Isolated Gamerz - ASTRO BOY: OMEGA FACTOR Review for Game Boy Advance.
From the developer’s Treasure The same folks who behind Guardian Heros and Bangakio Spirits Exclusively to the GBA It’s Astro Boy Omega Factor This is basically frantic beat em up. With run and gun ish elements due to our android canon for an arm. The core premise of the game is to destroy x amount of enemies on screen, To progress further.
Being the Granddaddy of Manga the story is unsurprisingly good. Playing homage to the manga series from 1952, to nods the 2003 TV series. The story is basically of a Scientist Tenma Losing his son in a car accident builds an android in his memory Astro Boy.
Built with something called “Omega Factor” the android has human emotions. In this world, other robots co-exist. Although they are rebelling against humans. Now it’s up to our protagonists to get to the bottom of this and our game begins. Originally released in Japan in 2003, with improvements in 2004.
Americans and Europeans got treated to additional bonuses. Such as new enemies and a hard mode. For those who deemed this game too easy. What I like about this game Thanks to a diverse set of attacks. The combat is engaging as we are presented with challenges to using certain moves at certain times.
So we cant simply button bash and hope to advance. We can fly - pushing through enemies kick and punch furiously. Fire projectile lasers - covering range Although this leaves our player vulnerable to enemy attacks to due recovery time. We have a power metre, Which builds up with more enemies you destroy.
Unlocking super moves like the huge laser, And also shooting bullets from your arse. Our protagonist is certainly armed and loaded. With a variety of enemies. Thrown in with some manic boss fights The combat doesn’t get stale. Although time to time the enemy sprites were being scaled up and reused.
It did look graphically strange, But it was fun beating these pixelated blobs. For good measure. Flying Shumup levels are thrown in, Giving the player a break from the normal ground levels. I enjoyed the fast-paced flight stages. We have a levelling up mechanic, keeping the player invested.
We earn stat points, increasing the character’s attributes, From punching power to increasing laser strength. Scattered across the game there are hidden characters, which give you additional moves and stat upgrades. Giving the player incentive to explore the stages.
When you talk to other characters you can see their faces pop up in the encyclopedia section. I guess this may be appealing some Astro Boy fans? What I didn’t like about the game. This game is short. Feels like the developers cheaped out As you have complete the game twice to get its true ending.
You have to revisit previous stages and find particular characters to talk to. It was challenging to remember where the characters were located. Although it didn’t feel like too much of a chore As the 2nd time around we unlock new areas to explore. Thrown in with a stage select feature which was not offered during the first playthrough.
This game suffers from slight framerate issues This was apparent when multiple enemies were on screen. Although this didn’t really affect my core experience. With unlimited continues, and save between stages. We are offered a fair challenge. Sure our character gets overpowered but the developer’s Treasure knows how to pack in action.
