Welcome to Modojo, 
Astro Boy: Omega Factor Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Monday, January 31, 2005
Incredible gameplay and looks. Whoo!
Slight slowdown and translation issues.
...Continued From Page 1 When not pummeling opponents on the ground, Astro Boy takes to the skies! Reminiscent of classic arcade shooters, Astro Boy zips across colorful backgrounds using his finger laser and arm cannon to defeat swarms of enemies. While not great in number, these missions are a nice touch as they keep the other stages from becoming stale.
In addition to the fast-paced gameplay, Omega Factor's peppered with light RPG elements, so after you complete a stage or meet someone, you're given the option to upgrade your abilities including Astro Boy's sensor. By increasing his sensor, you'll meet additional characters. However, you may also want to pay attention to his punching, life, laser, shot weapon power, and his jets. Upgrading those will make beating some of the game's enemies a lot easier.
Omega Factor sports some of the greatest visuals I've ever seen on a portable system. It's all sprite based, but the developers have taken the word sprite and pushed it to levels never before realized. The enemies are HUGE. Pixilated, yes, but incredibly intimidating. The game messes around with your head by tossing some small enemies at you, then throwing some medium sized versions of the same bad guys in your way before launching these enormous monsters that take up the entire screen. The mere sight of them had me scrambling for the right trigger every time and dashing like a mad man. They're no less difficult to beat than their much smaller counterparts, but they can mash you a lot quicker since they're so big.
In addition to the sprites, Astro Boy's special EX attacks are a lot of fun to watch. His shot weapon (while not very strong) is funny simply because he's firing bullets from his butt, but his arm cannon's the real star. When you press the right trigger, Astro gets this angry look on his face, and as he stretches an arm out, his hand disintegrates, and he unleashes this crazy blast that annihilates everything! It's simply jaw dropping, and thankfully, it's an attack that you can use quite a bit since you gain EX points by punching enemies.
As I play a game, I sometimes tend to look at its faults more than its finer points, but in this case, there really isn't anything negative to say. Omega Factor tends to slow down when there's too much going on, but it doesn't happen very often, and it winds up being nostalgic in a good way. If there's anything to really nag about, it's the game's English dialogue, which features a few grammatical errors. For example, there's a part of a sentence that's supposed to read "all our powers," but it says "our all powers." It's not a huge deal, but it's definitely noticeable if you pay attention to the cut scenes. Other than that, Astro Boy is golden.
I've been looking for something different on the GBA that doesn't feature rehashed franchises, and thankfully, Omega Factor satisfied my cravings. From its gorgeous graphics to its classic gameplay, it's simply a joy, one that must be played to be fully appreciated. It's one of 2004's best games, and to pass it up would be a crying shame. To Sega and Treasure, thank you!
