This bit is a nightmare. This thing sweeps through the tunnel and this other thing inside it kills you. Nasty

"True kindness presupposes the faculty of imagining as one's own the suffering and joys of others," said Andre Gide in Portraits and Aphorisms. Had he played Omega Boost, Portraits would be a mere footnote, reading: "One's joy is curtailed by the abrupt nature of Omega Boost".
James Price

Omega Boost is a shoot 'em up. But, to be more accurate (and less prosaic), it would be more apt to refer to it as a shoot 'em ARGH! I'M UPSIDE-DOWN! ARGH! LEFT, YOU BASTARD! WOAH!

It's that kind of game.

So yes, Omega Boost is a shoot 'em up, but not in the same way that, for example, R-Type or Salamander are. This, hopefully, should help a number of Future Gamer readers overcome a few prejudices. You see, old-school blasters are spurned, even maligned by fickle modern-day gamers.

Fortunately, for those who still give a damn, the Japanese are as mad about gun-crazy shoot 'em ups as they are about whaling and schoolgirls. (Has anyone ever thought of combining the three? Just a thought). Omega Boost has an incredible pedigree. Programmed by Gran Turismo developers Polyphony Digital, it's a cross between Afterburner and any mech-obsessed Manga comic you care to mention, with a few twists and turns of its own. Literally.

From a third-person perspective, you control your robot with either the D-Pad or analogue stick. A target in the middle distance dictates where your shots will fly, while hammering buttons ensures that shooting actually happens. There are two kinds of shot you can fire. The first, a generic blast, is good for strafing large opponents or smaller groups of attack craft. The second - and it's very Afterburner - is a lock-on barrage of missiles. This fire-and-forget weapon is pretty damn essential.