jigretro

[jigretro]

GAME BOY ADVANCE BUYERS' GUIDE AND MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE GAMES

The Game Boy Advance or GBA was released in 2001 and was the follow up to the successful Gameboy Color. The GBA has three different models, the GBA original, GBA SP (2003) and the GBA Micro (2005). We will look further into the differences later. The GBA falls within the top 10 selling game consoles of all time, a list which also includes the original Game Boy and the Nintendo DS. Nintendo own hand-held gaming and the Game Boy Advance SP model specifically is one of my most played retro consoles.

The original model is a landscape layout (with buttons either side of the screen), rather than the traditional Game Boy portrait layout, with the buttons below the screen. It is a 32-bit system and shows a significant upgrade to to GBC, although without a light on the screen I found it quite disappointing when I had my original many years ago. The original GBA takes 2 x AA batteries. Probably the best feature is that it’s fully compatible with all of the original Game Boy and GBC back catalogue. The first revision GBA SP I feel improved nearly every aspect from the original. It’s rechargable via a power cable, has a front lit screen (which at the time made it much more playable), a folding laptop-type design for more compactability and also works to protect the screen. One downside is that the SP model doesn’t have an AV port for headphones. The 3rd model came in the form of the GBA micro and I feel this was a disappointing release, it has brighter and a much more powerful backlit screen but its tiny form factor is too cramped for even the smallest hands. It also ditches the backwards compatibility of the previous models. The micro has clip-on plates for customisation. At a similar time to this Nintendo also released another GBA SP (model AGS-101) with a fantastic backlit screen similar to the GBA micro and the soon-to-be-released Nintendo DS. This is a great system for fans of the Super Nintendo, I never owned a Super Nintendo but, while collecting for this system, I discovered that many of the games from the Super Nintendo and even the NES saw releases on the GBA. It was a simple way for me to access some of the classics from those previous released consoles. My personal recommendation is that if money is no object then the GBA SP (model AGS-101) with its amazing screen is the one to get, but it is rather expensive. For those on a budget (like myself), I would recommend buying a GBA SP (model AGS-001), as they are more readily available. This system will run the whole Game Boy game library. Buying a DS Lite has the benefit of having an amazing backlit screen similar to AGS-101 and is able to run both original DS games and is backwards compatible to the GBA games library only as well, so that is another option.

The GBA had a ton of both first- and third-party accessories. Some of the highlights for me include: the Worm Light, which was essential for playing on the original model; the Link Cable in order to access multiplayer features; and the GameCube-Game Boy player, which works similar to the Super Game Boy and allows you to play GBA games on the big screen. All of the models discussed above were available in many different colours and artwork styles, which for a collector may mean that you have an interest in picking up multiple systems. One of my favourites is the classic NES-inspired GBA SP, which I would love to have, especially with a model 101 backlit screen 🤤.

Another feature that is easily forgotten is that the GBA adds a limited colour pallet to Original Game Boy games; you can use the direction pad on the boot-up screen in order to choose different ones. Shoulder buttons have no use while playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games but they can be pressed in order to have the original aspect ratio or to stretch the image to fill the GBA’s larger screen. I personally don’t collect boxed GBA games as it’s too expensive.

Here is a brief run though of some of my highly recommended, which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in starting a collection for this amazing console:

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2: A very well-made game that plays exactly the same as the console versions of the beloved series but from a isometric view. Great way to play a bit of Tony Hawk on the go.

Sonic Advance: This is a fantastic Sonic game made by Sega for the GBA. Who would’ve thought it? Sega’s prized mascot on a Nintendo system. This game has all the speed and gameplay of the best sonic games. 2D is where sonic games are at.

Advance Wars 1 or 2: Either or both. Many long hours can be consumed by this game. It’s a turn-based tactical war game featuring cartoon-style characters and animation. Both simplistic yet technical with a fair learning curve.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: A successor to both the arcade and original Game Boy game Donkey Kong. This is a fantastic-looking puzzle game with tons of character and variety.

Warioware, inc. Minigame Mania: For anyone who has played any Warioware game, you will know exactly what this is all about but, for those who don’t, it is a super addictive game that involves loads of wacky, quick-fire mini games and you have to scramble to work out what to do in quick succession. One of my favourites.

Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission: I had to add both here because they are both masterpieces. Fusion sees Samus face a new virus threat called X while evading a fully powered evil clone of herself. It is a direct sequel to Super Metroid but has a more linear approach; this has caused some criticism but, as my first ever experience of a Metroid game, I appreciated its structure. Zero mission is a well crafted remake of the original NES game (which is also featured as an unlockable) and is much more in line with the open world, which fans of Super Metroid will appreciate. It could be argued that either of these are the best Metroid game ever made.

Castlevania Aria of Sorrow: This game does everything perfectly. It may not be the first Metroidvania-style Castlevania game (that honour would go to one of my absolute favourite games, Symphony of the Night) but I would happily accept any argument that says it does it better. It is perfectly balanced and the story is great. The main character, Soma, can absorb the souls of enemies in order to gain magical abilities and attacks. This was first introduced here but is also felt today in the form of Shard’s from the game’s creator Koji Igarashi in his latest game Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

Games not in my collection that I am also on the hunt for are:

GunStar Super Hero’s, a sequel to the Megadrive classic.

Contra advance.

Metal Slug advance.

I hope you have enjoyed this month's blog. It is a topic that I have a huge passion for and I highly recommend starting any game collection with this system. There is a ton of amazing games and even a rather big collection can take up very little of your space at home. Until next time. 🎮

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

June 19 Blog

Super Metroid

History

Metroid was first introduced to us from developer Yoshio Sakamoto in 1986, this game was ahead of its time (possibly too far) with a non-linear approach to gameplay. With the capabilities of the system, environments felt very similar and it was soooo easy to get completely lost. With the lack of a map, I feel this game is practically unplayable, although at the time the concept was groundbreaking. The final twist revealed that the protagonist you have been playing has been a woman all along. This is one of many references to the movie Alien (which we will discuss further later). In 1992, Metroid 2 return of Samus was released for the Gameboy and is a continuation of the story, this time with Samus aiming to completely eradicate the Metroid species. I feel the game is a small improvement over the original and introduces elements and abilities that would become a mainstay for the series. The slightly more linear approach also helped with moving through the game. The focus of this blog is one of my favourite games of all time, Super Metroid, which took everything that had come before it and improved every aspect so far as to feel original.

In 1994, Super Metroid was released, yet somehow it completely slipped me by. I owned a Sega Megadrive and the idea of owning more than one console was a lot less prevalent (only for the real spoilt kids, haha). Luckily, a great friend of mine had a SNES and he had some great games, such as Donkey Kong Country, Mario All Stars, Killer Instinct, among many others, but even then, for some reason, Super Metroid completely bypassed us. Moving forward to more recently, I had just began to show an interest in collecting retro video games. I had bought myself a GBA and collected a few of the better games that I remembered. My brother leant me Metroid Fusion. I was hooked in an instant and it was completely not what I imagined. I was expecting a typical 'brutal' platform/action game, such as Contra or Castlevania and, at that time, those sort of games where too frustrating for me (my patients for brutal games has improved a lot over recent years). This was the first 'Metroidvania' I had ever experienced. Anyway, this lead me to Super Metroid, after a little look on the internet. I quickly purchased it on the Wii Virtual Console and loved every aspect of playing it. This game has really been the main influence for my obsession with retro game collecting and playing thus far. Also, it’s everywhere; it has releases on the original SNES, Wii, Wii U and 3ds virtual consoles and SNES Mini and you all owe it to yourselves to play this one for sure.

This game oozes atmosphere and has one rather obvious pop influence... Alien!! I mean, from the protagonist being female, to one of the bad guys being called Ridley (as in Ridley Scott), 'MOTHER' brain, Metroids attach to your face similar to face huggers, the Chozo statues are very reminiscent of the Space Jockey found in Alien, but the biggest is probably the way it makes you feel isolated.

Story

As soon as you select a new game, a creepy robotic voice comes in with 'The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace'. We then proceed to get caught up with the story up to this point from Metroid and Metroid 2 in the upgraded Super Metroid graphics. Samus then receives a distress signal from the research station that she had just left the final Metroid in. She rushes back to aid. In my opinion, this leads to one of the greatest intros to a videogame ever.

Intro

This this is the first time you hear the soundtrack; it’s not full of great songs that are going to be stuck in your head after playing, but it is fantastic. It’s like the most important character in this game: subtle, haunting brilliance. This entire soundtrack ooozes atmosphere - simple yet helps create the character or mood for each area. The first space station section is a brilliantly conceived tutorial stage, giving you the chance to learn the controls without completely taking you out of the experience by holding your hand. This scene is epic. You make your way to the lab, where you find that the chamber that was holding the last Metroid is broken and the scientists are dead on the ground. Moving to the next room, you find the last Metroid, but as you approach you see the eyes of Ridley in the darkness. He grabs the Metroid, attacks and escapes. The space station initiates an emergency self destruct and you have to make it back to your ship in time.

After this intro, Samus tracks Ripley to Zebes where the first game takes place and early parts take you back to areas from the first game for some nostalgic feels. This planet is where you spend the rest of the game.

Not mentioning any spoilers, but the ending set-piece of this game is worth every moment of the time it takes to complete.

The gameplay pretty much invents the Metroidvania genre as we see it today. Gradually open up the map, find jumps you can’t make/doors you can’t yet open, etc, upgrade yourself in order to become more powerful and make progress. I’ve always enjoyed these types of games for starting off so vulnerable but by the end of the game becoming some sort of game-breaking god. This game trusts you to learn as you play.

Being critical, I remember the Meridia stage nearly ruining this game for me, I was getting towards quitting altogether but, utilising a strategy guide, I made it through and now it doesn’t cause me any bother.

The repeat play in this game is out of this world and makes it great value for money. You could spend hours on end collecting every item and exploring every area with a fine tooth comb, and on the other end of the spectrum is speed running. Speed running creating limitless repeat play as you try to beat the game faster and faster, learning and utilising secret moves like wall jump and shine spark is essential in these speed runs and they can also make you able to access areas of the game in a different order, which feels amazing like you create your own path. A first ever run though of Super Metroid will take you about 7-8 hours but the world record speed run for the game is currently 40mins 56second. My personal best is about 2hours 45 mins

The legacy of Super Metroid can be felt ever since and up to this day with games such as Castlevania, Shadow Complex, Axiom Verge, Guacamelee, Cave Story, Xenodrifter and even loosely games such as the Batman Arkham series.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest blog on a game that I am now a huge fan of. It's definitely in my top ten and I hope this inspires you to give it a go. I certainly wish I had played this back in the day. Not to be missed. Anyway, thanks for reading and until next time. 🎮

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

Retro Videogame Blog

May 19 PLAY EXPO MANCHESTER

My fiancée bought me tickets for this event in January for my birthday. I’ve never been to an expo specifically focused on video gaming/retro gaming, although I have been to The Gadget Show expo on a couple of occasions and to the occasional Comic Con style expo, so I roughly knew what it would entail.

On the lead up to the event I checked out the website and copied the map/floorplan for the event. This got me excited as I could see that there was a big marketplace, free play arcade machines, pinball machines and console gaming area. I had a look at some of the talks that were scheduled but, to be honest, nothing grabbed my attention. On the website I noticed that there were some YouTube guests attending, such as Top Hat 🎩 Gaming Man and Kim Justice, and I was intrigued by the prospect of running into them. I was most excited about the marketplace, but felt that the prices would probably be way too expensive for me to get heavily involved in.

My first impressions of the expo was that it was a little on the small side, but with my only other experience being at The Gadget Show I suppose it would seem small. We quickly walked around the entire floor to get a feel for everything that was happening. I also felt that it was a little quiet; we arrived at 11am but it would become much much busier over the coming couple of hours.

The marketplace was what I was most excited about and I spent some serious time in that area. I browsed each stall and made a mental list of things that I might like to buy and where the stalls were, but I didn't buy anything on the first trip round. The prices seemed very reasonable to me, which was a huge surprise for me. Prices were similar to Cex really, perhaps a little cheaper, but some of the rare games were very expensive, probably for good reason. I haven’t got the knowledge to really know whether they were good deals or not. I would never consider buying a rare game just because it was rare, I would have to have a personal interest in that game first and foremost.

My fiancée spent all of this time following me around, for which I consider her a saint. I think she secretly had fun rummaging through stacks of Gameboy games, etc... there is just something about the noise of it that appeals to anyone... not just collectors, ha ha!!! One highlight was a stall that featured only Japanese imports, shed loads of them, which was amazing to see. Unfortunately I couldn’t tell what anything was, but I was trying to hunt down a Japanese copy of Castlevania Symphony of the Night and, after a little while, I asked my fiancée (I was far too shy) to ask the chap running the stall if he had it, which she did (bless her). Unfortunately he didn't have it, but he gave her a business card and said that he could get it for around £45. This is actually a good deal, as the PAL version of this game had a very small release and those copies sell for around the £150/£200 mark on eBay 😮. Buying imports can be a cheaper way of getting hold of physical copies of some seriously expensive games. On my second walk round the market I made a few purchases and you will see what I got in the pickups section of the blog later.

After all of the game hunting both Steph and I were thirsty and a bit peckish, so we headed for the food court. The food choices were more than a little disappointing to be honest. The choices were basically pizza, hot dogs, toasties and some pre-packaged cold sandwiches. We got a couple of bottled fizzy drinks and shared a spicy meat pizza, which probably sounds amazing but it was just a plain pizza with a tiny amount of salami. It filled a hole though and we continued with our day.

We made our way to the arcade area and this was really cool. Pretty much every popular cabinet you could think of was here and this was a busy area, it was hard to get on anything but luckily most people’s attention span on each machine was relatively low, so with a little waiting/queuing you could get on any cabinet after a few mins. My highlight was the Outrun machine... this thing was freaking awesome. The speakers were LOUD and directly next to your ears in the headrest and the seat actually moved, swinging you back and forth while cornering. I had an instant understanding of Outrun's huge popularity after playing for a few minutes on this. Steph wanted to queue for a Wack a Mole machine but changed her mind when she realised that the people queuing behind would be watching her. Ha ha.

The console area was amazing; they had just about every console/microcomputer you can think of set up with a game and ready to play. We each sat at many different consoles and played all sorts. I had a good session playing Sega Rally on a Saturn. The highlight for me was sitting down and playing on a Virtual Boy, this failed console was released in 1995 (before the release of the Gameboy Colour) but Nintendo pulled the plug the following year after poor sales. 22 games were released for the system but I was playing Wario Land. I thought this was great. The image quality was much higher than I was expecting and the basic '3D' effects worked well.

The pinball area was cool but, at the time we went to it, it was incredibly hard to get on any machines. Also, pinball isn’t exactly where I excel, but I had a go on a couple of machines. One interesting thing that I will remember is watching a cosplay Deadpool playing the Deadpool pinball machine... ha ha, surreal.

Areas I was less interested in included modern console/computer gaming, table-top gaming (card games), Minecraft and Fortnight LAN play (this was super popular with the kids... almost like a crèche area, ha ha), shows/talks and cosplay, but it was all there if you were interested in those things.

So this is the pickups section of what I bought, for how much and why I bought each game. I didn’t buy any particularly outlandish titles, although I’m really pleased with Alien 3, Outrun and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fall of the Foot Clan.

Megadrive boxed

The Terminator (no manual) - £6. This was a complete nostalgia purchase for me because, to be honest, the game is pretty terrible, ha ha. I owned this game back in the day and played it repeatedly. It is insanely short; completion will only take about 15 of your precious minutes, but I am stunned that they would’ve charged full price when the game was released. The positives are that the background music is actually pretty decent, with a great recreation of the iconic Terminator theme and adrenaline-pumping music as you play as Kyle rushing to save Sarah. For me, this game has some serious atmosphere and I’m really pleased to have it in my collection.

Alien 3 - £8. This a game that I have seen covered in various YouTube vlogs and I have been intrigued about it for a long time. I have no nostalgia for it but, having played it since buying, this game rocks... maybe even enough for its own blog, so I’m not going to spoil it all here. You play a badass alien-slaughtering machine Ripley and you have to rescue hostages before the timer runs out, and they have an alien burst from their chests. The aliens act as they should, with a darting-type attack as soon as they appear on your screen. You have to be vigilant to kill these suckers.

Megadrive loose, both for £18

Jurassic Park - this was more of a nostalgia purchase. One of my close friends had this game when we were kids and I thought it was great at the time. An action platform game with dinosaurs... what’s not to like?

Outrun - this game speaks for itself. A classic and, after playing that arcade machine, I was sooo pleased to pick this game up. I feel the Megadrive conversion is great and very arcade accurate.

PlayStation

Porsche Challenge - £2. Can’t go wrong with the price and this is a nostalgia purchase for me. I spent hours playing this game with my cousin back in the day; a fairly standard early 3D racing game with some interesting shortcuts within the tracks.

Moto Racer - £2. Again, can’t go wrong for £2. It was developed by Delphine Software International, who also brought us one of my favourite games of all time and the subject of my first blog, Flashback. This is a really good bike racing game.

Game Boy

Kirby’s Pinball Land - £6. I love pretty much every pinball game I play, for example Sonic Spinball and Dragons Fury. I’ve kinda wanted this game for a while. My friend had this game back in the day and I remember playing it on his Super Gameboy.

Japanese import of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fall of the Foot Clan - £6. I’ve heard good things about this game and anything Turtles is usually really overpriced but, with this being an import, it was a very reasonable £6.

And Tony Hawk 2 (can’t remember what I spent but probably around £4 ish) for the Gameboy Advance. I’ve had this game before and I enjoyed it a lot. Despite the GBAs limitations, this game cleverly changes things up to a isometric view. All else remains unchanged from the Tony Hawk formula. I think this is an ideal game for a bit of Tony Hawk on the go.

Many thanks for checking out this month's blog. Until next time!!! 🎮

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

Retro Game Blog

April 19 GAME ROOM TOUR

April 2019 Blog: Game Room Tour

Hey guys, this is my second blog relating to retro video gaming/collecting and, for this one, the focus is on my collection, systems I’m collecting for and some photos of my collection so far. It is a spiritual game room tour... minus the actual game room.

The main reason I am doing a blog on this subject is that I see all of these video game channels on YouTube and they have all invariably have made some sort of game room tour video. It’s very self indulgent but I do enjoy watching such videos to see how they all manage their space and watch in envy of their wall-to-wall video games. Often, there is too much clutter for my taste but, occasionally, you see the most amazing spaces that every geek such as myself dreams of. I also tend to pick up ideas of how to store and manage my own collection, with the dream being a dedicated room for gaming! (one day, one day... ha ha).

The space that some of these collectors have is just amazing but, due to space constraints, I have quickly learned how to maximise the small home for this space-consuming hobby. So, this is really a kind of game room tour, without a game room. Hopefully my tips may help you with any physical media collection you may have or want to start.

I live in a small home with one small spare box room; all of the rooms are relatively small, so I can’t just hoard and gather every single video game I see. Personally, I wouldn’t want to do that anyway. I collect mainly classics, personal nostalgic games and games I’ve heard of via advice from other gamers. I’ve never really understood going for a complete collection of any console, as there is a lot of trash/shovel ware out there, but each to their own. I am as much of a gamer (not saying a good one) as I am a collector and I don’t want to play/waste time on too much rubbish. I do have to utilise backward compatibility as a way of minimising the amount of consoles I have and, as you read on, you will see how I maximise each console I own.

I tend to keep a list of video games (with the price from Cex (let them do the work) written next to each) that I’m looking out for in my wallet. This ensures that I don’t spend way over value for anything. I keep my eyes peeled on eBay, pawn shops, charity shops and boot sales and, if I am desperate for a game and I still can’t find it cheaper than Cex, then I will just buy from them.

People talk about the quality of emulation all the time and ask why have all this stuff when it is so good. I am totally not against emulation. For games that I want to try before I buy or that are just out of my price range I use emulation. Also, utilising save states greatly reduces the brutal difficulty and frankly tedious death repetition of some games. I personally would prefer the games be appreciated in any form then to be lost in time. Apart from that, I personally don’t think emulation will ever be better than playing on a game’s original hardware, and there is something special about owning a physical game with the box artwork and instruction manual. Playing on original controllers is more often than not a much better experience also.

My current consoles, including their backward compatibility, are as follows.

Consoles:

C64 plug n play

NES Mini

Sega Megadrive model 1

SNES Mini

N64

PlayStation 2 slim (fully PS1 compatible)

Xbox 360 slim (partial Original Xbox compatible)

Wii (fully GameCube compatible)

PlayStation 4

Hand helds:

Game Boy advance sp (fully Game Boy and GB color compatible)

Nintendo DS lite (fully GBA compatible)

Playstation Portable

I’ve also tried to cover other consoles by selecting Saturn and Dreamcast games that have had a release on other systems such as Shenmue 1&2 on PS4, Project Gotham Racing 2 (essentially a sequel to Metropolis Street Racer) and Panzer Dragoon ORTA (has original Panza Dragoon is an unlockable) on Xbox, Sonic adventure 2 on GameCube and Quake 3, Crazy Taxi, Resident Evil Code Veronica X, Ready 2 Rumble Round 2, Virtua Tennis 2, Dead or Alive 2 and Marvel vs Capcom 2 on PS2.

One final way I have managed to cover some of the best games from other consoles is with anthology collection discs, such as the Atari and Activision Anthology on PS2 to cover the Atari 2600, a Metal Slug Anthology on Wii for a bit of quality run-and-gun action from the NeoGeo. One final special mention goes to Castlevania The Dracula X Chronicles on PSP, which not only has the PS1 classic Symphony of the Night but the amazing Rondo of Blood from the Turbografix 16, both on one UMD disc as unlockables.

My current living room set up sees my PS4, Xbox 360, SNES mini and N64 all plugged in and ready to play with the associated games in my sideboard next to the sofa. I will generally always keep a hand-held console in the draw with a couple of select games. Currently, the PSP is getting some love.

My consoles spend time on rotation in my living room but, for now, everything else, including all their leads and controllers, are living in a Tupperware box in the spare room alongside my game display, purchased for £49 from Argos. My only regret is not going to the Heart Foundation charity funature store first, as they had some awesome media storage at amazing prices (and it would have helped a good cause so 👍). Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll need more storage/display shelving at some point 🤓.

My Game boy collection is kept in a small plastic tub at the moment. Keeping my eyes peeled for display options for these...

I’m not really sure how this happened but I’ve also got a lot of unboxed PS1 titles. I seem to remember buying these in one or two lots really cheap. I keep these in a pretty sweet PlayStation CD case.

And here are a few loose Megadrive games I own.

I am lucky that my old living room tv has served me very well for many years and, with it’s dated nature, I am able to hook up Coaxial RF connection, RGB SCART (which is the best analogue signal that you can get for old consoles) and HDMI. I spent a little money on relatively cheap and frankly poor quality cables from eBay in order to maximise picture quality and I am actually really pleased with the results. This is my solution rather than spending hundreds on analogue-to-HDMI converters such as the Framemeister. Playing consoles in their native 4:3 aspect ratio is a must otherwise images will be distorted and stretched.

In conclusion, I hope this helps anyone starting a collection of any kind of physical media and maybe even starting a few collections going on in your own homes. When your girlfriends kick up a fuss and demand you ‘get rid of this junk’, then I can be here to offer you a really cheap price to take it all off your hands, ha ha. Until next time!!! 🎮

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

Retro gaming blog 1

FLASHBACK

Hey everyone, this is a new experience for me. Over the past couple of years I have developed a growing passion for video games and I am finding it to be such an amazing and inexpensive little hobby to have. During this time I have watched countless hours of YouTube content relating to this subject and to be honest I’ve been inspired.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject in any way but wanted to start making content to bring all us geeks together to celebrate what I consider to be an amazing and overlooked art form. I love music and movies and don’t really see why video games should be considered the ugly stepchild of these other forms of media.

In today’s blog I have decided to focus on one of my favourite titles from the Sega Megadrive Flashback.

Flashback is a cinematic platform game bringing all of the best elements and taking influences of games that came before it, such as another world and Prince of Persia. It was developed for the Megadrive but was first released in 1992 on the Amiga. It was then released on the Megadrive in 1993. The game features amazing hand-drawn backgrounds and all sprite animation is created using rotoscope techniques. Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over motion picture footage, creating a natural and realistic look to body movements.

My personal history with this game is that, when I was 7 ish years old, my brother and I got a Sega Megadrive from our parents for Christmas. With me being younger I always gravitated towards general kiddie titles, such as Sonic, Aladdin, Micro Machines and Quackshot, etc. That’s not to say these aren’t great games in their own right, but at the time my teenage brother was into the more gritty/mature side of Megadrive games, such as Mortal Kombat, Road Rash and sport games. Flashback fell very much into this category but, from the moment I saw that killer cinematic intro and the realistic running, jumping and gun play of the main character Conrad B Hart I was mesmerised. It wasn’t like any game that I had seen before and I couldn’t believe the Megadrive was capable of such stunning cinematics for the time.

I was hooked, but this game proved too epic to hold my attention at my age and all I ever did in the game was basically repeatedly complete the first level and a few scenes of the 2nd but I loved every bit of it.

In later years Flashback received an iOS release and, now older and wiser, I just had to download it and give it a really good go at completing. This was a time before I began collecting and, apart from the latest console, any other gaming was done on my iPhone. Anyway, needless to say I ended up completing the game and I absolutely loved every bit of it. It is a game that sits easily in my top ten games of all time.

Spoiler alert, The story is set in a futuristic sci-fi type universe and has major nods to movies such as Total Recall, Bladerunner, Running Man, Alien, They Live, among many others. You play as Conrad who in the first sequence we see being chased on foot and on a flying bike by two characters who eventually shoot him down. This trauma causes amnesia, and you discover that you need to make your way out of the jungle to meet up with a friend in New Washington called Ian. Ian returns Conrad’s memory to him, where you discover that Conrad has uncovered that a shapeshifting alien race has been hiding in plane sight as humans. Conrad then spends time participated in some small mission based jobs in order to pay for forged papers. Conrad uses these papers to enter a violent game show called ‘death tower’ in order to win tickets to back to earth. Upon return he discoveries a plot by the morph alien race to conquer earth. After escaping their brief capture he then teleports to the alien planet for a final confrontation.

The control of the main character can take some time to get used to but the first level provides a good training session to learn all the skills required. Platforming is strong and has obviously influenced games such as Tomb Raider with some great running, jumping and ledge grabbing. Another positive relating to this is that Conrad acts as a realistic human and you won’t find him doing anything super human in his platforming... big falls kill. The combat is excellent and changes with the different bad guys you find along the way, all requiring a different technique to dispatch of them with minimal damage. The puzzle aspect on the whole is brilliant but on occasion can effect the pacing, having a couple of long winded and dull moments (looking at you, job centre in New Washington level).

There are 7 levels, all with a password for return... thank god for save states, as these levels can take some time to complete. Completing the game for the first time will take around the 6-8 hour mark and is a really worthwhile investment of your time. No matter how you access retro games, either using original hardware all the way up to emulation, you owe it to yourself to experience this game. I think it holds up really well.

Many thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the content. This is a bit more of an experiment for me but, hopefully, if I get some positive feedback, I will produce more content in the future.