Flashback Legends GBA Beta Analysis [ENG]
16 Apr 2008
Delphine, the notable French software house which created at the beginning of the nineties two of the greatest action adventures of all times, Another World and Flashback, was officially closed down in 2004. Some videogame projects were therefore not completed, among which, of course, the biggest was Flashback Legends, an updated version of their most famous franchise. As often happen in the Unseen universe, after some time the beta was released on Internet and, despite being incomplete and bug-filled, revealed a title in advanced state of development, probably not too far away from being finished.
[Article & English Translation by Yota]
In the first screen of Flashback we can choose the language , but unfortunately the rom is French only.
After that illusory choice, there is a comics-like introduction, very different from the stylized visuals of the old cut-scenes. This adequately prepare us for the real graphic engine, which is also rather distant from the severity of the first Flashback, sprite of the main character aside.
Once learned the controls, we realize that Flashback Legends is very similar to the original, even if with much simplified puzzles, this time limited to find cards in order to open the various doors and to search for batteries in order to restore electricity. Also, this time the scrolling is continuous.
An useful tutorial, fortunately (because it is a little intrusive) deactivable, together with the usual PDA (which will notify us of the new items obtained by Conrad), will help us to learn the basics of the game, that’s a rather classic action adventure. Other than solve puzzles, we will jump over precipices, electrified fields, and kill with the gun the various enemies on the path.
Also, despite the presence in this beta of ten different levels, the stages don’t offer any significant variations. The difficulty level is set quite high, mainly because of the absence of checkpoints.
Flashback Legends, as much as we know, is incomplete, ending at level ten, even it is possible to play some unfinished version of stages 12-16. Moreover, this beta is bug-filled, and often in order to pass some sections is necessary to use some features of the emulator (save states, slowdowns). The most annoying bug is in the first world, but thanks to those options, it is possible to go forward on the next level.
Thanks to Robert Seddon, who extracted the text from the rom, we now know more details about some features of Flashback Legends that were going to be implemented in the final game, like three different difficulty levels, a password system, the presence of save points. Also, it seems that the stages of the game were going to be mission based.
In conclusion, we can say that Flashback Legends represents the last will of a great software house. For her last mission, Delphine tried to update, at least esthetically, his most famous franchise for the new generation. Even if Conrad it is not in good shape anymore, Flashback Legends it is probably the last opportunity to enjoy the classic Delphine gameplay.
For more screenshots >> Flashback Legends Images Archive
[Article & English Translation by Yota]
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