You may not know his name, but Takaya Imamura has been responsible for much of Nintendo’s identity. He was an artist who designed F-Zero and Star Fox’s characters and illustrated manuals and comics for the company for over 30 years until his departure in 2021.
Imamura wasn’t just an artist; he also became a game designer as he worked on two of Nintendo’s major franchises. When he finally left the company, he was no longer bound by contracts and could make whatever he wanted.
Imamura wrote and illustrated Omega 6, an obscure manga that was published only in France. Unsatisfied, he believed that his pulpy sci-fi story was meant to be a video game. From Nintendo to indie, how does Takaya Imamura’s solo effort hold up? Find out in Omega 6: The Triangle Stars review!
Omega 6 The Triangle Stars
Developer: Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene
Publisher: Clear River Games, CITY CONNECTION
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: February 28, 2025
Price: $14.99
Omega 6 The Triangle Stars is a very pulpy, sci-fi adventure inspired by Star Wars (1977), but with a lighthearted bent. After centuries of countless aliens migrating to Earth and humanity overcoming mortality, the planet became inhospitable and overcrowded. The only place for young people is the final frontier and to find a new place to call home. It’s a universe where you can buy a mortgage on an entire planet.
Kayla and Thunder are two artificial humans and adventurers trying to make their way in the galaxy, wherever they can. How will our synthetic heroes keep the lights running on their ship? By going on a perilous treasure hunt, of course! Along with their bug-man and robot companions, they embark on a quest within the Triangle Stars; a system of three planets: Impostar, Igni, and Froslara.
The gameplay is entirely menu-driven and players use various verbs and a cursor to interact with the environment or speak to characters. Inspecting with a cursor is obvious, but to talk to characters, Kayla and Thunder must call out to individuals before they can be spoken to. Other actions are contextual and appear when certain conditions are met, so there is never confusion over what has to be done.
Items are mostly there for reference and all consumable items can only be used in battle. Battles can sometimes be initiated by the player, but sometimes the fight comes to you. Omega 6 is a hybrid adventure game and RPG and apart from talking to characters and investigating, expect Thunder and Kayla to get into many scraps.
Fighting is rock, paper, scissors, but with a twist where gamers are given cards for each option. You can’t just always rely on ole trusty rock, Thunder or Kayla specialize in one of the suites and they get a limit until the deck is shuffled.
Specializing in either rock, paper, or scissors means being able to peak at the opponent’s deck and recognizing Thunder or Kayla’s respective strength. Thunder’s specialty is rock, so he will always know how which cards are rock in the opponent’s deck. You always choose who will lead the battle and you can always retry if you lose or use items to restore HP.
The rock, paper, scissors battle system is simple and has a lot of randomness to keep gamers on their toes. Yet, there’s a lot of information given to players to make informed choices and game the system. Throwing a risky hand to trick the enemy so they’ll have a deck of weak cards becomes a strategy that is genuinely thrilling and amusing. It’s almost exactly like Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors from Kaiji.
Using items can make a difference in survival since running out of certain cards before the shuffle can happen. Some items are effectively a one-time-use card for any suite, which is great if you find yourself in a pinch. The battle is illustrated with motion comic panels swooping and wooshing by, implying movement when there is hardly any.
Regretfully, Imamura’s art is mostly static. Omega 6 could use a bit more animation on the characters and backgrounds which are drawn in his highly recognizable style. There is no doubt that this is the guy who did all the art for those memorable Super Nintendo games from 30 years ago.
Maybe the workload was too much to add intricate animations because to be fair, there are over a hundred unique character designs and NPCs throughout the entire game. It’s impressive that there is so much variety and that most characters are unique and Imamura cut no corners on any of them apart from animation.
The entire presentation is steeped in SNES nostalgia. The square aspect ratio, the authentic color pallet, the music, and the sound design go a long way in making Omega 6 feel like a genuine early 90s console adventure game. It feels like something from another time and is free of modern-day cynicism. It’s an earnest and simple adventure game that isn’t afraid to let players explore.
The only drawback with the gameplay is that most of the scenario is built around fetch quests. The story is basic and relies on humorous situations and banter, but the plot only progresses as the gang completes odd jobs to buy a thing to go to a place, to get something to give to someone.
Thunder and Kayla are not exactly heroic. They beat up some bad guys, but for the most part, they run errands around a few planets. It’s less Star Wars and more Futurama or Red Dwarf than anything else. You’ll be won over when Thunder and Kayla meet the game’s creator and fight him, then mug him for a copy of his manga.
Omega 6 The Triangle Stars has a very specific brand of Japanese humor that you only find in mangas from decades ago. It has a lot of heart and you can tell it came from a singular visionary who wanted to make something like the stuff he grew up with.
It isn’t the most dramatic story, but it made me feel like a child playing a new mysterious game on SNES again. The Triangle Stars is a place I enjoyed visiting and hassling the locals was always fun. Thanks to the music, text, and imagery, Omega 6 felt like I was hanging out in a real place for a fleeting moment.
Omega 6 The Triangle Stars was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch using a code provided by Clear River Games. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Omega 6 The Triangle Stars is now available for PC (via Steam), and Nintendo Switch.
