Contra III: The Alien Wars
Contra III: The Alien Wars is a 1992 run and gun video game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is the third home console entry in the Contra series after Contra (1988) and Super C (1990) for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In PAL regions, it was retitled Super Probotector: Alien Rebels and the player characters were replaced with robots. The player is tasked with fighting off an alien invasion of Earth across six stages. Four stages feature side-scrolling action traditional to the series while two are presented from an overhead perspective. It is the first Contra title to have been directed by Nobuya Nakazato who later directed other games in the series. He designed Contra III to feature more comical elements, a more cinematic soundtrack, and tighter stage design than its predecessors.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
Your like matters. Every heart nudges this game's GamingPickz Score and where it ranks (a small 5% of the score), so the lists get better for everyone.
- Released
- 1992
- Developer
- Konami
- Platforms
- 2 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 28 February 1992 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Konami |
| Publisher | Konami |
| Platforms | Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy |
| Genres | action game, post-apocalyptic video game |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q1368099, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Contra III: The Alien Wars? How long to beat it
Total play time for Contra III: The Alien Wars is about 3.7 hours to do everything, and around 1.6 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 1.6h | 175 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 2.1h | 18 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 3.7h | 13 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Contra III: The Alien Wars sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Contra III: The Alien Wars lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 47ahead of 5% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 30ahead of 72% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Contra III: The Alien Wars
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
Loading reviews…
Did it run on your PC?
Tell other players how it ran on your machine. One tap, from your saved PC if you have one.
Where Contra III: The Alien Wars appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Contra III: The Alien Wars qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
Get the weekly rundown
One email a week: what moved in the rankings, what launched, and what dropped in price. No more than that, and unsubscribing takes one click.
We send the weekly email and nothing else. Your address is never sold, shared or used to build a profile, and it is not readable by anyone visiting this site. See our privacy policy.
Common questions about Contra III: The Alien Wars
What platforms is Contra III: The Alien Wars on?
Contra III: The Alien Wars is available on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy. It first released in 1992.
Who made Contra III: The Alien Wars?
Contra III: The Alien Wars was developed by Konami and published by Konami.
How long does it take to beat Contra III: The Alien Wars?
about 1.6 hours for the main story, 2.1 hours with the main extras, 3.7 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.