Astro Boy: Omega Factor

"This game blew me away. Far exceeds any expectations."

Graphics: My only possible complaint is here, only because pn some of the large robots you can see a bunch pixels rather then the root. Everything else was great, especially the cutscenes which use the same exact art style as the 2003 Astro boy series. And some of the robots tht are big can be simply beautiful. 9.5/10

Gameplay: Astro Boy: Omega Factor has some of the greatest controls I've seen on ANY game in a while and this IS a GBA game. That's sayin' something. At first it seemed like another Beatem up side scroller, but five seconds after I was done with the (tedious) tutorial I found myself largely mistaken. The battles are the ones where you find a group of enemies and you can't go back nor can you advance towards the end of the level until you defeat all of them. I'm usually disappointed with this, but not on AB:OF. 10/10

Plot Get ready! It's another game based upon some show/movie. That means a crappy plot. Oh wait, I said this game far exceeds any expectations. The plot exceeds a good number of completely orginial games. You play through the game two times, and several levels 3-4 times. When you play through the first time it's okay. Not that big but meets expectations. The second time though it seems like a crappy way to extend gameplay. (A certain spoiler character gives Astro the ability to transcend time. ) After the first four four or five levels, you discover that the first playthrough basically just sets up the plot. And everytime you think you have the plot completely figured out, it turns in a stunning new direciton. 10/10

Sound/Music Great, but I swear the music on the moon stages sounds like the old SNES Inspector Gadget game. The tunes don't have to be fitting in most of the game, any song rocks there! Alright maybe not slow songs but thankfully there aren't any. :-) And where really there only one or two tunes that fit the current battle/cutscene, they fit! 9.5/10

Recommendation: Can't you tell? Well if you can't then YES! This is the absolute best GBA game I've seen. And it also far exceeds the PS2 version, which is (unforunately) like Superman 64. Though i'd recommend it to anyone, I especially recommend it to non-Prime Metroid fans, Megaman fans, Contra fans, and Metal Slug fans. The plot is for mystery-lovers as well.But both gameplay wise and plot wise it can be enjoyed by anyone. I hear the game's a budget title but al the times I've played AB:OF (Which is a bunch) I had the game borrowed from a friend. So I'm not making any promises, but this game might be pretty darn cheap.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/05