While
playing this game, I couldn't help but wonder: "Why didn't anyone
think of a game like this before?" Allow me to explain.
Omega Fighter is easily one of THE most fun shmups ever. It manages
to combine pure shooting action with slight complexity, and succeed.
Unlike games like Galaga, which has only shooting, and a game like
Alpha Mission 2, which is super complicated in it's weapon system,
Manages to combine the two to create one ultra fun game.
Gameplay: This game starts off on my good side immediately.
For one, it has a very simple plot: "A huge bad guy spacebattleship
is approaching Earth with the obvious intention of destroying it.
It's your mission to blow the battleship to bits, before we're all
dead!" Basically, it's the perfect plot for a shmup. Not only do
you get the funnest part of a shmup-the battleship killing part-but
you also get some darn good play mechanics.
This game has many cool ideas for play, but they aren't so complicated
that you end up spending a lot of time thinking about them. The
least complicated is your weapons system. You have only two choices
for firing: your normal vulcan cannon, and a weird gun that shoots
blocks(?). While the cannon has low firing power compared to the
block gun, it can be powered up to be the width of the screen, while
the block cannon has low range and width, but superior firing. This
means that you only have two choices to make during play. Along
with the two primary weapons, you can also grab strange pyramids
floating around, which act as shields, along with occaisionally
giving you a one time special ability. For instance, the gold pyramid
latches on as a shield, but as soon as you want, you can detonate
it for a one time super nuke.
The last play mechanic is the range scoring ability. Depending on
how far away you are from the enemy when you kill them, you'll get
varying amounts of points. If you kill a guy from halfway across
the screen, then you'll only get a x1 bonus. But if you kill your
enemy from around a pixel away, then you'll get a 10x bonus. If
you get enough 10x's, then you'll fill up a little meter, and when
it gets to a certain point---XTRA LIFE!!! At the end of the stage,
the game tally's up your range point ratio. If you get a full bar
of any range (from x1 to x10) then you get 2000 points times that
range. Sound complicated? It isn't, but I make it sound hard. Each
level has you trying to do some kind of particular damage to the
enemy. While one level has you trying to take out the left wing
of the battleship, another one may have you going through a secret
tunnel. It's all very fun.
Graphics: While sub-par in some areas, this game has good
graphics that, while not filled with scaling, rotation, polygons,
and all that other hubbub, still make the cut. The best part about
the graphics is that, on your briefing before each mission, you
can spot stuff you'll be flying over on the scaled down battleship
diagram, and then pick it out in larger form as you pass it by.
Quite nice.
Sound: Well, Raine's sound doesn't work on my comp, so I
wouldn't be able to tell you anything.
Challenge: Great. This game packs a learning curve that starts
you out easy, but soon escalates into a super hard battle of wits.
You'll have to pray for a nuke pyramid at all times, or at least
an extra life. Play with a friend, it makes things much easier.
Overall: Omega Fighter is a great game that has absolutely
nothing wrong with it. A great game, you should play it!!
Omega
Fighter Special- UPL Ltd
