Fans of the 16-bit era of gaming, popularly referred to as the 16-bit wars of the early to mid-1990’s, will remember a title called Flashback. It was advertised on the Sega Genesis as “The First CD-ROM Game in a Cartridge” in magazines back then. Games like Flashback were touted for their smooth animation, which was accomplished through more technical means than hand drawing each frame from scratch. The cool thing about Flashback is just how great it looks.

SFL Interactive, the company behind this re-release, are not just porting the original game from 1992 and calling it a day. No, they are adding a few new things for this release. Reworked for mobile platforms is one new change, a welcome one at that and the original controls will also be available for purists. Next they are adding a filter that can help smooth out the graphics a bit for gamers that just cannot deal with real pixel art.

Image credit – Shinforce

Over on Android Police they mention a curious fact about the press release for Flashback. A complete and utter lack of mention of physical controller support. Now, if you are rocking something with screen to button capabilities such as the GPD XD (eBay/Amazon) or something from JXD(eBay/Amazon) then you might be good to go here regardless of official support or not.

From the Flashback press release, some highlights:

FLASHBACK MOBILE GAMEPLAY FEATURES:
Action Adventure: Experience the gripping Sci-Fi storyline of an extra-terrestrial plot that threatens the whole planet! Players must help scientist Conrad B. Hart make his way back to Earth, dodging kidnappers and enemies along the way.
Post-FX Graphic Filters: Enjoy the beautiful and original artwork of FLASHBACK.
Remastered Sound and Music: Same music remastered – enjoy the original soundtrack with updated and revamped audio.
Rewind Function: Players can rewind the previous gameplay, all variable according to level of gameplay difficulty.
Tutorial: Those who need a boost can use the tutorials to understand the game and play better!
Play How You Want: Players can use the old and original control mechanics or utilize the new touch screen version.

For me, this is a buy. I am a fan of retro games and will support companies whenever they do something I like, this is something I like. I will now be able to enjoy Flashback on the go. At least Flashback is an improvement on the original, unlike Dr Mario World which is a really misguided new game with few ties to the original.

Flashback by SFL Interactive
Platform: Android and iPhone
Genre: Retro, 2D side scrolling, action, adventure
In App Purchases: None expected, one time price and done
Rated: Probably going to be T for Teen and 12+
Available July 22^nd on Google Play and the iTunes App Store

This article was originally published on Gaming on Batteries.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams