Netflix’s next docu-series, High Score, is set to premiere on August 19. The 6 episode documentary will contain interviews, footage, and images from the “golden age of gaming.” High Score will also feature well known and established industry giants and legends such as Nintendo, Sega, Square, Midway Games, id Software, and many more. Specific titles that we might expect to see include such stalwarts as Final Fantasy, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., and Doom to name a few.
While it’s apparent that this new series is intended to educate, and possibly boast about one of the greatest eras in video game history, this is also something of a nostalgia rush for some of the older members of the video game community. For many of them, this is the absolute standard that may never be matched in terms of pure video game enjoyment, despite the many advancements that have come about some 30 plus years later. The titles and studios all set the stage for what came after, and that influence is still felt to this day.
However, it’s more than just their childhood, it’s also a culturally significant look at how video games finally broke through the mainstream and became one of the most successful industry endeavors of all time. Some games from this time frame alone can necessitate their own documentaries. The hours, days, months, and years of all the hard work that has been put into these projects not only created franchises that have stood the test of time but has also generated a legion of fans that most likely will never let their devotion for the games they fell in love with waver.
Whether its Nintendo’s Italian plumber going through different worlds to save a princess or getting that correct button combination down to launch a fireball at your opponent, High Score will undoubtedly show all of this and more, and we won’t have to wait long to see it. High Score will premier for Netflix on Wednesday, August 19.