Summer Games Fest has officially kicked off, and a whole slew of upcoming releases were announced in Geoff Keighley’s two-hour opening event. While big names and indies were showcased, there werea few Summer Game Fest reveals that slipped through the cracks, such as a sequel to a 1992 classic platformer:Flashback 2.
This sequel marks the first game in the franchise since 2013, and is the first real sequel to the mainline series since 1995. With three decades of history behind it,Flashback 2is an exciting announcement, though non-fans may be confused as to why its presence at the showcase was such a big deal.
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Flashback (1992)
Releasing in 1992 for the Amiga, and then a year later forthe Sega Genesis and SNES,Flashbackis 2D sci-fi platformer with a heavy emphasis on cinematic gameplay and storytelling. For the time,Flashbackwas revolutionary. While 2D platformers were nothing new, ones with a narrative focus were, andFlashbackproved that the 2D sidescrolling genre was missing a cinematic niche.
The originalFlashbackmanaged to capture a cinematic feel by using rotoscoping technology, similar to theoriginalPrince of Persiagame. This technology gave character models more life-like animations, which can be seen in the main protagonist Conrad’s running, jumping, and shooting animations.
Along with action-platforming gameplay,Flashbackpresented players with an array of challenging puzzles, most of which require good spatial awareness. At the time,Flashbackreceived near-unanimous praise for just about every technical aspect. Its high level of polish and varied gameplay lead toFlashbackbeing heralded as one ofthe best platformers on the Genesis and SNES, and lead to the game earning a Guinness World Record for the best-selling French game of all time.
Fade To Black (1995)
Developed by the same studio, Delphine Software International,Fade to Blackwas a 1995 sequel toFlashback. While its narrative follows the same sci-fi plot of its predecessor, with Conrad Hart again being the main protagonist,Fade to Black’s gameplay follows a completely different archetype asa 3D third-person shooter.
With a focus on gun combat,Fade to Blackhardly resembled its predecessor in terms of gameplay. However, being designed for the newPlayStation and Dreamcast hardware, the developers decided to innovate as the original had several years ago. Despite the departure,Fade to Blackreceived mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the game’s backgrounds and motion-captured animations but criticizing its stiff, polygonal character models and harsh difficulty spike.
Flashback (2013)
AfterFade to Blackwas met with critical success, Delphine Software International turned its sights on a sequel. Intended for a release in 2003,Flashback Legendwas going to return the franchise to its 2D side-scrolling roots, but with more open environments. In an interesting move,Flashback Legendwas being developed solely for theGame Boy Advance, but Delphine Software went bankrupt before it could be finished, and the game was scrapped.
It would take almost a decade before a newFlashbackgame released. Dropping onto the Xbox Live Arcade in 2013,Flashbackis a remake of the original 1992 platformer. Built from the ground up, 2013’sFlashbackwas developed by VectorCell, and missed the mark in a number of ways. With washed-out graphicstypical of an early 2010s releaseand a lack of improvements for the original’s gameplay,Flashbackwas met with a fairly negative critical reception. Hopefully the newly announcedFlashback 2can do what the 2013 remake couldn’t, and improve upon the formula in a substantial way.
Flashback 2releases winter 2022 to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version will follow in 2023.
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