Getting the good ending is p much impossible without a guide, but what a beautiful ending it ended up being. Maybe I will read the comics.
This review contains spoilers
Jesus Christ this game is a masterpiece. Didn’t expect Phoenix & Black Jack to show up cause I’m clearly unfamiliar with the manga but yeah. You can feel Tezuka's classic touch, primarily his message about life's universal value, how it permeates thru the organic, the technological, and even the stars.
Treasure delivers on all fronts in terms of game development. The leveling up system felt fair and challenging at the same time (wish I didn't level up my shot meter so much early on lol). there's lots of variation in the 7-8 levels as well, ranging from Gunstar Heroes-ish beat 'em up sections to horizontal shooter segments. There's even times where the stage setting changes basic gameplay functions, like the level with altered gravity. The only drawback was the blue Knight dueling bit, which felt unfairly punishing/annoying (I hate that the A button timing had to be SO exact, and Astro Boy dies in one hit wtf). There's also too much ambiguity and confusion on what to do next during the second replay half of the game, but that's a fairly minor quip.
Overall the music, visuals, and dialogue sections are beautifully made. Feels like Treasure put tons of thoughtfulness and detailed effort into making a faithful, robust tribute to Tezuka's work. Everything meshes together for an absolutely astonishing experience.
Treasure delivers on all fronts in terms of game development. The leveling up system felt fair and challenging at the same time (wish I didn't level up my shot meter so much early on lol). there's lots of variation in the 7-8 levels as well, ranging from Gunstar Heroes-ish beat 'em up sections to horizontal shooter segments. There's even times where the stage setting changes basic gameplay functions, like the level with altered gravity. The only drawback was the blue Knight dueling bit, which felt unfairly punishing/annoying (I hate that the A button timing had to be SO exact, and Astro Boy dies in one hit wtf). There's also too much ambiguity and confusion on what to do next during the second replay half of the game, but that's a fairly minor quip.
Overall the music, visuals, and dialogue sections are beautifully made. Feels like Treasure put tons of thoughtfulness and detailed effort into making a faithful, robust tribute to Tezuka's work. Everything meshes together for an absolutely astonishing experience.
It was fun but doesn’t hit the same anymore ngl
This is by far the worst Treasure game I have played yet, and the only one I'd truly call bad.
Innovative, clever, and enjoyable are the most important words that come to mind when talking about Treasure's games. Words that will be completely absent in this game's review after this sentence
Let's stop beating around the bush. As pretentious as it may sound, Astro Boy: Omega Factor has both fundamental flaws and horrible design choices.
Let's start talking about the leveling system and its different stats.
Every once in a while, either by just progressing the game or by finding them hiding somewhere in the stages, you'll encounter some of Astro's characters. Each time you do, you'll get the chance to invest in one of these six different stats:
Life - Absolutely crucial if you want to get far in the game, and the very first stat you should max out. If you do not level up your life points at least once on every stage, you'll find yourself getting wrecked over and over again by even the most insignificant enemies. A simple punch from an enemy can drain almost half your health, starting Stage 3. I'm not kidding.
Punch - Self explanatoiry. Surprisingly useless since the game punishes you by engaging in physical combat: Astro is extremely delicate and would be sent flying all over the other edge of the screen by a regular enemy attack. Combine that with Astro's awful defense, and you have a match made in hell.
Laser - The only attack stat you should max out (there's three of them total) since it has penetration damage (hehe), which means you can hit multiple targets at once. You can also use it both on the ground and midair from a very safe distance with no real consequences, so you are going to be using it for more than 80% of the time.
Shot - Spread shot attack. Really pointless since your laser does basically the same and more efficiently.
Jets - The number of times you can dash. After beating the game, I can guarantee you that there's no need to level this stat more than once.
Sensor - Completely useless. The game will force you to level up this stat at various points in the game in a desperate attempt to try and prevent you from breaking the game by maxing out Life and Laser sooner.
The thing is, there's no way to know that you've invested in the wrong stats until it's too late, making the game unbearable to beat if you did. So yeah, the leveling-up system is a complete rookie's trap.
As for the levels, well, they are just really boring, uninspired, and tiny, really fricking tiny. There's no room for exploring, and the sprites are too big; it makes you constantly feel as if you are trapped in a fish bowl.
Spawning a horde of enemies in a straight line seems to be the only thing the game knows how to do to fill the gaps between the rare instances in which a fun section appears.
But the worst of the worst is that in order to get the true ending, you must beat it more than once, except that there's nothing different from the first time: no changes whatsoever, no cool remixes, no neatly reimagined enemies or situations—it's the same boring game you already beat once but a second time.
The music is good, the controls are tight, the graphics are beautiful, the vertical shoot 'em up stages are not bad, and there are a couple of great boss battles, but at its core, Omega Factor is simply a defective video game.
I can't believe these are the same guys that made Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage, and Radiant Silvergun. Hell, even the McDonald's game might be better.
Innovative, clever, and enjoyable are the most important words that come to mind when talking about Treasure's games. Words that will be completely absent in this game's review after this sentence
Let's stop beating around the bush. As pretentious as it may sound, Astro Boy: Omega Factor has both fundamental flaws and horrible design choices.
Let's start talking about the leveling system and its different stats.
Every once in a while, either by just progressing the game or by finding them hiding somewhere in the stages, you'll encounter some of Astro's characters. Each time you do, you'll get the chance to invest in one of these six different stats:
Life - Absolutely crucial if you want to get far in the game, and the very first stat you should max out. If you do not level up your life points at least once on every stage, you'll find yourself getting wrecked over and over again by even the most insignificant enemies. A simple punch from an enemy can drain almost half your health, starting Stage 3. I'm not kidding.
Punch - Self explanatoiry. Surprisingly useless since the game punishes you by engaging in physical combat: Astro is extremely delicate and would be sent flying all over the other edge of the screen by a regular enemy attack. Combine that with Astro's awful defense, and you have a match made in hell.
Laser - The only attack stat you should max out (there's three of them total) since it has penetration damage (hehe), which means you can hit multiple targets at once. You can also use it both on the ground and midair from a very safe distance with no real consequences, so you are going to be using it for more than 80% of the time.
Shot - Spread shot attack. Really pointless since your laser does basically the same and more efficiently.
Jets - The number of times you can dash. After beating the game, I can guarantee you that there's no need to level this stat more than once.
Sensor - Completely useless. The game will force you to level up this stat at various points in the game in a desperate attempt to try and prevent you from breaking the game by maxing out Life and Laser sooner.
The thing is, there's no way to know that you've invested in the wrong stats until it's too late, making the game unbearable to beat if you did. So yeah, the leveling-up system is a complete rookie's trap.
As for the levels, well, they are just really boring, uninspired, and tiny, really fricking tiny. There's no room for exploring, and the sprites are too big; it makes you constantly feel as if you are trapped in a fish bowl.
Spawning a horde of enemies in a straight line seems to be the only thing the game knows how to do to fill the gaps between the rare instances in which a fun section appears.
But the worst of the worst is that in order to get the true ending, you must beat it more than once, except that there's nothing different from the first time: no changes whatsoever, no cool remixes, no neatly reimagined enemies or situations—it's the same boring game you already beat once but a second time.
The music is good, the controls are tight, the graphics are beautiful, the vertical shoot 'em up stages are not bad, and there are a couple of great boss battles, but at its core, Omega Factor is simply a defective video game.
I can't believe these are the same guys that made Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Silhouette Mirage, and Radiant Silvergun. Hell, even the McDonald's game might be better.
This is a hidden gem in the GBA library. The game offers surprisingly fun and engaging gameplay with a wide range of possibilities thanks to its upgrade system. It also boasts high replayability, making it a title worth revisiting multiple times. Overall, it's a cool experience that shouldn't be overlooked.
The main question I have after playing this game is, where the hell is Treasure now?
If, like me, playing the Mega Drive as a child was a major part of why you’re into gaming, you probably love Gunstar Heroes and Treasure, that game’s developer.
I was very pleased to discover after looking this game up recently for a pair of reasons, that this was a Hitmaker/Treasure game as if I hadn’t already believed one source on this game being great that felt like a stamp of quality where I’d definitely enjoy my time at the very least if not have a brand new favourite.
reasons being Samuel Roberts of The Back Page Podcast calling this a GBA all-timer and the recent Pluto anime adaptation on Netflix.
All the hallmarks of what puts Treasure games, Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier especially on the map are here.
The pixel art is fantastic, the music is good, the combat mostly feels smooth and the level and boss variety keep the game from ever feeling completely repetitive which is important with simpler genres such as beat ‘em ups.
Really that simplification of genre and the console limitations are the primary cause of my hang-ups with this game. I’m a man who can respect past titles and I don’t need to have the most frames and fanciest lighting - but I am still a man living in 2023 where some features, not even QoL have been removed or at least smoothed out in modern representations and it can make it difficult to go back.
One minor thing is some fiddliness, which I found a lot of can be attributed to the few buttons the GBA has.
As Astro boy pushes through the stages fighting enemy robots and goons along the way, before inevitably fighting a usually quite impressive boss, he can dash using his jets for fast movement and some evasion. As with most games you become more used to the timing as you spend time with Astro but a third button would have made this feel more natural and feel less like you mistimed things due to missed inputs and the like.
Another minor niggle is with the special moves, his butt gun for hitting the entire screen and his big beam cannon are simple enough with using either shoulder button to activate, but the third powerful dash uses both A+B at once and whilst that is one of the easiest button combinations to do in gaming it also suffers from not always registering which can be frustrating as the fights become more difficult and your time against bosses becomes more desperate.
Outside of button limitation the other minor annoyances are things that just feel a little out of date. Whether it’s being hit from something you couldn’t see off screen, bosses becoming impossible to dodge because they take up all the space or similarly your own attacks not counting because they aren’t on screen enough, these things give not a feeling of challenge but a feeling of being cheated.
I appreciate a challenge and this game has it, but I also don’t think any of the above counts.
Where it does count are things like the bosses (sans full screen takeovers) where you are either having to learn spacing to dodge and get hits in best or even learning patterns and what specials are best to use when.
Sometimes Astro Boy is grounded, sometimes he’s floating about and occasionally in a break from that you can be jetting at high speeds in bullet-hell-like combat.
Challenge and variation also comes within variation on these levels, Astro will be on moving levels, low gravity, platforms, dodging traps and more and outside of some frustration due to not “getting good” at later stages I never felt the game was too repetitive even though really it maybe is.
Pacing is always something I come back to in reviews and due to this variety and how the story is given, Omega Factor gets a big thumbs up in that department.
The story itself is good, with some smart elements I did not expect but “your mileage may vary” depending on how invested in Astro Boy and Tezuka’s other works you are because this game boasts 40+ characters but if you’re like me you maybe knew a dozen tops.
Some of the cameos felt to me much like I imagine the many MCU post-credits do to casual fans, to quote the other Back Page Podcast host’ it has very “it’s me Blorko” energy.
One interesting but potentially flawed mechanic ties into meeting these characters and that is the whole “Omega Factor”. Astro meeting folk, getting a new understanding of emotions etc. unlocks this and in game terms gives you a level up.
I call this potentially flawed because although it is interesting and the game does give warning for when “Sensors” need upgrading you have no idea what comes ahead and it isn’t quite an RPG where having different builds is something the game is balanced for.
The other strength in the story I do want to speak about but I do not want to spoil it for those who have no idea so WARNING.
WARNING - for those wanting to go in blind do not read the rest of this review.
Just know that in my humble opinion the story does take this game from good to potentially great.
For me this twist and feature of Astro Boy was half-spoiled but I didn’t know exactly about how it was integrated.
Before the credits hit, it’s bad news for our lad, the villain Sharaku, Prince of the Mu Empire and his third eye have succeeded, the world is on fire and a big spooky skull from space is coming.
Much like Empire Strikes Back though, this is just the beginning of the end for our hero as he is resurrected by the Phoenix and sent back in time.
This allows Astro to redo battles, meet new people and change the past by going back and forth with the new information he gains.
This implementation reminds me of one of my all-time favourite games series; Zero Escape.
Whilst not quite as deep or big-brained using stages like a time-line means the interaction is quite similar and I am here for it.
The issue I have with the game here however is two-fold.
First off, not enough changes, you aren’t just skipping into new dialogue you are once again having to play the entire game with just some occasional boss changes and eventually some new stages and endings. I praise this game’s variety but this is repetition at its core and it is time consuming.
Once again difficulty rears its head here and at this point is where I suffered most because at first it felt easier, in Rebirth you have kept all the levels you’ve obtained and it seemed to trivialise the first stages but slowly it becomes apparent that actually enemies are tougher and stronger - something the game didn’t inform you of and doesn’t really make any sense.
It took until about stage four of the initial seven for this to really kick in but sadly in stage five and six I failed more often than I had in the Birth run-through and it wasn’t too interesting things like the bosses. Also, one final nail in the coffin was that the checkpointing the previous run had was mostly removed - this is a part which has me questioning my own memory but at point I was having to do whole levels before a boss again and again where originally I feel like if I did die the game started me near where I got to.
In the end, I think I rate Astro Boy: Omega Factor lower than most who have played it and I believe “git gud” is part of that story. Maybe I am more of a modern gamer who needs their hand held than I think, but I feel I haven’t typically turned away from challenges in the past and even infamously difficult things I don’t complain are unfair.
I would just leave the point that I am reviewing this game two decades after its launch, I have no history with the Gameboy Advance as I went from GB Light straight to DS Lite with no Nintendo handhelds of my own between, and I also have very little history with Astro Boy as a franchise.
Regardless I think Omega Factor is great, I am going to play more and it has whet my appetite for more Tezuka works as well as Treasure games.
If, like me, playing the Mega Drive as a child was a major part of why you’re into gaming, you probably love Gunstar Heroes and Treasure, that game’s developer.
I was very pleased to discover after looking this game up recently for a pair of reasons, that this was a Hitmaker/Treasure game as if I hadn’t already believed one source on this game being great that felt like a stamp of quality where I’d definitely enjoy my time at the very least if not have a brand new favourite.
reasons being Samuel Roberts of The Back Page Podcast calling this a GBA all-timer and the recent Pluto anime adaptation on Netflix.
All the hallmarks of what puts Treasure games, Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier especially on the map are here.
The pixel art is fantastic, the music is good, the combat mostly feels smooth and the level and boss variety keep the game from ever feeling completely repetitive which is important with simpler genres such as beat ‘em ups.
Really that simplification of genre and the console limitations are the primary cause of my hang-ups with this game. I’m a man who can respect past titles and I don’t need to have the most frames and fanciest lighting - but I am still a man living in 2023 where some features, not even QoL have been removed or at least smoothed out in modern representations and it can make it difficult to go back.
One minor thing is some fiddliness, which I found a lot of can be attributed to the few buttons the GBA has.
As Astro boy pushes through the stages fighting enemy robots and goons along the way, before inevitably fighting a usually quite impressive boss, he can dash using his jets for fast movement and some evasion. As with most games you become more used to the timing as you spend time with Astro but a third button would have made this feel more natural and feel less like you mistimed things due to missed inputs and the like.
Another minor niggle is with the special moves, his butt gun for hitting the entire screen and his big beam cannon are simple enough with using either shoulder button to activate, but the third powerful dash uses both A+B at once and whilst that is one of the easiest button combinations to do in gaming it also suffers from not always registering which can be frustrating as the fights become more difficult and your time against bosses becomes more desperate.
Outside of button limitation the other minor annoyances are things that just feel a little out of date. Whether it’s being hit from something you couldn’t see off screen, bosses becoming impossible to dodge because they take up all the space or similarly your own attacks not counting because they aren’t on screen enough, these things give not a feeling of challenge but a feeling of being cheated.
I appreciate a challenge and this game has it, but I also don’t think any of the above counts.
Where it does count are things like the bosses (sans full screen takeovers) where you are either having to learn spacing to dodge and get hits in best or even learning patterns and what specials are best to use when.
Sometimes Astro Boy is grounded, sometimes he’s floating about and occasionally in a break from that you can be jetting at high speeds in bullet-hell-like combat.
Challenge and variation also comes within variation on these levels, Astro will be on moving levels, low gravity, platforms, dodging traps and more and outside of some frustration due to not “getting good” at later stages I never felt the game was too repetitive even though really it maybe is.
Pacing is always something I come back to in reviews and due to this variety and how the story is given, Omega Factor gets a big thumbs up in that department.
The story itself is good, with some smart elements I did not expect but “your mileage may vary” depending on how invested in Astro Boy and Tezuka’s other works you are because this game boasts 40+ characters but if you’re like me you maybe knew a dozen tops.
Some of the cameos felt to me much like I imagine the many MCU post-credits do to casual fans, to quote the other Back Page Podcast host’ it has very “it’s me Blorko” energy.
One interesting but potentially flawed mechanic ties into meeting these characters and that is the whole “Omega Factor”. Astro meeting folk, getting a new understanding of emotions etc. unlocks this and in game terms gives you a level up.
I call this potentially flawed because although it is interesting and the game does give warning for when “Sensors” need upgrading you have no idea what comes ahead and it isn’t quite an RPG where having different builds is something the game is balanced for.
The other strength in the story I do want to speak about but I do not want to spoil it for those who have no idea so WARNING.
WARNING - for those wanting to go in blind do not read the rest of this review.
Just know that in my humble opinion the story does take this game from good to potentially great.
For me this twist and feature of Astro Boy was half-spoiled but I didn’t know exactly about how it was integrated.
Before the credits hit, it’s bad news for our lad, the villain Sharaku, Prince of the Mu Empire and his third eye have succeeded, the world is on fire and a big spooky skull from space is coming.
Much like Empire Strikes Back though, this is just the beginning of the end for our hero as he is resurrected by the Phoenix and sent back in time.
This allows Astro to redo battles, meet new people and change the past by going back and forth with the new information he gains.
This implementation reminds me of one of my all-time favourite games series; Zero Escape.
Whilst not quite as deep or big-brained using stages like a time-line means the interaction is quite similar and I am here for it.
The issue I have with the game here however is two-fold.
First off, not enough changes, you aren’t just skipping into new dialogue you are once again having to play the entire game with just some occasional boss changes and eventually some new stages and endings. I praise this game’s variety but this is repetition at its core and it is time consuming.
Once again difficulty rears its head here and at this point is where I suffered most because at first it felt easier, in Rebirth you have kept all the levels you’ve obtained and it seemed to trivialise the first stages but slowly it becomes apparent that actually enemies are tougher and stronger - something the game didn’t inform you of and doesn’t really make any sense.
It took until about stage four of the initial seven for this to really kick in but sadly in stage five and six I failed more often than I had in the Birth run-through and it wasn’t too interesting things like the bosses. Also, one final nail in the coffin was that the checkpointing the previous run had was mostly removed - this is a part which has me questioning my own memory but at point I was having to do whole levels before a boss again and again where originally I feel like if I did die the game started me near where I got to.
In the end, I think I rate Astro Boy: Omega Factor lower than most who have played it and I believe “git gud” is part of that story. Maybe I am more of a modern gamer who needs their hand held than I think, but I feel I haven’t typically turned away from challenges in the past and even infamously difficult things I don’t complain are unfair.
I would just leave the point that I am reviewing this game two decades after its launch, I have no history with the Gameboy Advance as I went from GB Light straight to DS Lite with no Nintendo handhelds of my own between, and I also have very little history with Astro Boy as a franchise.
Regardless I think Omega Factor is great, I am going to play more and it has whet my appetite for more Tezuka works as well as Treasure games.
ta chido
The lads at Treasure hitting out of the park with one of the best action games on the GBA, filled with reverence not just for Astro Boy but Osamu Tezuka's entire body of work.
You punch, laser, and dash through 7 stages, taking on crazy bosses and meeting other Tezuka characters to level your abilities (you'll want to max life and laser asap). You can just blast through the stages and call it a day, but you're only seeing about a third of the game that way - there's a massive post-credits twist that lets you revisit stages with the difficulty cranked up and new events and characters to meet. You'll need to run through all the stages again this way as well as go hunting for specific characters to set off chains of events to let you reach the true ending.
Overall Omega Factor is a fairly difficult game (I played on Normal, there are Easy and Hard difficulties as well), but pretty fair with frequent checkpoints and in the post-game if you get stuck you can go hunting for extra characters to fill your levels up if they're lacking. There are definitely a few pretty high difficulty spikes to watch out for though. The biggest weakness imo is it feels like the dash really should have had its own dedicated button, since its invincibility makes it your go-to defensive tool but it can feel a bit awkward to use sometimes.
You punch, laser, and dash through 7 stages, taking on crazy bosses and meeting other Tezuka characters to level your abilities (you'll want to max life and laser asap). You can just blast through the stages and call it a day, but you're only seeing about a third of the game that way - there's a massive post-credits twist that lets you revisit stages with the difficulty cranked up and new events and characters to meet. You'll need to run through all the stages again this way as well as go hunting for specific characters to set off chains of events to let you reach the true ending.
Overall Omega Factor is a fairly difficult game (I played on Normal, there are Easy and Hard difficulties as well), but pretty fair with frequent checkpoints and in the post-game if you get stuck you can go hunting for extra characters to fill your levels up if they're lacking. There are definitely a few pretty high difficulty spikes to watch out for though. The biggest weakness imo is it feels like the dash really should have had its own dedicated button, since its invincibility makes it your go-to defensive tool but it can feel a bit awkward to use sometimes.
En apariencia es un beat’em up simpático; de repente resulta que es un multiversus de todos los personajes de Tezuka; y al final te meten VIAJES EN EL TIEMPO y LUCHAS CONTRA EL DESTINO y en fin, que vaya juegazo se marcaron así a lo tonto.
I didn't like the gameplay. The story was very rushed and did weird leaps of logic, which I kinda get, but it was interesting to see as someone who doesn't know anything about Astro Boy. The ending is batshit insane.
Astro is a good boy. He punch the bad guys and doesn't afraid of anything.
What I played was pretty good (despite not liking beat 'em ups), but I'm not playing the game twice to complete it. That's lame as hell.
I'll be honest I'm not getting much out of this one.
The boss fights feel a little too unforgiving on normal and the game as a whole is a boring cakewalk on easy. While it feels good to play, I feel like you need to care about Astro Boy as a series at least a little to get much out of this besides the fun gameplay since that's all there really is here. Also, everything I'm hearing about needing to beat it twice is turning me off from it.
It also does the thing where it's a beat-em-up with stat upgrades and mixing those two together is a major turn-off for me. How will I know which stats I should be caring about before I enter the next stage and get beat to a pulp because I upgraded my special attack stat instead of life? I feel like games like these work best when you can easily respec your character to experiment with different combinations of upgrades to see what works best for a stage. Given the short nature of the game (going based off HowLongToBeat's stats) I guess it would make sense that they wouldn't want to include that but having the option would be welcome.
I want to like this game! Everyone calls it a classic! I feel like I'm missing something here, but I just don't get the hype. I'll have to give it another shot sometime and hopefully I'll be nicer to it then. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did, so give it a shot if you want to see if it's right for you.
Also, it's complete B.S. that you don't get a stat point if you skip the tutorial.
The boss fights feel a little too unforgiving on normal and the game as a whole is a boring cakewalk on easy. While it feels good to play, I feel like you need to care about Astro Boy as a series at least a little to get much out of this besides the fun gameplay since that's all there really is here. Also, everything I'm hearing about needing to beat it twice is turning me off from it.
It also does the thing where it's a beat-em-up with stat upgrades and mixing those two together is a major turn-off for me. How will I know which stats I should be caring about before I enter the next stage and get beat to a pulp because I upgraded my special attack stat instead of life? I feel like games like these work best when you can easily respec your character to experiment with different combinations of upgrades to see what works best for a stage. Given the short nature of the game (going based off HowLongToBeat's stats) I guess it would make sense that they wouldn't want to include that but having the option would be welcome.
I want to like this game! Everyone calls it a classic! I feel like I'm missing something here, but I just don't get the hype. I'll have to give it another shot sometime and hopefully I'll be nicer to it then. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did, so give it a shot if you want to see if it's right for you.
Also, it's complete B.S. that you don't get a stat point if you skip the tutorial.
Treasure never misses as per ususal. NGL tho there are a few things the game does near the end that I wasn't particularly a fan of. The game has a lot of action in it and gives a lot of movement options that make the game feel like a pesudo-sequel to alien soldier (which is probably one of the highest compliments i can give to a 2D action game). However, due to the fact supers are easy to farm you are mostly going to be relying on spamming arm cannon lasers to deal with most encounters, and the invincible dash move isn't nearly as snappy as the one in alien soldier. You also have to play through the game twice for some reason, with a whole bunch of cryptic secrets that are mandatory to see the true ending, so get a guide ready. It felt like padding, but I think the padding was probably done on the behalf of hitmaker, the co-developer of this game, whereas treasure did the gameplay front, which is indeed kickass. This game is still something you should try if you enjoy action games, but it just didn't hit the same super huge highs as treasures other 16-bit games.
One of the last bright spots of Treasure's output, a stunning time travel platformer with so much friction in its action that it feels like the game grinds your nervous system as you play it and uncover some other weird new corner of where everything is going, who everyone is, all of that. It's like if 13 Sentinels didn't want to cry in the club.
Probably the best gba game i've ever played. Another winner by treasure. A love letter to not just Astro boy, but Osamu Tezuka as a whole. The ending sequence is what really made it something special for me. Also just the fact that i think playing this made me better at video games in general. Whenever I died (except for one boss) i always felt like i messed up and i could do better. And I always did.
Expected to enjoy this more than I did considering my love of both Astro Boy and Treasure. Astro's movement feels like it was designed with a significantly less confining screen size in mind and while I enjoy the Omega Factor system in concept it often feels like an illusion of choice because upgrading certain traits/abilities is often a requirement to progress effectively. Still a charming and fun game but just expected a bit more of that distinct Treasure weirdness present within the gameplay.
Expected a little more from this one ... The close camera doesn't really mesh well with Astros agility, the skill system is extremely unbalanced and only punishes you if you go for the wrong stats and the level design is super linear and boring.
It does have it's good points, though. I like the idea of the combat more or less revolving around filling your energy bar to constantly use special attacks. It leads to using your strongest attacks in a efficient way while forcing you to use your basic moveset as well.
I also enjoy the look of the game and most bosses were quite decent. Didn't care for some of the enemy designs, but maybe they just adapted the manga/anime. I'm not familiar with it, so I can only guess.
It's a decent time but going back and replaying the whole thing for a different ending doesn't sit right with me, which is why I quit after the first credits rolled.
It does have it's good points, though. I like the idea of the combat more or less revolving around filling your energy bar to constantly use special attacks. It leads to using your strongest attacks in a efficient way while forcing you to use your basic moveset as well.
I also enjoy the look of the game and most bosses were quite decent. Didn't care for some of the enemy designs, but maybe they just adapted the manga/anime. I'm not familiar with it, so I can only guess.
It's a decent time but going back and replaying the whole thing for a different ending doesn't sit right with me, which is why I quit after the first credits rolled.
Astro Boy: Omega Factor is quite the remarkable game, especially amongst its peers on the GameBoy Advance.
The story is enjoyable, but maybe a little tangled at first. First you’ll start in a bustling city, then you go to an island, then space, then the arctic, then to the past, then to the future where you’ll fight in a tournament of robots. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being thrown around to different areas with no true direction in the story. Narratively things start to make more sense after you see the credits for the first time. After those credits, the real game begins. Fortunately, the story not only starts to make more sense, but also gets more interesting after you start the Rebirth portion of the game. The story will have you going around from place to place finding NPCs to guide you and give you clues to your next destination. There will be twists, intrigue, and revelations to make your experience all the more enjoyable.
I believe most aspects of the art in this game are done really well. The backgrounds are gorgeous and detailed. There wasn’t really a time in the game where I was bored at what I was looking at. Even the enemies, despite maybe not having a variation of types, are all distinguished by sizes and colors. The bigger they are, the stronger they are. Different colors on enemies will also dictte how those enemies will attack.
I think the mechanics of this game shine the most. It’s not just a brawler, portions of the game will have you flying at high speeds incorporating a bullet hell style gameplay, and other portions will have you flying at low speeds fighting a boss. These gameplay styles are switched up at normal intervals, so the gameplay never gets too stale or repetitive. Dashing gives you invincibility frames, so you can fly through enemies and avoid their projectiles and punches without taking any damage.
NPCs not only play a massive part in the story, they also play a big part in how the mechanics enrich gameplay. Astro Boy will upgrade his abilities by finding and interacting with NPCs. Astro Boy can have his health, punching power, laser power, dash abilities among others upgraded to help him in combat. The more you upgrade, the more powerful they get and the more useful they get. Upgrading your senses with let Astro Boy see in the dark, or see through fog, it will even sense the presence of a hidden NPC. Upgrading your lasers not only increases the damage, but it also increases the area of attack which can be useful in many parts of the game. The only problem with the NPCs is that maybe there are a bit too many included in the game. There is a pretty large gallery of all the NPCs, some of which you may forget that you found. This may be a problem especially if the story requires you to find them again.
Gameplay is mostly fluid, but can be severely punishing and the combat mechanics take some getting used to. I think I may have had a GameShark when I played this when I was younger because I don’t remember dying so much. Even on normal mode enemies hit considerably hard. Mid to end game some of them can take you down in two hits and a boss has the ability to take you down in one even if you have your health maxed out. Enemies could attack you and you wouldn’t even notice because maybe they’re hidden. Some of the bosses take up more than half of the screen making them near impossible to maneuver without getting hit.
At this point you may be thinking, “But why not just use your dash to avoid damage?” While, as mentioned above, dashing does give you invincibility frames, it requires you to press the D-pad in the desired direction twice. This is also paired with an animation of Astro Boy doing a flip before he dashes. An animation in which you can still get hit…if the system even detects that you’ve done it. Sometimes the system my not detect that you’ve done your input, or maybe you get too anxious and mash the button in hopes of getting out of a sticky situation. A situation in which you’ll do multiple flips and be able to get hurt. A costly mistake especially if you’re fighting bosses or larger enemies which could cause knock back…tremendously so. The knock back is a speedrunner’s worst nightmare and it kills the flow of the game. It may sound manageable and insignificant when I say your knock back will last three to four seconds, but with how fast some of these fights are it feels like an eternity. I think the combat could have been greatly improved if there was a dedicated button on the system or controller for dashing.
Despite all of it’s flaws, this is a remarkable game on the GameBoy Advance. It outshines the overwhelming majority of the competition. I think this is a game I could recommend to a lot of people interested in trying out games from this generation.
The story is enjoyable, but maybe a little tangled at first. First you’ll start in a bustling city, then you go to an island, then space, then the arctic, then to the past, then to the future where you’ll fight in a tournament of robots. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being thrown around to different areas with no true direction in the story. Narratively things start to make more sense after you see the credits for the first time. After those credits, the real game begins. Fortunately, the story not only starts to make more sense, but also gets more interesting after you start the Rebirth portion of the game. The story will have you going around from place to place finding NPCs to guide you and give you clues to your next destination. There will be twists, intrigue, and revelations to make your experience all the more enjoyable.
I believe most aspects of the art in this game are done really well. The backgrounds are gorgeous and detailed. There wasn’t really a time in the game where I was bored at what I was looking at. Even the enemies, despite maybe not having a variation of types, are all distinguished by sizes and colors. The bigger they are, the stronger they are. Different colors on enemies will also dictte how those enemies will attack.
I think the mechanics of this game shine the most. It’s not just a brawler, portions of the game will have you flying at high speeds incorporating a bullet hell style gameplay, and other portions will have you flying at low speeds fighting a boss. These gameplay styles are switched up at normal intervals, so the gameplay never gets too stale or repetitive. Dashing gives you invincibility frames, so you can fly through enemies and avoid their projectiles and punches without taking any damage.
NPCs not only play a massive part in the story, they also play a big part in how the mechanics enrich gameplay. Astro Boy will upgrade his abilities by finding and interacting with NPCs. Astro Boy can have his health, punching power, laser power, dash abilities among others upgraded to help him in combat. The more you upgrade, the more powerful they get and the more useful they get. Upgrading your senses with let Astro Boy see in the dark, or see through fog, it will even sense the presence of a hidden NPC. Upgrading your lasers not only increases the damage, but it also increases the area of attack which can be useful in many parts of the game. The only problem with the NPCs is that maybe there are a bit too many included in the game. There is a pretty large gallery of all the NPCs, some of which you may forget that you found. This may be a problem especially if the story requires you to find them again.
Gameplay is mostly fluid, but can be severely punishing and the combat mechanics take some getting used to. I think I may have had a GameShark when I played this when I was younger because I don’t remember dying so much. Even on normal mode enemies hit considerably hard. Mid to end game some of them can take you down in two hits and a boss has the ability to take you down in one even if you have your health maxed out. Enemies could attack you and you wouldn’t even notice because maybe they’re hidden. Some of the bosses take up more than half of the screen making them near impossible to maneuver without getting hit.
At this point you may be thinking, “But why not just use your dash to avoid damage?” While, as mentioned above, dashing does give you invincibility frames, it requires you to press the D-pad in the desired direction twice. This is also paired with an animation of Astro Boy doing a flip before he dashes. An animation in which you can still get hit…if the system even detects that you’ve done it. Sometimes the system my not detect that you’ve done your input, or maybe you get too anxious and mash the button in hopes of getting out of a sticky situation. A situation in which you’ll do multiple flips and be able to get hurt. A costly mistake especially if you’re fighting bosses or larger enemies which could cause knock back…tremendously so. The knock back is a speedrunner’s worst nightmare and it kills the flow of the game. It may sound manageable and insignificant when I say your knock back will last three to four seconds, but with how fast some of these fights are it feels like an eternity. I think the combat could have been greatly improved if there was a dedicated button on the system or controller for dashing.
Despite all of it’s flaws, this is a remarkable game on the GameBoy Advance. It outshines the overwhelming majority of the competition. I think this is a game I could recommend to a lot of people interested in trying out games from this generation.
como iba saber que kennedy se escondia en el bote de basura
No exaggeration, this game is bar none one of the best GBA games I've ever played and one of Treasure's best by far.
They took Astro Boy alongside a chunk of characters from the Tezuka universe and injected Gunstar Heroes & Alien Soldier into it's DNA to craft something that's addictive, fun, and challenging to play. The visuals are clean and the music is great too.
Really my only gripe is the jet dash being a bit finnicky to use, especially since its the only defensive move you got in the game (its pretty much Alien Soldier's dash), but that's more of the GBA lacking buttons, so I can see why Treasure compromised things a bit.
Regardless, Astro Boy Omega Factor slams hard, go play it!
They took Astro Boy alongside a chunk of characters from the Tezuka universe and injected Gunstar Heroes & Alien Soldier into it's DNA to craft something that's addictive, fun, and challenging to play. The visuals are clean and the music is great too.
Really my only gripe is the jet dash being a bit finnicky to use, especially since its the only defensive move you got in the game (its pretty much Alien Soldier's dash), but that's more of the GBA lacking buttons, so I can see why Treasure compromised things a bit.
Regardless, Astro Boy Omega Factor slams hard, go play it!
NOW OR NEVER ikutsumo no
NOW OR NEVER MEMORY o
Tomo ni tsukuri koko made kita no darō
NOW OR NEVER me o tojite
NOW OR NEVER tori kakero
NOW OR NEVER MEMORY o
Tomo ni tsukuri koko made kita no darō
NOW OR NEVER me o tojite
NOW OR NEVER tori kakero
Great game locked on the GBA, good gameplay and Treasure’s style gimmicks on board
Dunno who was asking for an Astro Boy game in 2003 but I played this in hype for the Pluto release this October and it was kinda frustrating. A lot harder than what I thought it would be for a kids game and though the references to other Tezuka series was cool this game wasn't nearly as fun to warrant it playing a second time to see the true ending
An old favorite I was simultaneously eager and tentative to revisit, I was surprised how well it holds up. At its core, it's just a little action game with short stages and a ton of bosses but the game really shines in the rebirth mode where replaying the game and exploring stages is tied directly to the narrative in a way rarely seen and that was never fully perfected until Hades came out. Beyond that, still a blast to play, especially since it lends itself to small play sessions as befitting of a portable game. All the Tezuka stuff is just icing.
A surprisingly good beat-em-up, Omega Factor follows the broad strokes of the plotline from the Astro Boy anime, a show about a young boy who dies and is then rebuilt as Astro, a nuclear-powered superhero robot. The spritework is pleasingly colourful, and the variety of challenges is genuinely fun! Each level follows a different arc from the show, and as you progress you grow Astro's Omega Factor, gaining upgrade points for his abilities. There's also a stunning twist halfway through the narrative that completely hit me by surprise, and is absolutely worth playing just to see it play out.
Genre: Beat ‘em up | Released: December 2003 | Platform: Game Boy Advanced | Developer: Treasure, Hitmaker | Publisher: Sega | Language: English | Length: 2-4 hours | Difficulty: Medium | Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope, but you will be lost if you don’t know anything about Astro Boy | Accessibility Options: None | Monetization: Single Purchase | Microtransaction: None | Gambling Elements: None | Content Warning: Mild cartoon violence | Parenting Guide: 10 and up I’d say | How Did You Play It: On an Analogue Pocket | Did you need a guide: Naw | Mods: Nope
Is It Good: It’s enjoyable. Easy breezy, as the kids say.
Back of the Box: Is this… Child warfare?
Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a 2003 short and sweet beat ‘em up that I liked. It’s a little-known gem for the GBA.
I know nothing about Astro Boy and was lost the entire time. But I had a blast!
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Is It Good: It’s enjoyable. Easy breezy, as the kids say.
Back of the Box: Is this… Child warfare?
Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a 2003 short and sweet beat ‘em up that I liked. It’s a little-known gem for the GBA.
I know nothing about Astro Boy and was lost the entire time. But I had a blast!
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
This review contains spoilers
I played this game not expecting much, but honestly, this is one of the better gameboy advance games I've played (although not my favorite, would put it in my top 3). The Gameplay is solid, combat is fun and the storymode is intriguing. The only thing that kinda brings this game down is that you are forced to play through the same levels over again in order to beat the game, but I honestly kind of like the mechanic of having to play through the game to achieve the true ending. Highly recommend a few playthroughs of this one.
Got boring after playing it all over again (which you have to do btw)
A great 2D action game from the studio who’s 30 year history is almost exclusively cool 2D action.
I was also surprised at the story and it’s time travel, which ended up hooking me right before the end. Going back n forth between levels for clues made me feel like I actually uncovered the twists instead of just watching them.
I was also surprised at the story and it’s time travel, which ended up hooking me right before the end. Going back n forth between levels for clues made me feel like I actually uncovered the twists instead of just watching them.