| “ | General-purpose combat robot with excellent mobility. A robotic weapon that was developed at the end of the Alien War, and a legitimate successor to the Smoke Wrestler series, with enough power to lift trains. | „ |
| ~ Official description from Shattered Soldier |
Yokozuna (パワード忍者 YOKOZUNA Pawādo Ninja YOKOZUNA?, lit. "Powered Ninja Yokozuna") is a boss in the Contra series. It is a gigantic, superpowered robot capable of even stopping a train in movement.
Appearances
Contra: Hard Corps
Yokozuna appears at the end of the Military Train as the area's boss. He makes his dramatic appearance by suddenly coming from behind and managing to outrun and stop the train the player is traveling on with his bare hands. He starts the battle by firing guided missiles from the triple-cannon affixed to his back. These missiles can be destroyed in midair but will also not home in if a player is too close to the front of the train car. The robot can be shot as it halts the train, but this damage inflicted does not appear to affect the fight.
He follows by unleashing two plasma shots that travel in tandem in a wave-like manner, one high and one low. Afterward, Yokozuna will pick up the locomotive and begin shaking it, altering the angle of elevation. His next attack consists in launching a series of Gardegura straight up, which then travel across the train's top rapidly as they drop.
After performing these attacks, the second phase of the battle will begin, where Yokozuna climbs on top of the train to continue the encounter on a more personal level (as he lets off his grip on the locomotive, the train starts moving again). As it lets go of the train, elevation plane returns to normal.
He commences by once again firing guided missiles from his cannons and then follows by jumping on top of a player's last known position a couple of times back and forth on top of the train in an attempt to crush the player. His next attack consists in advancing menacingly toward the left side of the screen, cornering the player and performing a kick. He then jumps back to the right side of the locomotive and starts banging it, unleashing fire waves that travel across its top. He then repeats the jumping process from here, repeating what follows after. The damage needed to defeat the boss is applied once the jumping attack pattern has commenced.
After enough damage has been dealt, the giant robot will go haywire and fall off the train, which will then crash into it and bust it apart, ending the battle. The player who defeated this powerful robot will receive 30,000 points, a large sum that may grant the victorious player an extra life for the next area ahead.
Attacks
- Phase 1 - Yokozuna holds down the train.
- Guided missiles: Fires a few homing missiles from his backside mounted cannon. The move slowly an can be destroyed by gunfire.
- Plasma balls: Fires two plasma balls that move up and down toward the player. Can be dodged or slid past.
- Rolling Gardegura: Fires several Gardegura that roll across the train's roof. Can be jumped over.
- Phase 2 - Yokozuna leaps to the top of the train to engage the player head-on.
- Guided missiles: Fires a few homing missiles from his backside mounted cannon.
- Crush: Yokozuna leaps backs and forth in an attempt to crush the player under his immense weight.
- Power kick: Yokozuna walks to the left side of the roof before kicking the player with his foot. Can be crouched from.
- Fire slam: Slams the roof of the train, creating a large wave of fire that travels across the roof.
Contra: Shattered Soldier
Yokozuna Jr. appears as the boss of Stage 2 in Shattered Soldier. It seems to be an upgraded version of the original model, as it now has three forms.
At the beginning of the encounter, Yokozuna introduces himself by launching a rocket-propelled punch and blowing up the cart behind the locomotive the player is on, after they had clear out the whole weaponry on the train, then he then run toward its side.
The battle begins with Yokozuna repeatedly firing his rocket punch (which comes back to him) and charging on the train in an attempt to make the player fall off. The player has to shoot a cap on the side of his shoulder. He will occasionally flip to the other side of the train where he repeats his assault. Here he reveals another shoulder plate that must be fired at. When both plates are destroyed, the robot flips to the left side of the screen to start the next phase.
A cutscene plays where he runs forward and stops the train and picks it up. He will repeatedly launch three missiles straight up which then rain down on top of the train, which alternate angles. Shoot his head enough to make him drop the train back and commence the second phase of the battle. Two Laser blasts will suffice.
In his second form, he disposes of his large arms in favor of more aerodynamic ones and then hovers onto the train. He kneels on the back of the train and his abdomen opens up, releasing fast-traveling saws that ricochet back off the train. After releasing a few, Yokozuna adopts a jet-like form and starts flying around. The heroes must crouch to avoid being hit. He stops in front of the train. Shoot his jetpack enough times to end the fight.
A cutscene shows the robot severely damaged and barely able to function. If the robot was from the front of the train when severely damaged, the heroes run underneath its legs to the opposite (front) side of the train, with the boss soon turning around to face them. An overpass will then sever him in two, making the upper half to fall off and blow up. He will walk slowly to the edge of the train where the legs fall over and are run over by the train, exploding on contact. In order to obtain a higher Hit Rate percentage, the legs must be destroyed by the heroes' gunfire before they fall over the train.
Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX
| “ | A gigantic robot that is very resistant to being called a ninja. However, the name "Yokozuna" is not just for show. It possesses the power to forcefully stop and lift a moving train. | „ |
| ~ Shin Contra/Contra: Hard Spirits - Konami Official Perfect Guide translation |
Yokozuna, originally from Contra: Hard Corps, also appears in this Game Boy Advance port of Contra III: The Alien Wars; however, this appearance is considered non canon.
The following changes have been made to this boss, probably due to hardware limitations:
- His movement animations are much more simplified, especially when attempting to stomp the player.
- His missiles no longer glow and instead are a single blue color.
- His wave of fire is changed into a single white energy ball with a trail.
- No aesthetic slowdown or color flashes occur when defeated.
- Due to a smaller screen size and coding, he may sometimes "kick" the player even if they are crouching at the leftmost corner for safety. This is sometimes avoided if during his jumps he is lured as much to the right side of the screen as possible.
Contra: Rogue Corps
A different incarnation of the Yokozuna is featured as a boss in this game. It can be found at the later section of the Rank 3 Mission, "Fiends in a Frenzy". This Fiend is a multi-segmented cyborg creature sporting a deformed shape with multiple legs and eyes. After the Rogue Corps take a ride on an empty cargo train through a tunnel, the Yokozuna will follow them by riding a metro train, having most of its body burrowed into the vehicle. The creature has complete control over its train, being capable of moving over railroad tracks and even opening its car doors. The Yokozuna will first attack by positioning its rearmost car besides the Rogue Corps and opening its doors to reveal large eyes which shoot multiple small projectiles. These eyes are weak target points. However, the compound eyes must be avoided because they will immediately counterattack by shooting laser beams when harmed. After the current body segment has sustained enough damage, it will bleed, and the closest big mass of flesh between cars will become partially exposed. Destroying this mass will detach and explode the previous car. This strategy must be repeated until all three rear cars are destroyed.
Following that, the Yokozuna's main body segment will break open its train car, revealing its true hideous form, and run around the tunnel at high speed by using its own legs. The boss will now attack by deploying a large retractable blade from the torso in order to hit enemies with it. It will also use its lateral legs to smash the train car ridden by the Rogue Corps and drop grenades and bouncing energy balls over it. The Yokozuna will also alternate between both sides of the cargo train by running on the walls of the tunnel. At the final phase of the battle, the boss will now follow the train car from the rear, and attack by shooting laser beams at it. Once defeated, the Yokozuna will explode while stumbling around the tracks.
Gallery
Screenshots
Sprites and models
Artworks
Music
| Title | Game | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Super-Power Robot Yokozuna Jr | Contra: Shattered Soldier |
Trivia
- In Contra: Hard Corps, certain aspects of Yokozuna bear resemblances to Rocket Ninja Sasaki; both are blue robots with a large yellow fuel pack on their backs and a single red eye, and both also have the word "ninja" in their full names.
- According to the official Shin Contra guidebook, the Smoke Wrestler is the predecessor to the Ninja Powered Yokozuna. Hard Corps: Uprising features a boss highly similar to the Yokozuna in terms of attacks and overall behavior. Given the "old-style" of vehicles and machinery seen in Uprising (due to the game taking place years before the Alien Wars), that unnamed boss is likely the Yokozuna's said predecessor.
- The Contra: Shattered Soldier - Official Strategy Guide states that this robot has a pilot inside.
- The Shattered Soldier variant bears a resemblance to an Armored Core from the titular series of games that had many PlayStation 2 releases. This resemblance is further strengthened by the name the boss is given in the Contra: Shattered Soldier - Official Strategy Guide: Armored Mech. Coincidentally, one of the many missions from that series involved an Armored Core eliminating a train in a canyon/desert-like region.
- Its design and name likely stem from the title of the same name ("Yokozuna"), which is associated with Sumo Wrestling. This is further referenced by the robot's main characteristic where it stops a train head-on using a sumo wrestling like motion.
See also
- Gardegura
- Smoke Wrestler - The second phase of this Hard Corps: Uprising boss resembles and behaves like the Yokozuna robot.