Kontraa Soldier Shooting Description: The player’s default weapon is a rifle with unlimited ammunition that can be upgraded into one of four other guns. These can be obtained by destroying the pill box sensors and flying item capsules containing them, or by defeating the red-clad guards in the enemy bases. They consist of a machine gun, a laser gun that shoots a powerful beam, a fireball gun that shoots its rounds in a corkscrew pattern, and a spread gun that sprays bullets in five directions. There are also two auxiliary power-ups that only appear in certain areas when the player is armed with his default gun: a rapid bullets upgrade that increases the firing speed of the player’s shots; and a barrier that makes him invulnerable for a limited period. With the exception of the machine gun and the laser gun, each item comes in the form of a Falcon-shaped symbol marked with a letter representing its function (F, S, R and B).

The first stage is a side-scrolling level where the player is dropped into the jungle and must fend off the enemy’s initial line of defense until reaching the entrance of the first base and destroying the large sensor. The game switches to the pseudo-3D view in Stage 2, as the player must fight his way through a series of passageways before time runs out (a display at the top of the screen shows the map of the base and the time remaining). The player proceeds to the goal by destroying the sensors in each corner in order to shut down the electric current blocking each path. Stage 3 is set in the core of the base, where the player must destroy a set of flashing sensors positioned above him in order to expose the target at the top of the screen and destroy it. Stages 4 through 6 follows a similar pattern to the first three stages, with Stage 4 being a vertically-scrolling level set in a waterfall in which the player must jump his way across various platforms until reaching the entrance of the second base at the top.