Game: Flashback

Flashback: The Quest for Identity was a game created by French developer Delphine Software for the Amiga series of Computers in 1992 as a spiritual successor to their previous hit "Out of This World". I however don't own an Amiga so instead I'll be talking about the version for the Sega Genesis which was published by U.S. Gold a year later in 1993. As much as I love Snatcher, which you can see me talk about below, I feel Flashback: The Quest for Identity is the definitive cyberpunk adventure of the 16 bit era.

The story of Flashback is that you play as Conrad Hart, a cadet at the academy for the Galactic Bureau of Investigation. His senior year thesis project is to make a headset with a lense over one eye that can measure density for the purpose of detecting smuggled goods. Once Conrad tests his headset at a public gathering he notices that several people there have densities that don't match that of other humans. After investigating further, he discovers that aliens have infiltrated human society and even the highest levels of public office. Fearing the worst, Conrad records a copy of his memory and mails it to his friend living offworld as well as a message to himself telling him how to get to his memories and recover them. Not long afterwards Conrad is kidnapped by the aliens and is scheduled for execution but manages to escape to the moon Titan where he is shot down, this is where the game begins. Lost amid the jungles of the terraformed moon, Conrad must get his memories back and stop the aliens from conqouring the human race.

Flashback's gameplay is a puzzle-platformer similar to the original Prince of Persia games. Using a series of button presses, the main character Connor can walk, run, roll, hop, vertically jump, long jump, or high jump. He can also pull himself up ledges or hang from them if need be. Jumping and climing aren't his only mechanics however, Conrad starts with a gun and a shield but will soon make use of many other items that include rocks, keys, force fields, a teleporter and more. Mastering these skills and items will be vital in your quest which will take you from jungles to cities on a Running Man-esque game show, and alien planets. The gameplay is often varied, especially in the second level's underground city where you has you earn money by taking jobs that can involve delivering packages to fighting rogue cyborgs or running a gauntlet to fix a computer before it explodes. Other levels have you often using the environment to solve puzzles that allow you to progress further. All of this is complimented by having very tight controls, even now it brings a smile to my face to run around dropping from ledges and firing a few rounds into enemies.

The graphics are also hold up very well. Just like "Out of This World" Flashback uses rotoscoped flat polygons to achieve very fluidly animated sprites and cutscenes. The backgrounds are also very rich and detailed from the foliage of the jungle to the strange techno organic look of the alien world. Little details like dripping water or cracks in the foundations of buildings are also a nice touch. The game also makes good use of the Genesis colour palette and like I said it still looks great 15 years later. One thing you may notice if you compare this version to the original Amiga version is that when moving from screen to screen on the Genesis version, there is a slight half-second delay. I'm so used to compensating for it that it's ingrained in my head and I don't see it as a problem but it's a slight visual erm.. idiosynchracy that I felt obligated to point out.

The sound for the Sega Genesis version is also great. Other than in cutscenes, music doesn't play all the time, rather it plays only in certain instances to heighten the feeling of tension. It's very eerie sounding and when it plays over the otherwise ambient sounds it gives a real dramatic impact. I actually prefer this to say the SegaCD version which had redbook audio going all the time in the background and served only to make the game seem cheesy is some way. Music and how it is used are very important for setting the mood of any film or television show or game.

So, to all of you people out there I would highly reccomend this game. It's available for the Amiga, DOS, Genesis, SegaCD, SNES, Apple, 3D0, CD-i, Jaguar and more. Whatever you can track this game down for - track it down. Flashback: The Quest for Identity is a pure slice of 16-bit era platforming heaven. Who wouldn't like this game? I don't know, if for whatever reason science fiction isn't your thing or you prefer straight action and aren't interested in puzzles so much then ..Oh hell, just play it.