Astro Boy: Omega Factor

"A short sweet experience."

Introduction:
Let's just say that first off, you don't even need watch the anime Astro Boy at all to understand the game. It introduces you to each character as you go through, and you can read a small passage about that character's involvement in anime. Myself, I only had a faint idea of the anime, yet the game was a very enjoyable experience.

Gameplay:
Astro Boy really shines in this category. The main character can pull off many moves to defeat enemies, from your basic punch and kick, to arm cannons and a machine gun from his butt. This game is easy to play, and controls work well. Throughout the game, you can upgrade your weaponry and stats by meeting people, due to a mechanism called the Omega Factor (hence the title). Besides plain side-scrolling, you also go into flying mode, R-Type style. Missions like these are always fun and reminiscent of classic shooters. Throughout the game, you'll fight all sorts of baddies and humungous bosses. Although there are only a handful of kinds of enemies, it never gets old. The way that battling is used always is fun and exciting. Bosses are often massive and difficult to deal with, but coming up with strategies to beat them and finally triumphing is truly satisfying.

Story:
As I said earlier, no prior experience is needed to understand the story. That said, Astro Boy presents it fairly well. Many characters from other works also appear, such as a relatively famous Black Jack, although some get the spotlight for a rather short amount of time. The presentation works out fine, though.

Graphics:
Graphics are well-animated in general. However, the game suffers bad slowdown in cases when multiple large sprites are onscreen in certain occasions, which can be extremely annoying, especially in important times when many enemies are on screen or during large boss battles. Attacks are flashy, bosses are impressive, everything looks nice in general.

Sound:
Nothing spectacular, but steady and no problems in this area. There is also a wide variety of music from the anime series that are fitting here as well.

Play Time/Replayability:
Unfortunately, this is the spot that Astro Boy suffers greatly - the game only lasts a small amount of hours. Going through once will take maybe 2-3 hours, but afterwards, there really isn't much to do other than replaying the game and getting the best scores you can. You can always try to get the highest scores you can, but it provides no rewards and therefore little incentive to play any further.

Final Recommendation:
Although the game offers so little play time and slowdown is an issue, Astro Boy still a worthy buy, as the action is fun and fast-paced. Astro Boy fans or anyone who have even heard of it should most definitely also take a look.

Gameplay: 10/10
Story: 7/10
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 8/10
Replayability: 6/10
Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/25/04