FLASHBACK (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.3 Update

Flashback, released as Flashback: The Quest for Identity in the United States, is a 1992 science fiction cinematic platform game developed by Delphine Software of France and published by U.S. Gold in the United States and Europe, and Sunsoft in Japan.

The game was directed, written/designed, and partially programmed by Paul Cuisset, who had previously created the adventure game Future Wars. Flashback was initially released for the Amiga in 1992, although created for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was not released until 1993. Flashback was also ported to MS-DOS, Acorn Archimedes, and Super NES in 1993. CD-ROM versions of Flashback for the Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i, MS-DOS, Apple Macintosh, and the FM Towns were released during 1994 and 1995, together with a cartridge version for the Atari Jaguar in 1995. In 2017, the game was released worldwide on the Sega Dreamcast featuring graphic assets and cutscenes taken from the MS-DOS version and music from the Amiga version. An updated port titled Flashback: Remastered Edition was released for Nintendo Switch on June 7, 2018, for PlayStation 4 on November 20, 2018, and for Windows on November 29, 2018.

Originally advertised as a “CD-ROM game on a cartridge”, the game features fully hand-drawn backdrops and all animation is rotoscoped, giving movements an unusual fluidity, similar to that of the earlier Prince of Persia. The capture technique of Flashback was invented independently of the Prince of Persia and used a more complicated method of first tracing video images onto transparencies.

The game was a commercial and critical success and was listed in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling French game of all time. It was followed by a sequel titled Fade to Black in 1995. In 2013, a Flashback remake by VectorCell was released for the PC and consoles.

A new game, Flashback 2 was announced by Microids in May 2021. It was released on November 16, 2023, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S & PC, with previous generation consoles getting their release in early 2024. At this point, it was revealed, through gameplay and story, that the game is a prequel – set 8 years before the original.

GAMEPLAY

As a cinematic platformer, Flashback features gameplay similar to that of 1989’s Prince of Persia, and Delphine’s own Another World released in 1991. Each level spans a large number of non-scrolling screens, nearly all of which feature multiple levels of altitude – requiring the player character Conrad to jump, grab onto ledges, climb, use elevators, and drop onto lower levels. Conrad exhibits realistic human running speed and jumping ability, as well as realistic weakness – he will die if he falls from too great a height.

Conrad also carries a pistol with unlimited ammunition; a force shield, which absorbs a certain number of shots before needing recharging, acting as Conrad’s health (how many attacks he can survive before dying); and a portable force field with unlimited use, which can act as a temporary barrier to block enemies’ shots. As Conrad progresses through the game’s seven levels, he is increasingly presented with spatial puzzles, requiring the player to discover how to guide him toward his destination. Late in the game, Conrad receives a teleportation device and can progress by throwing the device and teleporting into otherwise unreachable areas.

PLOT

In the year 2142, intelligence agent Conrad B. Hart discovers that shapeshifting aliens known as Morphs have infiltrated human society. He records a message to himself, but before he can warn anyone else, he is captured and his memory erased. He later escapes but crash-lands his vehicle in a jungle, where the gameplay begins as he drops his recorded message. If the player retrieves it, it instructs Conrad to meet his friend Ian in New Washington.

Once there, he finds Ian being attacked by police. After Conrad kills them, Ian uses a regenerator to restore his memories, a copy of which he had sent to Ian. Afterward, Conrad is determined to return to Earth. Ian tells him that the only way he can afford a ticket to Earth is to win one in Death Tower, a game show in which contestants fight to the death, and false papers are required for a pass. To pay for the forged papers, Conrad takes a series of dangerous jobs in the city. He finds himself continually targeted by police, who have presumably been misled by Morph infiltrators.

Conrad wins Death Tower and travels to Earth. His false papers get him past the checkpoint, but the Morphs soon realize who he is and Conrad is pursued by more cops. He takes a taxi to the Paradise Club, which conceals the Morphs’ hideout. He spies on three Morphs through a ceiling vent. They discuss their plan to conquer Earth within hours. Conrad falls through the vent and is taken to a prison cell. Soon, Morphs enter his cell to kill him. Conrad runs past them and picks up a discarded alien gun. Exploring the facility, he discovers a teleporter and uses it to transport himself to the Morphs’ home planet.

He finds a human prisoner named Phillip Howard Clark. As he opens his prison, a Morph appears and executes Phillip. Dying, Phillip gives Conrad an atomic charge. Phillip’s diary reveals he had planned to destroy the “Master Brain” that controls the aliens, located at the planet’s core, but the “Auxiliary Brain” must be destroyed to open up the communication pathways to the Master Brain.

Conrad destroys the Auxiliary Brain and finds the Master Brain’s pathway. As he arrives at a certain spot, he hears Phillip’s voice, telling him that the atomic charge should be placed on a loose platform. After he does so, he throws a switch, awakening the brain to cause a tremor, which drops the charge toward the core. Conrad escapes to the hangar and takes Morph’s spacecraft out of the planet’s atmosphere before it detonates. As he cannot navigate home, due to the Morphs’ galaxy not being on any human star charts, he instead puts himself in suspended animation while his ship drifts into space, leading up to the events of Fade to Black.