Where to start … Oh! Yeah! Astro Boy Omega Factor is fun! No, I mean REALLY fun. This is one of those games that keeps gamers playing simply because they’re enjoying what they’re doing just about every moment of the game. And while it is not the most original game ever, the development team managed to do an action-platform, side-scrolling game pretty much perfectly.
First off, do not mistake this game for Astro Boy on the PS2. The games have nothing in common beyond the Astro Boy license. The games are completely different. While the PS2 Astro Boy is a dull thud of a game, Astro Boy Omega soars with great gameplay and pure fun.
Astro Boy Omega Factor follows our hero Astro Boy from his first moments on earth as a robot with a human soul and continues as he fights for justice in Metro City. While an excellent example of an action, side-scrolling game based on the majority of the gameplay, the developer also threw in some nice quest elements through the “Omega Factor.” The Omega Factor is Astro Boy’s cybernetic soul. He develops his Omega Factor by meeting and interacting with characters in the game – both good and evil. As he understands these people better, his Omega Factor, and thus his abilities, will increase. So levels become about not only storming through destroying everything in your path, but also seeking out and meeting as many characters as possible to increase abilities and move the story along. It also gives the game a lot of replay value.
While all of Omega Factor is good, it is the gameplay that ultimately raises what could have been a mundane platformer to a top-notch game. Controlling Astro Boy is smooth and easily picked up. Notice that I did not say it is easily mastered? Mastering the controls to pull off the long combos that yield the big points takes a little time, but is very rewarding. Astro has basic attacks of punching, kicking and finger laser. Pulling off the combos in the basic attacks and taking down enemies builds power for EX attacks. EX attacks include Astro Boy’s arm cannon, machine guns and EX Dash attack, which is a dash with very powerful punch. All of the mayhem is accompanied by appropriate pyrotechnical special effects and sound effects. It is really satisfying to string together some major whuppin’ on a group of enemies with all the weapons in your arsenal.
The abundance of levels are well laid out and inhabited with a nice variety of enemies that have diverse attack methods. There are a goodly number of boss characters that vary widely in size, strength and attack styles. It keeps the gamer guessing what he is going to run into next.
Graphically the game is very impressive too. The character designs are faithful to Astro Boy creator Tezuka Osamu’s vision and the whole game has a bright, vibrant look to it. There is some slow down at times when the screen gets overly busy, but it is rare and does not significantly detract from the play experience. Audio is almost equally impressive with great sound effects and musical themes to accompany the levels.
I’m just a little bit conflicted. I played the PS2 Astro Boy and reviewed it first. Now I can’t decide if I wish I’d played Astro Boy Omega Factor first. If I had played Omega Factor first I would have had a warm, fuzzy feeling toward Astro Boy games when I played the PS2 game instead of the sense of dread I had picking up Omega Factor. On the other hand, if I had played Omega Factor first and my hopes were raised for the PS2 game, I probably would have savaged it worse than I did. So, for the publisher, I guess this worked out better. Damn my console gaming bias!!!
Anyway, for you GBA players out there – pick this one up. It is one of the great GBA action games for 2004 and shows that handhelds have games equal to, and sometimes superior to, their big brothers.
© 2004 GameShark.com
