Easy, Normal, and Hard. Each increase in difficulty setting also alters several aspects of the game. For example, enemy bosses, when fought on harder difficulties, will have new attacks or modifications to their already-existing attacks patterns. Also, some situations in the game, such as flying in the air on missiles, become more difficult, as the missiles will travel much faster on higher difficulties. In addition, some objects and boss weak points that were destructible on easier difficulty levels will become indestructible on Normal or Hard mode.

If the player completes the game on Easy or Normal, then he will start at the very first stage on the next difficulty with their current weapon configuration, lives, and score intact. On the Hard setting, the final boss will have an additional form that the player must defeat as they escape from the Alien Lair. After defeating this form, the true ending will be shown, followed by the credits and then the player's final score.

Top-view stages

There are two top-view stages in the game: Stage 2 (the Collapsed Highway) and Stage 5 (the Steep Cliffs). The controls in the top-view stages differ from those in Super Contra and Operation C. The player's character always faces the same direction when moved with the control pad and must be rotated with the shoulder buttons (L and R). The perspective differs depending on which game mode is played. When these stages are played in 1-Player Mode, the character always faces up and the area rotates around him. In 2 Players A Mode, these stages uses a horizontal split-screen format, with the first player's half of the screen on the top and second player's half on the bottom. Both characters face right in this mode. In 2-Players B Mode, both players share the same screen and their characters rotate while the perspective remains fixed for both players.

The objective in these stages is also different from the standard side-view stages. Rather than moving into a linear path towards the end of the stage to face a stage boss, the player must first destroy a series of targets situated at fixed locations. The player may select their landing point at the start of the stage, while on-screen arrows help the player lead their character to the nearest target (a map can also be used that pinpoints the player's current location while showing the remaining targets). After all targets are destroyed, the player is transported to a new area to face the boss.

Upgrades

The player's default gun now has autofire capability. As a result, the Machine Gun from previous installments is gone. Like in the previous games, the player can upgrade their default gun into the following special weapons:

• Laser (L): fires a narrow laser beam. It is the only weapon that varies in range and efficiency from side-scrolling to upview stages: in the former, the shot crosses the screen, while in the latter it turns into a laser saber-like beam.
• Spread (S): fires six red ball-shaped shots in a shotgun-like pattern in every scenario.
• Flame (F): fires a constant short-range stream of flame. Unlike the other guns, its attack can cover more than eight directions.
• Crusher (C): fires short-range self-destructing missiles in every scenario.
• Homing (H): fires missiles that pursue the target.
• Barrier (B): forms a forcefield around the player, making him temporarily invulnerable.
• Bombs: a bomb that devastates everything around it.

Konami Code

In the North American and PAL versions of the game, there is no Konami code that extends the amount of lives. Instead, the player can select the number of lives to start with - three, five, or seven are the available choices. The amount of continues is adjusted according to the difficulty level (which also determines the durability of enemies). The Japanese version, however, does contain a 30-lives cheat and the player has unlimited continues regardless of difficulty. There are also cheat codes that allow the player to choose the stage and have access to a sound test mode. The maximum amount of lives that a player is able to obtain is capped at thirty.