(CC) Nemesis 3 (MSX) - 1-ALL Clear (Good Ending) - 645,200

(flashing lights warning from 10:35-10:43 and at 54:22)
(Subtitles/CC available for gameplay tips, additional comments, and English translations for cutscenes)
Gofer no Yabou: Episode II
ゴーファーの野望 ~ エピソードＩＩ ~
Gofer's Ambition: Episode II/Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction
©1988 Konami

So... this is a game I learned.

Released as the final title in the mainline MSX Gradius series (unless you want to count Parodius), Gofer no Yabou Episode II (or, known by its European title, Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction, which I usually shorthand to Nemesis 3) is... an unusual installment. It has the vibe of Gradius II if it were on the MSX, but it's not the same game. As with the MSX ports of Gradius, Salamander, and Nemesis 2, it ties into a storyline that is only ever referenced in Gradius ReBirth and completely ignored almost everywhere else. These games have a surprising amount of lore.

You control the Vixen in this game, though it's no different than the Vic Viper or Metalion (seriously, why even bother making it a different ship?) as David Burton, James' son. (Yes, that's important.) You start off with one of four power meters, two Shields, and three Option types each to choose from, but similarly to Nemesis 2, you can add upgrades to your ship by grabbing them in hidden locations throughout the game. There's one in each stage starting from stage 2, but you don't really need all of them and their locations swap around between playthroughs (there seem to be 2 possible locations for each item, either chosen at random or based on which Vixen ship you use, I'm not sure), so it's not really worth putting in the effort to find all of them. There is an item radar you can turn on to make them easier to find, but since I only really get up to the Up Laser, I didn't bother turning it on for this run.

However, those aren't the only hidden items in the game. In stages 5, 7, and 8, there are map pieces you need to collect. If you don't have all three by the end of stage 9, the game sends you back to those stages until you collect them. Also in stage 9, there's an Extra Sensory Device that has the same function as the item radar, which I guess is meant to help you track down the map pieces if you have to backtrack for them, but you can just memorize the possible locations instead. And finally, in stage 10, there's a shield upgrade you need to grab if you want the good ending. Otherwise, the Vixen ends up warping to a random point in time to escape from Venom and doesn't return. (Spoilers.) Not as cryptic as Salamander MSX, but you still need to know this information going in.

Difficulty-wise, this game is all over the place. It's certainly more approachable than Nemesis 2, and it's shorter as well. While the Formation Option type seems appealing, you really want regular Options to speed up boss fights and to make the second phase of Queensryche doable if you don't have the Tail Gun. Oh yeah, all the bosses in this game are named after famous bands, for some reason. Stages 9 and 10 can get fairly brutal with the amount of BS that can happen there. Stage 10 even has a dead end that switches which path is correct at random, which I learned the hard way in this run. Whose bright idea was that?! The MSX choppy scrolling adds a bit of challenge, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

So, is Nemesis 3 a good game? Well, it has one of the best video game soundtracks out there, that's for sure. In terms of gameplay, I'm not quite sure where I land with it yet. It's far less annoying than Nemesis 2, but the random elements of it do drag it down by quite a bit. I think I'll need a few more replays of it to really get an opinion, but for a first 1CC, I'll leave it with this for now. It is nice to finally have a 1CC of this game, though. All that's left are the Game Boy titles, and then I can say that I've 1CCd at least one version of every Gradius/Salamander title out there. (Still holding out on Sexy Parodius, otherwise I'd include Parodius as well.)

Fun fact: This was my first real 1CC attempt. Maybe that says something.

Played using blueMSX. I chose the Japanese ROM for the faster NTSC framerate.