Your two trigger buttons are much more helpful. The left trigger fires off your 'Ultimate Burst' weapon, which is a nuke, of sorts. It works well to kill all on the screen (or at least severely damage bosses), unless there is a wall between them and the blast. Your character can carry three of the Ultimate Bursts at a time, and refresh them by picking up the pink triangles each defeated enemy leaves behind. Your right trigger is more readily available, called the 'Variable Direction' weapon. Pressing the right stick in a direction and holding down the trigger sends your battle assistant in search of enemies to destroy. In the case of Ruby, her Variable Direction is an anchor. When the holding trigger it finds an enemy, it latches on and drains life from the enemy for ten seconds or until they die, whichever comes first.
In addition to your spare weapons, the game leaves plenty of weapon upgrade pods floating throughout the level. Each character also has three different main weapons, selected based on what upgrade you most recently picked up. Learning which weapon type works best on the constantly evolving set of enemies you are dealing with is vital to your success in the game. All three types will destroy your enemies eventually, but there is certainly a right and wrong answer, which can make the difference between one or two shot kills and ones that take ten times that.
Multiplayer is only available as co-op on the same console, which may seem disappointing until you realize just how much action is happening on-screen. Between the frantic pace of the game and the size of your character, it is probably not worth trying to clear with a friend (who shares the same continues), even though you could badly use the help. If the game has a problem, aside from the insane difficulty, it is the overly hyperactive electro space-shooter soundtrack. It matches the frantic action, but will give most gamers a headache after a few rounds.
Omega Five is an incredibly pretty game with blemishes hidden behind the makeup. If you want a challenge and a return to old-school side-scrollers, give it a chance. Just do not expect much in the way of depth.
