Flashback (1992 video game)

Flashback, released as Flashback: The Quest for Identity in the United States, is a 1992 cinematic platformer developed by Delphine Software and published by U.S. Gold for the Amiga. It was directed, written, designed, and partially programmed by Paul Cuisset, who had previously created the adventure game Future Wars with Éric Chahi. Flashback was ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, Acorn Archimedes, and Super NES in 1993. CD-ROM versions for the Sega CD, 3DO, CD-i, MS-DOS, Macintosh, and FM Towns were released in 1994 and 1995, followed by a cartridge version for the Atari Jaguar in 1995. In 2017, the game was released worldwide on the Dreamcast, featuring graphic assets and cutscenes from the MS-DOS version and music from the Amiga version. An updated port titled Flashback: Remastered Edition was released for Nintendo Switch on 7 June 2018, for PlayStation 4 on 20 November 2018, and for Windows on 29 November 2018. The game was also released on October 2023 for the Evercade platforms as part of Delphine collection cartridge, and is based on the original Mega Drive/Genesis version.

It was originally advertised as a "CD-ROM game on a cartridge", and features fully hand-drawn backdrops and rotoscoped animation, with unusually fluid movements similar to Prince of Persia from 1989. The video capture technique of Flashback was invented independently of Prince of Persia, using a more complicated method of first tracing video images onto transparencies. The game was a commercial and critical success and was listed in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling French game of all time. Its sequel is Fade to Black in 1995. In 2013, a Flashback remake by VectorCell was released for the PC and consoles. Flashback 2 by Microids, was released on 16 November 2023 for the PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, with previous generation consoles getting their release early 2024.