Astro Boy: Omega Factor - Beat the game

At long last I have saved the humanity and robot-kind alike, not to mention the Earth. I did it all using my rockets boots, my finger laser, and my Omega Factor - that which allows me to empathize with others.

This game, created by cult favorite developer Treasure totally grew on me. To be honest, I can't remember why I decided to first start playing it since reviews I'd read had been positive, but not glowing, and it didn't seem like a game that I would love. And I didn't at first. It was fine, but it felt pretty tedious to get through each level and at one point, I just had to give up.

That's when I realized I was playing it on hard mode.

Most games, nowadays, I find to be quite easy and it is on hard mode that I feel the true essence of a game comes out. Plus, if I've beaten NES games like Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden III, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then surely I can handle what any game has for me.

With Astro Boy: Omega Factor, I was wrong.

This game was designed to be played on normal mode. Hard mode basically just increases the damage enemies do and decreases the damage you do to an extent that takes the fun out of the game. It is plenty challenging on normal mode and still takes several tries to get past a level and especially any sort of boss.

So, I restarted the game playing it on normal mode and I really began to appreciate it. The thought and detail that went into your moveset and how you affect enemies and how enemies affect you and how everything interacts is just amazing. I'm not as hyped up on Gunstar Heroes, as many people out there, but I can see Treasure's brilliance and they definitely lent it to this game. And it's a licensed game, no less.

This is another game that's hard to put in one of those categories I made a few posts ago. It is sort of a run and gun without the gun, and more of a beat em up on a single plane. There are also almost as many levels that are just shoot em ups. Since the game doesn't totally feel like a beat em up or a shoot em up to me, I decided to just use the generic action label.

Review will be coming after I've put some more thoughts (and probably a post) into what the numbers at the end are supposed to mean.