Omega Five [オメガファイブ] Game Sample - Xbox 360

So most gamers have probably heard the news that the Xbox 360 Marketplace is kaput and it's no doubt a bittersweet thing for many (especially for me as the X360 was one of my favorite systems) but there are still a select few that you can get (for the time being) that are worth your time, and that's the 360 games that are also compatible with Xbox One as its marketplace is still available. Out of the ones available, "Omega Five" is one that not only goes under the radar, but is a quality title with surprising origins. Published by Hudson Soft at the beginning of 2008 and developed by Tengo Project (a small internal studio of Natsume and later Natsume Atari, though the devs have decades of experience), this is, to date, the only original project worked on by the team as well as their first title... they wouldn't produce another game until 2016 (a remake of a cult classic SNES/SFC game, "Wild Guns Reloaded")! One thing I appreciate about this team is every title they work on oozes "passion project" vibes.

Belonging to the shoot-em-up genre and lead by Shunichi Taniguchi, Toshiyasu Miyabe and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, I've gotta start with the bad... there's basically no story at all. Obviously, that doesn't mean much in an old-school Arcade-style Shmup, but it's hard for me to paint a picture without outright making stuff up, and I've scoured quite a bit for something, ANYTHING, to explain the game's worldview and characters, and I got nothing. The main characters are a four-armed alien and a tall female space pirate (with a speedy equivalent of the heroine and an old samurai/dog combo unlocked after a few clears), and you seem to be on a mission to save a planet of some kind, but that's about it. At the basic level, the game draws some comparisons to a much older Natsume game from the early 90s, "S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team" with shifting scrolling gameplay, two-player local co-op, three main weapon types and "Variable Directions" (in S.C.A.T., it's orbital cannons, but in OF, it varies by character)... but when an NES/FC game has more lines of dialogue than an Xbox 360 game, it's just a wee bit laughable.

Another demerit? The game is a little on the short side... with only four stages. While the stages are a little longer than the average Arcade Shmup, the game doesn't get to reach its full potential in terms of locales and designs. Outside of that though, there isn't a whole lot of criticism for the game, as it's one of the best original games for the Xbox Live Arcade service. The graphics are stunning in a polished Naomi / Dreamcast manner and the music fits perfectly with the action (and, more importantly, the fact that this was achieved with less than 50MBs is almost mind-boggling). There's a few unlockables and extra modes to pad out the package a little and two player local co-op as well some fun gameplay, so let's get into that.

Omega Five might be of the scrolling (mostly horizontal) Shmup variety, but it plays more like a modernized twin stick shooter with a few extra steps. The player moves their character with one analog and rotates / shoots with the other in all directions, but can also employ a "Dimension Field" to dodge enemy fire and perform other functions (depending on the character), use "Variable Directions" as an auxiliary special function (such as slowing down gunfire in your vicinity, deploying a high-powered anchor, etc.) and unleash the "Ultimate Burst" by gathering pink energy chips (it's more powerful at close range). There are three different main weapons as well (generically labeled Weapon Type A/B/C, though their functions change between characters) and these weapons may also alter a character's Variable Direction or scoring potential. Speaking of which, there's a nice combo system where the player can keep racking up nice multipliers as long as they keep destroying and don't get hit (the multiplier also varies between modes).

The game has very few continues initially (but, of course, you can unlock more) and a single life between credits, but the game isn't particularly difficult or unfair; you don't die in one hit and depending on the type of attack, the player can take quite a bit of abuse as well as pick up the occasional healing goodie. A single run is in the ~20-30 minute ballpark and the game can last a few hours if you're chasing the highest score and achieving a single credit run. Overall, for $10, it might be a bit pricey but worth it if you want to experience Tengo Project's Xbox 360 original for yourself. This is a video showing some things in action. Enjoy.

ADDITION -

Like Us On Facebook:   / thegamingsanctuary  

Follow Us On Twitter:   / gs_vyse_and_bel  

Visit Us At: http://www.gamingsanctuary.com