Game: Astro Boy: Omega Factor
System: GBA
Genres: Brawler, Horizontal shooter, Adventure
Developed by: Treasure, Hitmaker
Published by: Sega
Release date: August 18, 2004 (NA)
Let’s Play Parts
The main gameplay+commentary videos. Main pictures link to videos, “Forum Post” text links to the relevant post.
Also, PLAYLIST HERE.
Wall of Stars
A gallery of the game’s faces, each linking to further info on that character. Click away!
Music
10 minute extended samples of the in-game VGM. Uploaded in the order heard in-game.
#1: Title screen
#2: Save select
#3: Tragedy
#4: Science ministry
#5: Upgrade menu
#6: Prechapter jingle
#7: Metro city
#8: Conversation
#9: Boss theme 1 – Midboss/Comparison Smash
#10: Boss theme 2 – Magnamite
#11: Stage complete fanfare
#12: Briefing
#13: Strange happenings
#14: Pacific Ocean
#15: Boss theme 3 – Artificial Sun
#16: Cruciform Island
#17: Amazing Three/Comparison anime opening
#18: Cruciform ruins
#19: Big X/Comparison anime opening
#20: Mystery
#21: Boss theme 4 – Pook
#22: Tokugawa plant
#23: Boss theme 5 – Atlas
About the game
Astro boy: Omega Factor is a game based on the iconic character of Mighty Atom, AKA Astro boy. Developed as both a tie-in to the 2003 TV series reboot, and as a celebration of the date of Astro’s traditional year of birth, it’s one of those games that most pass off as another sucky low-budget tie-in licensed game.
This could not be further from the truth.
Astro Boy: Omega factor is a game spanning multiple genres, though the primary focus is on side-scrolling beat-em-up type gameplay. Handed to Treasure Co, well-known and lauded for their excellent action games, as well as Sega’s own Hitmaker studios, the game is a labor of love that not only delivers in spades on the gameplay front, but brings forth an epic tale far beyond the normal aspirations of the genre. Control is tight and fluid, bosses are large and menacing, visuals are bright and vibrant, and abilities are intuitive and satisfying, the only real shortcomings being in certain stage designs and occasional performance slowdowns.
Moreover, the game is not only a celebration of the character of Astro Boy himself, but rather a medium through which the entirety of his legendary creator’s works are given a chance to shine. Clearly crafted by people familiar with Osamu Tezuka’s extensive portfolio, the game is chock full with a smorgasbord of his characters and settings - these characters act as power-ups for Astro, growing his soul (the titular “Omega Factor) as he meets and comes to understand more and more people in his world.
It’s gained some notoriety in past years, being included in many “best game” lists and featured in 2010’s “1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die”, but it’s still relatively obscure, a fact I aim to help change.
Wait, what? What’s this about Anime?
See, there’s a couple things you should know before we delve into this game. To get you acquainted with what’s going on here, I’m gonna give you a couple bios relating to the big man himself.
Osamu Tezuka
“Comics are an international language. They can cross boundaries and generations. Comics are a bridge between all cultures.”
Osamu Tezuka has gone by many nicknames over the years - he’s the Father, Godfather, King, Emperor, and/or god of manga and anime. Chances are, if you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you’ve been touched by this man�s influence, for good or ill.
It’s basically impossible to overstate his Pervasiveness. Oftentimes referred to as Japan’s version of Walt Disney (and even occasionally emulating him), he drew hundreds of thousands of manga pages, single-handedly popularized manga in post-WWII Japan, started the Mangaka+assistant setup, set the benchmark standard for the medium’s art style, INVENTED anime, and worked ceaselessly his entire life. His last words on his death in 1989 were “I’m begging you, let me work!” – A profound testament to just how devoted he was.
Influenced by the works of Walt himself (such as his signature large-eyed animation style), Tezuka was always interesting in drawing, but initially chose to pursue a Doctorate in medicine. However, when he found himself torn between his love for comics as a medium and his doctoral education, especially during a time when comic-making was even less viable a path than it is today, it was his mother that pushed him over the edge with her advice to “work on the thing you love most of all”.
Henceforth, he devoted himself towards his lifelong love, though he also remained in school. Initially publishing small, 4-panel strips in regional newspapers, his first big success was his work “The new treasure island”; an instant hit, it propelled him into the limelight, and served as the starting point for his career.
Incidentally, he also ended up eventually earning his doctorate. He was a bit of a genius, and had expertise in fields ranging from theater, to medicine, to film production.
“Astro Boy”, or “Tetsuwon Atomu” as it’s known in Japan, is one of his earliest and most well-known works. Published between 1951 and 1968, it’s a tale of the far-flung future: Set in 2003, plots are generally self-contained episodes, revolving upon Atom’s fights against aliens, evil robots, and corrupt humans, with major underlying themes of racism, prejudice, and corruption indicative of its time period. It was made into the world’s first example of “Anime” in 1963, and eventually ended up being broadcasted worldwide, which helped elevate Atom’s status to the classic pop culture figure he is today. The series has since been remade multiple times: one television series in 1980, and another in 2003, with various other movies and cameos emerging throughout the years.
Tezuka had a style all his own; characters were distinctive, his plots (while child-friendly) weren’t afraid to stray into the dark and depressing, and the author himself often played a major part. He was one of those authors who inserted himself into his work, often giving insight to his projects, characters, and personal views and values, all with an adorable manga counterpart.
He’s instantly likeable, and due to the time period he grew up in, his work’s conflict is very often heavily peppered with corrupt dictators, wars, and racism, all of which he clearly has strong opinions on.
Honestly I could ramble on and on about this man, but in the interest of space I’m gonna cut if off there, though I will drop THESE LINKS on you with an ENOURMOUS recommendation to read up more on him, because he’s one of the coolest dudes ever.
Star System
Thing about Tezuka’s work: They often draw from the same pool of characters. See, Tezuka had a little something he liked to call his “Star System”. He viewed his characters less as single-work personalities, and more like Actors being called to stage for different performances. You might see Astro’s teacher kickboxing a dastardly, arms-smuggling Politician in one work, whilst Kimba the white lion becomes the patient of the day in an episode of “Black Jack”. Rather than being limiting, this serves to endear viewers to the characters; over time, you’ll begin to recognize familiar faces, see personality traits carry over from one work to another, or smile at a background cameo appearance. Best part: though someone may die in one work, you can always rest assured you’ll be able to see them back in another. It’s something like a professional version of the kind of original character sharing you see by small-time writers and artists online today, with the same character designs and certain personal traits being carried from one work to the next, even if they’re not explicitly set in the same world or have the same background.
It’s because of this that Astro Boy: Omega factor is able to function the way it does. It pulls characters from a plethora of Tezuka works, some strongly related to Astro, others not, and plops them together in a way that’s both the ultimate fan service AND faithful to the original material.
How this is gonna work
I honestly cannot stress enough exactly how amazing this game’s stable of characters and references are. It’s the crux of the game, and the main reason I love it so. It’s a great game just playing it, an AMAZING one when you’re familiar with the source material.
AS SUCH. I’m going to be running the game on hard mode (because duh), meeting every character, and finishing the game 100%. ADDITIONALLY, each stage, character, and other relevant thing will be met with an extensive bio, selected pics relating to their original appearance, links to anime they’ve appeared in, movies, and more. I’ll also be upping the game’s music, because it, too, is quite often astounding. I’ll be putting links to main LP parts, music, and a special wall of stars that’ll link you straight to the character it pertains to in this here OP. FUN!
Incidentally, if you want to read the original manga, here’s a link to a library archive with the English-translated compilations, courtesy of Dark Horse: ASTRO BOY ARCHIVE
Is this schmuck up to the task?
The first things that got me, personally, interested in Tezuka’s works were as follows: This game, 2001’s animated movie “Metropolis”, Naoki Urasawa’s “Pluto" (an adaption of one of Astro Boy’s most popular arcs), and a couple volumes of “Black Jack” I found at my local library. These are all PHENOMENAL works I highly recommend checking out (and I’ll be getting more into them later), and they together served to light a spark of interest in me, driving me to go back to the origin of comics and nerd out a bit.
AS FOR THIS LP. I’ve read the entirety of the Astro Boy Manga, watched selected episodes from the 1963 series, all of the episodes from the 80’s and 2003 series, taken notes, taken screencaps, watched movies, et cetera. I’ll be getting links to each of the series mentioned in the game’s “Ultimate Character List” whenever possible so that you, too, can join in the Tezuka fun, and sampling each individual character’s main series when they come up if I haven’t already done so. Because of the sheer volume of characters, my screencap-taking method is “lightshot the already poor-quality Youtube/hosted video”, which means that they might sometimes come out looking like turds, but you’ll also be getting links to the videos themselves so you can watch in all their antiquated-animation glory - assuming the copyright takedowns don’t get to them first.
In the end, my ultimate goal here is to make an LP that serves as a springboard to the rest of Tezuka’s universe, just as much as the game is an introduction to the same. It might take a bit of time for new video updates to come out due to ongoing research, but I should be able to throw a new character bio up every couple days.