As someone who loves learning more about the process of creating video games, I always find it fascinating to hear specific stories about the origins of a game. Take Omega 6 The Triangle Stars for example. This retro style sci-fi game is actually a manga adaptation, from the work of former Nintendo artist Takaya Inamura. If that name isn’t one you’re familiar with, he’s the person who first designed Captain Falcon (among others) from F-Zero and Tingle from The Legend of Zelda. I especially love that the end result of this legendary artist creating a manga is that we all get to play a cool old school adventure game, and it helps that it’s a lot of fun.
The story of Omega 6 is an interesting one, and not your typical sci-fi fare. Due to an influx of aliens living on Earth in the future, our planet no longer really feels the same and is overcrowding. Thanks to our new alien neighbours and the fact humans can now live to ludicrous ages, we simply need more room than our current space rock provides. It’s because of this that our two android heroes are sent on their mission to find a new planet for humanity, which lands them at the titular Triangle stars.
The Triangle Stars are three planets that all sit next to each other in a triangle, hence the name. The first of these Impostar is full of treasure hunters, because the government has been spreading leaflets in space to call for help. Igni is slightly less populated, due to the fact it’s a fiery ball that’s a little less welcoming. There’s also Frostara, which is an ice cold planet full of uber rich residents. With big bucks on the line that could help with Thunder and Kyla’s quest, it’s up to you to explore these planets to find the treasure.
Like any good adventure game, this means you’ll be moving to various locations, talking to a whole lot of characters and interacting with environments. This is done with a selection of commands at the top of the screen, that say things like Move, Call Over, and Interact. These are admittedly a little bit rigid and old fashioned, but this certainly captures the old school feel the game is aiming for.
Despite being this retro adventure game, there’s way more to Omega 6 The Triangle Stars than just chatting to aliens. This includes actual combat to take care of, which bizarrely takes the form of rock, paper, scissors. Depending on which character you’re controlling you have an array of cards with these three symbols on, and with a few ways to read what cards your opponent has you can play them accordingly to win a round of combat and deal damage to their health. There’s still a chunk of luck involved in victory, but also plenty you can do to gain the advantage over an enemy.
One of the ways you can gain the upper hand is with fruit, which you grow on your spaceship on a bonsai tree. By cultivating this plant and feeding it growth agents you’ll get more of these handy items, which can be used to ensure you can keep using certain attacks, to heal yourself, or gain more information on the cards your opponent is holding. When presented with a tough confrontation in Omega 6 The Triangle Stars, it’s important to eat a lot of tasty fruit.
I generally think of most adventure games as being fairly linear and featuring one-track stories, but there’s a lot more to deal with in Omega 6. Side quests can be found and completed across the planets, giving you varied tasks to do throughout the story. There’s also a real focus on money, and various ways to make it like doing odd jobs or selling loot. This isn’t just a simple story game, that’s for sure.
Above every other aspect of the game though, it’s the characters of Omega 6 The Triangle Stars that I really appreciated. The bizarre aliens you encounter feel like a wonderful love letter to Sci-Fi’s past, and are just oozing with charm. You can even gather profiles of all these colourful characters, and learn bits of backstory about them in the gallery.
Omega 6 is an enjoyable old school adventure game, but it does have a few aspects I didn’t appreciate. The pacing of the game can be pretty slow, especially when you need to move between multiple areas to get to your next objective. The command system doesn’t help with this, especially when it adds extra steps for no reason. You can’t just talk to someone by selecting the talk command for example, you first have to call them over, and it’s just unnecessarily slow and frustrating.
Omega 6 The Triangle Stars is a unique take on the retro point and click genre, with a wonderful setting and charming characters. It does have some issues with pacing and awkward commands, but the extra depth and inclusion of combat makes it more than just a straightforward sci-fi throwback.
