game
icon
title Nemesis
set name nemesis
manufacturer Konami
year 1985
genre Shooter (hof)
category Shooter / Flying Horizontal (hof)
driver status good
driver source nemesis.c
snapshots MW: in game / CT: in game | title / Mr. Do: artwork / EJ: in game
zoom
rating

67.3% after 93 votes
 
clones Gradius
Nemesis (World?)
display
colour emulation good
palette 2048
display type raster
orientation horizontal
resolution 256x224
frequency 60.606061Hz
sound
sound emulation good
channels mono
controls
players 2
nplayers 2P alt
controls 8 way joystick
buttons 3
coin slots 2
hardware
cpu 68000 @ 9.216MHz
cpu Z80 @ 3.579545MHz
audio AY-3-8910A @ 1.789772MHz
audio AY-3-8910A @ 1.789772MHz
audio K005289 @ 1.789772MHz
audio VLM5030 @ 3.579545MHz
data
version added .033b05
last change(s) .097u1
roms
name size crc set flags sha1
456-d01.12a  32768  35ff1aaa  nemesis    2879a5d2ff7dca217fe5cd40be871878294c491f 
456-d05.12c  32768  23155faa  nemesis    08c73c669b3a5275353cbfcbe58ced92d93244a7 
456-d02.13a  32768  ac0cf163  nemesis    8b1a46c3ad102fe78cf099425e108d09dafd0955 
456-d06.13c  32768  023f22a9  nemesis    0b9096b9cfcc3ed273de04c93227ab24c63513e8 
456-d03.14a  32768  8cefb25f  nemesis    876b1974ca76ca89f8b8ea45b4ba9ec82d7c7228 
456-d07.14c  32768  d50b82cb  nemesis    71e9fbe51272788e2ef6f150c7bff59ac8c28f1d 
456-d04.15a  32768  9ca75592  nemesis    04388f2874faa54dd2cabfec4d6ce3e8d164cbcc 
456-d08.15c  32768  03c0b7f5  nemesis    4eb31bcbd2ee66afe4158308351a57589c5a1e4e 
456-d09.9c  16384  26bf9636  nemesis    009dcbf18ea6230fc75a72232bd4fc29ad28dbf0 
400-a01.fse  256  5827b1e8  nemesis    fa8cf5f868cfb08bce203baaebb6c4055ee2a000 
400-a02.fse  256  2f44f970  nemesis    7ab46f9d5d587665782cefc623b8de0124a6d38a 
cabinet art
cabinet nemesis.png
marquee nemesis.png
flyer nemesis.png
additional information
info 0.33b5 [Allard van der Bas]

WIP:
  • 0.98u1: MASH fixed K005289 sound and Mamesick and Fujix fixed the volume of the 2x AY8910.
  • 0.97u2: Mamesick fixed wrong mapped buttons (power-up, shoot and missile).
  • 0.94u5: R. Belmont fixed problem with Nemesis sound created during sound rewrite. Replaced K007232 sound with K005289 (1789772 Hz).
  • 0.93u1: Aaron Giles fixed Nemesis (no longer references non-existant K005289).
  • 0.93: Replaced K005289 sound with K007232 (3579545 Hz).
  • 0.68: Changed VSync to 60.606060 Hz.
  • 0.57: Changed 68000 CPU1 clock speed to 9216000 Hz.
  • 0.36b11: Added Konami 005289 sound and changed 68000 CPU1 clock speed to 7159090 Hz.
  • 29th November 1999: Bryan McPhail added correct implementation of the 005289 sound chip to Nemesis.
  • 22nd October 1999: Eisuke Watanabe fixed some Nemesis graphics problems.
  • 0.36b6: E.Watanabe improved screen priority in Lifeforce, Salamander, clone Gradius, etc.
  • 26th June 1999: Nicola fixed the input ports in Nemesis and the others.
  • 0.35RC2: Changed 68000 CPU1 clock speed to 12MHz.
  • 21st June 1999: Marco Cassili fixed the dipswitches in Nemesis
  • 20th June 1999: Elestir fixed Nemesis from crashing at startup.
  • 0.35RC1: Changed 68000 CPU1 clock speed to 14318180 Hz and the 2x AY-8910 to 1789772 Hz. Added Namco and VLM5030 (3579545 Hz) sound and sound1 roms ($0, 100 - 2x 256 byte for 005289 wavetable data).
  • 10th June 1999: Elestir added the last missing sound channel to Nemesis and the rest.
  • 31st May 1999: Elestir added the two missing sound channels to Nemesis etc, speech to Salamander and some other things to the driver.
  • 0.34b8: Andrew Prime added clone Gradius.
  • 0.34b6: Added clone Gradius (Testdriver).
  • 0.34b4: Dani Portillo added hiscore save in Nemesis.
  • 0.33b5: Allard van der Bas added Nemesis (Konami 1985) and clone (UK version).
ARCADE RELEASE: Gradius (Konami) - 1985/May/29

LEVELS: 7 (gradius)

HISTORY:
  • Johan Koehler wrote the Nemesis arcade emulator in March 1997. He reverse engeneered the arcade hardware and implemented Bernd Schmidt's 68000 emulator from UAE, Marcel de Kogel's Z80 emulator and the AY-3-8910 emulator from Ville Hallik and Michael Cuddy. The emulator was tested by Jason Pimble and Chuck Cochems.
Other Emulators:
  • Nemesis
  • Sparcade
Recommended Games (R-Type):

Gradius / Nemesis

Gradius (PlayChoice-10)

Vs. Gradius

Gradius II / Vulcan Venture

Gradius III

Gradius 4: Fukkatsu

Salamander

Salamander 2

R-Type

R-Type II

R-Type Leo

Turtle Ship

Hellfire

X Multiply

Zero Wing

Raiga - Strato Fighter

Rezon

Blaze On

Hyper Duel

Super Spacefortress Macross II

Romset: 273 kb / 11 files / 118 zip
history Nemesis (c) 10/1985 Konami.

A superb and demanding shoot'em up that shares - along with Irem's "R-Type" - the destinction of being a true innovator of its genre and, again like R-Type, completely revolutionized the humble shoot-em-up.

Nemesis' eye-catching graphics guaranteed gamer interest but it was the game's genius ''weapon upgrade'' system that really made the difference. Never before could players actually CHOSE how to upgrade their ship. Destroying waves of enemies would often see the player reward with an 'orb' that could be picked up. The player could collect up to six orbs and could effectively 'buy' an upgrade from the six displayed at the bottom of the play area (speed-up, bombs, double, laser, multiple - which are orbs that follow the player's movements and add greater firepower - and a mystery 6th upgrade that is marked with an '?'). Game difficulty increases depending on how many power-ups the player has, so it is sometimes advantageous to NOT power-up your ship too much.

- TECHNICAL -

Game ID : GX400

Main CPU : 68000 (@ 9.216 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) AY8910 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), K005289 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), VLM5030 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)

Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 256 x 224 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.61 Hz
Palette colors : 2048

Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 3

- TRIVIA -

This game is known outside Europe as "Gradius".

First shoot-em-up with serious power-ups.

Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Konami Game Music Vol.1 - 28XA-85) on 27/06/1986.
Apollon Music released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Original Sound of Gradius - KHY1016) on 05/05/1987.

Interesting note : Several Konami arcade games ("Gradius", "Parodius Da! - Shinwa kara Owarai e", "Salamander", etc...) have the default high score set at 57300. '573' refers to Go-Na-Mi kana letters, a play of word for 'Konami'.

Bandai released a boardgame (in Japan only) based on this videogame (as "Gradius") in 1986 : The board is split into 8 sections, each with its own rules. The things that remain the same are that each uses a square-grid for movement, and you can power up your ship by getting the capsules.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Plan your power ups well : When starting/restarting the game, the regular shot being your only method of attack could be very tough. But that doesn't mean increasing your firepower by equipping MULTIPLE very first is good because you cannot move around quickly. You will end up being hit. Therefore, first power up your speed once or twice so you can move faster.

* DOUBLE and its problems : With DOUBLE, you can shoot in front of you and diagonally. However, since you cannot fire rapidly, it is not a weapon easy to use. Equip at least 2 MULTIPLE before equipping DOUBLE.

* Make good use of the LASER : Hitting enemies above and below you with the LASER is rather easy. You don't have to go for a direct hit. Make it fly near the enemy for a slight touch.

* MISSILE movement : The MISSILE moves along the ground. If there is something sticking out of the ground, the MISSILE stops there. Keep an eye on the landscape.

* Take control of the MULTIPLE : The MULTIPLE follow the path of VIC VIPER. Take advantage of this feature and attack enemies that VIC VIPER cannot reach. Use formations to wipe out th enemy!
Also, the faster VIC VIPER is, the more widely spread the MULTIPLE are from each other. Take advantage of this feature as well.

* Renewing the BARRIER : The BARRIER wears out not only by making contact with the enemy and enemy shots. It does so by touching the landscape. Make use of this trait and make the BARRIER touch enemies or the landscape to wear it down and get rid of it. Then equip a new BARRIER.

* Come up with a conquering pattern : This game is a shooter that gives you a lot of freedom in terms of how you can conquer levels. Learn the tips, remember the appearance patterns of the enemy, and come up with your own way of conquering the game.

- SERIES -
  1. Nemesis (1985)
  2. Lifeforce (1986)
  3. Gradius 2 (1987, MSX)
  4. Vulcan Venture (1988)
  5. Nemesis 3 - The Eve of Destruction (1988, MSX)
  6. Gradius III (1989)
  7. Gradius - The Interstellar Assault (1991, Nintendo Game Boy)
  8. Nemesis '90 Kai (1993, Sharp X68000)
  9. Salamander 2 (1996)
  10. Solar Assault - Gradius (1997)
  11. Solar Assault - Revisited (1997)
  12. Gradius Gaiden (1997, Sony PlayStation)
  13. Gradius IV - Fukkatsu (1999)
  14. Gradius Generation (2002, Nintendo Game Boy Advance)
  15. Gradius V (2003, Sony PlayStation 2)
- STAFF -
  • Music by : Miki Higashino
- PORTS -

* Consoles :
Nintendo Game Boy (1990)

* Computers :
MSX (1986)
Commodore C64 (1987)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
Amstrad CPC (1987)

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.
Machine's picture.
resource links view in MAWS
view in CAESAR
view high score and replay at MARP
view in Progetto EMMA (Italian)
view in arcade-history.com
view in arcade-history.com
view in GameFAQs
view in KLOV
view in MamEnd
view in System16
view in The Arcade Flyer Archive
view in The Arcade Flyer Archive
view in VGMuseum Gamepics
view in VGMuseum Gamepics
cheats
cheats
code comments
00000000:602A0:00000005:FFFFFFFF  Infinite Lives
00000000:60800:00000001:FFFFFFFF  Invincibility
00010000:6080A:00000002:FFFFFFFF  Invincibility (2/3)
00010000:60819:00000000:FFFFFFFF  Invincibility (3/3)
00000000:6080E:00000002:FFFFFFFF  Constant Speedup Speed=2
00000000:6080E:00000003:FFFFFFFF  Constant Speedup Speed=3
00000000:6080E:00000004:FFFFFFFF  Constant Speedup Speed=4
00000000:6080E:00000005:FFFFFFFF  Constant Speedup Speed=5
00000000:6080E:00000006:FFFFFFFF  Constant Speedup Speed=6-FULL
00000000:60825:00000001:FFFFFFFF  Constant Missile
00000000:60827:00000001:FFFFFFFF  Constant Double
00000000:60827:00000002:FFFFFFFF  Constant Laser
00000000:602AC:00000005:FFFFFFFF  Infinite 5 Coins
00000000:602AC:00000006:FFFFFFFF  Infinite 6 Coins
60000000:00000:00000000:00000000 
00000020:605E3:000000FF:FFFFFFFF  Sound Test Timer Stop:[PL2 Start]Next Code
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