Flashback
Released on: Sega
Megadrive, PC, Amiga, Mega-CD, Archimedes, SNES, 3DO, Atari Jaguar and many,
many others
Played on: Sega
Megadrive
Release Date: 1992
I know that as a review of my opinions and feelings about
the game I ought to start at the beginning, work through my opinions and then
come to a conclusion at the end. To announce any conclusions at the start of
the blog would ruin any essence of drama and suspense within the writing. So I
shall try my best not to give it away before the end of the post.
For those of you who don’t know, Flashback is a 2D
platformer with a lot of puzzles and a great (very Philip K Dick influenced)
sci-fi story. I remembered playing it on the PC as a teenager, and finding it
great yet frustrating in equal measures. So I assumed that when I re-attempted
it that I would, in my grouchy old-age, find it to be an average game – spend
half an hour playing it and then give up, awarding it somewhere in the region
of 6/10 and then move on to the next game on the list.
And did I?
No. Because Flashback became one of the biggest surprises of
this blog so far. I absolutely adored it.
(Sorry to those of you who love the drama and suspense, but
I couldn't contain myself any longer. If you want real Drama and Suspense then
go and watch the first 3 seasons of Lost, and then turn it off for a few years –
that’ll give you Drama.)
I didn't mind that the difficulty level is quite hard. I didn't mind that there is no battery save – you have to remember passwords!
(And seriously, there’s something nostalgically retro about passwords that you
have to pencil into the back of the instruction manual.) I didn't mind that
there are three different types of jump and you have to learn each of them by
reading through the manual. I didn't mind the repetitive, minimalistic music,
and the backtracking to make sure you had found everything you needed.
I didn't even mind that I spent over an hour playing the
first level, dying and re-starting at least 4 times.
It’s such a well-built game. Well-designed, beautiful
graphics, and great controls (which I found much easier than I remember finding
the controls on the PC version) and the plot is genuinely engaging – which is something
I very rarely encounter in games. I want to know what happens, which is one of
the myriad of reasons I am likely to go back to this game time and time again.
I really cannot explain quite how much I enjoyed this game,
and I know that most of you will not have a copy you can play, to see how right
I am, but for god’s sake find one. It’s one of the few intelligent adult
platformers I can ever remember playing where I was so gripped and enthralled
that I didn't want to stop. I had to stop after 90 minutes of play because I
realised that the rules of the playthrough meant I should not be playing more
than an hour, but sod it, I let myself have the next half hour, and even now,
while writing this, I want to stop and go and play it again.
Seriously, it’s that good.
I normally don’t advise people to play games based on my
reviews. I assume that most of you know what you like and a lot of that isn't going to align with what I like to play, but this one is different.
Play it. Play it now.
Rating: 9/10
Time Played: 1 hour 30
minutes
Would I play it again? Hell
yes.
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