Power-Up #23: Flame Weapon (Contra)

Few 8-bit games are as exciting as Contra. It's full of alien-pounding excitement, huge bosses and plenty of high-powered weapons. And yet, despite all that going for it, the fun comes crashing down the moment you pick up the flame gun. Find out why when you check out today's episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas!



Purpose: Flame guns should be awesome. I mean, it's a gun that shoots out flame. How can that be a bad thing? Contra makes a convincing argument that flame guns are useless, thanks in large part to the fire pattern. Instead of shooting straight forward, Contra's flame gun spins around in such a way that it seems to miss every major bad guy. You're better off using your hands to fight back to alien hordes.

Legacy: To Konami's credit, the Contra flame gun did improve over time. Ironically, as the flame gun got better, the actual Contra games became increasingly worse. Perhaps 2014 will be Contra's year. Or not.

In Real Life: We've already established that flame guns kick ass, but did you know that they can be incredibly dangerous? Without proper handling and know-how, you could very easily burn your hands off or set fire to your yard. Then again, it's not like Mad Dog and Scorpion are in any danger of that fire actually hitting something flammable.