I don't really understand why every retro XBLA title that comes out has to have some bug or crazy crash or some other malfunction that really shouldn't exist after you plunk down your Microsoft points to buy it. Contra is the latest casualty of war for XBLA users. Good thing I haven't wasted my 400 points on it (frankly I'd rather play Gears instead of some dated 2D side scrolling shooter, but that's just me). GameLife has the horror story:

So I'm playing Contra with Jared just now, and he's going, "What the hell are you doing? Stop jumping around at the bottom of the screen." "I'm shooting the alien tower!" "You're jumping around like an idiot. You died. You got a game over." "What? You died. You've had a game over for like five minutes now. I felt bad for going on." "..." "Take a picture of what you see on your screen, right now." Mine's on the left, his is on the right. We played another game and told each other what was happening on our screens. "Alright, you just died again." "I didn't die! I'm kicking ass! We're in the base right now and you just walked into the electricity." "We're not in the base, we're still fighting the boss." "You got a game over." "I have eight lives left." Apparently it's not just us. IGN agrees. I want my 400 Microsoft Points back.

There you go. Buyer beware.