Maximum Jumbo

Maximum Jumbo (マキシマム・ジャンボ, Makishimamu Janbo^?) is a recurring boss in the Contra series. It is a gigantic humanoid alien robot that bears a cannon installed on its singular eye, from which it fires a devastating energy beam.

General description

A gargantuan humanoid robot that generally makes its appearance among the ruins of a city, sometimes explicitly shown to be the cause of such devastation. Maximum Jumbo made its debut as one of the minibosses of the first stage in Contra: Hard Corps, and since then it has reappeared in a few more installments of the Contra series.

Its attacks usually consist on throwing large objects (such as cars) or using its powerful fists to smash onto the scenery. However, its trademark attack is emitting a devastating energy beam from the cannon on its head which is capable of delivering an immense amount of destruction. In almost all of its appearances, this cannon is also its weak spot and the only way to damage it.

Even though it may give the impression that this creature is bulky and slow, it has actually been shown to be very agile, being capable of jumping many stories high and perform a few complex maneuvers, as well as being resistant to extreme conditions, such as withstanding the effects of fire or keeping its integrity intact in high altitudes.

A unique model has appeared in every installment this enemy has appeared in, although all have in common their condition of being a gigantic robot and their characteristic cycloptic cannon.

Appearances

Contra: Hard Corps

First appearance of this miniboss in the series. Maximum Jumbo makes a dramatic entrance by initially appearing in the background, slowly walking among the ruins of a city and firing its fiery ray to add to the devastation. It then jumps high in the air and lands in front of the heroes, commencing its attack by once again firing its cycloptic beam, which generates several pillars of flame to rise from the ground (although also providing safe spots between them). The monster will then proceed to throw a car at the player.

It is not particularly resilient for a miniboss, though, and if the player remains at the center of the screen and concentrates all of their firepower toward the "eye" from the beginning, the creature will fall in a very short time, perhaps even before it can finish its initial beam attack.

Attacks

• Cycloptic beam attack: Fires several blasts, creating fire pillars that rapidly rise straight upward. However, they are well telegraphed, making it relatively easy to stand in-between pillars.
• Car toss: Grabs a red car with one hand and then throws it at the player's position.

Neo Contra

The large robot returns, making a small cameo appearance during the opening cutscene of Neo Contra. It does not appear during gameplay otherwise. The robot arises from within the ground of a large empty plain, his towering height blocking out most of the sun. The two commandos "Bill Rizer" and Jaguar each fire off a bazooka round at the large robot's arms, knocking them off. They then proceed to fire at the robot's head' eliminating the giant.

The robot's visual appearance here is not its cycloptic appearance from Hard Corps, instead strongly resembling the cyclops's development sketch from Contra: Hard Corps. The unseen design appears to have been ultimately reused here.

Maximum Jumbo is perhaps the third largest robot in Neo Contra, behind Master Contra (if his "base" is counted), and an unnamed robot shown only during an unlockable joke movie in the game's Theater.

Contra 4

In Contra 4, this biomechanical creature is referred to as Missile Hugger 3000 (or Scout Drone, as it is called in Contra 4: Redux). Concept art names it the Missile Guardian, with its internal name being "Guardian" for short. This boss appears twice in the Harbor stage: the first time as a miniboss midway through the level, and the second as the stage's main boss. It also bears an all-out new design, now having a slimmer metallic body colored in green and gold.

The monster makes its introduction as the player has just taken off on a missile launched from the harbor. Making honor to its name, the "Missile Hugger" appears out of nowhere and clings onto one side of the missile while the player hangs for their life from a vertical metal beam. In this encounter, the mechanical giant clings onto the missile and awaits for the heroes to react. In this encounter, its torso is its weakness, and can be damage by and standard weapon in the heroes' arsenal. If the giant receives damage, it will immediately move toward a heroes' position and perform a quick punch: if the heroes are high above the robot, the latter will climb up the rocket. It the heroes are lower in elevation than the giant, the boss will quickly slide down the missile. After that has passed regardless if it took damage or not, the giant will climb downward to the bottom of the missile and launch destructible missiles from its backside before repeating its attack pattern. It will not chase after the heroes when it is firing missiles. Once the bot takes enough damage, it begins to explode, causing it to lose its grip and fall off the rocket defeated.

The monster comes back for a rematch once the missile has crashed back onto the outskirts of Neo City, emerging from the behind a ruined building. It strafes slowly while constantly firing its missiles at a slight diagonal angle from its back. When a hero passes directly underneath one of its arms, the giant reacts by unleashing its long arm to smash them with a mighty fist slam to the ground. If the heroes are underneath the giant's eye, the boss may unleash a diagonal fist slam. Its both arms can be shot when they slam the foreground, serving as the boss's weak spots during this phase of the battle and both have to be destroyed in order to proceed to the next one.

Once both arms have been destroyed, its eye will flash red-and-blue, and its strafing speed is increased. It now fires its missiles at a faster rate of fire in order to eliminate the heroes. The blinking head is the final weak point. Enough damage will damage the giant robot for good, clearing the stage.

Contra Returns

In Contra Returns, this boss's appearance is based on its Hard Corps variant. Here, it is named the Cyclops, which was the temporary unofficial name assigned to the boss on the Contra Wiki before the boss's official name was discovered and added.

The giant one-eyed robot is first seen rampaging through Twin City in an identical role as its Hard Corps predecessor. This introductory battle is later revisited in full in Chapter 9: The Fall of HQ.

The Cyclops fights by slamming its arms against the ground, as well as firing a laser beam from its head across the ground in a slow turn. It also can sweep with its arm in a slow attempt to take out the player. As with its Genesis predecessor, its central large eye is its weak point.

When defeated, it will initiate a self-destruction mechanism in a final attempt to kill the Contra squad, whose explosion engulfs everything within its vicinity. At first, they effectively seem to have been taken out by the blast; however, in the following character selection screen, they will be shown to have survived, good as new and ready for another mission.

Gallery

Screenshots

Maximum Jumbo throwing a car at the heroes in Hard Corps.

Maximum Jumbo in the intro cinematic of Neo Contra.

Missile Hugger 3000 hanging on a missile in Contra 4.

Missile Hugger 3000 attacking the heroes on ground in Contra 4.

Contra Returns

Maximum Jumbo Boss Card from Contra Returns.

The Cyclops Boss Challenge screen from Contra Returns.

Artworks

Development sketch. Viewable in The History of Contra.
"Rampaging in the background, but suddenly jumps into the foreground."

Maximum Jumbo in the Japanese Hard Corps instruction booklet.

Missile Guardian concept sketch from Contra 4.

Trivia

• In Contra: Hard Corps, any car Maximum Jumbo is holding will instantly disappear when defeated.
• Coincidentally in Neo Contra, the two heroes defeat Maximum Jumbo in an identical manner as the Missile Guardian from Contra 4: firing at its two arms first, then firing directly at its head.
• Contra 4's debug menu refers to the areas where the Missile Hugger is fought at as "Guardian".

References