correct me if i'm wrong, gamer credential questioner, but WASD was immortalized by the id Software "win Carmack's ferrari" tournament. Before then EDSF was also popular because it gave you more keys on the left side for hotkeys.

I do think you're objectively correct in your post, but I think what the grandparent meant was that "The author isn't actually interested in playing Contra on his website" which is why QoL stuff like that wasn't added and it "smells" like it should be there if you cared about playing on the thing you actually shared to HN. I know the first thing I would do would be to add wasd + mouse support to Contra, since the control scheme is the reason I don't try to play it. But at the same time I have never been interested in games that deliberately limit your controls as a form of difficulty (feels like a Japanese gamedev thing, from Resident Evil to Dark Souls)