Probotector on the Megadrive

Pawnless Endgame · 14 Apr 2012 at 15:53

It was run-and-gun genre, 4 choosable characters with 4 weapons unique to each of them. There was a 2-player co-operative option too. What I liked about this game was that it was boss-after-boss, with very little grinding and repetition inbetween, if at all. Levels 1, 3 and 4 were the same each time you played them. There were 2 level 2's depending on what path you chose for that, 2 level 5's depending on what path you chose for that, and thus you had 4 permutations for level 6, each with their own end-game boss. There was a secret ending / boss on level 3 as well. A lot of replay value for a game.

Did anyone else play this little number from 1994/5? And hmmm, how come most people on the net call it Contra? Makes it very hard to find articles about Probotector as there are numerous games called Contra. Anything similar now for the PC? (don't have any consoles)

moogle · 14 Apr 2012 at 16:25

Loved (love) this game. It's called Contra because that's the name it was given on the NES and SNES. Probetector was the Mega Drive version.

When I first played it I hated it because you died as soon as you got hit but after a while I got better and it became one of my favourite mega drive games.

Don't think you'll find any sort of games like this for the PC

Rachmaninov · 14 Apr 2012 at 16:31

Amazing game but I could never complete it.

Pawnless Endgame · 14 Apr 2012 at 16:39

I don't think I completed it alone either, but the 2 of us in co-op mode did manage to complete all 4 endings and the secret ending. It kept us occupied all of 1995, good times.

Although it's hard to find a Sega Megadrive nowadays and the right kind of TV to connect it up with, I know that one of my friends has a contemporary console that offer Sega games to play inside that console via connection to the internet. It was either a Playstation 3 or one of the Xboxes, can't remember. Anyway, it would be grand to get Probotector by means of that.

Or PC game ports even. I bought a CD-ROM a few years ago for £10 that contains all of the Sonic games, playable on a PC via a Sega joypad (USB version).

Nitefly · 14 Apr 2012 at 16:45

Rachmaninov said:
Amazing game but I could never complete it.

To hijack the thread - I bet a billion pounds that you didn't complete dynamite headdy then. I refuse to believe that anybody has completed that without an emulator / save function. It's all nice, fun and enjoyable then just becomes insane.

Probably one of the worst difficulty curves of all time!

Rachmaninov said:
Snip.

No.

da_ging · 14 Apr 2012 at 16:46

had it for the gameboy, don't think I ever got very far in it though

Dannyb01y · 14 Apr 2012 at 17:12

Used to love the game back in the day playing it endlessly. Tried it a while back and kept dieing so couldnt get on with it. Getting old now and spoiled by life bars/regeneration nowadays.

Phatjayunoi · 14 Apr 2012 at 17:32

Probotector is the silly European name for Contra: Hard Corps.

I as well was never able to complete this game.

Nothing that I know of that is similar for the PC, but if you have a Xbox 360 or PS3, grab Hard Corps: Uprising. It's basically a prequel to this.

K1LLSW1TCH · 14 Apr 2012 at 17:36

Sounds kinda like Darius 2 / Sagaia. Loved that game on the Master System.

mame · 14 Apr 2012 at 19:47

moogle said:
Loved (love) this game. It's called Contra because that's the name it was given on the NES and SNES. Probetector was the Mega Drive version.

When I first played it I hated it because you died as soon as you got hit but after a while I got better and it became one of my favourite mega drive games.

Don't think you'll find any sort of games like this for the PC

I thought only the UK (or Europe) version was called Probector. The US and JAP versions were called Contra. I think also Probector had robots but Contra had men as characters.

djkav · 14 Apr 2012 at 19:52

mame said:
I thought only the UK (or Europe) version was called Probector. The US and JAP versions were called Contra. I think also Probector had robots but Contra had men as characters.

Correct. Super Probector is the EU name, Super Contra is the US/Jap name.

moogle · 14 Apr 2012 at 19:56

Whoops my mistake, I just assumed that because I had never seen it released as 'Probotector' on the SNES.

Pawnless Endgame · 14 Apr 2012 at 20:02

Yes, it was definitely robots in Probotector. Red guy, blue guy, big wolf guy and the little one that could double-jump that had that yo-yo weapon. He was the one I used the most. My mate would play the big guy and use that weapon that you charged up and the damage it did was insane.

If your Sega joypad only had the ABC buttons, it was a bugger to change between shots I & II because it was easy to accidentally set off the bomb. If you had an ABC-XYZ joypad though, then you could just press X to change shots.

GhostFace · 14 Apr 2012 at 20:17

My mate and I played it on the SNES and it was called Super Probotector. We always played it, definately one of the best games I played as a kid. Loved it! I always liked the levels when you were flying. Struggling to remember now tho, were you motorbikes at one point aswell?

Good, although vague, memories. Time to get the SNES from the loft!

moogle · 14 Apr 2012 at 20:32

GhostFace said:
My mate and I played it on the SNES and it was called Super Probotector. We always played it, definately one of the best games I played as a kid. Loved it! I always liked the levels when you were flying. Struggling to remember now tho, were you motorbikes at one point aswell?

Good, although vague, memories. Time to get the SNES from the loft!

Sort of hover bikes if I remember right. I think that was the third level (Mega Drive version)

djkav · 14 Apr 2012 at 21:01

I had the Super Contra US version on SNES.

ZXSpectrum · 14 Apr 2012 at 21:43

Great game but much preferred Midnight Resistance in the arcades!

Grognak · 14 Apr 2012 at 23:00

Monserrat said:
It was run-and-gun genre, 4 choosable characters with 4 weapons unique to each of them. There was a 2-player co-operative option too. What I liked about this game was that it was boss-after-boss, with very little grinding and repetition inbetween, if at all. Levels 1, 3 and 4 were the same each time you played them. There were 2 level 2's depending on what path you chose for that, 2 level 5's depending on what path you chose for that, and thus you had 4 permutations for level 6, each with their own end-game boss. There was a secret ending / boss on level 3 as well. A lot of replay value for a game.

Did anyone else play this little number from 1994/5? And hmmm, how come most people on the net call it Contra? Makes it very hard to find articles about Probotector as there are numerous games called Contra. Anything similar now for the PC? (don't have any consoles)

I've been wracking my brains trying to remember what this game was called, many thanks. I really enjoyed playinng this game during my childhood, and your right none of it felt like a grid, just an enjoyable well paced game!

KNiVES · 14 Apr 2012 at 23:05

Nitefly said:
To hijack the thread - I bet a billion pounds that you didn't complete dynamite headdy then. I refuse to believe that anybody has completed that without an emulator / save function. It's all nice, fun and enjoyable then just becomes insane.

Probably one of the worst difficulty curves of all time!

No.

Dynamite Heddy was a brilliant game for its time and was the last Mega Drive game I bought as I remember the PS1 came out shortly after.

I never completed it myself either, the game got progressively harder and harder and the bosses more ludicrous and epic. Great game.

Pawnless Endgame · 14 Apr 2012 at 23:41

Grognak - glad to have helped :-)

Knives / Nitefly - never played Dynamite Headdy, so I'll have a nose on Youtube to see if anyone has done a recording of it. (will look for Probotector as well while I'm at it!)