Contra: Hard Corps, released in Japan as Contra: The Hard Corps (魂斗羅 ザ・ハードコア?)[1] and in Europe and Australia as Probotector, is a side-scrolling run and gun-style shoot-'em-up video game released by Konami for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994. It is part of the Contra series and serves as a follow-up to Contra III: The Alien Wars. The plot takes place several years after the events of that game. Contra: Hard Corps follows the same gameplay as its predecessors. New features include branching story paths and multiple endings.