First of all

28.I.2002: Just for everybody who haven't bugged me about this already.

I've temporarily stopped working on Nemesis. The last released version was 0.94, and when the full v1.0 was nearing completion, I noticed the game wasn't entirely the way it should be. I put in way too much features and special stuff (charging bullets for example), and it was just too much for a simple calc. Busy levels ran too slow (like 5 fps) and it wasn't a real arcade anymore. I also was getting bored with it, so I put it on halt and continued working on Wormy. When that's finished I'll try to redo Nemesis a little, and hopefully release a completed version someday. For now, it's just not done; sorry.

Original arcades

All Gradiuses (including the MSX versions I played) are all conversions from these original arcades.

Nemesis title screen; the Gradius version says Gradius Shot of the arcade version in action (looks better than C64/MSX of course) The NES box-cover
The first Nemesis aka Gradius released in 1985. Good versions were made for C64, PCE, NES (see box shot) and of course my MSX.

Konami's Easter Island heads of course also present in G2
1988: Konami made Vulcan Venture, or Gradius II (Gofer's Ambition). Unfortunately ported only to PC-Engine (cover box) and never released in the U.S.

The SNES box
One year later came the third Gradius, which was way too hard in the original. The SNES convertion however was made easier and thus a great game.

A shot of Gradius IV for PS2; looks nice eh?
The latest version was released not too long ago (1998) and named Gradius IV fukkatsu (ressurrection). A title with G3+4 was released for the Playstation2 (looks nice!).

Nemesis for Z80

A cool and fast 2D-shooter based on the classic Nemesis/Gradius. 41 versions made by Konami for nearly every platform, but not yet for the TI-86 (or any calc for that matter). These were the versions I played on my old MSX:

Nemesis II

Nemesis III

I really enjoyed playing those games and since the MSX and TI86 both have the same CPU I thought why not convert it for my calc. Of course it'll never be as good, but I'm just trying to make it good enough compared to other calculator games. The graphics can never be compared to the original or even the GameBoy versions, and also lacks objects and other neat stuff.

Version 0.98

Just the screenies, please...

Version history

Most significant version changes since version 0.61.

Version 0.7 beta 2.IX.99 (2303)

Contrast is increased at startup
Invulerable when entering the game (your ship looks different too)
Hitpoints/shield. some enemies leave pickups which increase your shield
Fixed the fake bullets-bug

Version 0.8 beta 3.IX.99 (2433)

Enemies move individually, not all at the same time
Enemies fire once every x time instead of randomized
Changed: enemies removed correctly, screen cleared at quit, enemies don't move off screen (above or below edge), levels rebuild

Version 0.9 beta 4.IX.99 (2693) -- first major release

Multiple pickups can be collected, and activated by pressing F2
Two pickups select torpedo, one selects shield increase
You have 4 lives. Dieing will decrease lives and restart in the same level
Fixes: pickups no longer fire bullets, randomizer fixed, game over quits

Version 0.91 beta 5.IX.99 (2797)

Fourth icon selects laser
Fifth icon selects multiples (like the shadow multiples in Nemesis)
Most data no longer stored in program, saving a lot of bytes

Version 0.92 beta 8.IX.99 (2831)

Laserbeam lasts for five turns, making it more powerfull
Bullets and enemies are removed at the beginning of a level
Pickups don't appear random anymore, but after destroying x enemies
Bugs fixed: fifth icon select, firing bullets, invulerability

Version 0.93 beta 11.IX.99 (3098) -- second major release

Counts score and saves highest score
Pickups move slower, keys changed to 2nd and Alpha
Multiples move only when you move (like in MSX-Nemesis)
A lot of small fixes and changes (really a lot of them)

Version 0.94 beta 8.X.99 (4456) -- yet another release; ticalc news

Two-layer starfield scrolling in the background
Enemies can move at different speeds or move patterns and can aim bullets
Ground scrolling at bottom and ceiling scrolling @ top (also tunnel-effect)
Main menu, levels changed, bugs fixed, enemy firing rate differs, and more

Version 0.95 beta 21.X.99 (5285)

Boss at the end of a level
Bullet-upgrades (speed/multiple bullets) and 3-bullet limit
Graph cleared, unintended pixels removed, prog reload, major bugfixes
When you got a hiscore, you can enter your name

Version 0.96 beta 31.X.99 (4842+855) -- limited release

Armor-bar and enemy-bullets doing 1/4 damage (can vary per level)
External levels (in nemesis0.86p) storing level/enemy-data and story
You move faster, ground at boss, more bugs fixed, code optimized
Game can be saved at start of a level (continue game does work now)

Version 0.98 beta 7.VII.00 (6707)

Clipped sprites (sprites partially off screen)
Charging weapons; bullets doing more damage are larger
Multiple enemies in one level
Screen flashes when you're hit
Laser can be upgraded as well
Tail beam instead of torpedo
Four different ships choosable to fly with
The major bug which crashed your TI fixed
30 different enemy sprites made (including really nice bosses)
About 1000 small bugs fixed; 100 minor improvements

Reactions

Reviews and reactions on Nemesis so far:

Ticalc.org

Nemesis 0.94 Review by Joe Stegner: Attention span 8/10 (Fun game, addicting) - Controls 10/10 (I don't have much trouble) - Implementation 9/10 (Need more options on screen) - Overall 9/10 (It's fun)
Read the complete review.

News item in october '99 with animated screenshot: Shiar has released an update to his great game for the 86 called Nemesis v0.94 Beta (...) It features powerups and rather fast gameplay, and I'm already addicted ;)

Currently (10/11/2000) ranked as 258 on the ticalc all-time top downloads list with 7872 downloads, and still being downloaded about 100 times a week!! (not counting other sites, just ticalc.org!)

Dimension TI

DimTI description: A VERY good game where you are a ship and you have to fly around and kill enemie ships. You can choose black on white or white on black. The white on black looks like you're really going through space!

Archive comments:
Mojo Phil: The game is a good idea, but it gets pretty damn boring after a couple plays. Gives **
James Gibson: Fun and exciting. It is great having this caliber. Gives ***** (max.)

Elcobbola's Ti-86 Page

Nemesis 0.94 7/10: Although I'm not fond of this genre, Nemesis is a very well done side-scrolling space shooter. Nemesis has great graphics, speed, and controls. Small annoyances include an incomplete story and infrequent power-ups (a shop perhaps?) but they don't distract much from gameplay.

Mikes TI-86 Homepage

Nemesis 0.94 9/10: Nemesis is a GREAT game! It's a side scrolling space shooter with good graphics and power up's. If you like galaxian you'll love this!

TI-86 World

Nemesis 0.93 review: 7/10 This is a cool Galaxian type game, but it is a side scroller. There are pick-ups to upgrade your ship, and the graphics are pretty good.

CalcCity

Nemesis v0.90 beta review: 85% A good game, if a bit buggy

Rick's TI-86 Page

Nemesis 0.90: An old side-scrolling arcade game where you are a ship shooting the other enemy ships. Includes power-ups.

E-mails

I also got alot of emails and ICQ messages (Thanks btw!). Here's a few of them:

Aaron Hampton: Good god that is a phat game...
Joshua Name: I think your game is really cool.
Matthew Dale: I just wanted to tell you what a great game Nemisis is. The graphics are smooth, and the idea is great.
Manuel Blain: This version of Nemesis is definetly more challenging.
Jared Wilcox: Great game.
James Gibson: Excellent game (...) If you could fix these annoyances in the next version You would have a 5+ star game on you hands.
K. Haring: I'd like to thank you for making a game that has improved the quality of my English lessons significantly :)