Fade To Black | Cinematic Platformer Paradise

[00:00:03] In an ancient age known as the late 1900s, a video game subgenre took root that dared to be bolder, dreamed to be bigger, and reached for the stars. Did they wow us with expensive productions and advanced graphical techniques? They absolutely did.

[00:00:23] Were they any good? Uh, you know what? Don't worry about it. Let's just relax and revisit Cinematic Platformers of eons past. This is Cinematic Platformer Paradise.

[00:00:55] Hello, Cinematic Party people. Hello, Partying Cinematic People. It is your boy, Dre, and it is also the Steve. You are the Steve this time.

[00:01:05] Andre, I gotta level with you. I'm starting to think you're making these games up.

[00:01:10] I promise. All of these are real games that we've played so far on Cinematic Platformer Paradise. If you haven't been following along to this point, this is a series we've been doing since mid-November where we talk about all the games that we feel like talking about rather in this Cinematic Platformer genre.

[00:01:28] We've done Prince of Persia, another world. We've done Flashback, done Shadow of the Beast.

[00:01:34] So yeah, now it is time to do Fade to Black.

[00:01:46] Fade to Black was once again developed by Delphine Software, three in a row now, and published by Electronic Arts this time. EA published Fade to Black. How about that shit?

[00:01:56] Man, remember when EA Arts was sort of looking into Electronic Arts to publish?

[00:02:04] Did you just say EA Arts?

[00:02:08] Well, we're not retaking that now.

[00:02:11] As opposed to EA Sports.

[00:02:14] EA Arts.

[00:02:15] EA Arts, EA Sports.

[00:02:17] I just like Electronic Arts Arts.

[00:02:19] It's just very...

[00:02:21] We gotta keep that now.

[00:02:24] All right, so Fade to Black came out originally for PC in August 1995 and PlayStation in June 1996.

[00:02:31] I didn't realize there was that big of a gap between them.

[00:02:34] I thought it was more...

[00:02:34] I thought since it's a big box game, as you well know on PlayStation, before they came to the regular jewel cases, I figured it was like before that.

[00:02:42] But I guess, I don't know, June 96, it was still big box time.

[00:02:46] Sure, but that wasn't an unusual gap back then.

[00:02:48] There would be plenty of things where, if you had different versions of a thing, even between systems, it wouldn't be unusual to have...

[00:02:56] The PlayStation version came out in 95, but the Saturn version suddenly showed up in 96.

[00:03:03] That wasn't unusual.

[00:03:05] I guess that's still...

[00:03:07] I mean, that was pretty common through, I want to say shit, almost like the late 2000s.

[00:03:13] I feel like it wasn't deep into the 360 era where we started getting day and date, stuff like Bioshock.

[00:03:20] Or like, you know, because before that would be like a PC darling for a year and a half, and then it would come to consoles.

[00:03:26] That wasn't the case.

[00:03:27] Oh, sure, yeah.

[00:03:29] Anyway, Fade to Black.

[00:03:31] I'll read this straight from Wikipedia.

[00:03:33] Shortly after the release of Flashback in 1992, the development team started work on a similar sequel titled Morphs, Flashback 2 for Sega CD.

[00:03:43] Oh, it was...

[00:03:43] Yeah, remember last episode?

[00:03:46] Yeah, we were wondering what the enemies were called in Flashback.

[00:03:48] They are called Morphs.

[00:03:49] I didn't make that up.

[00:03:51] Cool.

[00:03:51] I wasn't just bullshitting.

[00:03:53] Look at that.

[00:03:56] I want more praise than that for not bullshitting.

[00:03:59] Okay, you know what?

[00:04:01] I think you can have an extra Christmas cookie to go with your eggnog if you feel like it when we're done recording.

[00:04:06] How's that sound?

[00:04:07] Thank you.

[00:04:08] This is the last episode before Christmas.

[00:04:10] So, yes, we will enjoy.

[00:04:12] I do...

[00:04:13] You know, I've never enjoyed eggnog.

[00:04:15] I think this is the year I get into it.

[00:04:17] I've never really liked it before.

[00:04:19] I always try it.

[00:04:20] I never like it.

[00:04:21] I feel like my taste buds have changed enough.

[00:04:24] I want...

[00:04:24] It's time I try eggnog again.

[00:04:27] Anyway, they were making a sequel called Morphs Flashback 2 for Sega CD, because of course they were Sega CD.

[00:04:34] Work on the game spanned three or four months.

[00:04:36] However, the project was put on hold while they focused on finishing Shaq Fu.

[00:04:41] Oh my god.

[00:04:43] By the time they returned to Flashback 2, the Sega CD was no longer a viable platform, so it was scrapped in favor of restarting on PC, which turned into the 3D shooter Fade to Black.

[00:04:56] Flashback.

[00:04:56] That's interesting.

[00:04:57] You know, because here's the thing.

[00:04:59] For some reason in my mind, I always thought there was a Flashback 2, not like the piece of crap that came out in 2023 for, like, you know, not made by them.

[00:05:08] I mean, like a real deal Flashback 2 from back in the day.

[00:05:11] Maybe it was just talked about in magazines, and I just, you know, I just thought it was real.

[00:05:16] Listening to you say all this out loud, this also sort of sounds like the thread that Bubsy 3D went through.

[00:05:23] It started life on Sega 32X and like, well, we can't put it on this shit.

[00:05:28] What do we do?

[00:05:29] PlayStation and PC?

[00:05:31] But then we can't put it on PC anymore?

[00:05:33] Yeah, okay.

[00:05:34] I guess we're going to do that.

[00:05:35] But spoiler alerts, this is actually pretty good.

[00:05:40] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:05:41] Absolutely.

[00:05:42] Apparently, the idea of doing a 3D sequel to Flashback started in 1993, and it was announced under the original title Crossfire.

[00:05:51] Crossfire!

[00:05:52] I was going to say, that's probably why they had to change it.

[00:05:55] They were still very much making that in 1993.

[00:05:59] Absolutely.

[00:06:00] EGM gave Flashback their Game of the Month award, which you always thought was funny, I guess.

[00:06:08] I don't know.

[00:06:09] I mean, it seems like the kind of thing that would Game of the Month in summer 96.

[00:06:14] I don't know.

[00:06:15] It seems like at that time, even like if it was just all sevens, like Game of the Month, technically.

[00:06:24] I don't know.

[00:06:26] Maybe, I don't know.

[00:06:27] I feel like they don't always give Game of the Month.

[00:06:30] I feel like if they didn't play any good games, they wouldn't give it, which was rare.

[00:06:34] I didn't, again, I only started getting a subscription subscription in, I don't know, 98 or so.

[00:06:41] So I would only read like scattered issues before that.

[00:06:45] I really wouldn't know like the real flow before then.

[00:06:49] I started reading them in the very early 90s for sure.

[00:06:53] So Fade to Black exists in a weird memory hole for me because I never played it before now, but I remember it coming out.

[00:07:00] And I was always interested in it.

[00:07:02] It's like, oh, a sequel to Flashback, even though at that time I still hadn't had the Sega Nomad for 50 US dollars at Toys R Us to play Flashback on.

[00:07:09] I was like, oh, yeah, that I know that game, a 3D sequel.

[00:07:13] That's interesting.

[00:07:14] But I completely forgot about Fade to Black's existence until doing research for these run of episodes.

[00:07:20] I'm like, oh, wait, we should play that.

[00:07:23] As I alluded to at the top, I don't know if this game existed.

[00:07:27] If I read about it in a magazine, it went right out of my head.

[00:07:31] If Andre's coming to be like, we should do Fade to Black.

[00:07:34] It's probably weird on PlayStation, but it's not going to.

[00:07:38] But, you know, it's technically the sequel to Flashback.

[00:07:40] I'm like, they made a sequel to Flashback.

[00:07:42] You're making shit up now, Andre.

[00:07:45] A 3D sequel.

[00:07:48] Yeah.

[00:07:48] Yeah.

[00:07:49] Okay.

[00:07:49] Next, you're going to tell me they made a plot dating sim.

[00:07:53] Okay.

[00:07:53] Sure.

[00:07:53] Whatever you say, Andre.

[00:07:56] I'm convinced nobody has actually played Plok and people just remember it now because, like, YouTube videos.

[00:08:02] I feel like that game completely bombed.

[00:08:04] I don't know.

[00:08:05] I'm sure it's going to surface on an app someday.

[00:08:09] We'll find.

[00:08:09] Anyway.

[00:08:10] If Joe is listening right now, he is clenching his fist in rage.

[00:08:13] He is the Plok man.

[00:08:16] Anyway.

[00:08:17] So the way we played this game was that we played it on PlayStation via emulation.

[00:08:21] So, yes, as we said, there is a PC version, but early 3D games on PC, Steve, is very hit or miss.

[00:08:28] I didn't really want to chance it.

[00:08:30] Plus, the PlayStation version has textures.

[00:08:33] The PC version is just garage shaded, like, before we could do that stuff without a graphics card.

[00:08:39] So I felt like PlayStation was the better bet.

[00:08:42] Yeah.

[00:08:43] I prefer what we got here.

[00:08:44] I think we made the right choice.

[00:08:46] Tell us how we didn't make the right choice in the comments.

[00:08:49] Let's talk about the premise and story of Fade to Black.

[00:09:00] 2190 AD.

[00:09:02] The solar system is in the clutches of an alien race.

[00:09:06] A race beyond control.

[00:09:08] Morphs.

[00:09:09] All surface.

[00:09:11] No substance.

[00:09:12] Are able to replicate any shape at will.

[00:09:16] Controlled by auxiliary master brains,

[00:09:18] this breed of impostors has systematically reduced mankind to a whippering quagmire of indecision and paralysis.

[00:09:28] Enter Conrad.

[00:09:30] Plucked from a cryogenic slumber,

[00:09:32] the hero is installed in a moon-based penitentiary

[00:09:35] where he befriends dissident leader John O'Connors,

[00:09:38] also a prisoner.

[00:09:39] The pair escape to an orbital base occupied by the Mandragor,

[00:09:44] and Mandragor recruits Conrad as a saboteur to run a mission in an attempt to destroy the Morph Empire.

[00:09:51] One by one,

[00:09:52] Conrad knocks down the walls until he discovers the true meaning of a sick mind.

[00:09:57] This is Fade to Black.

[00:10:04] Are we sure we didn't make up this game?

[00:10:07] Someone did.

[00:10:08] I played it,

[00:10:10] and I'm not sure this is real.

[00:10:11] Exactly.

[00:10:12] See,

[00:10:12] that's why I called it the memory hole.

[00:10:14] I was like,

[00:10:15] oh shit,

[00:10:16] this is so,

[00:10:16] how does this exist?

[00:10:18] This isn't real.

[00:10:19] And you know,

[00:10:21] you know what I've come to realize now that you've read a few of these over the course of the series,

[00:10:25] is that you ever have that friend in middle school?

[00:10:30] They have that binder,

[00:10:32] right?

[00:10:32] And they have that story in their binder,

[00:10:34] their trapper keeper.

[00:10:35] They want you to read it.

[00:10:36] All their cyberpunk bullshit in this binder.

[00:10:38] It's like,

[00:10:39] come on,

[00:10:39] read this,

[00:10:40] man.

[00:10:40] It'll blow your mind.

[00:10:41] I'm writing the story where this guy goes to New Washington and then gets on a space,

[00:10:46] you know,

[00:10:46] all that bullshit.

[00:10:46] We've all been there,

[00:10:47] right?

[00:10:48] And you begrudgingly give it a skim.

[00:10:51] And as you're reading it,

[00:10:52] they're telling you even more lore on top of it while you're trying to read.

[00:10:56] That's what flashback and fade to black are to me.

[00:11:00] That's not an insult,

[00:11:01] by the way.

[00:11:01] I just love that.

[00:11:03] That's the vibe they represent.

[00:11:05] And whoever made these games are truly passionate about their bullshit.

[00:11:09] I just,

[00:11:10] you have to admire it.

[00:11:12] No,

[00:11:12] I do.

[00:11:13] The opening in particular has this,

[00:11:16] has a very special energy.

[00:11:17] It's absolutely unhinged.

[00:11:19] It's like writing the fade to black theme park,

[00:11:25] You know what I'm talking about?

[00:11:26] You go to Disney world or land and you're in the queue and they're like showing you the video.

[00:11:31] It's me.

[00:11:32] And you're watching the TV screen and the guy pops on the screen.

[00:11:36] We have taken you prisoner.

[00:11:38] There is no escape.

[00:11:40] And then the guy gets shot in the head and they're like,

[00:11:42] no,

[00:11:43] there is escape,

[00:11:43] but come with me.

[00:11:45] We're going to get out of here right now.

[00:11:49] And then the game starts.

[00:11:51] Like that's the energy they're bringing in here.

[00:11:53] It's great.

[00:11:54] It's really great.

[00:11:56] Okay.

[00:11:56] Let's,

[00:11:57] let's get right to it.

[00:11:58] What did we think of fade to black?

[00:11:59] Because let's just get the obvious out of the way.

[00:12:02] Okay.

[00:12:03] This is not a cinematic platformer.

[00:12:07] It's just not,

[00:12:08] this is a,

[00:12:08] this is a third person action adventure game with like,

[00:12:12] again,

[00:12:12] it's the key finding jump puzzles.

[00:12:15] A few jump puzzles,

[00:12:16] jump over the little squares on the ground that will zap you.

[00:12:20] Or,

[00:12:21] um,

[00:12:21] Hey,

[00:12:22] you might need a key to get in here.

[00:12:24] Cause the female voice is just going to say,

[00:12:27] you do not have the key over and over if you don't leave the door.

[00:12:31] So,

[00:12:31] um,

[00:12:31] yeah,

[00:12:32] that's,

[00:12:32] that's fade to black.

[00:12:33] roam around these very polygonal halls.

[00:12:36] Yeah.

[00:12:36] You,

[00:12:37] you just said it's not a cinematic platformer.

[00:12:39] It's a cinematic shooter thing.

[00:12:43] And you know,

[00:12:44] it's really weird.

[00:12:45] The problems I had in a 2d space,

[00:12:47] like back in flashback,

[00:12:48] you know,

[00:12:49] like finagling with the gun and different things that I was bitching about for

[00:12:55] however long I was bitching about them.

[00:12:58] I didn't really mind here.

[00:13:00] I don't,

[00:13:00] maybe it was being in a more,

[00:13:02] uh,

[00:13:03] enclosed space,

[00:13:05] but I really wasn't having that as much of a problem with that.

[00:13:08] But,

[00:13:09] uh,

[00:13:10] I think again,

[00:13:11] it's,

[00:13:12] I think it's like what I said about flashback and what I,

[00:13:14] um,

[00:13:15] accused you of,

[00:13:16] let's put it that way.

[00:13:17] I don't know what else to call it other than accusation that people have

[00:13:21] expectations of games like that.

[00:13:23] Like I said,

[00:13:23] when I was a teenager playing flashback,

[00:13:24] I was like,

[00:13:25] Oh,

[00:13:25] I know how to run and shoot.

[00:13:26] I've played contra.

[00:13:28] Right.

[00:13:29] And you don't do that,

[00:13:30] but in this very primitive 3d space,

[00:13:32] you accept what's given to you a lot more.

[00:13:35] And I'm not saying I'm immune to that.

[00:13:36] I'm,

[00:13:37] you know,

[00:13:37] but it's just like,

[00:13:38] I feel like this isn't any more or less difficult,

[00:13:41] difficult to control than flashback.

[00:13:43] I understand the way that you feel though.

[00:13:45] Although I need to real quick address an elephant in the room.

[00:13:51] Andre,

[00:13:51] I don't get motion sick ever.

[00:13:54] I'm not the guy counting frames like you.

[00:13:55] We all know this.

[00:13:56] So like I can deal with 30 frames or even less.

[00:13:59] I don't care.

[00:14:01] Whatever frame rate this game was.

[00:14:03] I don't know.

[00:14:04] But the first time I booted this up,

[00:14:06] I had to stop after 10 minutes.

[00:14:08] Wow.

[00:14:09] And the time after that,

[00:14:10] a week or so later,

[00:14:11] I'm like,

[00:14:12] okay,

[00:14:12] we're going to play this again.

[00:14:13] I played,

[00:14:14] that was when I really played it for however much longer I played it.

[00:14:19] And then I stopped,

[00:14:20] but I was like down for the count.

[00:14:22] I'm like,

[00:14:22] okay,

[00:14:22] bad headache time.

[00:14:24] Like I was playing virtual boy for like hours.

[00:14:26] That's like what it felt like.

[00:14:27] Really?

[00:14:28] I was like hurting bad.

[00:14:29] Like,

[00:14:29] and then the dogs had to come by like,

[00:14:31] Steve,

[00:14:31] it's medication time.

[00:14:32] And also you should feed us.

[00:14:34] I don't know if it was the emulator or how my entry line crap handled the emulator,

[00:14:39] or if it was just all of a sudden snapping angles of the camera,

[00:14:42] it was probably that,

[00:14:43] but,

[00:14:43] oh man,

[00:14:45] I just had the roughest time.

[00:14:47] And I'm wondering if you like notice that too,

[00:14:49] because.

[00:14:50] I have to agree with you.

[00:14:52] And I'm like you games don't make me motion sick or much of anything really doesn't.

[00:14:57] Right.

[00:14:57] But Jesus Christ,

[00:14:59] this was kind of rough.

[00:15:00] And I,

[00:15:00] and you know,

[00:15:01] I played this,

[00:15:01] I was emulating on steam deck here.

[00:15:03] So I'm on a small screen here,

[00:15:05] which should sort of mitigate that,

[00:15:07] but it really didn't.

[00:15:08] It was,

[00:15:09] it was kind of rough.

[00:15:10] I got used to it eventually.

[00:15:11] It's not like,

[00:15:12] yeah,

[00:15:12] but the first like,

[00:15:13] 20 minutes or so.

[00:15:14] God damn.

[00:15:15] I was like,

[00:15:16] I'll play some of this more later.

[00:15:17] And then I played the next day.

[00:15:17] I was fine,

[00:15:18] but I was just like,

[00:15:19] Ooh,

[00:15:19] this is making me yuck.

[00:15:22] Well,

[00:15:22] the second time I was fine during,

[00:15:24] but then I stopped and I was like,

[00:15:26] Oh,

[00:15:26] Oh no.

[00:15:29] One of those.

[00:15:31] So,

[00:15:31] you know,

[00:15:32] me,

[00:15:32] I really enjoy early 3d experiments,

[00:15:36] especially on PlayStation games from like 1996.

[00:15:40] And before bring it on.

[00:15:42] I love the weird shit.

[00:15:44] I love the jank shit and fade to black to me is like the ultimate in this regard.

[00:15:49] Like the aiming is kind of automatic when you pull out your gun,

[00:15:53] but also kind of manual too.

[00:15:55] And also a bit picky at the same time.

[00:15:57] Thank God for unlimited ammo.

[00:15:59] So for the most part,

[00:16:00] unless you're using some special ammo,

[00:16:02] the strafing is a laughable.

[00:16:04] The way like shuffle side to side really slowly.

[00:16:08] Like,

[00:16:09] see,

[00:16:10] it's,

[00:16:10] it's weird as fuck,

[00:16:11] but you're not usually dealing with a whole lot of,

[00:16:14] they're not all rushing you at the same time.

[00:16:17] You're only dealing with one thing,

[00:16:19] trying to kill you at a time most times.

[00:16:21] So it's not like,

[00:16:22] say,

[00:16:23] I don't know,

[00:16:24] sci-fi filter where,

[00:16:26] you know,

[00:16:26] you're a dead man.

[00:16:27] It's like,

[00:16:27] I mean,

[00:16:28] it's not perfect.

[00:16:29] You're,

[00:16:29] you're still going to die a bunch,

[00:16:30] but it's like,

[00:16:31] again,

[00:16:32] it felt more manageable.

[00:16:33] I was,

[00:16:35] you know,

[00:16:35] more enjoying my time here and fade to black than,

[00:16:38] uh,

[00:16:39] that other game.

[00:16:41] I don't,

[00:16:42] I don't care what you do.

[00:16:42] We're not,

[00:16:43] I,

[00:16:43] I'm spoiling this for the people.

[00:16:45] Now we're not putting fade to black above fat,

[00:16:47] flat,

[00:16:47] fat back above flashback in our rankings.

[00:16:50] We're not,

[00:16:51] I I'm vetoing that right now.

[00:16:53] Steve is in his heart and in mind,

[00:16:55] but fine.

[00:16:58] Um,

[00:16:59] yeah,

[00:17:00] then I just,

[00:17:01] you're right.

[00:17:02] It's the strafing.

[00:17:03] Isn't like super essential for it to be fast.

[00:17:05] It's just really the animation of it.

[00:17:07] And it's just so shuffly and weird,

[00:17:08] you know,

[00:17:09] it's just,

[00:17:10] it's bizarre.

[00:17:10] The collision detection completely sucks,

[00:17:13] which is fun.

[00:17:14] You get stuck on so many railings and weird like objects that are in the

[00:17:18] room tables.

[00:17:20] Like I kept waiting for it to like,

[00:17:23] you know,

[00:17:24] for the game to almost break,

[00:17:25] like for him to like,

[00:17:26] you know,

[00:17:27] spin out of existence almost like I've seen in so many other

[00:17:30] games.

[00:17:30] okay,

[00:17:31] clearly he's stuck in this thing and he's going to fly out of the game

[00:17:34] zone.

[00:17:34] Like eventually it all corrects itself somehow.

[00:17:37] It's,

[00:17:37] it's weird.

[00:17:39] Andre.

[00:17:39] It's,

[00:17:40] it's weird.

[00:17:40] It's what a fucking weird game.

[00:17:42] And I love it for that.

[00:17:43] It's,

[00:17:44] it's great.

[00:17:44] Um,

[00:17:45] so there is one thing that is,

[00:17:47] again,

[00:17:48] this isn't very cinematic platformer.

[00:17:50] Like it's very early PS one,

[00:17:52] like in 3d,

[00:17:53] but much like how the games before this presented like exciting new technology to

[00:17:59] us.

[00:17:59] Fade to black also does do this,

[00:18:01] but obviously in a completely different way aided by the PlayStation

[00:18:06] hardware.

[00:18:06] So here's a list of early PS one bullshit that I love.

[00:18:10] If you don't mind.

[00:18:11] Okay.

[00:18:12] Let's,

[00:18:12] let's,

[00:18:12] uh,

[00:18:13] I almost asked you to rate them as if like it's some sort of like,

[00:18:19] let me,

[00:18:20] let me give you this thing.

[00:18:21] Yeah.

[00:18:21] But no,

[00:18:22] I really enjoyed the menus,

[00:18:23] the,

[00:18:24] the title screen menus and stuff with like the very 90 sci-fi font.

[00:18:29] That part of the game was running 60,

[00:18:30] by the way.

[00:18:31] Did you notice that?

[00:18:32] I love the loading screen with the CGI model of Conrad and then like the

[00:18:36] spinning disc,

[00:18:37] you know,

[00:18:37] I love spinning discs for loading,

[00:18:39] you know,

[00:18:40] I love that shit.

[00:18:40] And this is like a big one.

[00:18:42] Well,

[00:18:42] that was,

[00:18:42] that was PS one as fuck.

[00:18:44] I'm like,

[00:18:44] yeah,

[00:18:45] this is a PS one game.

[00:18:46] You guys,

[00:18:47] we are now loading.

[00:18:49] Oh yeah.

[00:18:49] Yeah.

[00:18:50] The saving in this game is bizarre.

[00:18:53] So like,

[00:18:54] so you have four slots that you can save to it anytime.

[00:18:57] Thank God you can save wherever you want in this game.

[00:18:59] Jesus Christ.

[00:19:00] I think this game would be impossible back in the day if you couldn't.

[00:19:04] That is a very big,

[00:19:06] strong point in this game's favor and my personal opinion.

[00:19:10] For sure.

[00:19:11] Because like,

[00:19:11] so what it does when you save to a slot,

[00:19:14] it doesn't actually save the game.

[00:19:16] What it does,

[00:19:17] it,

[00:19:17] it,

[00:19:18] it makes a temporary save.

[00:19:19] Into system memory,

[00:19:21] which you then have to quit out of the game,

[00:19:23] go back to the main menu,

[00:19:24] go to options,

[00:19:25] and then transfer that temporary save to your memory card to make it

[00:19:29] permanent.

[00:19:30] I have,

[00:19:31] look,

[00:19:31] I've had a PlayStation since May 96.

[00:19:34] So around like when this game came out.

[00:19:35] So the very early days,

[00:19:36] I have never seen a game do this,

[00:19:38] Steve.

[00:19:38] I've never seen this before.

[00:19:40] I have never seen this either,

[00:19:42] or passwords isn't unusual.

[00:19:44] And I think that's another hallmark of an early PlayStation game,

[00:19:47] right?

[00:19:48] Like,

[00:19:48] yeah,

[00:19:49] people aren't going to know what a memory card is yet.

[00:19:52] Better,

[00:19:52] better include them passwords still.

[00:19:54] Yeah.

[00:19:55] We're not inventing,

[00:19:55] we're not inventing Final Fantasy seven for another three years.

[00:19:59] Yeah.

[00:20:00] Passwords were fairly common back then too,

[00:20:03] too,

[00:20:03] as well as memory card.

[00:20:05] N64 did this to some degree too.

[00:20:07] You had passwords and you had memory pack.

[00:20:09] If you didn't want to buy the battery for the N64 cartridges,

[00:20:12] you,

[00:20:13] yeah,

[00:20:13] you made everyone at home do it with the controller pack.

[00:20:16] Yes.

[00:20:16] Yeah.

[00:20:17] And they weren't cheap either.

[00:20:18] They,

[00:20:18] I feel,

[00:20:19] I feel like they were at least like 30 bucks.

[00:20:21] I think that was around the price.

[00:20:23] Yes.

[00:20:23] Yeah.

[00:20:24] But yeah,

[00:20:25] the,

[00:20:25] I've never seen any,

[00:20:27] any game from this era do that.

[00:20:29] So that was weird.

[00:20:29] I do like the 90 sci-fi lady voice game saved game loaded.

[00:20:36] Wonder who that was.

[00:20:38] You think that was someone that worked on the game or you think they,

[00:20:41] they probably got that from like some,

[00:20:43] here's 137 voices on this CD that you can use on your multimedia device.

[00:20:51] Yeah,

[00:20:51] probably.

[00:20:53] The Mavis Beacon.

[00:20:55] I'm just kidding.

[00:20:57] But like for real,

[00:20:58] they managed to convert the look and feel of flashback to 3d pretty damn well.

[00:21:05] All things considered,

[00:21:06] the controls are strange and obviously it's fairly,

[00:21:09] it's completely different from flashbacks since there's a third dimension here,

[00:21:12] but this feels like a flashback game.

[00:21:15] It doesn't just feel like a mess of polygons that they're deciding,

[00:21:18] Oh,

[00:21:18] remember flashback?

[00:21:19] This is semi related to it.

[00:21:21] It's not just the way flashback the game looks.

[00:21:24] Conrad himself carries over curiously well to 3d in this situation because,

[00:21:32] you know,

[00:21:33] his mannerisms like the way he walks and things,

[00:21:35] even though it's mostly from behind the way he jumps,

[00:21:37] the way he crouches down still with in between jumps and things.

[00:21:41] They carried all of that over into 3d,

[00:21:45] like almost,

[00:21:46] I'm not going to say too well,

[00:21:47] but they,

[00:21:47] they,

[00:21:47] they did very well.

[00:21:48] They were committed to all that.

[00:21:50] Although I gotta say,

[00:21:51] his head looks kind of funny.

[00:21:53] Like they melted a Lego and then they painted it.

[00:21:55] So again,

[00:21:55] that's,

[00:21:56] that's,

[00:21:56] that's Conrad.

[00:21:57] That was hair on,

[00:21:59] in video games until like PS3,

[00:22:02] 360.

[00:22:02] No,

[00:22:03] no,

[00:22:03] I'm not,

[00:22:04] no,

[00:22:04] I know,

[00:22:05] but it's like,

[00:22:06] it's weird.

[00:22:06] It's like,

[00:22:07] they just stuck a Lego head on,

[00:22:08] on Conrad.

[00:22:09] I'm like,

[00:22:10] yeah,

[00:22:10] I recognize the rest of this,

[00:22:12] but what's going on with the head?

[00:22:14] Yeah.

[00:22:14] And like all the,

[00:22:15] all the environments,

[00:22:17] you have such a paltry amount of Ram and a PS one.

[00:22:21] And it's like,

[00:22:22] you know,

[00:22:22] you can only do so much with textures,

[00:22:25] but it's like,

[00:22:26] they,

[00:22:26] they really did the best.

[00:22:27] It really does look like flashback.

[00:22:29] It's,

[00:22:29] it's kind of incredible.

[00:22:30] It's a really good conversion,

[00:22:31] not just for the time,

[00:22:32] but just in general,

[00:22:33] there's also very cool CGI cut scenes in this.

[00:22:38] And by cool,

[00:22:39] I mean like kind of awful,

[00:22:41] but cool for like 1996.

[00:22:43] Like there,

[00:22:44] there's such a fun slice of technology.

[00:22:47] And they're really long.

[00:22:48] Like,

[00:22:49] I love the one after you beat the first level.

[00:22:50] And then you see that resistance leader lady with the major uncanny

[00:22:53] Valley eyes.

[00:22:55] And like,

[00:22:56] she's just staring.

[00:22:57] I don't know what,

[00:22:58] I don't know what her face is doing,

[00:23:00] but it's,

[00:23:00] it's something,

[00:23:01] but people had ideas here.

[00:23:03] I think when someone doesn't know what they're doing,

[00:23:05] I think we should just say they're morphing.

[00:23:09] Her face is morphing.

[00:23:12] They're all morphing.

[00:23:14] Maybe,

[00:23:15] maybe I should have our voice guy do that.

[00:23:17] You're now morphing in to find time.

[00:23:26] But you know,

[00:23:27] okay,

[00:23:28] this,

[00:23:28] this may not be much of a platformer.

[00:23:30] You know,

[00:23:31] Conrad still has this little hop.

[00:23:32] Like I said,

[00:23:33] you jump over a few electric squares sometimes.

[00:23:35] Isn't that it?

[00:23:35] But it is cinematic.

[00:23:37] Like I love,

[00:23:38] like it cuts to angles when you open lockers or duck behind stuff or

[00:23:42] whatever.

[00:23:42] Like it does stuff with the camera.

[00:23:44] I think you mentioned siphon filter earlier.

[00:23:47] And it's like,

[00:23:47] yeah,

[00:23:47] that was like a couple of years later.

[00:23:48] And that feels like it's on a practically a different system than fade to

[00:23:52] black.

[00:23:53] I don't know.

[00:23:53] I hot take from now.

[00:23:55] I,

[00:23:55] I liked playing this more than siphon filter,

[00:23:57] but.

[00:23:58] Oh,

[00:23:58] me too.

[00:24:00] I mean,

[00:24:01] no,

[00:24:01] no doubt.

[00:24:02] I'd much rather play this in siphon filter.

[00:24:04] Like that's not a question.

[00:24:06] I'll take a night.

[00:24:07] If you're out there listening to this,

[00:24:09] if you want to make a version of fade to black,

[00:24:11] where the camera doesn't make me question all my life choices,

[00:24:13] I'll,

[00:24:14] I'll buy it with money.

[00:24:16] I would,

[00:24:17] I would,

[00:24:17] I would repurchase this game any,

[00:24:19] any time.

[00:24:20] I love that.

[00:24:21] You know,

[00:24:21] something we didn't really talk about this.

[00:24:23] I don't think during flashback,

[00:24:24] but like all the,

[00:24:25] all the death sequences in that game where it's like,

[00:24:28] Oh,

[00:24:28] you,

[00:24:29] you know,

[00:24:29] you fell down the hole.

[00:24:30] I think we talked about that one,

[00:24:31] but like there's other ones too,

[00:24:32] where you get zapped.

[00:24:33] If you step on the electric floor,

[00:24:35] fade to black has all of those.

[00:24:37] And they take like five seconds to load.

[00:24:40] You know,

[00:24:40] you're dead several seconds before the game does because it just,

[00:24:44] the whole game freezes.

[00:24:45] And then it's like,

[00:24:46] Oh,

[00:24:47] we need to load the CG sequence of him dying.

[00:24:49] And they look cool,

[00:24:50] but it's just like,

[00:24:51] we did not have the prowess to just load that shit up.

[00:24:54] Like,

[00:24:54] can he split?

[00:24:56] I know this was a thing that bugged the fuck out of me a while ago.

[00:25:00] When it was a previous creative endeavor,

[00:25:01] I was playing resident evil zero on switch where forever reason,

[00:25:05] there was this weird disconnect between,

[00:25:08] you dying and everything else loading and like,

[00:25:11] okay,

[00:25:11] you know what?

[00:25:12] Fine.

[00:25:12] I get it.

[00:25:12] I am now dead.

[00:25:14] I,

[00:25:14] I,

[00:25:14] I,

[00:25:14] I know.

[00:25:15] Can we just get back to the game now,

[00:25:16] but here,

[00:25:18] at least we have all these fun things to eventually look at.

[00:25:22] Yeah,

[00:25:22] it's,

[00:25:23] it's cool.

[00:25:24] I mean,

[00:25:25] I really enjoyed fade to black.

[00:25:26] I really,

[00:25:27] God,

[00:25:27] I love the,

[00:25:28] even the death sequence where you get into that one level and you can't,

[00:25:31] like,

[00:25:31] if you accidentally shoot the glass,

[00:25:33] you'll get sucked into space.

[00:25:35] Cause you're in the space station.

[00:25:36] It's making a different,

[00:25:37] yeah,

[00:25:37] it's making like a different sound,

[00:25:39] but it's like,

[00:25:39] Oh wait,

[00:25:39] that doesn't sound good.

[00:25:40] I was like,

[00:25:41] Oh fuck it.

[00:25:41] I kept doing it anyway.

[00:25:42] And I got sucked right into space.

[00:25:43] And it was like,

[00:25:44] that's a whole animated little sequence.

[00:25:46] You know,

[00:25:46] that's cool.

[00:25:48] That's just a neat detail that I feel like no one actually considers.

[00:25:52] Like we just consider a glass to be part of the atmosphere here.

[00:25:55] They don't let you shoot it.

[00:25:56] I like that.

[00:25:58] Yeah.

[00:25:58] It's really good stuff.

[00:26:00] Um,

[00:26:00] you got anything else on feed to black?

[00:26:02] I think I'm kind of.

[00:26:03] Since I'm the voice person around here,

[00:26:05] I'd like to point out just fun stuff.

[00:26:08] They like to do that since,

[00:26:09] you know,

[00:26:09] to their credit,

[00:26:10] they did put the effort into that a little bit,

[00:26:12] you know,

[00:26:12] as much as you could have in 1994.

[00:26:16] Six.

[00:26:17] Into 1996.

[00:26:19] By the time this came out,

[00:26:21] you know,

[00:26:21] the beginning,

[00:26:21] we already went into the beginning where all that was very high energy,

[00:26:25] but then you start playing and you figure out that,

[00:26:28] you know,

[00:26:28] everyone's voiced,

[00:26:29] you know,

[00:26:29] there's that chef that's begging for his life.

[00:26:31] No,

[00:26:31] I'm just the cook.

[00:26:32] And you,

[00:26:33] you could just,

[00:26:34] and you could just explode them without penalty.

[00:26:36] There's this professor guy.

[00:26:38] We got a escort fairly early on.

[00:26:41] Is this video games is first escort mission as we know it.

[00:26:46] Hell no.

[00:26:47] I feel like we were doing this in like shitty mech warrior missions or something.

[00:26:52] Like,

[00:26:52] I feel like this has been around,

[00:26:55] but is it closer to the form that we would know it today though?

[00:26:58] Like you're a guy with a gun and this is just a guy who's like,

[00:27:03] he's just going to stand there and be useless.

[00:27:05] Slow down.

[00:27:07] I'm an old man.

[00:27:08] Yeah.

[00:27:09] I don't,

[00:27:09] I don't,

[00:27:10] I don't know.

[00:27:11] I,

[00:27:11] I,

[00:27:11] I don't,

[00:27:12] I definitely wasn't the first time I saw this again.

[00:27:15] I obviously didn't play this back in the day,

[00:27:17] but even if I had,

[00:27:18] it wouldn't have been the first time.

[00:27:20] I,

[00:27:20] I feel like,

[00:27:21] again,

[00:27:21] I don't know why my mind's going mech warrior,

[00:27:24] maybe armored core armored,

[00:27:26] the armored core come out before this.

[00:27:28] Maybe that was 97.

[00:27:29] Did everyone have this same bad idea around the same time?

[00:27:33] I think so.

[00:27:34] Yeah.

[00:27:34] Because like this,

[00:27:35] okay,

[00:27:36] I'll put it this way.

[00:27:36] This is definitely the era where that kind of mission started for sure.

[00:27:40] Because gold and I did the same thing in 97 and at least they gave her a gun.

[00:27:45] Like,

[00:27:45] okay,

[00:27:45] she will at least hit somebody.

[00:27:47] Sometimes we all pick on this dollar,

[00:27:50] but you know,

[00:27:50] she will at least sometimes hit somebody.

[00:27:53] Occasionally.

[00:27:54] I just wasn't expecting to find one and fade to black.

[00:27:59] I guess not,

[00:28:00] but it's like,

[00:28:00] look,

[00:28:00] they're trying everything right now,

[00:28:02] but yes,

[00:28:02] maybe everyone had the same bad idea at the same time.

[00:28:04] But I guess the last thing I got to say is just,

[00:28:07] I really do feel like the advent of CGI cut scenes in this makes it feel like

[00:28:12] that next evolutionary step.

[00:28:14] These games are always trying to get to,

[00:28:16] but the technology just was not there yet,

[00:28:19] you know,

[00:28:20] and now it's here,

[00:28:21] but now we're interested in 3d games.

[00:28:25] So it's not,

[00:28:26] you're not applying it in the same way.

[00:28:28] It's weird how the technology changed so fast,

[00:28:31] but the ideas didn't.

[00:28:32] You know what though?

[00:28:34] It worked.

[00:28:35] I liked fade to black,

[00:28:37] even if we're not going to rank it above flashback.

[00:28:40] We are not.

[00:28:41] We are going to put it below flashback and above shadow of the beast and heart of the alien.

[00:28:47] So this is the least good game on here.

[00:28:50] If shadow of the beast and the heart of the alien are not good.

[00:28:53] Fade to black is good,

[00:28:54] but not as good as these,

[00:28:56] even though Prince of Persia should be lower.

[00:28:58] Yes.

[00:28:58] I'm going to say it every episode.

[00:28:59] Well,

[00:29:00] Andre could get lower yet.

[00:29:01] We still have a few games left in cinematic platform of paradise.

[00:29:05] After all.

[00:29:06] I,

[00:29:06] I mean,

[00:29:08] I don't know.

[00:29:08] I,

[00:29:09] okay.

[00:29:09] you know what?

[00:29:09] I'm going to spoiler alert the audience right now twice before we go home.

[00:29:14] Okay.

[00:29:15] Number one,

[00:29:15] no,

[00:29:16] it won't get worse than that because the next two games you have coming up are pretty good.

[00:29:20] Number two,

[00:29:21] spoiler.

[00:29:22] The game we're going to talk about next week is black Thor.

[00:29:25] See you next time on cinematic platformer paradise.

[00:29:28] Closed porn處.

[00:29:29] Yeah.