Subj:  ** FLASHBACK REVIEW FROM KRAIG **
Date:  Tue, Apr 18, 1995 7:13 PM EDT
From:  ST4PG@Jetson.UH.EDU
To: donhicks@aol.com


Don please reply to confirm you've seen this, I don't trust this mail
server?

--- cut here ---


Kraig Kujawa
 
Flashback: The Quest For Identity
 
	
	Flashback is a game that simply refuses to go away. Ever since 
its glorified debut (it carried the distinction of being the unofficial 
successor to the legendary Out of This World),  many years ago on the 
now-troubled Amiga computer system , Flashback has been one of the 
busiest games in the industry. It has made appearances on nearly every 
viable game system available on the market, and finally the 3DO 
becomes a member of the rather large Flashback family.
	Flashback was an instant hit, mostly due to its programmers' 
pioneering efforts in producing a new brand of action-adventure to the 
screen. Not only was Flashback a great action platform game where you 
use your hand-eye coordination to jump chasms, climb on ledges, and 
shoot bad guys, but it was also a well-conceived adventure game that 
contained challenging puzzles and the engaging storyline of finding out 
your characters identity. These puzzles were mostly comprised of 
finding objects, and then logically figuring out where to use them. For 
instance, you might find a generator, which you must use to power up a 
teleporter. It isn't nearly as simplistic as it may seem. An additional 
challenge might be to figure out how to get past the bazooka-armed men 
who are guarding the teleporter without getting killed. Although the 
game was great, the primary attraction was the main character who was 
comprised completely of fluently animated polygons. These polygons 
were put to good use, as the character was capable of a variety of slickly 
animated movements such as doing an evasive gymnastic roll on the 
ground to creeping along a wall with his gun drawn like James Bond. 
These days this is no big feat, but back then, this was considered to fall 
somewhere in the category of ground-breaking.
	To be sure, ground-breaking is not the word to describe 
Flashback on the 3DO. Time has passed, and I have mixed feelings 
when I say that not much has changed. Everyone knows its hard to 
argue with the old cliche' "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.", but those who 
own a muscle-bound 32-bit machine like the 3DO may beg to differ.  
Flashback plays just as well as its predecessors, but unfortunately, it 
looks nearly the same too. Aside from a spiced up introduction, and a 
few newly-rendered animations within the game, Flashback is nearly a 
carbon copy of the versions that appeared on the Amiga, Genesis, Super 
Nintendo, etc.  Surely the polygon-driven character could have been 
improved with some additional texture-mapping, and perhaps the 
backgrounds and enemies could have been given a 32-bit makeover At 
the very least a riveting CD-soundtrack ala Out of This World 3DO 
wouldnt be asking too much. 
	Flashback has always had a few nagging problems, and 
unfortunately, like a bad chromosome passed down the family tree, 
Flashback 3DO has inherited some flaws. Because of the character's 
numerous available movements and actions, control pads and joysticks 
will always have their buttons full with this game. There are many 
combinations of button presses and movements, and some are just 
annoyingly complicated. The problem becomes more compounded if 
you are not using an excellent controller.  These bad controls can 
attribute to a few untimely deaths, but fortunately there are "save game" 
passwords that can be found at various points along the way. The only 
problem is that there are major gaps between save points, and there is 
nothing more boring than redoing a lot of things over a seemingly 
infinite amount of times until you finally reach the next save game 
password. 
	Flashback for the 3DO is a good game, but it isn't the 
formidable juggernaut that it used to be in its glory years. This game 
begs for more enhancement, but its not going to get the attention it 
deserves. Gamers that enjoy action-adventures should enjoy this title, 
but unfortunately, it won't have the same magical effect that it had so 
many years ago. 
	   
	
-Kraig


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Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 19:05:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: ST4PG@Jetson.UH.EDU
Subject: ** FLASHBACK REVIEW FROM KRAIG **
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