Nemesis the Warlock, Commodore 64

Nemesis the Warlock was developed by Creative Reality and first released by Martech in 1987. It is based on the 2000AD comic character of the same name, although the connection is tentative to say the least.

The aim of the game is to kill Terminators as quickly as possible to open up the exit to the next screen. Piling up the bodies of your vanquished foes is a useful game mechanic because it allows Nemesis to reach platforms that would otherwise be unreachable.

The Commodore 64 version of Nemesis the Warlock is arguably the most frustrating to play out of the three versions available, mostly because the enemies fire more frequently and you seem to die far too quickly. You also have to crouch to pick up ammo, which is not the case in the Spectrum and Amstrad versions (you simply walk into an ammo stack to acquire it in those).

Graphically, Nemesis the Warlock is pretty good on the C64. The platforms and sprites are chunky, but at least the sprites move more smoothly than in other versions and the use of colour is better. The game does have a technological innovation that’s also worth mentioning and that is the way it allows sprites in the border to extend the play area at the top of the screen. I’ve seen score counters in the border area before, but not a play area that extends to the very top of the C64‘s screen.

Overall, Nemesis the Warlock on the C64 is difficult and repetitive, but well-produced. If I’m not mistaken the game was written on the C64 first, with the other versions following.