Recently, the French video game publisher Microids announced some big news for any 90s gamers out there. As the 30th anniversary of the popular cult sci-fi platformer, Flashback, approaches, it was announced earlier today that it is to get a sequel. This 16-bit game was a big deal for its time. The novelty of rotoscope animation combined with a fully fleshed-out, cinematic story helped launch it to critical acclaim and it was listed as the best-selling French video game of all time.
The original Flashback was released in 1992 and was developed by the French studio, Delphine Software. It took place way in the future, as the intelligence agent, Conrad B. Hart, finds out that aliens have infiltrated human society. As he tries to warn humanity, he is captured and promptly wakes up with no memory in the middle of a jungle. Players will play as Conrad as he traverses through many non-scrolling platforming screens and spatial puzzles armed with just a pistol, force shield, and a portable force field.
Flashback released in 1992 to critical acclaim and the upcoming 2022 sequel is not actually the first. In 1995 it received a 3D sequel, entitled Fade to Black, and in 2013 the developer VectorCell attempted to remake the original. However, even with the fancy new graphics and easier controls, it sadly paled in comparison. Hopefully, the 2022 sequel will not suffer the same fate as this time, the original creator, Paul Cuisset, is a part of it.
While information is scarce at this point, Microids did mention in their tweet that Flashback 2 will be released for both PC and consoles in 2022, 30 years after the original.