High ScorePhoto: Courtesy of Netflix
Directed By.
William Acks, France Costrel, and Sam LaCroix.
Netflixs new docuseries High Score, sets out to include some information to that course while also highlighting important video game events that are only important now with hindsight, but it ends up just being a bit confused about what kind of history it wants to inform.
In the last episode, High Score happens to a thesis that puts a few of the preceding disjointedness into focus: Video games, the series argues, are built on whatever that came before them, whether its innovation or people, so everybodys video gaming story belongs to computer game history. Its a nice concept, however coming so late in the story makes it feel added. Something thats not added on and cant potentially be applauded enough, though, is the narrative from Charles Martinet– better referred to as the voice of Super Mario. He is an outright happiness to listen to throughout the entirety of High Score, especially when he seemingly cant pronounce his characters name without stating it like Mario does (Maaario). Its just an embarassment that the rest of High Score cant live up to its highlights.
Its not that they arent similarly crucial in the procedure of developing a video game, but crediting illustrator Yoshitaka Amano with the success of the entire Final Fantasy series– which has actually launched nearly a dozen mainline entries because he stopped actively working on them– is bizarre, especially when subsequent series artists like Tetsuya Nomura are simply as important. Its like video games are made by dreams and they just appear fully-formed after somebody decides to put tennis shoes on a rodent.
The big exception is the mostly excellent “Role Players” episode about RPGs. It features not only Ken and Roberta Williams however Lord British himself, Richard Garriott. If you dont already know who they are, congratulations on being “cool,” though you will find out by the end of the episode due to the fact that they get to tell their own extremely fascinating stories about discovering the narrative capacity of computer games or the fantastic decision to cast players as themselves to dissuade them from stealing and murdering within the game with no remorse. The episode has its problems, especially in the form of an incredibly reductive definition of “role-playing video game” that is definitely not precise (they state its about producing your own character, however that alone would disqualify most Final Fantasy video games), but it is the one time where the contrasting visions for High Score really collaborate well.
C+.
High Score.
Photo: Courtesy of Netflix.
One intriguing feature of the video game industry is that its youth– as compared to movie or tv– makes it fairly easy to chart the timeline of major advancements with relative brevity. There was Pong, then Atari, then Nintendo, then Sega, then PlayStation, then Xbox, and now there is only Fortnite. Netflixs new docuseries High Score, sets out to add some information to that path while likewise highlighting essential computer game occasions that are just essential now with hindsight, however it ends up simply being a bit confused about what sort of history it desires to inform.
These personal and typically unforeseen stories are easily the highlight of High Score, and theyre periodically the only thing that conserves it from turning into the public school variation of a video game history lesson. If you dont currently know who they are, congratulations on being “cool,” though you will discover out by the end of the episode because they get to inform their own extremely fascinating stories about finding the narrative potential of computer system games or the dazzling decision to cast players as themselves to prevent them from murdering and taking within the game with no remorse. The episode has its problems, especially in the kind of a very reductive definition of “role-playing game” that is absolutely not precise (they state its about producing your own character, however that alone would disqualify most Final Fantasy games), however it is the one time where the conflicting visions for High Score in fact work together well.
These typically unanticipated and individual stories are easily the emphasize of High Score, and theyre sometimes the only thing that saves it from becoming the general public school variation of a computer game history lesson. Theyre often a lot more interesting than the surface-level accounts that surround them that they sometimes feel like they couldve carried whole episodes– if not whole documentaries– themselves. : One episode features a side story about a Black engineer named Jerry Lawson who was critical in the design of the Fairchild Channel F, the very first game system to use cartridges, but both he and that system are generally forgotten now. He basically invented video gamings equivalent of 35mm film, yet his story is lowered to a fascinating subplot here.
Another standout example is a section devoted to former Nintendo attorney John Kirby, who gets to inform the story of how he eradicated a suit from Universal in 1984 over Donkey Kongs expected resemblances to King Kong (there are lots of, lets be truthful). Kirby won that lawsuit and conserved Nintendo– if not the whole market– and he drops an amusing line in the interview about how the company never got his authorization to use his name for a specific pink puffball. He was likewise a civil rights attorney in the 60s who dealt with the Voting Rights Act and assisted personally escort Black kids into segregated schools, which doesnt even get pointed out here. It might not pertain to Nintendo history, as awesome as it is, but its omission is indicative of the series pattern of excessively condensing every topic it covers.
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Format.
Six-part documentary series; complete series looked for review.
The actual broad strokes of computer game history are also not usually offered their due (the episode on the SNES/Genesis console war ends with Genesis winning), but some of that could be blamed on what type of access the filmmakers were able to get. Developers and creators who do not physically appear in the doc do not typically get much attention, so while its literally difficult to discuss Nintendo without mentioning the contributions of Shigeru Miyamoto, the reality that he doesnt appear on video camera implies theres no real insight into how he developed Super Mario or Link or any of the other renowned Nintendo characters he created. You likewise may leave from High Score thinking Mortal Kombat was exclusively created by artist John Tobias if not for the casual mention of a developer called Ed Boon– who takes place to be the series co-creator and present head of NetherRealm Studios who is still creating brand-new Mortal Kombat video games to this day.
Debuts.
August 19 on Netflix.
Every episode of High Score is comprised of 3 aspects: The very first always follows a standard theme, like the rise of Nintendo or the combating game trend in the 90s. The 2nd attempts to insert that theme into a section about competitive gaming, which sometimes feels extremely natural and other times seems like an episode got cut and they needed to discover somewhere to discuss eSports. The 3rd element is a piece of the untold history of video games, showcasing individuals who made an impact however arent always family names– presuming that, say, Electronic Arts creator Trip Hawkins is a home name where you live.
In the final episode, High Score comes around to a thesis that puts some of the preceding disjointedness into focus: Video video games, the series argues, are constructed on everything that came before them, whether its innovation or individuals, so everyones video gaming story is part of video game history.
