Flashback (25th Anniversary Edition)
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| Released on June 17, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch by Microids, and developed by Delphine Software International, Flashback (25th Anniversary Edition) is a modernized port of the 1993 side-scrolling, rotoscoped, cinematic platformer classic. |
I think my early experience with Flashback is similar to many. I went to someone's house, noticed they had a SNES and a stack of games. One of those games, Flashback, looked very cool. I tried to play it. I thought the graphics and the setting were incredible. I couldn't make it past the first few screens. The end. Well, not the end because that keep happening. Eventually, I picked up a copy of the game on Sega CD (here's where I'm diverging from the norm), but still couldn't get very far. I absolutely loved the aesthetics and feel of the game. Flashback was like some miraculous mash of Total Recall, 80's cyberpunk, 70's sci-fi, early 90's cool. Lush, enormous, alien rainforests giving way to gritty, graffitied, yet futuristic urban areas. The controls and puzzles made little sense to me, though. I couldn't get anywhere.
I loved this game. Why didn't it love me
back?!
When I saw the Nintendo Switch was receiving the 25th Anniversary Edition of Flashback, complete with a "rewind" function, I thought "This is it. This is when I finally play through the game." Still, I waited for a nice Switch eShop sale. When it came, I pounced. Now, I can gladly say, I've played through Flashback. How was the experience?
Flashback kicks off with an animated intro reminiscent of a low-budget 80's cartoon. The player character flees from some sort of spaceship and crashes his own into an alien jungle populated by skyscraper sized trees and belligerent natives. From there, the player takes control from a 2D, side-scrolling perspective. Turns out you've lost your memory, and you've got to get out of this jungle and into the city of New Washington, so you can figure out who you are and what you're supposed to be doing. As soon as you take control of your character, certain things become apparent, though. Those rotoscoped animations as your character moves around, jacket flapping, still look as cool as they did in the 90's...and getting your character to move around is still as big a pain in the ass as it was then, as well.
For some reason, the French developers who originally created this game decided that instead of going with a more tried-and-true approach, they'd make moving Flashback's character around like learning a foreign language--and that control scheme is kept here. Running, jumping, crouching, rolling, firing your gun, using an object--all of this stuff could have been handled with a directional pad and two or three buttons. Instead, doing things like rolling and firing your gun turn into puzzles to solve. Super Mario Bros. solidified that the best way to jump in a side-scrolling game is to press a button separate from the directional pad...back in 1985. Flashback goes against all wisdom--jumping here is "up" on the directional pad, meaning you've got to hurry up and tap up with the same finger your were using to move from left or right. It makes no sense, it's not intuitive, it takes forever to get the hang of it...and wait til you have to do a long jump or a high jump.
This Anniversary Edition includes control tutorials from the pause menu, but you'll still swear things aren't working right when you try to repeat some of the button inputs. Considering the game's puzzles often ask you to pick up and use items to get through doors/barriers, even more button combinations add to the mess. Considering essentially every system this game has been released for has had at least three buttons on its controller or keyboard, a separate button to jump, one to fire the gun, and one for all other actions (picking up items/using the item selected from the pause menu) would have solved everything.
I'll admit, after a few hours, the game's controls become, if not second nature, at least manageable. These issues and their frustrations are nearly mitigated, though, as Anniversary Edition blessedly includes a new, key element--the ability to rewind. Befitting a game called Flashback, upon your frequent death, you can rewind the game around 20 seconds, and then start again at any point in the available 20 second or so time window. All of those moments of missed jumps and getting blasted because you couldn't get your gun out fast enough sting a lot less when you can just back right up and try again. Considering Flashback's low save point frequency, and how the game once set your progress back so far upon death, the rewind function is extremely beneficial. The only reason I am finally able to get through not just the frustration of Flashback's first few screens, but the entire 8-10 hour experience, is the ability to rewind. I don't necessarily think this function makes the game too easy--I just think it makes it fair.
I'm very glad that Microids instituted this rewind function into the game, so that I could finally fully experience it--because the game's style and atmosphere are second to none. This is the most special of early-90's vibes: your player's blue jeans and jacket, the way he pulls out his gun; the actual gunplay once you get the hang of it, and the game begins to focus more on action than on its sometimes slightly esoteric puzzles; the beautifully drawn 2D backgrounds, with the misty opening alien jungle, the gritty, dank, neo-noir futurism of New Washington, the Running Man-esque Death Tower, the dusty and familiar, yet-unfamiliar Earth. The environments in particular all still look great, and the game's vibe is so unique to this time period, it nearly feels like it is defining it. There's a reason Flashback won so many game-of-the-year awards back when it was originally released, despite the lousy controls and sometimes confounding gameplay.
The game's soundtrack and effects, while sparse, also set the mood. The story is fun, even if it doesn't really break any new sci-fi ground (Aliens are among us! They're plotting to kill us all!). Again, I'm extremely thankful to Microids for creating a version of this game I could not only finally play through, but play portably on my Switch. They did a fine job of remastering Flashback, and their quality of life enhancements, particularly the rewind function, are must haves in modern times. I wish they could have refined the control scheme, and maybe found a way to make a few of the game's more opaque segments a little more intuitive, but I guess those elements are all part of the core Flashback experience.
For those like me, who've always wished for a more palatable version of Flashback, this is it. For those who weren't around in the early 90's, but want to experience the sci-fi cool of that period, don't pass this up. Flashback might be heavily flawed, but it is a game to remember.
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| I keep telling everyone how cool you are! Why don't you LOVE me?!?! |
When I saw the Nintendo Switch was receiving the 25th Anniversary Edition of Flashback, complete with a "rewind" function, I thought "This is it. This is when I finally play through the game." Still, I waited for a nice Switch eShop sale. When it came, I pounced. Now, I can gladly say, I've played through Flashback. How was the experience?
|
| Looks like I'm going up! |
Flashback kicks off with an animated intro reminiscent of a low-budget 80's cartoon. The player character flees from some sort of spaceship and crashes his own into an alien jungle populated by skyscraper sized trees and belligerent natives. From there, the player takes control from a 2D, side-scrolling perspective. Turns out you've lost your memory, and you've got to get out of this jungle and into the city of New Washington, so you can figure out who you are and what you're supposed to be doing. As soon as you take control of your character, certain things become apparent, though. Those rotoscoped animations as your character moves around, jacket flapping, still look as cool as they did in the 90's...and getting your character to move around is still as big a pain in the ass as it was then, as well.
|
| "Stop at the bar and get a drink. I SAID, STOP AT THE BAR AND GET A DRINK!!!" |
For some reason, the French developers who originally created this game decided that instead of going with a more tried-and-true approach, they'd make moving Flashback's character around like learning a foreign language--and that control scheme is kept here. Running, jumping, crouching, rolling, firing your gun, using an object--all of this stuff could have been handled with a directional pad and two or three buttons. Instead, doing things like rolling and firing your gun turn into puzzles to solve. Super Mario Bros. solidified that the best way to jump in a side-scrolling game is to press a button separate from the directional pad...back in 1985. Flashback goes against all wisdom--jumping here is "up" on the directional pad, meaning you've got to hurry up and tap up with the same finger your were using to move from left or right. It makes no sense, it's not intuitive, it takes forever to get the hang of it...and wait til you have to do a long jump or a high jump.
|
| Yep, that about sums it up. |
This Anniversary Edition includes control tutorials from the pause menu, but you'll still swear things aren't working right when you try to repeat some of the button inputs. Considering the game's puzzles often ask you to pick up and use items to get through doors/barriers, even more button combinations add to the mess. Considering essentially every system this game has been released for has had at least three buttons on its controller or keyboard, a separate button to jump, one to fire the gun, and one for all other actions (picking up items/using the item selected from the pause menu) would have solved everything.
|
| Really, though, I just want to jump around and shoot stuff! |
I'll admit, after a few hours, the game's controls become, if not second nature, at least manageable. These issues and their frustrations are nearly mitigated, though, as Anniversary Edition blessedly includes a new, key element--the ability to rewind. Befitting a game called Flashback, upon your frequent death, you can rewind the game around 20 seconds, and then start again at any point in the available 20 second or so time window. All of those moments of missed jumps and getting blasted because you couldn't get your gun out fast enough sting a lot less when you can just back right up and try again. Considering Flashback's low save point frequency, and how the game once set your progress back so far upon death, the rewind function is extremely beneficial. The only reason I am finally able to get through not just the frustration of Flashback's first few screens, but the entire 8-10 hour experience, is the ability to rewind. I don't necessarily think this function makes the game too easy--I just think it makes it fair.
|
| Rewind Mode? Check. Difficulty Level? Easy. Er...don't tell anybody about that one. |
I'm very glad that Microids instituted this rewind function into the game, so that I could finally fully experience it--because the game's style and atmosphere are second to none. This is the most special of early-90's vibes: your player's blue jeans and jacket, the way he pulls out his gun; the actual gunplay once you get the hang of it, and the game begins to focus more on action than on its sometimes slightly esoteric puzzles; the beautifully drawn 2D backgrounds, with the misty opening alien jungle, the gritty, dank, neo-noir futurism of New Washington, the Running Man-esque Death Tower, the dusty and familiar, yet-unfamiliar Earth. The environments in particular all still look great, and the game's vibe is so unique to this time period, it nearly feels like it is defining it. There's a reason Flashback won so many game-of-the-year awards back when it was originally released, despite the lousy controls and sometimes confounding gameplay.
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| LOOK AT HOW COOL IT IS! |
The game's soundtrack and effects, while sparse, also set the mood. The story is fun, even if it doesn't really break any new sci-fi ground (Aliens are among us! They're plotting to kill us all!). Again, I'm extremely thankful to Microids for creating a version of this game I could not only finally play through, but play portably on my Switch. They did a fine job of remastering Flashback, and their quality of life enhancements, particularly the rewind function, are must haves in modern times. I wish they could have refined the control scheme, and maybe found a way to make a few of the game's more opaque segments a little more intuitive, but I guess those elements are all part of the core Flashback experience.
 |
| Pictured: me before this remaster |
For those like me, who've always wished for a more palatable version of Flashback, this is it. For those who weren't around in the early 90's, but want to experience the sci-fi cool of that period, don't pass this up. Flashback might be heavily flawed, but it is a game to remember.
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| Finally! |
SCORE:
6.5/10
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