► WTF Is... - Flashback ?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 11 лют 2025
- TotalBiscuit takes a look at the re-imagined action-adventure game from VectorCell.
Get it on Steam: bit.ly/1gnfUN2
Follow TotalBiscuit on Twitter: / totalbiscuit
Follow CynicalBrit on Twitter for video updates: / cynicalbrit
Follow our Facebook page for announcements: / cynicalbrit
This is not in any way pretentious. You come here to listen to my opinion on games and that's what you get. "Don't complain about handholding and proceed to do just that." I didn't mention hand-holding at any point during this video and even if I did there is a massive difference between a game mechanic and a bloody gaming critique.
The cutscene is not a throwback to They Live, it's a throwback to the first game where exactly the same thing happened.
RIP
He didn't talk about some of the bugs.
There are times when the stealth attacks don't work, your character gets stuck in place, and the camera likes to just outright stop following your character anymore.
7:33
Office worker 1: 'Dave, there seems to be a madman in the office with a gun.'
Office worker 2: 'Does he have a meeting with anyone?'
Office worker 1: 'Not sure, but he is waving the gun about like mad and is shooting at stuff at random.'
Office worker 2: 'Is his shooting going to change what you put in the report?'
Office worker 1: 'Well, no.'
Office worker 2: 'Ignore him then, let the janitors sort out the mess later.'
1993´s version brings me so much good memories. Such a classic. The "reboot/remake" was disappointing, to say the least.
It's incredible how badly the animations were done on this. They also remade PoP 1 and 2 and those were way worse than the '89 and '93(?) originals as well. How can you not be insanely careful with the animations when you're developing a remake of such an incredibly well and smoothly animated game?
Honestly, I don't believe the Syndicate FPS was that bad. It had some really nice features. Problem is the PC port was awful, really low FoV and the game was a bit linear. It was obviously designed as a co-op title, which is where it shines.
Animations of the old version(which I never played) remind me of the old Disney animations. They rotoscoped everything. And to get that animation so fluid and lifelike they had to do the same on these sprites. And it's awesome.
oh god my childhood
im having a....
FLASHBACK
Ahhh, I played this game so much as a kid! The animation gave me my own flashback of watching Cinderella with my daughter a few weeks back - a lot of the human animations are so lifelike! Fantastic!
Thanks TB!
Ah, the good memories...It's fun to see I'm not the only one who kicks back into "I want to try and express how these games felt, to someone who may never actually have played games from these times"-mode. It's hard to convey a certain feeling of nostalgica to someone who never saw the game. I am still to this day trying to make people understand what made games like System Shock1 so great, so unique. I think it's part "I just want to try and make you to experience it like I did back then!"
It's always amusing when TB runs into an old favourite. The critic falls away, leaving behind softly spoken memories of better times; like he's cradling an old friend before it finally drifts once again into obscurity.
Flashback was a masterpiece for it's time and still stands up today as a pretty good retro game. No one asked for a shitty remake with a modern take on it and this game should not exist in my opinion.
The last section involved running back through the entire level as it collapsed, on a timer. I got to the very last room, which I'd never visited before and couldn't find the elevator control to finish the game, so I died. I never played it again.
The version I played on RISC OS did not outside of a few little motifs here and there, I believe it varied based on what platform the port was on.
I do play some PC games on a tv at times. So the options for them are not useless. They do apply to more people than you would think.
I think I'll never forget the original :) that was a great time to grow up being a gamer :)
"let's forget flashback ever existed"
Keeps referring every single thing to original flashback.. ?
Yeah it's not quite that good, Ghost Trick is imho the pinnacle of rotoscoping, but it's hard to argue with Flashbacks animation quality.
I played this game on Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, it really was one of the best animations of that time. Things like that intro did not existed, it was ahead of its time.
Wow, I completely forgot about the original Flashback, but watching you play it here sparked my memory. That was a cool game.
(part 2) Game is designed by Paul Cuisset and he created revolution with his games of minimalistic design (no lives, levels, powerups etc) that oddly we have in remake of the game. All the games at the time were considered to be must have score boards, must have lives etc. He stripped Flashback of all that and it is in Guinness World Records as the best-selling French game of all time.
I am so sad that many aspects of original are simply gone. It was the one must have games on Amiga.
I actually think you're right on this one :P and it's also exactly this level of in depth analysis that makes me love his WTF is videoes so much.
I always thought of Flashback as a sci-fi version of Blackthorne (which I played first, even though Flashback came out earlier). Same mechanics, same combat, but a darker palette and arguably better rotoscoping.
Plus there was a button to fire the shotgun backwards without looking, which is still cool 20 years later.
Could not send a message since I'm not a "contact" of yours, so here it comes as a comment instead.
It happens a few times in your life, more or less. Those times when you just awake from a state of mind and move on to a healthier state. Watching the "Should you preorder videogames? " clip you made, opened my mind on preordering and videogames sales practices. I salute you, sir.
Kind regards Mangeduvet
God I loved the original flashback on the amiga! I used to watch the original intro over and over!
That menu screen was driving me insane. The dude keeps peeking around the corner and holding his head out while the bad guy looked right at him, but doesn't see him.
The Rotoscoping effect, using film as the base, which is why the movement of the character is so natural, as opposed to stuff like Terraria, Minecraft, FTL etc. Which are all different types of sprites or Flash.
Wow, I had no idea what Flashback was. But when I saw the 1993 edition I remembered having played this as a little child. I didn't know what I was doing (I was 4 or 5 at that time) but seeing this, I can remember having played this. So yeah, thank you :)
You cannot make that jump from a standing position.
ohgod the memories. thanks tb for posting this!
Flashback has always been a favourite of mine and I never owned it. I played it for maybe an hour at school back in the day but it striked me as special in its art style and deliberate pacing.
You can actually run and jump from the lower platform though. This would have also allowed you to hit that switch for the door between the bot and the guy. (A bit later on the level becomes impassable until you learn that jump which is why I remember it.)
The graphics still look fantastic because its art style adds so much atmosphere I feel that every indi game dreams of flashback ironically enough it's timeless.
In original Flashback, Conrad was pile of polygons that are animated with precise mathematical functions. Most games at the time had sprites so Conrad had unimaginable smooth animation at the time. Also, game is punishing - demand players to think and do levels good or try again if they fail. Modern games will let player pass even dough player is bad (so it doesn't hurt his feelings). That is why many such games were more rewarding when player complete them than any modern titles.(end of part 1)
If I remember correctly, in the original, to make a long jump you had to hold "run" and a direction and then release that direction and only hold "run". Conrad would then continue running and automatically jump at the edge. Keep maintaining "run" to grab the other ledge, and then up to move up or release "run" to release the ledge.
Tb makes a really good point, Games way back in the day definitely had more character to them then games from today. There was a reason why they were brilliant back in the day. sometimes its best to leave a gem rather then try to re do it into something its not.
Syndicate wasn't actually that awful, but the console port was terrible and it suffered from being far too linear. The co-op in that way legit.
I would love to see more retrospectives from tb, I enjoyed listening to him talk about the old game than the new one.
I'm sorry TB but you made me correct you on certain points regarding the original. When jumping in the original, pressing the Run-key and pressing up will make you jump forward while standing still, which is used more than the running-jump for jumping gaps. And if you're running and just holding down the Run-key, Conrad will automatically jump and grab a ledge that's above you.
because compare to older FPS games such as the old nuke, there was not that much linearity as it is now in FPS games. They narrowed down the exploration that you had to almost zero, and there is barely any hidden stuff that would make you even explore in modern FPS games.
For some reason a TB lets play of the original sounds amazing haha
heh, the jumping into a wall and falling to the ground animation from the 1993 version is pretty much the same one used in "Bermuda syndrome" (1995). Thanks for reminding me of that game.
I never played the old Flashback, but it was a great game at that time i can imagine. Animations are just like the original Prince Of Persia which i played so much on my old 25 MHZ machine at that time
93 Flashback's animation quality is lovely! I wish we could use this instead of pixel art in more indies!
Hey, TB, I did the EXACT same thing with the original. Never actually owned the game so it was years before I even realised there was a bloody button to press for the elevator. Of course, on that try I hadn't left the teleporter where I should have so had to run the whole way back. I was never as skilful as I was then, running and jumping and leaping at all the right moments, to get to the now open doorway and...crash into the edge of the screen. Kabooley!
I liked the little look back to the original... I know I know, there´s not enough time and/or interest for a regular feature like this, but it was fun as a one-off.
The Original game DID have music on the opening cut scene!! I remember thinking it was good when it came out! In fact I can still hum it now! haha
I'm left handed too FYI, but I taught myself to use an m+k right handed, so now I can do both. Although I prefer right handed now because games are just bound that way by default.
I reckon a good way to get used to righty keyboard usage is to play something that doesn't require a mouse (just to start off with) like The Binding of Isaac for example. Then once you get used to WASD movement, try practicing with your mouse in your right hand for general usage and you'll get used to it eventually.
It's really interesting to contrast the two games and look at how much has changed in 20 years, not just technically but in how developers and gamers approach games.
A little thing to beat original's Flashback final race: you can use teleporter to go back to your ship. It is very hard to pass ion wall at the entrance to planet core though but possible. Just jumping timing...
Actually, there was a simple mechanic, in original game. Just run and don't touch any other button - and character automatically jumps should he see a platform above which he can reach with a jump. You don't want to jump automatically? No problemo, just hold right/left while running. Aside from few quirks game's controls were actually very solid, especially for that time.
I really enjoy watching TB playing old games!
They could be using a similar kind of animation technique that was common at the time perhaps. I'm sure many gaming companies back then borrowed stuff from each other since there wasn't as much of it as there is today.
The 1993 MS-DOS version of Flashback actually has music and much more pleasant keys than those, for example shift to run and space to draw the weapon. In fact, with those keys the game was actually very nice to play. The manual even illustrated all of the movement very clearly which made it very easy to learn all the tricks. Too bad the remake isn't as good as the old one, and they even make you play the old one with that arcade machine and it's artificial CRT glare thingwhatever...
The original Flashback very much did have music, and it was awesome. Sadly, I forget the composers' name.
Didn't you know that you can jump up one level AND forward from running in original Flashback? It saves you a lots of nerve in lots of places, like the first difficult jump you showed. IIRC it happens when you release the direction button while running (yes, it awkward).
Out of this World, Flashback, and Blackthorne were some of my favorites in the day!
I loved the original when i was 14 back in the day. Started to watch this vid. I just hope this version is close to the original
One of the few games I actually beat. The original, I mean.Played it on Amiga, though, with joystick and stuff. The way you drop with the gun, rolling, shield - it was all needed there. The bit in the remake when he goes up in the elevator and there are guards on both sides - tricky in the original, obviously no-problem in the remake. A shame, really. When I saw Angry Joe play it, who never played the original, I wanted to defend it but really didn't see much in it myself.
I quite liked this game. I only have one real gripe with it and that's the total redesign of the Earth stage (level 4 in the orinilal). Sure it's got funny glitchy physics and horrible voice acting but that didn't really take away from the game for me. I think people who are screaming about hating it are humongous tools.
It is the "original" version of rotoscoping that was used on the original game, did not see anything about this new game. Rotoscoping as animation should not be confused for the kind of rotoscoping us VFX editors are using today with the matte and composition layers.
Flashback - brings some really positive flasbacks. I wonder if they'll do 'Fade to black' later as well.
SOTN, so much class in that game, and that music was awesome.
him rounding the corning at the startup screen and being looked at by that alien thing broke the game for me...
Flashback plays, even today, better than Another World. Another world still has great ideas and interesting scenarios, but it's so cruel for no good reason. Would be nice to get Flashback HD release, like Another World 15-20th anniversary edition. I'd buy that.
The original was such a really good game i never really got that far into it but its was very memorable to say the least.
Original Flashback is definitely one of my most favorite games. Kinda in top-10 (well, maybe 20 if you count modern games).
Wow, the old version of Flashback looks so good. I really want to play that.
The platform mechanic in the original wasn't so bad.
Some jumps you could let Conrad do by himself by just let him run forward (just activate the running and let go the forward key, he will keep running and if there is a ledge that he can jump he automatically will) , well at least at the console versions (Genesis/SNES).
I can't remember if it was the same for the original PC version.
TB if you didnt already know they speedrun the original, its quite relaxing to watch them.
Take a drink every time TB says Original Flashback
Oh, my god! I played this! I only remembered when TB got to the old game!!! I loved that game when I was a kid!
Have it here on my Megadrive, is still a great to play on it. Also used to have it on an Amiga. Ah memories...
While I thought Flashback was frustrating, it was very interesting to watch TB play the original 1993 game. Kind of wish he'd pick apart some older games and or give some history as to how the mechanics evolved from them.
OH SNAP I remember this original version! I thought it looked familiar but until I saw the animation I was spacing on what game it was.
This remake was a huge surprise. It really came out of nowhere.
I loved Flashback, I think I finished it twice just to see the ending again. And was looking forward to the sequel
Same. I kinda wanted to try it out and then TB came and saved the day to warn me away from spending my money on a shoddy remake. Man, I wanna play the original Flashback now. I played it back in '97 on the Sega.
Omg I remember flashback I'm only 14 but me and my dad played that on my sega all day long, then another world came about and meh, but I never heard of this one, can't wait to play this
I like how those people just sit in the background and you keep shooting drones and stuff. :P
You were thinking of Black Thorne, I still love that game too haha
The Amiga version did have the intro music. It seems that was a time when it had more power than the rest of consoles/PCs.
I´ve never played the original and I can enjoy the new one very well - I consider it as an interesting variety to nowadays games - definitely worth picking up. I hope it will find it´s way to GOG:
This is a PC gaming channel
Looking at the original (which I've not played), I'm getting a lot of Abe's Oddysee and Exoddus from it. That style was probably an inspiration for the way those games played.
wow. I didn't even realize I had played this game as a kid until I saw the 1993 version. To me it was just that super hard game that I never got past the first level on.
This storyline reminds me that I should watch "They Live" again sometime soon.
Black Thorne is probably the most close kin to Flashback really. Even if the art direction ties in a lot more to Another world.
OMG I didn't know what game 'fashback' was until you pulled the 1993 version up! I did play that game and I did enjoy it! Thanks! :-)
I've never played the original Flashback, it looks similar to the Abe's Odyssey/Exodus games. They were sooo good, looking forward to the remake.
The cut scenes in the original actually did include music, and some of the best damn music in gaming at that time too in my opinion. I'm just puzzled as to why they didn't include it in this version.
RIP. Its 2022 and your still missed. (I wish UA-cam would stop making
me change my memorial comment every 20-ish videos. When did they
implement this new annoyance?!?!)
Oh, of course :) I meant it more along the lines of "personal nostalgica".
It's just so hard to make people see what you saw in these games at the time. For someone who maybe never played a DOS game that feeling of wonder and excitement simply is not connected to an "old" and "pixelated" game. Someone who grew up with Cod or Battlefield probably never could understand our old feelings when playing a deathmatch in Duke3D (neither is bad, it's just 2 different generations) :)
I would kind of like to see a more faithful remake that uses nearly untextured, mostly single-colored polygons to mimic the original's graphic style instead of the frankly more generic style used in this remake.
It would most likely need a bezel of some kind tho, or slightly redesigned levels to accomodate for the additional width per screen.
the animation for abe in odd world is almost exactly the the animation for the original flash back. I see someone was inspired by the original flashback.
No it is very much rotoscoped, which a simple Google search will confirm.
The 1993 version was so awesome I remember playing it, but I forgot it name was Flashback.
..I'm old(school), like TB; I grew up with the likes of Doom, Duke Nukem (3D), Prince of Persia, Flashback, Shadow Warrior (classic).
For someone who is used to very non-linear maze-like level design where your exploration is required to get through the game, where you die again and again, and you backtrack to find the item you need; the completely linear experience of modern gaming becomes incredibly pronounced in its diminished restrictiveness.
loved this game when i was little one...this an another world
It's pretty much impossible not to do that if you've played an loved the original. Trust me. He did well, considering.