Virtually Overlooked: Flashback (SNES)
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.
It's been awhile since I've thought about one of my most favorite games of all time. Flashback not only was an important game to me because of its graphics (polygons, oh mai gawds!), but because it showed me that in-depth story telling in a video game was a reality and something totally possible. Sure, there are other, probably better, examples of amazing story in video games prior to this title's release, but there's just the one thing: I didn't play them.
So with JC being away from our blogger stronghold deep within the dark confines of your attic (we're watching you) this week, I managed to convince him that I wouldn't totally ruin his weekly feature. While that has yet to be seen, I still ask that you head past the break and read why I want Flashback on the Virtual Console.
As I said, this game has an amazing story. You start off as nothing more than a man with a bout of amnesia and some weird cube. It's set in the year 2142 and stars Conrad B. Hart, and has you traveling throughout a variety of amazing locales. The future presented in the game is very bleak, home to government conspiracies and general civil unrest that play themselves out throughout the entirety of the game.
The majority of your time in Flashback has you running around on Earth as you uncover an alien conspiracy that threatens the planet. The only problem is that you don't have all of the pieces to the puzzle, so it really helps to establish a bond between the character and yourself as you both progress to find out more about exactly what is going on. And once you do, it's pretty damn shocking.
From a control standpoint, Flashback is less amazing. It plays almost exactly like the old Princes of Persia. Moving around can be a pain, and there's a lot of trial-and-error in finding out what kind of jumps you can and can't make. Because of this (among other things), you'll die a ton. Conrad has the health equivalent of a wet paper bag. Did you every play Abe's Odyssey? Yeah, you die a lot.
But the cumbersome controls can't get in the way of how amazing the story in this game is. Perhaps it's the sci-fi themes or the bleak outlook on our future, but something about this game just stays with me. It's a game that has been one of the most thought-provoking experiences of my life and, as I've said, showed me that games can be more than just a quick diversion or something to waste a few hours on.
If there was anything that could prove games should be classified as art, it would be Flashback.
