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High Score

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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62

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Ratings

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4.4

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4.4	Your Score
4.4	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Ratings

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High Score

Series Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: August 19, 2020

Summary: Narrated by Charles Martinet, the six-part documentary about the history of video games features interviews with creators and other contributors of such games as Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders.

Genre(s): Movie/Mini-Series, Documentary, Tech & Gaming

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Stream On

Recent Episodes

tbd
S1:E6. Level Up
Air Date: August 19, 2020
tbd
S1:E6. Level Up
Air Date: August 19, 2020
tbd
S1:E5. Fight!
Air Date: August 19, 2020

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

62

Positive:

3

Mixed:

7

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

91

Collider Dave Trumbore

Aug 19, 2020

Season 1 Review: High Score may not be the most in-depth or lengthy documentary series you’ll ever see, but the curated interviews from folks with compelling stories and charismatic personalities bring a personal touch. Nostalgia does the rest. And we’re here for it. Read full review

80

Decider

John Serba

Aug 19, 2020

Season 1 Review: High Score might not tell hardcore gamers anything they don’t know. But they, along with those of us who might’ve stopped at Spy Hunter or the Sega Genesis — and are susceptible to this type of colorful nostalgia — will binge all six episodes compulsively. Netflix knows a little something about flow, too. Read full review

70

The Hollywood Reporter

Dan Fienberg

Aug 18, 2020

Season 1 Review: If High Score's goal is to be an enjoyable, colorful and whimsical overview, it at least delivers on that with some flair. Read full review

60

Slate

Benjamin Frisch

Aug 18, 2020

Season 1 Review: It’s a show obsessed with loving games, not understanding them. ... The series is at its best when it’s focused less on what it was like to see these games come out, and more on what it was like to design them. Read full review

58

The A.V. Club

Sam Barsanti

Aug 18, 2020

Season 1 Review: 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. Read full review

50

IndieWire Steve Greene

Aug 19, 2020

Season 1 Review: The pieces are there to make something that actually conveys a greater appreciation of what went into building these dominant cultural forces, to fill in that mystery gap between a revolutionary idea and plenty of dollar signs. But investigating that insightful middle ground just isn’t one of this show’s objectives. Read full review

45

Paste Magazine

Garrett Martin

Aug 20, 2020

Season 1 Review: It’s less “here’s what happened,” and more, “hey, remember this?” Given how bad the game industry itself is at preserving and analyzing its own history beyond merely capitalizing on nostalgia, that makes High Score a huge missed opportunity. Read full review

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

Write a Review

4.4

User Reviews

10

fede01_8

Oct 21, 2020

I knew the toxic alt-right would bomb review this as soon as they see a minority talking about videogames. Great job proving the gaming community is the worst.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

8

Trailesque

Aug 17, 2022

Good documentary that tells the story of the people behind the creation and expansion of the video games industry.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

4

Kranz

Feb 28, 2021

Obviously anyone who knows anything about videogame history was not a target audience and while it was entertaining the whole series just had a feeling of a hot mess about it. The RPG episode jumped from Sierra to Ultima to final fantasy to an obscure gender identity game, which I assume wasObviously anyone who knows anything about videogame history was not a target audience and while it was entertaining the whole series just had a feeling of a hot mess about it. The RPG episode jumped from Sierra to Ultima to final fantasy to an obscure gender identity game, which I assume was meant to give the series a sense of emotional magnitude? To me it just felt disjointed.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

3

BalaamsDonkey

Nov 9, 2021

High Score: Putting the Gay in Gamer

Woke politics don't belong here. It would be a much higher score without the woke agenda crap.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

1

metacritiqueur

Aug 19, 2020

Even in a documentary about video games, Netflix places transgender propaganda from the first minutes. It's about high score, but hey, you're gonna get your dose of indoctrination. Can't wait for the episode 2 about ghosts minorities in Pac Man. Lmao Netflix, just lmao...

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

1

Shlizer

Dec 2, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First episodes were actually ok, but more you watch, the more you're bombarded by nothing else but propaganda.
We got gay that made a game that noone knows, noone cares and even there are no trace of it. We got trans boy/girl that won an arcade years ago and it's more important to constantly tell that she's trans than something about games. There's also black guy that his reason that he's in document it's that his father was into this industry, but more important is that he's black.. after that my **** went out. Don't wanna lose any more second on it.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

0

Vl_cz

Aug 28, 2020

This is a film about gay, black and feminists who made second-rate games. Typical shiitflix

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

SEE ALL 11 REVIEWS

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Seasons & Episodes

62

Series Overview
Season 1

62
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E6. Level Up
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E6. Level Up
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E5. Fight!
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E5. Fight!
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E4. This is War
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E4. This is War
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E3. Role Players
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E3. Role Players
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E2. Comeback Kid
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E2. Comeback Kid
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E1. Boom & Bust
  Air Date: August 19, 2020
- tbd
  S1:E1. Boom & Bust
  Air Date: August 19, 2020