Gradius

This classic side-scrolling was extremely influential on the shooting genre. Gradius is a difficult space shooter, but also insanely addictive. One aspect that sets the game apart is its innovative power-up system. As you destroy enemies, they produce icons you can "cash in" for new weapons or abilities. The more you collect, the better the available power-up. But no matter how much firepower you've accumulated, once you crash, you lose everything. A well-designed shooter with superb graphics and audio, Gradius stands the test of time.

With Jailbreak, this is the first coin-op conversion Konami have done for themselves. Jailbreak was awful, this restores credibility.

Graphics are a bit blocky and pale, but it still plays like a demon. A flippin' good shoot-em-up, and the best version there is.

Colourful graphics but poor sound abound, but this doesn't stop Amstrad Nemesis being really addictive.

A bit of colour clash here and there, but rootin'-tootin' kill-blast action all round. Well worth the wonga.

Ich sage es hier in aller Deutlichkeit: Nemesis ist das beste Action-Programm, das ich bisher gespielt habe. Es ist besser als "Uridium", besser als "Delta" und besser als "Tempest".

Overall, this is another quality game in the Gradius series and a unique one. Anyone who is a fan of the Gradius series should get this game. If you haven't tried out any games in the series but do own a Gameboy, what are you waiting for? If you never liked the Gradius series, however, this game won't change your mind. It was sort of overshadowed by Gradius III for the Super Nintendo and also its follow-up on Gameboy a short time later titled, "Gradius: Interstellar Assault." Recently, another all-new Gradius game was released for Gameboy Advance.

Like the arcade version, the Speccy Nemesis is very fast and very hard. The ship is highly manoeuvrable and the aliens whiffle about like nobody's business, knocking you out before you really notice. In fact, the collision detection is the game's single major flaw. To avoid the usual problem, Konami has you destroyed about half a sprite before you thought you'd hit anything - a bit irritating to start with, but you get used to it. Otherwise it's a faithful, no-frills conversion. The graphics have suffered by necessity, but if you can accept that you have a Speccy in your living room, not a four-ton three megabyte arcade machine and a lifetime supply of 10p pieces, Nemesis is well up to expectations. A deserved hit for Konami!

Wenn man es nicht gesehen hat, glaubt man's nicht: Nemesis auf dem Game Boy – und das in erstaunlicher Qualität. Daß die Grafik nur in Schwarzweiß ist, vergißt man schnell, denn Tempo und Spielwitz sind atemberaubend.

Nemesis é um bom jogo de combate espacial para o Game Boy. Mas, no comando de uma nave frágil e pequena, será realmente muito difícil atingir todas as naves alienígenas e evitar a invasão de seu planeta.

The original Gradius is a great, classic shooter that set the bar high for later games in the genre. This Virtual Console release is an emulation of the NES version, the most popular and notable rendition of the game, and the version responsible for introducing the Konami Code to the world of gaming. This version hasn't been previously re-released anywhere else, so the Wii is a good place to grab it – if you'd like to experience the arcade original instead, though, it can be found in the recent PSP release, Gradius Collection.

Gradius genoss damals vor allem wegen seines ausgefallenen (und mittlerweile ebenfalls oft kopierten) Waffensystems eine hohe Wertschätzung. Heutzutage verwandelt sich diese Zuneigung schonmal schnell in flammenden Hass. Wenn man mal wieder durch eine Unachtsamkeit alle Upgrades verliert, geht's nur noch schleppend voran. Trotzdem ein toller Shooter für geschickte Puristen.