High Score (TV series)
High Score is an upcoming documentary television series featuring stories and interviews with the developers and creators of early video games. The six-episode series was created by France Costral for Netflix, and will broadcast on August 19, 2020.
| High Score | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Created by | France Costrel |
| Directed by |
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| Narrated by | Charles Martinet |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
Episodes
High Score features interviews and segments around the creation and development of video games in the 1980s and 1990s.[1] These are intermixed with animated segments rendered in a pixel art-style similar to video games of this period.[2] The show's intro sequence is also animated in the pixel style and includes numerous references to past video games, with its theme song by the Australian band Power Glove.[3] The series is narrated by Charles Martinet, who is the voice actor for Mario.[1]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Boom & Bust" | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| Space Invaders, Pac-Man, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | |||||
| 2 | "Comeback Kid" | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| Nintendo Game Play Councelors | |||||
| 3 | "Role Players" | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| RPG Games, Gayblade | |||||
| 4 | TBA | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| Sega, Console Wars | |||||
| 5 | TBA | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| Fighting games | |||||
| 6 | "Level Up" | TBA | TBA | August 19, 2020 | |
| 2D to 3D transition, id Software | |||||
Production
Creator France Costral said that he was inspired to create the documentary as, growing up in France but having American friends, "[video games] are a universal language".[3]
Costral serves as director along with William Acks, Sam LaCroix, and Melissa Wood; all four along with Courtney Coupe also are the show's executive producers.[2]
Reception
The series was well-received by journalists as well-put together overview of the early video game period. GameSpot called the series "a crash course on the golden age of gaming filled with insightful interviews, brilliant writing, and most importantly, an inspiring and inclusive message."[1] Slash Film called the series "one of the most sleek and satisfying historical accounts of the early decades of video games, even if it’s not a definitive, comprehensive account of the ups and downs of the industry as a whole."[2] Ars Technica compared the series favorably in light of its own series of "War Stories" documentaries as a solid look at this era of video games, but noted that High Score has some notable omissions, such as Tetris.[4] A.V. Club was more critical of the disjointed narrative provided by the series, though praised the use of interviews with minor figures from the industry's history, saying "These personal and often unexpected stories are easily the highlight of High Score, and they’re occasionally the only thing that saves it from turning into the public school version of a video game history lesson."[5]
References
- Petite, Steven (August 12, 2020). "High Score Review - The Most Impressive Video Game Documentary Yet". GameSpot. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- Anderton, Ethan (August 12, 2020). "Netflix's 'High Score' Doc Series Recalls Video Game History and Shines a Light on Lesser Known Pioneers and Players". Slash Film. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- Griffin, David (August 5, 2020). "Netflix's High Score: Exclusive Opening Credits Reveal for Video Game Documentary". IGN. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- Machkovech, Sam (August 12, 2020). "High Score review: Netflix's story of gaming's "golden age" is honestly solid". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- Barsanti, Sam (August 12, 2020). "Netflix's High Score can't settle on which history of video games it wants to tell". A.V. Club. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
