We first saw Omega Five when it was nothing more than a whisper of promise, nothing more than a side attraction that was briefly shown off a bit while visiting Hudson’s office to see a whole other game completely. The thing is, though we only got to experience a small portion of the game, and there was certainly things that needed tweaking, I believe everyone left that visit thinking that Omega Five was an Xbox Live Arcade to be on the watch for. Were we right in our thinking so many months ago?

Omega Five is an old school side scrolling arcade shooter, where it’s you against a fleet of hundreds upon hundreds of enemy ships and creatures, and bullets are flying at you more than even 50 Cent has seen in his lifetime – zing! You start out by picking one of two characters – Tempest and Ruby (though we swear we believe their name is actually Booby since the Asian voiceover accent is so heavy). Spicing up the gameplay, each character plays differently, with not only different weapons, but the way in which they handle and how you need to approach the levels with your character choice in mind.

Ruby, for example, is small and quick, easily able to dodge around bullets, and who uses regular laser bullets, laser streams, and an electric like beam weapon for damage. She also has a floating mechanical device with her that she can use to leech onto creatures and ships, damaging them as long as it stays hooked on. Tempest, meanwhile, is slower and has to rely on his speed shaping shield (bullets that enter into its path temporarily slow down so you can move out of the way), and who shoots streams of lava, water, and what looks like balls of mercury. Tempest also has a lock-on ability for his weapons and both him and Ruby can upgrade their weapons to level three, giving you some real firepower at your disposal.

As you shoot and kill creatures and ships, you unleash floating pink triangles that you can gather for points, but more importantly you can build up your special gauge so that you can unleash a whole screen clearing attack to save you when the action gets too heavy. You also have a special move that can save you from any bullets coming your way, though activating said ability takes some pretty good timing, and using it will cost you some life in the process.

The creatures range from giant punching beasts to bomb dropping ships to giant flying snake dragons and flying jellyfish. The enemies are pretty big, sometimes taking up most of the playing screen. Much like the old school games, everything is in the same placement and attacks the same way no matter if you’re playing the game for the first or seventh time, so part of the challenge comes in memorization and knowing the attack pattern of enemies and knowing when they show up; knowing when to move up or down at the right moment can mean life or death.

Not only is the game difficult because you have to remember patterns, but the game is also quite challenging because of the sheer number of enemies on the screen that take up space, and the fact that it only takes a few hits to completely kill you, making you waste one of your credits, of which you do not have many, thus creating a challenge in and of itself in the process. The game only has a few levels, but the game is so hard it will easily take you a few times to properly learn every pattern and actually complete the game in one sitting. Levels range from snow covered battlefields to aquatic themed tropical areas and industrial cities. Though the game won’t take you many hours at all to win, you can try each level’s challenge mode to get your best scores and post them up on Xbox Live.

Graphically Omega Five is perhaps the best looking Xbox Live Arcade yet, and even looks better than many of the boxed retail copies of Xbox 360 games you can find out there. The characters are pretty simply designed, but they are animated very well, which is most obvious when you are watching the characters move the direction of their weapon (pressing the right thumbstick and holding it in that direction will cause you to shoot your weapon that way). The enemies are also quite shiny and interesting to look at, and the lushness and dazzling backgrounds are sometimes so engaging to look at you’ll spend more time staring at them than watching where you are going, and the next thing you know you’ve been killed.

If you’re looking for a great Xbox Live Arcade game, Omega Five is one you definitely need to consider. The game doesn’t have too many levels, but there are some unlockable characters and games, leaderboards, and some local multiplayer to help round out the package. If you like the challenge of a very old school minded game, you’ll really find yourself enjoying Omega Five. If your idea of a good time isn’t playing the same level ten times in a row just so you know the attack pattern of the end level boss, then this game just might not be for you. It is a fun and great looking game though, so you should at least give the game a try.

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