Why I hate the iPhone being the new Amiga
I haven't played Flashback in almost 20 years. The iOS port is burdened with a control system so faffy and unintuitive that I had to sit through the entire intro sequence three times in the first 15 minutes (including one full shutdown and reboot due to a particularly cretinous oversight on the developer's part*). Now I'm here, which experienced Flashback players will recognise as being roughly six seconds from the start:
HOW IN THE HOLY NAME OF THE POPE'S TINY WITHERED COCK DO YOU GET BACK OUT OF THIS SCREEN?
I've tried standing at every possible point on the upper level and jumping up. You can't run through or behind or in front of the thick green vine at the left of the middle level. I've tried shooting everything, jumping into everything and using everything in my inventory. I'm pretty sure this screen isn't supposed to be a puzzle, and I've even looked for solutions on the internet, which just say "go right".
I am unable to recommend iOS Flashback at this time.
* While flailing around at all the buttons and menu options trying to figure out what the hell to do, at one point I switched the "Help" on, which brings up an annotated overlay. While this was being displayed I also hit the Restart button. This not only restarts the game but also makes the Help button disappear, so there's no way of getting the overlay to go away, which means you can't access any of the normal controls, which means you can't actually start the game again, or get back to the Help screen to remove the overlay.
You have to shut the entire app down and reload from the beginning, which means ploughing through the whole lengthy intro cutscene again, until by luck and anguished screen-pounding you discover that the button to skip it is – obviously – "Items". Programmers should absolutely not be allowed to interface with normal people except through a qualified intermediary or social worker.
Flashback is a game entirely unsuited to the control options that a touchscreen provides. It looks to me that it's the Megadrive version running in an emulator as well.
(Please don't remind me that Flashback was nearly twenty years ago, or I'll start crying.) You stand a step to the right of the floor sensor thing, facing right then HOLD up- if you hold it, he pulls himself up the ledge at the top of the jump.
Somehow I played through the whole of iOS Flashback despite the controls. It's one of my favourite games ever. Best with the SNES controller I think, even though the SNES version was strangely censored and had reasonlessly slow cutscenes.
"You stand a step to the right of the floor sensor thing, facing right then HOLD up- if you hold it, he pulls himself up the ledge at the top of the jump."
He doesn't, you know. I've sat there holding it for two minutes and all he does is jump up and down uselessly like a tit.
(I’ve edited the piece so the first pic shows the point where I’m attempting it. As you can see the virtual stick is being held in the “up” position, but the twat simply refuses to grab onto anything.)
Take one more step to the right.
And then a jump to the le-e-e-e-ft…
Why do some publishers still think all they need to do is slap a virtual stick on and do nothing else to the game? Mumble mumble Rick Dangerous grumble grumble grumble own stupid fault…
I assume you are pressing fire + up at the same time?
No, because fire and up at the same time makes you – inexplicably – leap sideways rather than vertically (whereas fire and diagonally-up does nothing).
Anyway, by following RowanDT's second instruction and standing below what appeared to be an entirely solid platform, I've managed to escape. Phew, I think.
Ah yes, it's all coming back to me. Fire + L/R to start running, hold fire and tap up for a running jump? I think I used to be very good at accidentally putting the gun away at exactly the worst time.
I know I loved Flashback and Another World when they came out, but when I played them again I wasn't sure why. Another World in particular suffered from being not much more than a (admittedly very cool looking) memory test. Good job I liked dropping the cage on the guard, given how many times I had to do it.
I don't know how you will survive the later stages if the controls and maps are giving you this sort of trouble now. The part with the gameshow was unforgiving on the original systems.
Yup, it was the same on the old game (as observed, looks like it's running through an emulator). It's because of the entirely impossible but at least consistent isometric viewpoint. I remember it causing confusion about where the edges of ledges were on the MD. If you can struggle past the awful looking controls, you'll adjust to it eventually.
It really is not a great game, but I love it so. At least Conrad automatically turns around to climb ledges, otherwise I too may never have escaped the second screen.
Coyote is right, it's a weird-ass isometric view. It's much clearer on the later urban levels with square concrete platforms, but by then you'd have figured it out.
That virtual stick looks awful. I agree this game in particular doesn't suit touch controls unless the dev comes up with something entirely new. Probably unlikely by the looks of this.
Flashback iOS is unplayable. Fortunately there's a nifty little PC thing called REMiniscence that lets you play the PC version under Windows/Linux that can also use the Amiga audio and the speech files from the Sega CD version.
It's pretty nifty. Drop me a line some time, Stuart, I'll hook you up.
I think you're supposed to go down to ground level, then climb up the other side of the room. I'm sure there's a holocube in the room you have to pick up in order to progress the story?
I enjoyed Flashback at the time, but its arbitrary nature pisses me the fuck off these days.
I remember having the exact same problem until the isometric viewpoint clicked.
I still prefer Another World, though. The friendship with the alien is extremely well-portrayed, and you might even feel that you are interacting with him/her if an impressionable gamer. Surely, this emotional connection portrayed entirely without meaningful dialogue is a forerunner to WALL-E?
Now I just need an animated film that’s a bit like the game Sleepwalker and I will really believe the modern entertainment is based on 16-bit platformers.
Incidentally, this was updated very recently to support bluetooth controllers, so if you have a spare Wiimote (and/or optional Classic Controller) or you happen to have one of those funky iControlPad gizmos, you'll be entitled to much better controls.
And here's a fun fact for all of you: I still know the original "run through walls" glitch to this day, having had it quite easily engraved into my mind all these years.
The run through walls glitch is the only reason to play Flashback at all. If you’re playing a version that doesn’t have it, stop.
Also, Stu, pressing the "Items" button will skip the intro for you.
The reason behind this is pretty complicated, and involves how its core program – REminiscence – handles the game's functions/controls.
"Also, Stu, pressing the "Items" button will skip the intro for you."
I know, it says that in the last paragraph of the piece.
I can honestly remember having the exact same experience on the exact same screen when I first played the game on the Mega Drive all those years ago.
Such episodes got worse as the game went on: dodgy hit-detection, invisible walls, supposedly solid walls that were passable – and that godawful escort mission. A particular annoyance – and I remember it clearly – features three platforms with a room sandwiched between them. There are two sliding horizontal doors, one above the room and one below, and the accursed disintegrator pads appear twice. One on the lower platform, one in the room. The only way I ever beat it was by fluking the crappy collision detection with the disintegration pads.
Sounds like a pretty faithful conversion so far though. As beautiful as it looked, Flashback was shite. It was completely devoid of fun, entertainment or anything even remotely approaching "a good time to be had by all".
Should've played the Amiga version, Lenny. The console ports were awful.
The Amiga version was shite too – you're controlling a persnickity leaden brick of a man. It was a big deal because of fancypants rotoscoping, which is all lovely and fun until the fucking roll throws you off a platform AGAIN and you can't get your fucking gun out in time.
It's a platform game that like no other really feels like you're just jabbing buttons to link together animations rather than controlling a character.
Does Flashback qualify as a 'cyberpunk' game? I included it in a Best Cyberpunk Games feature I wrote, but I'm not sure if it really fits.
never really thought much of the game as well, when you got past the woohoo-y roboscobing phase.. defender of the crown through an emulator sounds horrible too.. i want sows, dammit
swos obv