Play Nemesis Online

Versions

Localizations

Game Info

Nemesis Cover Art

3.8 / 5

14 votes

Platform
Game Boy
Genres
Shoot 'Em Up
Player Perspective
Side view
Developer Companies
Konami
Publishers
Ultra Games · Konami
Release date
23 February 1990

Summary

Nemesis on the Game Boy brings the iconic sideways‑scrolling shooter feel to the handheld. The game opens on a simple stage‑select screen, a hallmark of Konami’s portable titles. Its power‑up meter expands on the original Gradius formula by adding multi‑level missiles.
Only five stages appear, each capped by a distinct core boss that demands precise timing. Hidden bonus stages pop up for those who explore, rewarding extra lives and score bonuses. The tight level design keeps the action intense despite the system’s limitations.
Although marketed under the Nemesis name, the title is firmly part of the Gradius lineage and later resurfaced in the Konami GB Collection as Gradius and Gradius II. A direct follow‑up, Gradius: The Interstellar Assault, arrived the next year on the same platform. Contemporary critics hailed it as a “superb version of a classic coin‑op.”

Storyline

Nemesis, known as Gradius on later collections, is a 1990 shoot‑em‑up for the Game Boy. Developed and published by Konami, it joins the Gradius series while borrowing the overseas title of an earlier entry. The game follows the series' classic formula of piloting the Vic Viper through scrolling space stages, collecting power‑ups and battling alien forces. A year later Konami released Nemesis II on the same handheld, and both titles were eventually bundled in the Konami GB Collection, where they appear under the Gradius name.

Edited by Maya Carter

Game Videos

Game Screenshots

  • Nemesis Screenshot 1
  • Nemesis Screenshot 2
  • Nemesis Screenshot 3
  • Nemesis Screenshot 4
  • Nemesis Screenshot 5
  • Nemesis Screenshot 6