Why had Contra got much less love than Castlevania?

Have anyone wondered? In 90's Contra got one SNES and one Genesis game. Castlevania got one Genesis, two SNES games, one PC Engine CD and one x68000 game. I always thought what if Konami made Contra games for PC Engine CD, x68000? Maybe a proper PS1 game, like what they made with Symphony of the Night, instead of outsourcing it to Appaloosa? How awesome would those be?

Handhelds were no better - there were only one original game - Operation C, then there were two crappy Alien Wars ports until we've got decent Contra 4 that was still outsourced though.

My understanding is Contra is not quite as popular in Japan.

I think it's just part of the general shift in taste from arcade-focused games throughout the 90's.

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Originally Posted by Obviously

My understanding is Contra is not quite as popular in Japan.

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But then again, neither was Castlevania.

Contra was also ported to Amstrad CPC under the name Gryzor (one of the best game of the machine), C64 and ZX Spectrum.

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Originally Posted by GeckoYamori

But then again, neither was Castlevania.

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I always understood it that Castlevania was popular in Japan, until the metroidvania shift.

Both series got quite a few releases. Castlevania does have more overall, but that's because it's clearly been more successful overall...

Console games in both franchises:

Castlevania got 3 3rd-gen (NES) games. (The third one released in Japan in '89 and the West in early '90.)
Contra got 3 3rd-gen (NES) games. (The latter two both released in the '90s, '90 and '92. Contra Force isn't great, but it does exist.)

Castlevania got 4 4th-gen console games (2 SNES, 1 PC Engine CD, 1 Genesis). (released between '91 and '95) (the second SNES game is a mediocre remake of the PCECD game)
Contra got 2 (1 SNES, 1 Genesis). (released in '91 and '94)

Castlevania got 3 4th-gen handheld (Game Boy) games. ('89, '91, and '98)
Contra got 2 4th-gen handheld (Game Boy) games. (The second is a port of the SNES game.)

Castlevania got 4 5th-gen games (2 N64, the second an improved version of the first, and 2 PS1, one original and one an enhanced port of an old computer game)
Contra got 2 5th-gen games (1 PS1 & Saturn, one PS1). Neither is very good.

Castlevania got 2 6th-gen console games (1 PS2 & Xbox, 1 PS2). I don't think either one is anything better than below average.
Contra got 2 6th-gen console games (2 PS2). This gen Contra has better games than Castlevania, on TV consoles.

Castlevania got 3 6th-gen handheld games (GBA).
Contra got 1 6th-gen handheld game (GBA). It's another port of the SNES game, with a few levels from the Genesis game added in.

Note: not counting Virtual Console re-releases below this point
Castlevania got 6 7th-gen console games (2 Wii (1 physical, 1 download only), 4 PS3, PC, & X360 (2 physical, 2 download only). One of the download-only titles is a port of the 3DS game.
Contra got 2 7th-gen console game (Wii, download only, and PS3/X360, download only). The PS3/360 game uses only the "Hard Corps" name, not "Contra", but it's clearly connected to the Contra series.

Castlevania got 4 7th-gen handheld games (3 DS, 1 PSP).
Contra got 1 7th-gen handheld game (DS).

Castlevania and Contra have both not gotten any 8th-gen console games. With how Konami is falling apart, they might not.

Castlevania has 1 8th-gen handheld game (3DS).
Contra has no 8th-gen handheld games.

So yeah, Castlevania consistently had more releases, but it's only with the last generation that Contra really faded, but that's only because Konami didn't try; their two PS2 Contra games are pretty good!

On the flip side, how many games were similar to Castlevania, in at least gameplay, vs. side scrolling run 'n guns?

Contra did codify a lot of genre tropes and in my opinion is probably the more influential game of the two.

But to give Castlevania some credit, there were loads of Castlevania clones and it's probably inspired countless other games with its themes.

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Originally Posted by A Black Falcon

So yeah, Castlevania consistently had more releases, but it's only with the last generation that Contra really faded, but that's only because Konami didn't try; their two PS2 Contra games are pretty good!

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WayForward's Contra 4 is excellent as well, as is Contra ReBirth on the Wii.

I haven't tried out Hard Corps: Uprising but it looks interesting.

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Originally Posted by Obviously

WayForward's Contra 4 is excellent as well, as is Contra ReBirth on the Wii.

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Rebirth looks lame though. I looks like they tried to copy Metal Slug style with some bosses and enemies and failed horribly. Contra 4 looks sweet.

Castlevania would have probably fallen out of public favor too if it hadn't transitioned to the really easy metroidvania formula. Circle of the Moon was the only game of that type to even try to be difficult, and it's my favorite because of that.

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Originally Posted by Orchid87

Rebirth looks lame though. I looks like they tried to copy Metal Slug style with some bosses and enemies and failed horribly. Contra 4 looks sweet.

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Contra 4 is definitely the better of the two and honestly may even be my favorite Contra game.

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Originally Posted by zetastrike

Circle of the Moon was the only game of that type to even try to be difficult, and it's my favorite because of that.

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I still need to get around to completing it one of these days.

I know most people wrote it off because of the original GBA's shitastic screen. It was certainly much better than the overrated Harmony of Dissonance, which seems to be overrated, on the flipside, because the graphics were brighter, again because of original GBA's shitastic screen. I couldn't stand HoD because of the atrocious soundtrack (it's not even due to using the original GB's sound circuit's, the compositions are all terrible and depressing), and the main character was a lame Alucard ripoff. Circle of the Moon was like classic Castlevania, but, in the "Metroidvania" style.

^I believe you're thinking of Aria of Sorrow. Harmony of Dissonance was about one of the Belmonts, for a change, and had that blue outline around him.

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Originally Posted by midnightrider

^I believe you're thinking of Aria of Sorrow. Harmony of Dissonance was about one of the Belmonts, for a change, and had that blue outline around him.

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Nah. Juste Belmont looked suspiciously like Alucard. Definitely not a good design for a Belmont.

Aria of Sorrow was much better than Harmony.

Harmony of Dissonance was such a slog. Loads of boring, practically empty rooms to backtrack through. Uninspired, boring main character. Horrendous music. A lot of people love it but I really can't stand it.

I bought Circle of the Moon at its launch and really enjoyed it but I can't say it's my favorite. It was dark and moody which was awesome but that unfortunately killed it on the original GBA screen.