Flashback Longplay (SNES) [50 FPS]

Developed by Tiertex and published by US Gold in 1993

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In my continuing my cross-platform coverage of Delphine's brilliant Flashback, I bring to you the conversion for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Paul Cuisset, the game's designer, stated that the game was conceptualised for the Sega Mega Drive as the lead platform, although the Amiga version launched first.

I've covered my opinions of the game in my Amiga longplay/review video (basically, the game is great), so this review focuses more on nuances between this and other versions.

Delphine did not handle development of the SNES port in-house, instead opting to outsource it to UK-based Tiertex, who also handled the 3DO version.

Firstly, the SNES version features character sprites with increased colour counts compared to other versions. Compare the main Conrad sprite on the Sega and Nintendo versions and you will see additional shades of blue in the character's trousers, additional shades of brown in the jacket and this is replicated through each of the character's frames of animation. Some of the sprites benefit from the additional colours (e.g. the gun-toting mutants), whereas it's less successful in others. I think some of the clarity from the Amiga/Sega versions is lost - I prefer the crispness and style from the other versions, but everyone will have their preference.

Compared to the Sega and Amiga versions, the SNES is probably the weakest. The core game is intact and it's still as fun to play as it ever was, but it suffers significant slow-down when multiple sprites are on the screen and the animated cut-scenes slow to a crawl in some of the more detail-heavy scenes. I suspect this is more to do with the conversion process than the technical capabilities of the SNES (many SNES games were visually spectacular and ran great).

For me, the biggest disappointment with the SNES version of the game is the sound. For whatever reason, many of the sound effects were changed and sound considerably worse than the Amiga or Mega Drive editions - quite of few of the effects used sound more akin to the 'blips' and 'bloops' emitted by early 80's arcade games than those from a powerful 16-bit console from the 90's . The most obvious example here is the effect used for gun shots (which sounded excellent on other platforms) - quite why the samples changed is unknown to me, but it really is quite disappointing. Other sounds, such as the sticky, squishing sound of the Morphs as they move around, have been removed entirely.

I also noticed that some parts of the game had been changed, probably due to Nintendo's policy around unsuitable content. All references to the futuristic game-show, 'Death Tower', have been replaced with 'Cyber Tower'. Also, the bar located in the America district of New Washington seems to have become a 'Cafe', with the barman now becoming a far more reputable 'Waiter' instead. If these elements have been 'sanitised', it does seem a little bit silly - Flashback is hardly a game that I would consider inappropriate.

I should point out that, even though I say this is the weakest version I've played (thus far), this isn't to put down the work that Tiertex did with the conversion - it's still a perfectly playable game, but in a side-by-side comparison, the slow-down means it offers the lesser experience of the three versions.
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