Flashback: The Quest for Identity

aka: Flashback, Flashback (Enhanced CD-ROM)
Moby ID: 555

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 88% (based on 21 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 55 ratings with 3 reviews)

An instant classic. Responsive control, ambient soundtrack...Need I say more?!

The Good
I love dark sci-fi. I mean movies, games, stories, anything. That's why Delphine Internationals' Flashback: The Quest for Identity has been on my top 5 list since it's 1993 heyday. The story is top notch. It's about an alien plot to take out the "human vermin" and make our world their own. Sounds generic, but the story never gets too confusing, or too vague. The graphics are great. The motions, captured from actual people (big at the time, digitized graphics were!), are numerous, making every movement look fluid. The sporadic music is perfectly placed. The levels present a challenge, and make for a near perfect game!! ------*1/2-------

*The Bad

Less frequent save points, and single hit kills (the green force coming out of the ground, electric ground) are kind of annoying, but once you learn where they are, it's cake. The control scheme has confused people, myself included. I know peeps that have given up after 5 min. but loved everything else!!

The Bottom Line
A futuristic sci-fi platformer, a departure from gaming conformity. Rules were broken and created with this one. Patience is a virtue, and well worth it once you're warmed up. For any gamer, Flashback is like avant-garde 101.

Genesis · by aaron pridemore (10) · 2003

Awesome game, the Genesis version rocks!

The Good
Flashback! This game is definitely in my top ten list of all time... so there must be lots of good things about it right? The graphics are top notch; rotoscoped animation is the flavour, over the top of handpainted backdrops. I'll probably get persecuted here, but I think it's much more attractive and stylish than Another World (the prequel).

The sound is good, with some digitized snippets even on the genesis and the music is really, really good, not because of the music itself, but the lack of it. By this I mean that most of the time the game is eerily silent, and only when something very significant happen does the game pipe up with the music. It gives the game a great atmosphere!

Gameplay-wise I love it! Another World was much more artsy and story driven; this is a hardcore platform game. The controls are sublime - especially the run-jump feature which is activated by running, hold jump and release run and the character will keep running and then do a running jump to a higher ledge. It's hard to explain but opens up much more possibility for navigation than in games like Prince of Persia.

It's quite a hard game and I admit to having finished it (after quite a lot of play-time!) There are a few less interesting levels (the game show level springs to mind) and your success is fairly dependant on your skills with the shield, but all in all this is as good as puzzle-based platforming gets.

I should point out too that the Genesis version is much, much better than the SNES version, despite the console's limitations (and gives the others a run for their money too!). The SNES CPU just isn't clocked fast enough to do this kind of animation. Full marks to the developers of this Genesis version!

The Bad
The only things that are a bit irritating is the repetitive nature of some of the gun fights (particularly later in the game against the blobby alien doods) and the difficulty which is pegged pretty high.

The Bottom Line
Still fun after all these years, I play through this game fairly regularly still! I was never a huge fan of Another World, but loved this game to death ever since it was released. It's a different sort of game, not much of a sequel and is more like a cyberpunk Prince of Persia. Pick it up and give it a go, you won't regret it!

Genesis · by Tibes80 (1543) · 2002

Maybe best platformer ever, in my book

The Good
I think the problem solving based gameplay is great. Obviously this game is like Prince of Persia and Another World (previous Delphine Game), but I think Flashback outdoes them. Another World had a great story, told through cut scenes, but the platforming and problem solving wasn't so great. I think in Flashback you get the sense that the game makers want to challenge you, but they also want you to succeed and beat the game. The game's cut-scenes are good and unlike Another World, there is also text to explain the story. Very good music too, co-composed by French pop composer Jean Baudlot.

The Bad
The combat in the last stage of the game could have been thought through better and improved. Dodging the blue aliens is a fun challenge, but there are tight spots where it's so hard to dodge and have proper battles. Also I think Conrad is a bit slow at drawing and pointing his gun.

The Bottom Line
Based on what I've played, I could probably call this the best platformer ever. Intelligent combat and problem solving and good cut-scenes and music.

Genesis · by Andrew Fisher (697) · 2018

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by lights out party, yellowshirt, Tim Janssen, Alsy, RhYnoECfnW, SlyDante, Patrick Bregger, Big John WV, chirinea, Alaka, Parf.