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Welcome to the Contra Experience. You are going to die. You are going to die a lot. Be prepared for that and you can handle what this game offers.

Following repeated, underwhelming, performances after the end of the 16-Bit Era, it seemed as if Contra was doomed to fade away like many of its side-scrolling brethren. Konami’s attempts to adapt the series to more modern sensibilities only seemed to distance the games from what made them fun. Then Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS was a rousing success and Konami realized that letting the game stay close to its roots was not a bad thing at all.

Now we have Contra Rebirth for WiiWare, and, aside from a few minor quibbles, it stays true to form and can serve as a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the series.

Contra does not need much in the way of an introduction. You are a lone soldier armed with a gun and an endless swarm of enemies rushing you from both sides to shoot with it. You do this over five blazingly fast levels, pausing only to confront the occasional boss character or scratch your head at the… unique cut scenes between stages.

Experienced Contra players, especially those fans of the SNES’ Alien Wars and the Genesis’ Hard Corps, will notice a giant load of references to both games throughout. This ranges from nods to certain set pieces in both, to two of the boss fight tunes being remixed from Hard Corps.

The worst that can be said about Rebirth is that it is not a very long game. A skilled player can blow through the lower difficulty levels in about an hour and unlimited continues let you pick up at or near where you left off if you game over. However, the challenge of Contra is not just about beating the game once.

It is worth playing through each of the three initial difficulty levels at least once for the unlockables. One is a third character with a smaller hit box than the starting two. Another is a fourth character with a larger hit box and the third unlockable is a new difficulty level where enemies you kill turn into more bullets flying at you. From that point, it becomes an exciting challenge to see if you can improve your skills in not dying that will always beckon you back for more.

Contra Rebirth is an appropriate title, as it is the rebirth of what makes Contra fun on the home console. If you are an old hand at it or someone new to the series, then the short but intense challenge is worth your time.