Double Cross (video game)

Lore & Background

Double Cross was announced on April 3, 2018, originally slated for a Summer 2018 release, but was delayed to January 2019 due to an overhaul in gameplay and art style. The game is set in a world where interdimensional travel is possible, leading to crime and contamination between worlds. A police force called RIFT (Regulators of Interdimensional Frontiers and Technology) maintains order, and the player controls agent Zahra Sinclair. The plot involves a mysterious figure named Suspect X stealing the Metacatalyst, a destructive weapon, and Zahra tracking X through three worlds: Reptarria, the Funderdome, and Gootopia. The story includes a counterpart of Zahra, a framed friend named Skip Hollister, and a reveal that the theft was staged by a counterpart of RIFT's Dash to get revenge for his terminally ill son.

Reader's Guide

Double Cross received mixed to somewhat positive reviews. Critics praised the platforming and varied level design, particularly the proton slinger mechanic, which was described as 'special' and 'a lot of fun' by GameSpot. However, the combat was widely criticized as sluggish and simplistic, and the mystery-solving aspect was deemed tedious. Nintendo World Report called the platforming 'the 2D Spider-Man game I've always wanted' but noted that combat and investigation sections made up a forgettable slog. On Metacritic, the game holds a score of 67 based on 22 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews. OpenCritic assessed fair approval, with 41% of critics recommending it. The game's legacy is that of a promising but undercooked mix of ideas, with many reviewers hoping a sequel would expand on the proton slinger's potential.

Did You Know?

• The game has a total of thirteen levels, with four levels in each of three worlds and one final level unlocked after clearing all worlds and meeting certain conditions.
• The player can complete the three worlds in any order, similar to the Mega Man series.
• The game's visual style uses 2D vector character sprites and environments.
• The post-credits scene shows an army of remaining Dashes planning revenge for their jailed counterparts.

The Dawn of Interactive Play

The story of electronic gaming stretches back further than most realize. In 1947, a patent was filed for a cathode-ray tube device simulating missile strikes on an oscilloscope, though it never reached commercial production. Two years later, Alan Turing and David Champernowne designed a chess program called Turochamp, but the computing power of the era simply could not run it. The 1950s brought a wave of experimental machines: Josef Kates built a tic-tac-toe computer called Bertie the Brain for public display in 1950, and the following year Ferranti unveiled Nimrod, a machine dedicated to the game of Nim. Christopher Strachey wrote a checkers program for the Ferranti Mark 1 in 1952, an effort that later inspired Arthur Samuel to pioneer artificial intelligence in the same genre. That same year, MIT's Whirlwind I computer hosted a Bouncing Ball program that evolved from a simple display demo into an actual game, while Sandy Douglas created OXO, a screen-based tic-tac-toe on the EDSAC. By 1954, the University of Michigan was rendering a continuously updating pool game, and in 1958 William Higinbotham displayed a simplified tennis match on an oscilloscope at Brookhaven. These scattered experiments laid the groundwork for a global industry.

From Pong Clones to the Great Crash

The early 1970s marked the moment video games leapt from research labs into consumer living rooms and arcades. The Magnavox Odyssey became the first home console, while Computer Space and Pong established the arcade format. Pong's immediate success triggered a flood of clones from numerous companies chasing the same formula in both venues, producing a cycle of boom and bust driven by oversaturation and a lack of genuine innovation. By the mid-1970s, affordable microprocessors had replaced the discrete transistor-transistor logic that powered earlier hardware, and the first ROM cartridge-based home consoles arrived, with the Atari Video Computer System at the forefront. This technological shift, combined with the golden age of arcade titles like Space Invaders and Pac-Man, sent the home console market soaring. Yet by 1983, the United States market collapsed under a deluge of low-quality and cloned titles, compounded by competition from inexpensive personal computers. Japan's industry, which had been only lightly touched by the crash, stepped in to assume global leadership of the sector.

Console Wars and the 3D Revolution

Nintendo's 1985 introduction of the Entertainment System in the United States helped pull the industry out of its post-crash slump. The latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s were defined by fierce competition between Nintendo and Sega as both fought for American market share, while personal computers grew more capable and standardized. Then, in the early 1990s, advances in microprocessor technology unlocked real-time 3D polygonal rendering on both consoles and graphics-card-equipped PCs. The introduction of CD-ROM optical media into consumer hardware, championed by Sony's emerging PlayStation line, reshaped the competitive landscape, pushing Sega out of the console hardware business and reducing Nintendo's dominance. By the late 1990s, the Internet had become widely accessible, and games began weaving in online features. Microsoft entered the console space in the early 2000s with Xbox, wary that Sony's entertainment-focused PlayStation might render personal computers obsolete. Nintendo, meanwhile, chose a different path: the Wii's motion-sensing controls attracted non-traditional players and reasserted the company's industry position, a strategy it would repeat with the Switch.

A New Landscape: Mobile, Indie, and Beyond

From the 2000s through the 2010s, the gaming world underwent a profound demographic and economic transformation. Mobile gaming on smartphones and tablets gradually displaced dedicated handheld consoles, while casual gaming swelled into a major market segment. Player bases expanded well beyond traditional Western strongholds, with China and other regions contributing significantly to global growth. In response, the industry moved away from one-time purchase models toward ongoing revenue streams such as free-to-play, freemium, and subscription services. As triple-A production budgets ballooned and publishers grew more risk-averse, a parallel renaissance of independent game development took hold, fueled by the accessibility of mobile platforms and the convenience of digital distribution. Meanwhile, hardware and software technology continued to push visual fidelity forward, with support for high-definition output at elevated framerates and the emergence of virtual and augmented reality experiences opening entirely new dimensions of play.

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