Guess what? I totally forgot that Konami put out not one but two Gradius games for the Nintendo Game Boy. They just decided to call it Nemesis, because of course. It's bad enough that was the North American edition of Gradius 1: The Arcade Game. My mind is doing back-flips and curls trying to keep up with all of these nonsensical names. God damn. Imagine if there was a third entry. It'd probably be called Vulcan Adventure or A Very Salamander Christmas or bleaugh.
It's fine though. Absolutely A-OK. This is another solid shmup that manages to eke some shootin' goodness out of primitive hardware. Now fair warning, this entry is just as choppy as its successor, perhaps slightly more-so, but it is still very playable. If nothing else, the professionals at Konami were well aware of the Game Boy's limitations. They didn't do anything outlandish like cover the screen in bullets or give the player's ship a hurt-box the size of Minnesota.
In fact, there is something I forgot to bring up in my review of Gradius: The Interstellar Assault. The shield power-up is actually incredibly useful. Like other entries in the series, the shield produces two star-shaped objects in front of your ship. Much unlike other entries however, you can take three hits before that shield disappears. I'm breaking out the italics here because I'm specifically referring to you, and not just your shield. An enemy flies into your rear-end? That counts as one hit. Your belly get rubbed by a bullet? Just the same. This isn't like other shields that dissipate the second you get within spitting distance of a wall. Gosh, I might have to stop playing these handheld games because they are spoiling me with their fairness.
The five stages you'll be flying through adhere pretty strictly to Gradius traditions. Mobygames describes it as a "Greatest Hits" selection, and that's exact on the money. Expect to curve around mountains as enemies walk past firing bullets this way and that. A trip through fields of Moai statues turns deadly for the fourth(?) time. The action is pretty straightforward, with the biggest threats being the enemies that assault you from both directions. Obstacles such as walls are also commonplace, but don't expect anything too eccentric. There aren't mirrors that reflect lasers or waterfalls that push you into the ground. It's a very "meat and potatoes" shmup.
It's a basic game, but that lends it a slight edge over its sequel when it comes to replay-value. After defeating the final boss, the second loop aka stage 6 begins. The bullet-count is slightly higher, so there's a little extra stress to look forward to. That said, experts still won't have anything to sweat about. As far as first-timers are concerned, this is a very easy STG to hop into. They're welcome to set the starting stage as well as the starting number of lives. Why settle for 3, 5, or even 30? Go ahead and give yourself an even 99 lives. When I first discovered this I thought I accidentally entered a cheat code, but nope it's enabled by default. Very neat.
Nemesis is worth at least one play-through. It does exactly what it sets out to do, while also providing some kickass visuals and a good soundtrack. The 5 stages and their accompanying bosses are fun to tear through. I suppose the difficulty could be a lot higher, but making that work within the constraints of the Game Boy might involve some cheap nonsense like bosses requiring a dozen lives' worth of trial & error to find a safe-spot. What's here is fine.
Absolutely A-OK.
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