High Score Documentary Series Review

As avid video gamers ourselves, we have more than enough knowledge about video game history. But "High Score" found a way to make its very concise and very limited scope to be entertaining and interesting. While we would have loved to have been given so much more, as a quick look into video gaming during the 80s and 90s, this docuseries was mildly satisfying.

Nowadays, video gaming is one of the staples of entertainment for the masses. It's a billion dollar industry without signs of slowing down. But the juggernaut that we know today has been transformed from decades of successes and failures. "High Score" will delve into the video gaming landscape of the 80s to 90s where modern video gaming had its biggest slip but its biggest rise as well.

"High Score" offers a mix of conventional and unconventional video gaming history that offers a well-rounded albeit very limited taste of its potential greatness. Unfortunately, with only six episodes, there was an overall feeling that it could have done and provided viewers with more content and more information easily. What we liked about "High Score" was that it provided interviews with industry legends like Richard Garriott or John Romero while also showcasing little known industry figures like the creator of an obscure LGBT-themed game GayBlade, the mind behind the game cartridge, or winners of early gaming competitions from the 80s and 90s. But we cannot discount that there were a lot of omissions here like Tetris or even Pong. The biggest hook for the series was its presentation which mixed bit-like elements and role playing segments with its interviewees that gave it a sense of quirk and fun that we did not anticipate. It was amazing to see Richard Garriott, for example, doing a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) scene. Overall, the show was light enough to be enjoyable and complete enough to satisfy the common viewer. If there's a second season, we won't hesitate to watch this docuseries a second time around.

Rating: 4 reels





Why you should watch it:
- very entertaining style and cinematography
- a mix of conventional and unconventional personalities

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- very limited scope will leave a lot of viewers to be wanting more