Flashback: The quest for Identity

[ChEEbA]

Has anyone ever played this game?
I was just thinking about it today, about how completely I loved this game...it was simply a perfect game - so I decided to post about it.

Ok, so if you're a little younger, you're probably wondering what the fuck this game is, allow me to enlighten you. This game was part of the 16 bit era (my most beloved console era, EVER), and came out on both the SNES and Sega Genesis - and there was a pc version too.
It was by Delphine software, who had already made a similar, but not quiet as good game, called "Another world" aka "Out of this world".

Anyway, back to flashback.
I suppose you could call it a platform/adventure/rpg/puzzle. Yep, all that in one game. You viewed it screen by screen, similar to the original Prince of persia games. It also used motion capture for realistic character movement. You could run, leap, hang on, roll, yknow...think P.O.P again, but with a gun, a lot more cool gadgets, and a futuristic setting.

The storyline is initially a little confusing. The intro sequence shows your character escaping from some kind of facility on a flying speeder type thing...and after a chase, being shot down.
You wake up on an alien planet, and after walking around a little bit, and picking up something that is beeping in an irritating manner, you find that it's a message for you. The holographic image shown in the message is none other than...you - this pretty much gives you some hints that you are "conrad hart", and an investigator of some sort.
Throughout the story, you discover that you'd stumbled across an alien plot to take over the world, and the aliens captured you and wiped your memory. The story becomes more and more complete as you run into various other characters in the game.

As for the gameplay, it was great. As I said, it's a little like P.O.P, but that's only a slight similarity. A mixture of stealth, puzzle solving, some excellent gunfights, and some remarkable gadgets (such as the personal teleport device, a little gizmo you throw to a point, and then teleport there).., negotiating safe routes through some ingenious traps, and generally, fighting to survive....you die a lot, but it's still very fun.

Throughout the game, you take jobs and go on bodygaurding and bounty hunting missions, go on futuristic gameshows that resemble the running man, find out more and more about yourself, survive against the odds, dodge traps, travel the galaxy...seriously, awesome gameplay and plot.
Very challenging, but trust me - you wouldn't want this game any other way.

This is one of the few games I've played that upon completion I have just sat back and been 100% satisfied.
Not many working 16-bit systems out there nowdays, and most pc's won't run it anymore...so, unfortunately, an emulator and rom is probably the only way to go...but if you can get this game in any way shape or form, I highly reccomend it.

- B.

[IDrinkYourBlood]

OMFG
finally someone else who knows of this game!
I played it on my SNES sooooo long ago. What i remember about the game is that the character seemed to move so slow. I stayed up all night playing this game and i must say that it was one of the hardest games that i have ever played. I used cheats one point and still couldent get anywere. I wanna play it again.

[ChEEbA]

You should, it's the shit...and for the time, the character wasn't that slow, it was WAY faster than prince of persia...are you sure you're not thinking of "out of this world", an even harder, "kinda" similar looking game?

I got through the whole game of Flashback myself, but yes, it WAS pretty damn challenging. Many tries needed.
Overall really satisfying game - too bad the playstation "sequel" Fade to Black had such an irritating control system that I never ended up even giving it a chance.

Seriously, FB was one of my favourite games EVER...if you've got any way of getting it, do so - and while you're at it, get zombies ate my neighbours, ALSO tha shit.

[IDrinkYourBlood]

Yeah i got those. And now im not mixing my games up!
but i didnt know fade to black was the sequal, shit i shouldve rented it when i could.

[Sedated_replica]

Flashback rocks. Its not better than Black Thorne.

[IDrinkYourBlood]

Or kings quest umm4 i think it is......with the crying tree. That game rocks.

[ChEEbA]

I can't remember the kq series very well, apart from one where you were stranded on an island, and one cartoony one that you played the part of two chicks...they were quite decent.

Although, I always REALLY liked the game originally called "heroes quest", they renamed it quest for glory after some legal thing - I only ever lpayed the first one, but I thought it was the best of all the "quests".
Sierra has had a bloody good run for games.

I liked Blackthorne, I probably preferred the combat system, but overall I personally liked flashback better, in terms of storyline/missions....etc.

[ChEEbA]

Just thought I'd pimp this thread, as I'm planning on starting to play through this AWESOME game again today, on an emulator of course...but since the control system is more or less like a slightly more complex version of prince of persia, it doesn't suffer from being on pc.
Oh, and this is ages ago, but I just read this...

Its not better than Black Thorne.

In reply - Yeah, it is. WAY fucking better. The only thing Blackthorne had on flashback was slightly flashier graphics. Flashback owned it in combat, storyline, missions, gadgets, everything.
Well...yeah, I'm done here.