First there was Wolfenstein. Then there was Myst. Now there’s Flashback… the iPhone’s mission to become the ultimate handheld retro gaming console is almost complete.The game is identical to the original version I used to play on the Sega Master System (or was it the Mega Drive? It’s been so long) with the controls modified to work on the touchscreen. It’s far from a perfect implementation – the control bar on the left of the screen takes up too much real estate, and the movement controls alternate between too sensitive and not sensitive enough.
But it’s still a portable version of an awesome game that countless Gizmodians grew up playing. Now if we can just get LucasArts to hit us with all their old Scumm games on the iPhone, my life would be (partially) complete.
[Flashback - Thanks Alex!]
Tristan
Monday, May 18, 2009 at 10:44 AMI remember when this came out (for MegaDrive), I couldn’t decide between this and Mortal Kombat (which had been released around the same time)… I HATED Flashback at first cause of the loading times between screens… but it quickly became one of my favourite all time games!
Although I have a feeling this isn’t the megadrive version as some of the sound effects are different, which is kinda dissapointing, as the sound affects are what I remember most! Especially the sound that plays when you activate the grav-belt at the end of the first level!
Oh, and for those of you that don’t remember, the ‘Fire’ button is the same button you use to do your running jumps and such!
Kalem
Monday, May 18, 2009 at 4:38 PMThis used to be my favourite game as a kid, from the openning level to the deep space end. I wonder if all the old passwords still work.
Stuart Carnie
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 7:40 AMHey all – the 1.1 update to Flashback was submitted last week, so assuming no issues from Apple, it should be hitting the App Store soon. See this review for details on the improvements:
http://www.iphoneotaku.com/iphone-games-previews/195-flashback-11-update-review-on-iphone
Chris
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 8:12 AMJust downloaded the 1.1 update. Full screen, improved controls & more.