GAME
Astro Boy
Omega Factor

Format: GBA
THQ/Sega
£24.99

4 005209 061636
Age Restrictions: 3+
Available
18 February 2005


Fly through the skies of Metro City as Astro, the robotic superhero who defends all that is good. With the strength and power of 100,000 horses, a rapid firing arm cannon and laser beam attacks, battle against devilish robots to ultimately discover your human spirit - the Omega Factor!...

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a pretty engaging game. It's a simple case of fighting through the levels and defeating all the meanies in your path. The game shifts between beat em up levels, flying scrolling segments (where you soar through the sky shooting winged bad guys) and areas where you have to run around talking to characters in order to progress to other levels. To be honest the flying segments are a little dull (and very simple to complete) but thankfully they don't last that long.

Astro Boy himself has a long and interesting history in Japan. He originally appeared as a boy robot in 1952 as Tetsuwan Atom - the creation of Japan's answer to Walt Disney, Osamu Tezuka. Those familiar with Tezuka's creation will be pleased to see that over 50 of his original characters are included in the game for Astro Boy to interact with. Oh, and don't worry if you know nothing about Astro Boy's history - it's not essential to enjoy this game.

You have a good variety of moves, abilities and weapons (including kick, punch, rocket powered feet, finger laser and arm cannon) and these can all be upgraded as you progress through the levels. Every now and then you will be presented with your stats screen and asked to increase one of your abilities by one unit. So, you can increase your health to the max at the expense of other abilities, or you can increase all things equally as you progress - it's up to you. You can opt for one extreme (be a weakling with serious fire power, or a super strong kid with hardly any heath) or play it safe and increase all units equally.

This is certainly one of the best games of it's genre on the GBA. Fantastic graphics, addictive gameplay - what more could you ask for?

Nick Smithson

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£15.97 (Amazon.co.uk)

   
£24.99 (MVC.co.uk)
   
£26.99 (Powerplaydirect.com)

All prices correct at time of going to press.