Everyone, regardless of age, simply must own and play Astro Boy: Omega Factor--because it is one of the best action games on the Game Boy Advance. Sega has teamed up with Treasure, the same development house responsible for past cult hits such as Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, and Ikaruga to create what is essentially a celebration not just of Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka's life's work, but also of everything that makes the side-scrolling action genre so timeless and great.

The Treasure-inspired influences are unmistakable. Astro can beat up enemies using his fists, but the many individual waves of enemies within each level encourage the frequent and gratuitous use of his pyrotechnically gorgeous finger laser, arm cannon, and machine gun special attacks. The arm cannon, for instance, is as tall as Astro Boy and spans the entire screen. Best of all, you only need to perform a couple of kung fu combos to recharge Astro's stock of special attacks. Roughly half of the game's 43 levels have a boss battle, another Treasure trademark. Some bosses are behemoths that stand multiple screens high and attack with a variety of different weapons. Others are smaller, but have multiple transformations and attack patterns. Just to shake things up a little, there are also flying stages scattered here and there. These stages play out like a traditional shoot-'em-up, with Astro dodging lasers and taking on wave after wave of flying robots using his finger laser and special attacks.