Flagman

"The flagman repeats the foregoing motion"  --Flagman instruction manual

Developer
Nintendo R&D1

Release Date
5th of June, 1980 (Japan)

While Ball was a title of stark straight-forwardness, the expectations on a game called Flagman are slightly more obscure. Its name and central game-screen image bring to mind a semaphore signaler, or perhaps even Boolean flags for the computationally minded (an apt allusion considering the binary nature of Game & Watch visuals). In either case, Flagman sounds like a game that is explicitly programmatic. It speaks of a game that is not interested in disguising the fact that it all boils down to code. It is too busy trying to disguise the fact that it's Simon.

Released in 1978 by Milton Bradley, Simon is one of the earliest success stories in portable electronic gaming. The device was comprised of four distinctly-coloured buttons, behind each of which was a light. These lights would flash in a sequence of increasing length which the player would have to replicate. This simple see-and-repeat memorisation game became a top-selling item for its first Christmas, making enough of an impact to establish a sizable cultural legacy of its own.

There is little doubt that a competitive toy manufacturer undertaking massive investment in electronic gaming would be well aware of Simon's success. So we can take it as read that Flagman is a bit of a rip-off, but I think excusably so. The physical reality of the product is differentiated enough to make Flagman a viable alternative rather than a pale imitator. Not to mention that the liberal use of other companies' successes was the bread-and-butter of the pre-console game industry, and in many ways responsible for its rapid innovation and expansion. Even Simon itself owes more than a passing debt to Atari's unsuccessful Touch Me game.

Of course, that Flagman purloins its gameplay from Simon is only a half-truth, as Flagman is the first Game & Watch title to offer two distinct gameplay styles. While Game A has the same progressive memorisation task as Simon, Game B is solely concerned with reaction. The flagman flashes one number and you have to press the corresponding button as quickly as you can. But even though this second mode is based on an entirely different cognitive skill, the monkey-see-monkey-do aspect never goes away.

And this, ultimately, is what saps away any lasting interest I could have in this title. Simple tests of short-term recall and response times are all well and good under the polygonal gaze of Dr. Kawashima, but offer little to form a compelling game experience in and of themselves. Perhaps Nintendo were even aware of this at the time, as Flagman was to become the only game of the initial "Silver" series not featured in their television commercial.

Stuck with the constraints of its own technology, Flagman can do little to enliven these mental exercises - but that's not to say no effort was made. "The flagman" is a quaint character - a bandana-wearing pirate with an infectious grin who paints numbers on the bottom of his feet. And the varying frequency of beeps give the sensation of a musical tune, such that the player can imagine that the flagman is dancing to a steadily increasing beat.

There are even a few faltering steps forward for Game & Watch as a series. Along with providing a Game B that is more than simply a challenge option, Flagman introduces the archetypal three-life system and adds a colon to its time display (which had to be omitted on the Ball units). The figures aren't labeled, however, which makes the display difficult to interpret for first-time players. Still, it's progress - and quite soon for a game released just six weeks after its predecessor.

For such a simple title, there's a fair bit to say about Flagman. It breaks new ground for the Game & Watch range, introduces diversity in the experiences that range offers, and even shows how its simple format can emulate larger physical games. But by delivering gameplay as a singular cognitive action that is not in vogue as an independent pasttime, it is easy to appreciate why this game of memory is often forgotten.