GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	Hitmaker
	PUBLISHER
	Sega
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Astro Boy originated quite a while back in Japan and from then on has been fairly popular with our Japanese buddies. Through the years he has stared in many different comic books and has had his fair share of airtime on the small screen. For the first time, we in the states get a taste of this fantastic little Japanese Manga star on our GBA’s. Read on to see just how good the little tyke fairs on our favorite little handheld.

visuals

The visuals in Astro Boy: Omega Factor are stunning. The character models look fantastic and they animate just as good. The environments are beautiful and look as if they were built to be admired, not just walked through. The amount of detail in the stages and backgrounds drag you into the experience more than any game I’ve played on the GameBoy Advance to date. The effects are brilliant. From the flash of Astro’s Arm Cannon, to the little stars and particles that fly off your enemies as you pound them into a pulp, I was impressed from the very start; and still am.

The only complaint was unacceptable though. Certain enemies take on small, medium, and large sizes, but this isn’t the problem. The small and medium sized enemies look great, but the larger ones just look as if they were blown up and stretched from a smaller size. These blown up characters are obviously pixilated, but you can still make out the detailed features and they animate well, so I guess it’s just more of an eyesore than anything else. It really isn’t that bad and doesn’t effect gameplay in any manner what so ever.

audio

The audio is top notch, from sound effects to music this game will have you keeping the volume up all the way just so you can listen to yourself kicking butt. Astro’s lasers, kicks, and punches all sound solid and satisfying. His boosters and special moves sound just as good. The music is full of variety and will most certainly make your ears jump with joy. The different scenarios in the game are all themed by some great music that most certainly fits each situation. The grunts, squeals, and sound effects from your enemies all seem to be done with care. There isn’t anything to complain about here, plain and simple.

gameplay

The gameplay in Astro Boy: Omega Factor is fast, fun, addicting, and even better, solid. As you play through the game you’ll end up fighting many different enemies that range in size. Each one has their own unique way of battling and they can get pretty tough.

The stages are, for the most part, pretty long and broken up into sections. After just about every section, the game will automatically save for you and the action will continue. You won’t have to worry at all about playing for two hours, not saving, dying, and then having to start back at the last save. Best of all, it saves at the most appropriate times so you won’t have to worry about starting way back at the beginning of a hard fought out level if you die or your batteries run out.

Astro can go about decimating foes in a number of different ways. He can go all out melee and just bash them to a pulp or he can hang back and blast ‘em long range with his finger and arm cannons. He also has three different special moves which consist of a very powerful “Arm Cannon” that shoots a fairly large sized laser, a “Shot Weapon” that pops out of his behind and inflicts damage to all the enemies on screen (also temporarily paralyzing weaker foes), and an “EX Dash”, a powerful charge attack. Each of these moves takes up one “EX Point” which is gained by engaging in hand to hand combat. Each time you land a hit on an enemy a gauge will begin to fill up, when it’s completely full you will gain one EX Point. You can hold a maximum of five EX Points, and believe me, they run out quick.

Astro has something inside of him called an “Omega Factor”. It is a soul that is only found in a few specially made robots. It allows him to feel human emotions and power up his abilities as he meets new people. Each time he meets someone new, he gains a point that can power up his Shot, Arm Cannon, Life, Sensory, Punch, and Jets. By leveling up each one of these you can gain more life, add more power to your special moves, melee attacks and lasers, and the up number of times you can use your jets in continuation.

The game gets progressively harder, just as any action game should. Each level you will find yourself fighting more different and harder enemies. But don’t worry, there is no “Game Over” and you won’t have to worry about loosing lives, there aren’t any, just getting through the levels can be hard enough (which is something that is sorely missed in most games these days).

I only encountered one issue as I made my way through each level and that was a bit of lag when I ran into multiple enemies. When the screen starts to get cluttered with more or larger enemeis and a lot of effects, the gameplay slows a bit. It’s not all that bothersome and actually can look pretty cool sometimes, but nonetheless, it’s a problem that shouldn’t have occurred in this title.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a great action game and will keep you hooked for hours, or until you get sick of dying. The difficulty goes up gradually and never catches you by surprise; you won’t find any huge leaps in difficulty here. The graphics are fantastic and the color use is great. The music fits very well and the sound effects deliver the punch you’d expect. As far as the gameplay goes, you won’t want to put this game down. Heck, I turned it on just to get a recap on the music and I played for two hours! If I had to recommend this game to anyone it would be action game lovers, Astro Boy enthusiasts, GameBoy Advance owners, or anyone for that matter. My point – If you don’t own this game, go out and buy it, it’s worth every penny.

9.8/10