![]() This, together with the intentional pause between pressing jump and actually launching yourself into the air, can be put down to pseudo-realism but most of the time it just comes across as frustratingly unresponsive. Your character, Leo, can’t double jump or leap impossible gaps, but instead needs a decent run-up and takes a moment to change direction. Lunark is, like Flashback and the relatively similar Prince Of Persia, a 2D platformer but one with much more realistic physics than Mario or Sonic. The storytelling is more nuanced than you’d expect of a retro platformer and while you’ll guess what’s happening if you know the inspirations, the game does set up its mysteries surprisingly well. There’s a lot of Total Recall in there too, as well as Space: 1999 – since the awkward sounding name refers to the fact that humanity now lives on the Moon, which they’ve turned into a space-faring colony ship. Strange visual choices aside the game’s plot plays out very similarly to its idol, as you play the role of a rebel trying to fight back against a totalitarian government. Which we imagine also holds true for the Steam Deck. We’d advise playing the Switch version not because it’s inherently superior but simply because the graphics look better squeezed into handheld mode than they do on the big screen. The animation is still great, rotoscoped like the original, but it looks more like a (non-existent) C64 version of Flashback than the actual original. We’ve seen a similar style in other indie games recently and we’re not sure whether it’s purely an artistic choice or if it’s some kind of cost-saving exercise, but we can’t say we’re fans. The actual gameplay plays out in a strange, low-fi style that looks like the original Flashback but with the resolution turned down by about a quarter. This not only looks great but keeps you on your toes, as you know the game can suddenly pull the carpet from under you at any moment. Because this is 2023, not 1992, it often surprises you with sudden camera changes or complex animations that would never have been possible in the 16-bit era. ![]() There was a sequel in 1995 called Fade To Black but despite being one of the first ever third person shooters it was completely ignored even at the time.Īlthough the angular, simple polygons of the cut scenes are immediately reminiscent of Flashback the game’s graphical style is not exactly the same. At the time its state-of-the-art graphics and non-linear gameplay were years ahead of their time, and even today are atypical for what at first seems to be a straight action game.Īt the time it was often confused for a follow-up to Another World but while they were both published by the same company (the late, lamented Delphine) and had a similar graphical style they were made by completely different teams and don’t have any narrative links. We don’t get the feeling that Flashback was nearly as big in America or Japan as it was in Europe, where it’s better known for its groundbreaking Amiga version than the subsequent console editions (even though it was originally designed for the Mega Drive). Lunark – get your ass to the Moon (pic: WayForward)Ĭlassic 16-bit games Flashback and Prince Of Persia are the inspiration for this new indie platformer and its retro style graphics. ![]()
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