Flashback 2 (v2024.06.27)

Conrad B. Hart returns to a Solar System whose polished future masks an incoming alien catastrophe. Flashback 2 is a cinematic sci-fi action-adventure that continues the cult 1992 platformer’s story, trading the original’s rotoscoped 2D look for a modern 2.5D presentation with fully modeled environments. As a Galactic Bureau of Investigation agent, Conrad follows the trail of his missing friend Ian while uncovering a Morph plot led by General Lazarus. The mood is pulpy cyberpunk: neon megacities, hostile jungles, suspicious authorities, and conspiracies that keep escalating.

Play revolves around moving through side-on stages, reading the space around you, and surviving encounters with armed soldiers, creatures, traps, and platforming hazards. Conrad runs, jumps, climbs, dodges, and shoots while searching for routes through dense locations such as New Tokyo and New Washington; progress often depends on finding an access point, solving a light environmental obstacle, or reaching an overlooked ledge. His key tool is A.I.S.H.A., an intelligent weapon system that supports his firefights and gives combat a more tactical edge than simple run-and-gun shooting. Checkpoints and a generally forgiving modern control scheme make its set pieces more approachable than the deliberate, sometimes punishing original, though later sections still ask for careful timing and positioning.

What stands out is its attempt to preserve Flashback’s distinctive blend of cinematic storytelling, traversal, and futuristic mystery rather than turning the series into a straightforward shooter. Camera shifts and 3D scenery add scale to streets, interiors, and alien-infested regions, while Conrad’s globe-spanning investigation gives the adventure more variety than a single-location platformer. It is best approached as a nostalgic continuation with ambitious ideas, not as a precision platforming masterpiece on the level of Dead Cells or a pure Metroidvania. Fans of the original, Another World, and story-led sci-fi action will get the most from it, while newcomers should come for the setting and spectacle rather than expect flawless combat polish.