Launching Battery — contra

The Launching Battery (打ち上げ砲台 Uchiage Hōdai^?)^[2] is a recurring enemy in the Contra series. It is an automated mortar-like artillery module that shoots a volley of projectiles upward that then rain down on the battlefield.

Appearances

Super Contra

Arcade

An automated artillery module with a triple-barreled cannon that is found about midway through Area 3, Deep Jungle. The device has its barrels aimed upward in an angle, and when the player approaches it, it will start launching triads of red colored rockets upward –one from each barrel–, which will then drop down and explode, each at a different distance and covering a wide area of the battlefield. The cannon isn't remarkably resilient, though, and just a few shots will be enough to destroy it.

NES

In the NES conversion of the game, Super C, the Launching Battery is encountered about one third through the Jungle stage. The cannon now has a single barrel, although it is overall more dangerous than its arcade counterpart; it is notably more resilient and it now shoots a volley of seven orb-shaped bombs upward that then drop and rain all over the battlefield. In addition to this, some running enemies may still be able to enter the screen from the rearguard (depending on how much of the map has scrolled), which could pose a considerable threat amidst all the incoming fire.

If the player is carrying a powerful weapon (such as the Spread Gun at close range or the Flame Thrower), they can just charge at the cannon to destroy it quickly and pass through its scrap remains before all the projectiles land and explode. Care must be taken not to be too hasty, though, as if the cannon is still exploding, the player may get caught in the blast. If, on the other hand, the player is carrying a weak weapon (like the Rifle or the Machine Gun), then it is advised to remain as far away from the cannon as possible and shoot it from afar, where they'll only have to jump over the explosion produced by the bomb that travels the farthest.

C: The Contra Adventure

The Launching Battery acts as the first miniboss of the Contra Adventure. Its appearance here is of a twin-barrel mortar surrounded by slightly spaced out "shells", which gives this cannon more durability than other variants in the series.

It is fought partway past the first section of the City Rescue mission and attacks almost identically to its Super C counterpart. Although it is stationary at the rightmost side of an area, it defends itself by firing an infinite spray of energy blasts into the air that then rain down on the battlefield and can reach all the way to the opposite side of the battlefield.

A second variation of the boss is fought on top of the Alien Cargo Train as the first boss encounter onboard. In this battle, the cannon will fire a single large bullet that, once it reaches near Ray, will break apart into a spread of four smaller bullets that fire straightforward aimed towards his general direction. The cannon tries to keep two large bullets onscreen at a time. The large energy-like bullets can be destroyed by weapons fire, but not its smaller spread (destroying a large bullet prevents that bullet from spreading). This cannon can easily be taken down by a Super Bomb, provided that Ray was able to keep at least one of three available prior to riding the train.

Contra: Operation Galuga

The Launching Battery only consists of a single-barrel launcher, being almost identical to its Super C appearance. They appear at the Village and alongside the GX Army onboard the Ice Train. One must be wary of these cannons' placement, as they tend to be placed on higher or lower elevations out of the commando's basic line of fire.

Launching Batteries may also appear in the Jungle stage during various Challenges.