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.
Bombermayne
4 months ago
“I never felt the game was too repetitive even though really it maybe is.” Many games are if you strip them down. I remember someone saying that if you can’t make the combat interesting, at least make it quick. I think Astro Boy: Omega Factor does a really good job with this. You’ll never be fighting for more than a few minutes a a time, and that’s usually broken up between three or four sections with finding an NPC here and there.