Rebestar Tactical Command - Chapter 10: Rescue

When I first heard about this game, I was very excited for it. It was described as being similar to X-Com which is one of my favorite computer games ever. As more details came out, I learned that it was only going to be like the battle portions of X-Com and not the base-building, research, and alien discovery parts. That was disappointing since, much like ActRaiser it was the combination of game types that really made the game special. Once the game came out, it got positive, if not glowing reviews, didn't do well commercially and quickly dropped in price. I eventually found it for $15 at Best Buy.

Now I've finally gotten a chance to try it and I regret not doing so earlier. It does pretty much steal the strategy combat from X-Com completely. This gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside as I have fond memories of X-Com. So far, the combat also seems like the more forgiving combat of the original X-Com rather than the brutal, pull-out-your-hair difficulty of Terror from the Deep. The interface obviously isn't as good with the D-Pad instead of a mouse, but it is serviceable. It actually seems like they could have improved the interface more. Instead of adding a big menu system, they could have made the A and B buttons equivalent to the left and right mouse buttons and having L and R cycle through menu options.

I am enjoying the game so far, but I can see that all the combat like this might get tiring after awhile without the other aspects of X-Com.

I almost fell into the trap of not considering this an RPG just because it lacked swords and sorcery. While the original X-Com did have characters increase their stats when they survived battles, this game specifically gives characters levels and has them earn experience for hurting and killing enemies. It also lets you specifically choose an ability the increment when the character gains a level. Anyway, this aspect plus named characters and story is enough for me to call it an RPG as well as a strategy game.

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand - Met the Solar Tree

Boktai was a game marketed with a gimmick - the cartridge includes a solar sensor on it and the gameplay changes based on whether sunlight is hitting the solar sensor. That alone intrigued me enough to look into it. The fact that it was also billed as requiring stealth gameplay and was produced by Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima further enticed me.

After playing the game for a couple hours, my reactions are mixed.

I liked the stealth gameplay. It took me awhile to get the hang of, but having to avoid or sneak up on enemies rather than all-out assaulting them is a great touch. The way the game encourages you to use stealth is by having your weapon do more damage to enemies if it hit them in the back than in the front. You can take down enemies with a straight on assault, but it will take longer and they will see you - meaning they will shoot at or rush at you. Once I got the whole stealth stuff down, I found myself greatly enjoying it.

The rest of the pure game mechanics work nice too. I like all the items and inventory management. I like the different attachments and settings for the gun. I like that you have to store up energy for the gun and can only recharge it in certain ways. I like the isometric way and the different weapons and the way they fire. I also like that there is an element of exploration to the game - you can move between different areas and will have to come back to some once you acquire new items.

As for the whole solar sensor thing, it really seems to make playing it a bit of a pain. Perhaps it is the way that the DS's screen is designed, but I found that when I had a decent amount of sunlight hitting the cartridge, it was hard to see the screen. If I held the DS at just the right angle, I could see the screen well enough and get sunlight onto the sensor, but it was not very comfortable. Actually, it was a lot easier to position the DS when I was outside although screen glare was still a problem. I do want to try playing it with my GBA as I think (or hope) that its screen is more viewable in direct sunlight.

I also decided I was an idiot because I have wanted to try this game for awhile, but kept waiting until I was on vacation in Nova Scotia where there would be plenty of sunlight. Well, not only did the year I finally play it involve only three days of sun while I was up there, but I also finally realized that Salt Lake gets a ton of sun and there is no reason not to play it there.

I do enjoy the gameplay quite a bit and hope to come back to it in the near future. Besides you get to destroy undead with the power of the sun. How cool is that?

Fire Emblem - Finished Lyn Hard Mode

Well, I threatened to start playing this game over again and I did. I really learned a lot about proper strategies, leveling up and promoting characters, hw support works and what weapons and items to use through playing the game, so I feel I can definitely get something out of playing through again. Plus, there's more story revealed in Hector mode, which I went on to after finishing up Lyn's story.

I decided to try out Lyn's story in hard this time. It didn't really seem any harder, but then that could just be because I know much more about the game mechanics. The biggest difference is that you aren't forced to do the tutorial things and they aren't scripted. You don't have to attack guys with different weapons or promote Wallace. It was interesting, but as I said still pretty easy so I breezed through it.

I've started a little bit into Hector's story (normal, not hard - considering how difficult some of Eliwood's chapters were on normal, I don't want to be a masochist) and I like how you start out with a unique story of escaping from Ostia while assassins pursue you. I'm curious if I'll have any more insights into the game in my second playthrough.

Fire Emblem - Finished the Game

After putting what was, according to the game timer, 45 hours into this game over the course of a year, I find myself quite satisfied. Yes, the later levels became frustrating because I insisted on getting through them without any characters dying, but eventually I came to accept that as part of the gameplay. The levels started feeling closer to puzzles where I had to figure out the right way to move my units across them so as to kill the enemy and not be too exposed. This game just really fulfilled my need for strategic gameplay with stats and item management. And I will admit that in the second part of the final stage, I just let Canas die so I wouldn't have to start part one over.

This game was made by the same people who did the Advance Wars and it shows. A lot of the mechanics and graphic styles are similar. It is more complex, involves more numbers, and has non-expendable units (when your characters die, they are dead for good). While I am generally all over fantasy role-playing stuff and strategy stuff, I think the game requires a bit too much for people like me who try to do 100% of what games have to offer. So, while I will not rave about this game the way I did Advance Wars 2, it is still an excellent game.

One sign of how much I have enjoyed this game is that I am tempted to play it again. Once beating the game, you open up additional modes of play, one of which adds new stages and slightly changes the story. I am all over that.

Fire Emblem - Chapter 30

This chapter teases me so badly. Just when I think I've found the right way to progress through it, one of my characters gets killed. If only I didn't care about that.

Fire Emblem - Chapter 29: Sands of Time

After finishing Super Metroid, I was pretty sure that the next game I moved onto would be Final Fantasy Tactics. It was being discussed on a message board that I read and everyone was saying how much better it was than Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. While I thought that game had its flaws, I still considered it a good game, so I was curious to try the original.

The day I was to start playing Final Fantasy Tactics, I was talking to my friend at lunch. He has an Xbox, and mostly is into Madden, FIFA, and Street Fighter II, but every so often he gets the hankering to play a good single player game and solicits me for advice. Anyway, I mentioned to him that I was going to start playing a new game and he asked me if it was Shadow of the Colossus. He had recently seen the movie Reign Over Me which features the game. I rememberd how I loved Ico, how many good things I had heard about Shadow of the Colossus, and though "How can I dissapoint him?"

I still had an itch for a Strategy RPG and realized that I'm still in the middle of Fire Emblem. Which I still find awesome. I peeked at a walkthrough and realized that I am almost finished with the game so I will definitely be completing this before even touching Final Fantasy Tactics. Heck, maybe I should just wait for the PSP remake and play that. The localization should be vastly improved. Of course, that would require getting a PSP...

Fire Emblem - Chapter 27: Cog of Destiny

Is it appropriate to play games in public?

I had a doctor's appointment today and my doctor is always running late. I decided to bring my DS in order to alleviate boredom while waiting. I got there on time, checked in, and took my seat. I realized a little late that Elite Beat Agents would not be an appropriate game to play in a doctor's office since it requires the sound, and even if I had headphones, I wouldn't want to miss my name being called. Fire Emblem was the game in the GBA slot, so that's what I ended up playing.

I couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. I mean, no one was staring at me, that I could tell. Mostly people were either having conversations or reading the material available there. Still, I felt like I was a little weird for playing a video game in the doctor's office. Is it just not done? Is it that video games still have a stigma of being for kids and I was too old? Maybe it was just that my DS was pink.

I didn't finish the level while sitting in the office. I had to wait to come home before I could devote the time to beat it without a character dying. Fortunately, this level was much better than 26x. I really enjoy this game, but it is a flaw of myself - the need for perfection - that prevents it from being amazing.

Fire Emblem - Chapter 26x: Night of Farewells

The Fire Emblem series (along with the Wars series) originally started on the Famicom (NES) in Japan. Like Advance Wars, it didn't make its first appearance in North America until the Game Boy Advance. After playing both the games, I can say without a doubt that we in North America were screwed. This game is awesome.

The game is more similar to Shining Force than Final Fantasy Tactics. Each character is highly specialized and has only a few things that they can do. The real trick in this game is putting your characters' strengths against the other enemies' weakness. Oh, and the biggest feature of the series is permanent death. Yes, if one of your characters dies, they are gone and there is no way to revive them. Gone for the rest of the game. Of course, if one of the three main characters dies, it is game over, so you have to redo the level. Otherwise, you just lose the use of the character which is cool because it changes aspects of the story.

I have a problem in that I can be a bit of an anal retentive perfectionist sometimes. In Fire Emblem, this means that I want to finish the game with every character that I recruited still alive. So if one dies during a mission, I have to restart that mission (there is no way to go back to an earlier point in a mission). Chapter 26x was long. I mean, really long. There were tons of enemies and they were strong. So, it took me a long time to complete this mission. Really long. I would get halfway through and then mistakenly leave a character out on his own. He would get swarmed by enemies and die. And I would have to restart. This must have happened over a dozen times. And it was very frustrating. I almost considered bending my rule and just letting a character die.

But no, I persevered and finally last night I completed the mission. I'm actually not sure if this rewarding of my obsessive behavior is a good thing.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Review

I had a disease and the only prescription was more Zelda. This game didn't disappoint. Since the Game Boy Color Oracle games, Nintendo has allowed Capcom to handle their portable Zeldas and Capcom has done an admirable job. Minish cap is a classic 2D top-down Zelda game that has almost all the spit-and-polish you could ask for.

The story tells of the legend of the Piccori (or Minish) - miniscule people who came to help Hyrule in its time of need by supplying it with the Piccori sword which the great hero used to defeat the monsters. On an anniversary commemorating this event, a wizard named Vaati wins the swordsmanship tournament for the right to touch the Piccori blade. Turns out, he is looking for the light force power used to destroy all the monsters in times past and ends up breaking the blade and releasing monsters back into the world. Princess Zelda is turned to stone and you, her friend Link, must seek out the Piccori to reforge the blade and bring peace back to Hyrule. Along the way you find Ezlo, a Minish wizard who was Vaati's mentor, but was turned into a hat when Vaati seized the power of the great wizard hat. He accompanies Link (on his head) as they seek out a way to defeat Vaati and lift the curse on Zelda, Ezlo, and Hyrule.

The story is fairly cliche and doesn't have much development, but it serves fine. It is most interesting because it doesn't mention Gannon or the Triforce. This, along with several other factors has led those who try to put all the Zelda games on a timeline to speculate that this is actually the first game, chronologically, in the Zelda timeline.

The gameplay is absolutely what you would expect for a 2D top-down Zelda game. You choose from your inventory of one object to assign to the A button and another to assign to the B button. You start with just your sword and your shield. You can swing your sword, keep it out in front of you, or hold it down to charge it up for a super-360 degree slash. You gain more techniques as the game goes one by training with different swordmasters and collecting elements from the dungeons. You also always have the ability to pick up and throw various rocks and pots and to do a quick roll. As the game goes on, you acquire other items like the gust jar, the roc cape, and the cane of Pacci. These items help both against monsters and environmentally. Your sword slices through grasses and trees, bombs blow up unstable rocks, the roc cape lets you jump over gaps.

The biggest addition to the traditional 2D Zelda formula is the ability to shrink down to the size of the Minish. At certain rocks trees, or pots, you can hop on and be shrunk down. You then navigate the world in a much different way. Grass and rubble that you could easily walk through at normal size become unpassable. Vines that would never hold you before and passages previously mouse-size are now new paths to take. Especially in the main town of Hyrule, this gives you the sense of their being and extra, smaller world.

The game world consists of a large overworld map with over a dozen distinct geographic areas. Each of those areas houses plenty of enemies and secrets to uncover. Indeed, like many Zelda games, much of this one consists of returning to areas you have been to with new items to uncover new secrets in them. The game is on the low side in terms of dungeons - there are only six in the game, but because there is so much to do in the overworld, it doesn't feel that short. The dungeons themselves are full of puzzles that must be solved, both with new items and old. They puzzles never get really difficult, but some require you to think outside the box a bit, especially in the later dungeons.

Though there is a Minish town, and a few other isolated people in houses, huts and caves, Hyrule town is where you do most of your interacting with people. Here lives the main swordsman who teaches you a good number of techniques. Here is the lady whose chickens have escaped who rewards you for returning them. Here is the man who makes figurines of people and monsters in Hyrule that you can win by gambling shells. Here is the main shop where you can replenish items. Hyrule town definitely feels like a bustling community with just a ton of stuff to do there.

Hyrule town is also where you learn about and do most of your kinstone fusions. Kinstones are colored, circular pieces of stone that are broken in half. You collect left halves and people in the game hold right halves. When you come to a person (and an occasional special stone in the wilderness), they will indicate that they have a kinstone to fuse. You can then pull up your screen of kinstones and if you have a left half to match their right half, fuse them together. This unlocks a secret suck as a new cave or passageway or monster of treasure chest somewhere else in the world. You are shown where on your map so that you can go and check it out. Finding and making all of the kinstone connections was one of my favorite parts of the game as I was always curious to see what secrets I uncovered.

The monsters in the game are colorful and varying as Zelda monsters should be. From the old-school octoroks, tektites, and leevers (I can't type that without thinking of this much beloved commercial for the original Zelda) to newer enemies and bugs and insects that assault you when you are Minish-sized. Many enemies cannot be beaten with your sword alone and require a special item (though often you have quite a bit of choice in which special item to use). At the end of dungeons you fight a large boss. These aren't very difficult until the later dungeons, but they are quite fun, especially the ones that are giant versions of regular enemies because you are fighting them while Minish-size (the giant octorok is probably my favorite).

The graphics are crisp and clear. They are full of bright colors and are almost cartoon-like while not being stylizes. The animation in the game is very smooth and it really seems like great detail was done to the make the game look gorgeous and take as much advantage of the Game Boy Advance as possible. The sounds also seem to push the Game Boy Advance speakers to their limit. While not known for quality, the clangs and cries and explosions are all very clear. The music is mostly retreads and variations of older Zelda tunes, but it is very well done and sounds great.

This game is certainly one of the most polished game that I have played for the Game Boy Advance. The graphics, sound, and gameplay are all very well done. The biggest complaint I have about the game is the lack of originality. It is a Zelda, and so you know what to expect, but they really didn't do a lot more than that. The story is also unmemorable, and while story in a Zelda game doesn't have to be important, it is another notch off of it. Ultimately I was pleased with this game and think it great, even if I had wished for something slightly more. That still doesn't prevent me from recommending it to anyone with a Game Boy Advance.

Rating: 9 / 10

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Beat the Game

The final dungeon was much easier than I thought it would be. It took me three tries to beat Vaati, but he didn't seem all that hard. The ending was nice and the variation on the Zelda theme at the gave me shivers. I do find it lame that you get a special item to help you against enemies after you've beaten the game. What's up with that?

Those are my only comments. I just don't have much to say about this game.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Completing Loose Ends

Sometimes I get obsessive over fully completing a game. Especially if it involves exploring everywhere to discover every last whatsit. As long as doing so doesn't make me tear my hair out in frustration, I am all for it. So, before I ventured into Dark Hyrule castle, I wanted to get all the things I could. I needed to do all the kinstone fusions, get all the pieces of heart, and collect every figurine.

I succeeded in this, but didn't do it all on my own. I was able to get down to 3 kinstone fusions left before I broke down and had to check where they all were. I got all but one heart container piece without having to look up where the last one was. As for the figurines, I had to read about and use the recurring 20 rupees to get enough shells to get the final 8 or so figurines.

The most frustrating thing was probably doing all the chicken rescues. Man, especially the last one was ridiculously hard. But I did it and now the woman has all her cuccos back.

Time to take on Vaati.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Acquired the Wind Element

I am making this post, but I really don't have much more to say about the game than I said in my last one. You kind of know what to expect in a portable Zelda game and that's what you get here. It is well done, but it isn't amazing.

The wind palace up in the clouds definitely gave me one of my hardest times in the game, but part of that was me being stupid. For a long time, I just blocked on what the items in my inventory would do to get me past a certain area. And then in another part, I just completely could not see the solution to a puzzle. The solution was new and novel, so I give myself some slack since I never had to do it before, but it must have taken me a half hour of going back and forth through the level before I figured it out.

The kinstone system remains one of my favorite parts of the game. Tingle has told me I have five left to fuse, but unfortunately I don't see where those would be. I guess part of this game involves going back through previous areas and using new techniques or items, but I really feel like I have been everywhere and just have no clue where the remaining five could be if they aren't in Hyrule Castle.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Acquired the Water Element

With Contact done with (yes, I have decided I am done with it - review upcoming), and Astro Boy: Omega Factor recently beaten, I decided it was finally time to give in to my Zelda craving.

Not long ago, I watched this video which attempts to place all the Zelda games on a timeline. This got me jonesing to play a Zelda game and also interested in playing them in this order. So, it was time to finally dig into The Minish Cap.

I actually have almost as much experience playing portable Zelda as I do on home consoles. I have played and beaten Link's Awakening and Oracle of Seasons and enjoyed both quite it a bit. Otherwise, I played and beat the first two Zeldas and got about halfway through A Link to the Past before being distracted by other things in college. So, I am mostly familiar with top-down, 2D Zelda games and that is what I think of when I think Zelda.

Really, all the handheld games have built on the successful formula of A Link to the Past (which, yes, was based on the first game). The innovations in The Minish Cap are the ability to shrink down into the world of the small and the collecting of kinstones which are halves of stones that you match up with people and things to reveal secret areas. I wonder if, when I eventually get to A Link to the Past in the chronology of Zelda games if I will be disappointed by it because it feels primitive. A friend of mind first played The Minish Cap and then attempted to play A Link to the Past (never having played it before) and didn't enjoy it (though he claimed that it was becaused of "bad graphics" - pfft, whatever).

I don't love the Zelda games, but I do always get high enjoyment out them. They are always well put-together. I find it interesting that (so far at least), Link's Awakening is my favorite of the portable Zeldas and that is the only one developed solely by Nintendo and not in collaboration with Capcom. I think it is because Link's Awakening had the best story of the ones I've played. I mean, the other Zeldas play well and are, in a way, more innovative in their gameplay, but I actually felt for Link's plight in Link's Awakening. I mean, he wants to get off the island and go home, but the only way to do that is to wake the wind fish. If he does that, and the island is truly just a dream of the wind fish, then everyone on it will disappear. The Minish Cap and Oracle of Seasons have much more traditional "defeat the big bad guy" plots.

One thing I really like in this game are the kinstones. Basically, they are half of a circular stone you can find by defeating enemies or in treasure chests. You then find villagers that have half of a stone and offer to match up with them. If your half and their half complete a circle, then a secret is revealed somewhere in the world (the game shows you where). This just works perfect for my love of exploration. It is things like this that spur me to 100% completion without getting frustrated.

Being a Zelda game, you can't say too much for the challenge. The joy is in figuring out the puzzles and where to go next, and not usually in the difficulty of fighting enemies or impossible puzzles. No puzzle has stumped me yet, though on a few I had to go out of a dungeon/town and come back in again with a fresh perspective. And, prior to the end of the water dungeon, I had only died once and that was because I was just being careless. The giant Octorok at the end of the water dungeon was the first truly challenging enemy of the game and I now have a total of three deaths because of him. If the rest of the boss fights are at his level, I will re-evaluate my position on the challenge of this game.

Still, so far a really enjoyable, well-done game. I'm thinking not much will change from my preliminary judgment of the game being great.

Astro Boy: Omega Factor - Review

Many have lamented the lack of original properties for the Game Boy Advance, but when you come upon a gem like this, the sheer amount of sequels, ports, and rehashes don't seem to matter. Astro Boy: Omega factor is a near-perection of the side-scrolling action genre. Of course, the game is made by Treasure who is known for their excellence in 2D action games, and it really comes through here.

This game is based on the character created by Osamu Tezuka. More specifically, it is based on the new Astro Boy anime that came out in Japan in 2003. I was not familiar with the character at all before playing this game, but the story in the game gives a good sense of it. It seems that a robotics expert, Dr. Tenma, created Astro Boy after losing his son. Tenma rejected Astro Boy after realizing he couldn't replace his son and Astro Boy eventually found himself under the care of Dr. O'Shay in the ministry of science. Astro Boy is different from other robots because he has the Omega Factor - something that allows him to experience emotions and understand people better. Astro Boy decides to dedicate himself to helping everyone out, saving people, and bridging the differences between humans and robots.

Astro Boy has quite of lot of abilities at his disposal. He has a punch which turns into a four hit combo that ends with a kick. He can also go straight to the kick which sends most smaller enemies flying across the screen. Another standard attack option is his finger laser which fires horizontally across the screen damaging any enemy in its path. Learning when and how to use each attack is crucial. Most enemies are stunned by punching, and once kicked across the screen, they will collide with other enemies also sending them flying. Using punches and kicks strategically will give you a breather from enemies' attacks. Sometimes though you need to damage enemies as much as possible and the finger laser is key.

Astro Boy also has two super-weapons. One is a spray of bullets that shoots from your butt. This damages all enemies on screen, often stuns them a bit, and wipes out all projectiles on screen. The other is a super-laser that shoots out like the finger-laser, is wider, and does massive damage but it still leaves you susceptible to enemies and projectiles. You have a limited number of these weapons, but you can earn them back by scoring enough points (basically beating up on enemies).

Besides weapons, you have several maneuvers at your disposal. You have the ability to jump, of course. You also have the ability to fire your rocket boots. You can do this either to extend your jump and move upwards or to dash across the screen. While your rockets boots are firing, you are invulnerable and using your rocket boots to avoid enemies and especially bosses is again key.

Most levels are rather simply designed. You certainly wouldn't call this game a platformer. Generally you just move to the right some until the enemies appear on screen. Then you need to figure out how to defeat them all while taking minimal damage. The enemies are typically robots of various designs, although occasionally they are humans or aliens. They follow a Treasure tradition of using the same sprite at several different sizes. At first, beating standard enemies during the level is easy as you can just kick them around. After a few levels, the enemies get better projectiles or more resilient to your attacks. There are some levels that involve a little more exploration and a little more moving up and down, but generally the move, fight, move paradigm holds up. Besides the side-scrolling action levels, there are also levels where you have your rocket boots permanently attached and can only fire your finger laser. These levels play like a shoot 'em up and are very well designed.

This being a Treasure game, the boss battles are what it is all about. While figuring out the enemies during the regular parts is fun and challenging, figuring out the bosses is a pure joy. The bosses are huge, often taking up most of the screen. They can do all sorts of different things from jumping to growing to transforming. Their patterns aren't always easy to figure out, but they all make sense and you want to keep trying until you can finally defeat them. They aren't just at the end of the level either, there are several mid-bosses that are usually just as good as any others you might face. The sequence of fighting the best robots in the world is just sublime.

One other unique aspect this game adds is the Omega Factor. Astro Boy's ability to experience emotions and understand people is represented as a grid that is filled in with each special person (or robot) that you meet. Often times you meet these people in the normal course of the game. They are the friends or enemies you encounter in your way. At other times, the special characters are hidden. You either have to go to an out-of-the-way place to find them or break some piece of the level to find their hiding place.

What does adding these people to your grid get you? Well, the game has an aspect of customization. When you start, you have four points to assign to your attributes of punch strength, laser strength, health, rocket strength, bullet strength, and another whose name I'm blanking on, but it helps you detect hidden people. You get additional points to add to these attributes when you meet certain people and add them to your grid. Thus, it is in your interest to find all the people you can to make you stronger.

This game has yet another cool feature that once you beat the game the first time, you get a very sad ending and the timeline is changed so you get to go through the game again, but the story is a little different and there are some slightly different enemies and levels. You also get the ability to go back to any level part that you have beaten and you need to do this to talk to different characters in a specific order to get information to find new characters and levels.

Another way this harkens back to most Treasure games is that it is challenging. I started playing the game on Hard mode and eventually had to just give up because I was finding it impossible. Frankly, I was also finding it unfun because it seemed I just had no chance against the enemies. Once I decided to restart the game at Normal difficulty, I realized this was the perfect way for me to play it. The game gives you unlimited continues and you need them. Most levels are broken down into four parts and you get to continue at the beginning of each part. This gives you a chance to master the patterns of the enemies at each part and gain a good amount of satisfaction. While the level portions often only took one to three tries to get through (though the shoot 'em up sections were a bit more tough), the bosses took no less than three tries. Still, it is an enjoyable difficulty because you get a little bit further or learn from your mistakes each time.

The graphics are crisp, clear, and what you would expect for a well-crafted game. The original Astro Boy had a profound impact on Japanese art (often credited with starting the anime aesthetic) and this game has colorful anime colors, characters, and great backgrounds. The music is also cheery and appropriate for a game like this and the sounds are catchy pop, pow, bam, and other explosions.

This game grew on me. I got frustrated with it when I was playing it on hard mode, but once I switched to normal I found it fairly great. The sheer amount of options and attacks you have makes the fighting in this game feel very strategic. The boss battles are some of the best you can get. The story integrates well into the game and helps increase the interest. I almost felt like I was playing through an Astro Boy movie. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has the ability to play Game Boy Advance games (that means anyone with a Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, or Game Boy Player for their Gamecube).

Rating: 9 / 10

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.