Flashback starts with a relatively straightforward concept, putting you in charge of Conrad, who has amnesia and is stranded in a jungle. The story involves recovering your memory in an attempt to save earth. However the most notable fallback of this game becomes apparent quite early on in the game; there practically is no depth to the story. Throughout the entire game, it is only possible to have brief conversations with a couple of npc's. There is practically no backstory once you do recover your memory and the game enlightens the player on very little about the reason why you are trying to save earth or from whom.
It is possible to enjoy playing this game if you can overlook the neglect to the story. The most notable features are the rotoscoped animation sequences used in the game. Conrad has the athletic ability to roll, jump and dangle from ledges. These abilities when combined and implemented throughout the many tiered levels provide a decent level of satisfaction just through exploring.
The level design involves the use of platforms at different heights for Conrad to navigate whilst fighting enemies. It is essentially the same kind of level design as Oddworld: Abe Odyssey yet is geared more towards action than puzzles. The visual style of each level is fitting for the location and sufficiently promotes the sense of a future landscape. Flashback is an incredibly colourful game however it is very noticable how recycled the environments are.
The gameplay unfortunately suffers from a lack of communication between the level and the player. It is common to find yourself stuck on a level for ages before finally finding out that there is a ledge or breakable barrier that you didn't see, plainly due to it blending in to the scenery far too well. Save points are a useful feature however it should be noted that they don't apply if the game is turned off and back on as there is no load option, clearly due to the lack of any system memory.
The first 3 levels of Flashback are incredibly fun to play as they appear to offer something different and exciting to the player, however as the game progresses further, the actions and scenarios continually repeat themselves making the game ultimately feel stale. If it wasnt for the complete lack of storyline, this game would encourage play from start to finish. Ultimately however, there feels very little incentive to finish the game as you are not really rewarded with a satifactory conclusion. If this game were to be released today on XBLM, Wii VC or PSN, it would have to go for the cheapest amount due to the complete lack of replayability albeit for nostagia purposes.