Omega Boost is one of the best action/shooter games on the Playstation, and nobody knows about it. Developed by Polyphony Digital (the Grand Turismo team), it's one of the only games to completely capture the Macross mech feel and style for a console game.
The plot is a silly mish-mash of ideas about the Omega Boost mech going back in time to stop the super computer ALPHA CORE from taking over the world of the future (Seriously, what is with video games and giant super-computers? Three of my columns have games that feature evil super computers in their plots.) It also features one awesomely cheesy intro, complete with amateurish live actors and music by the band Loudmouth.
But the game itself? WHEW! Fantastic. Not only does this game show what the Grand Turismo team can do on a game that doesn't involve cars, but a big chunk of the Panzer Dragoon team, as well as lead programmer Yuji Yasuhara, also worked on this, and it shows. The combat in this game is essentially Panzer Dragoon with mechs, with the mech designs of none other than Shoji Kawamori, designer of the Macross saga, giving the game a timeless futurist look, closer to classic shooters like Gradius and R-Type than the sleeker world of Zone of the Enders, not to mention this is one of the best looking games on the PSX, with visuals that miraculously still hold up today.
The gameplay is fast and fun. Your mech can turn in 360 degrees in all directions during battle, as well as use it's back boosters to quickly turn in the opposite direction while firing. The game also has a lock-on system and shoot system, which then sends out a barrage of laser guided missiles, Macross-style, into oncoming enemy waves. The gameplay is fast and furious, and the frame rate never dips below 30 fps, making the game run as smooth as silk.
The game is not without it's faults, however. For one, it's too short. As good as this game is, you're left with wanting more, with only 9 main levels and 9 bonus levels, the game could've used a few more missions and zones. Also, this game gets extremely difficuly by Zone 5, separating the boys from the men, so don't go in expecting a cake walk, you really have to know the controls inside and out for this game. Nonetheless, it remains a riveting and wholly exciting last hurrah for the original Playstation.
Why Didn't it Catch on?
One word: Marketing. For a game being published by Sony in-house, you'd think they would've thrown their weight behind this game when it comes to marketing, not so. Omega Boost was plagued by negative media in Japan reporting the game gave players motion sickness while playing (pansies), which killed sales in the land of the rising sun, and was released with little to no fanfare in the U.S. I came across this game only because of a demo display that a local Target store had up for it in the summer of '99, and bought it as soon as I could.
Very few people know about this game, which is a shame, because it is definitely one of the best mech action games available for any system. It's too bad Omega Boost tanked so badly, now the development team is stuck making racing games instead of unique projects like this. I implore everybody who owns a PSX, PS2 or compatible PS3 to track down this title, new copies are available on Amazon.com for less than ten bucks, it's well worth it.
