Nemesis

"Hey what's Gradius doing on the gameboy?"

First review here so please don't rag on me.(pfft!as if)

This little puppy was the savior(or destroyer) of my early high school career. Shooters and me always had a connection ever since mom got me Galaga for the ol' NES. Falling in love with a portable shooter on none other than the gameboy was a no-brainer. Another reason for the love was the fact that out of the 500 or so gameboy games out, roughly 10 are shooters.

Anyhow, Nemesis is really a condensed version of the Gradius arcade game, complete with the easter island heads. While I've never played the original Gradius, I have however played Lifeforce. Lifeforce, like the aforementioned are repeated rehashes of the same great formula.

The formula I suppose is the using of powerups to select your personal combination of firepower. Sadly, on the gameboy we get to select from a laser beam or a double shot. Trust me though, these two guys are equally important. Other than that, the powerups are as follows: speed up, double shot, force field, missile and option.

You get treated to a whole 5 levels in mild and extra spicy with the option to choose what level you want and how many lives(up to 99). It sucks how once you memorize the patterns and enemy appearances, replay value no longer exists. I guess the old cliche, ''hardcore shooter fans need only apply'' must be used.

The level progression is a little like this: Play, play, play, midboss, boss. Funny thing is, the midbosses are way harder than the final bosses. What gives? The last boss I have to say is a total insult. In extra spicy mode the bosses along with characters shoot extra bullets to screw around with you. The last boss though seems not to acknowledge this. The ending, might I add, is none too exciting. Think of the ending to just about every konami game on the NES. Yep, not too original.

All in all I have to admit I love this game. It's the kind of game you turn on and get smacked in the face by. You turn it on again and try to avoid that smack only to get smacked in the face again. This game of ''smack and avoid'' can either annoy or amuse. Would I recommend you buy it? Yes. Handheld games like this are hard to come by. Nemesis is an excellent choice to bring to the small screen. The bottom line is though: with practice this game will be as easy as drinking a can of jolt cola. After that, you're left with a pocket sized t-square and a head full of memories.

''I have seen the light, and it is me.''

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/01, Updated 03/18/01