Flashback

"A credit to the 16-bit era"

Flashback

Flashback, not exactly the most popular Mega Drive (Genesis) games of all time, but in my opinion it is certainly one of the best. This sci-fi adventure had me hooked for weeks. It’s intriguing storyline being a key factor in that addiction.

Graphics 8/10

For it’s time, Flashback had amazing graphics. The characters were slightly blocky but still had realistic movements and moved relatively smoothly. The cut scenes have great camera angles, and again fluid movements, but blocky characters.

Story 9/10

Flashback has quite possibly the best story on the Mega Drive (Genesis). You assume the role of Conrad, a scientist escaping from a group of aliens; he boards a jet bike looking vehicle and is pursued by aliens riding similar vehicles. They fire bolts at you, one of them hits and sends you plummeting to the planet below. Conrad awakes in a jungle, his memory gone. Shortly after he finds a holocube, it has a message in it telling Conrad to find his friend in New Washington – Ian. Your adventure begins here. New Washington is not the end of the adventure, oh no. There are long hard levels to traverse.

Gameplay 8/10

Once again, Flashback impresses. There are a variety of different jumps to execute, each one needed in your adventure. This is a platform game after all. Your weapon – a pistol, is equipped by pressing a button, and then shot with another. You move and jump in a different way whilst you have your gun equipped. There also a variety of different maneuvers to execute regarding rolling, jumping and dangling from a ledge. You can equip your pistol upon dangling and rolling. You can grab a ledge below if you fall from an above ledge. There is an excellent system regarding your inventory and its items. As you pick up items, they are added to your inventory. There are items such as force fields that enhance you during encounters. There are stones that can be thrown to distract an enemy or to trigger a pressure point on the ground. Then there is your shield battery, which can take 5 hits, to replenish these hits, you must recharge the battery at recharge points, which are scattered across the levels. The Mega Drive (Genesis) control pad however can do this game injustice at times, as someone used to a Playstation control pad may not be well adapted to the unresponsive nature of the Mega Drive pad, and can sometimes really hamper certain maneuvers in the game. An older pad will be difficult to play Flashback with.

Lifespan 6/10

This is first (not so major) flaw of Flashback. Save points are few and very far between, and should you not save and then die, you will be back at the beginning of the level, this may not be a bad thing, but it certainly crushes the carry on factor. Progress is permanently saved via a password, so you must reach the end of a level before switching off. Also, should you become stuck at all, there is nothing else to do, enabling you to just stick at it. The length of the game is what gives this game a 6/10 for me.

Sound 7/10

My first impressions were very good. The title screen music was very atmospheric, there is no in-game music besides small little pieces that are occasionally played to maintain the atmosphere. Keep in mind that the Mega Drive (Genesis) had very poor quality sound at the time. The sound effects aren’t too bad either, but again, as stated above the sound quality was poor.

Replay Value 3/10

When your first play through, the story may be slightly difficult to grasp, but second time through it seems better. Then that’s it. You are left with very little desire to play it again, for a while. Hardcore 16-bit gamers will come back to this every now and then but besides that, a modern gamer, more casual should stick to PS2s, Gamecubes and Xboxes.

Final Score 8/10

A great eight for this classic gem. A credit to Sega, the Mega Drive and the 16-bit population as a whole!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/03, Updated 05/11/03