Omega Five (or Omega 5) is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Natsume Co., Ltd., more specifically an internal team named Tengo Project, and published by Hudson Soft for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. Hudson released the game on January 9, 2008. Various Japanese sites including Famitsu had listed the game as also heading to the Nintendo 3DS in Spring 2011. However, the 3DS port was canceled shortly following Konami's acquisition of Hudson, along with the company's other planned 3DS titles. Omega Five features four selectable flying characters shooting enemies in a horizontally scrolling environment, with enemies emerging from the 3D background as well as screen edges, using both ranged and melee attacks. Each character can pick up icons to choose from one of three attack types, A, B, or C, and each weapon can be upgraded three times.

Characters

Special Attacks

Audio

The original score for Omega Five was composed by long-running Natsume employee Hiroyuki Iwatsuki. Most tracks include two versions: an original theme and retro remix. The latter category of songs were meant to simulate the electronic sound effects of 16-bit videogames and are played during the Retro Mode. An album release for the game had not been planned, until the idea was suggested by game composer Manabu Namiki after listening to the soundtrack prior to the release. Omega Five sound track (オメガファイブ サウンドトラック) was published by the Sweeprecord label on March 19, 2008 under the catalog number SRIN-1041. In addition to the original and retro themes, the album included arranged tracks by the members of Super Sweep. The album includes the participation of Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Hiroto Saito, Yousuke Yasui and Takanori Sato. Iwatsuki also provided an arrangement of his own ending theme "Road to the future."

Reception

The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN called it "one of the prettiest games on 360." Eurogamer criticized the game's "overly fussy control scheme", but said it was "technically the most impressive exclusive XBLA title." TeamXbox praised "pure, old-school, side-scrolling action wrapped up in a gorgeous visual package" but added, "if you're not a hard-core shooting fan or if you like a little extra substance with your video-game meal, Omega Five will likely leaving you with an unfilled appetite and hungry for more." 1Up.com published the most disparaging review, stating, "it seems to rely more on fancy effects than challenging fun." Official Xbox Magazine gave it an above-average review over a month before its release date.