20 years ago, Flashback was released to the world, where it was a 2d platformer that had rotoscoped gameplay similar to Prince of Persia. It also featured a rather cinematic presentation which set it apart from other titles, and along with Another World, inspired many games we see today. So Ubisoft decided that now was the ripe time to resurrect the classic title called Flashback HD for PlayStation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (XBLA) and Windows PC. But maybe it was a game that people needed to have a better memory of, as it might not be as good of a game as they remember.

The remake still more or less has the same core story, where you play as a man named Conrad, who starts the game amnesiac and in trouble with the local police. He steals a jet bike, but is shot down by the pursuing police assault vehicle. He crash lands in a jungle, which is on Titan, a colonized moon of Saturn. From there, Conrad seeks to recover his memory and why the police where after him, and learns of a conspiracy against Earth. There are some additional story segments, usually with some additional backstory to fill in the original’s gaps. All cut-scenes with dialogue now have voice acting, which is for a lack of a better word, amateurish.

The originals’ gameplay featured one-screen-at-a-time puzzle platforming, with some light combat elements. While this is also mostly changed improvements have been made to the controls, directly resulting in a more action oriented affair. Now Conrad can fire his gun anywhere in 360 degrees of motion via the right analog stick. The gun can also be charged for stronger shots, to destroy certain walls, or solve puzzles. Throwing weapons now have markers showing its travel path, so you can make precision-based decisions to solve puzzles or distract enemies. Conrad now also has a life bar to replace his shield, which only took 4 hits before needed recharged. The health bar also can regenerate to a point when low on health as well. The hologlasses now can be used to see hidden objects away from your immediate field of view, as well as enemy health. A new addition, and which seems large unnecessary, There is a skill level progression system where defeated enemies also award XP. Level up give you restored health and skill points which are used to increase any of Conrad’s three stats. In addition, there are also power ups that increase the power your weapons, health, or increased duration of the hologlasses use. There is also a new VR training portion to gain more experience and learn the new gameplay mechanics. The game also has a filler jetbike sequence for some reason.

While these new mechanics and story bits make for a better game in many aspects, unfortunately many bugs were introduced. Mostly relating to physics and hit detection. There were many times where I would be fighting an enemy only to have the hits register, and the game freaking out and not counting the enemy as dead, thus preventing me from advancing in some cases. Other times the game would have Conrad levitating, or be unable to jump up or over to a ledge. Other times I’d just get stuck, and need to reload a checkpoint; pretty frustrating stuff that makes me wonder how stringent the QA was for this game. More baffling issues are how the level design doesn’t really take advantage of the improved mechanics, or the very small and hard to read text. Much of the original music has also been removed from the game, with only a handful of tunes remixed. And while the original 1993 game was included, it is only playable in arcade cabinet vision, making for a very small screen. Seriously who though that this was a good idea? Flashback was a PC and console game, not an arcade one. And more insult to injury comes from the music being excised from the game. Oh, and the port lacks any achievements for achievement hunters to look forward to. This feels rather unforgivable.

So even with these improvements, and the previously mentioned issues, some which may be fixed in an update, Flashback ultimately at the end of the day is a slightly above average game. And perhaps even the original title is a tad overrated, with only nostalgia helping gamers to overlook the clunky controls and so-so story. But on the upside, the game is only $10 USD.

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