# High Score
**High Score** is a 2020 Netflix documentary limited series about the history of classic video games, featuring interviews with the innovators who created them[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087). It was released on August 19, 2020[2](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019087) and traces the medium from the late-1970s arcade era to the early-1990s rise of the first-person shooter, a span the series roughly defines as the golden age of gaming, from *Pac-Man* to *Doom*[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score) • [4](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Six-episode Netflix documentary limited series, roughly 4.2 hours total[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087) • [5](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/high-score-netflix-review-the-most-impressive-vide/1900-6417528/) |
| Release | August 19, 2020, on Netflix[2](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019087) |
| Subject | History of classic video games from the late 1970s arcade boom to early-1990s 3D and networked gaming[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score) |
| Narrator | Charles Martinet, the voice of Super Mario[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/) |
| Key creators | Director and executive producer France Costrel; executive producer Melissa Wood[4](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/) |
| Interviewees | Include Nolan Bushnell, Tomohiro Nishikado, John Romero, Roberta Williams, Richard Garriott, and Rebecca Ann Heineman[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/) |
| Reception | Metacritic metascore 62 from 10 critics; Rotten Tomatoes 78% from 27 critics, 55% audience score[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/high_score/s01) |
## Spoilers
### Episodes
The six episodes and their runtimes, as listed by Netflix[1](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087):
1. **Boom & Bust** (47m): *Space Invaders* and *Pac-Man* lead an arcade craze, while Atari's cartridge system dominates home gaming until a high-profile failure sparks a downfall.
2. **Comeback Kid** (44m): Nintendo, then a Japanese playing card company, enters gaming, succeeds with *Donkey Kong*, and later takes over home gaming with the NES.
3. **Role Players** (40m): Inspired by *Dungeons & Dragons*, adventure and role-playing computer games introduce new levels of choice and complexity.
4. **This is War** (41m): Sega's Genesis console and Sonic reach the market, and [Electronic Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/electronic-arts) begins its partnership with [John Madden](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-madden).
5. **Fight!** (43m): *Street Fighter* and *Mortal Kombat* give rise to the head-to-head fighting genre, and increasing graphic violence brings controversy.
6. **Level Up** (37m): Nintendo goes 3D with *Star Fox*; *Wolfenstein 3D* popularizes the first-person shooter, and *Doom* adds networked gaming.
The series also profiles adult fans who competed in sponsored game tournaments as children, and covers topics such as Nintendo's game counselors, telephone-answering teenagers who helped players in the 1980s before walkthroughs were available online[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score) • [11](https://www.peopleofplay.com/blog/film-review-high-score-limited-series).
## Production
The series was created by Great Big Story, a company known for its micro-documentaries and short films on YouTube[8](https://www.geekyhobbies.com/high-score-2020-netflix-documentary-series-review/). Director and executive producer France Costrel had previously made *8-Bit Legacy: The Curious History of Video Games*, a six-part web series of shorts about the people behind video games, and described it as a pilot idea for a long-form treatment[4](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/) • [9](https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/netflix-video-game-docuseries-high-score-is-not-like-the-toys-that-made-us-how-its-different.html/). She and executive producer Melissa Wood described a long development period of research, and said they set out to reveal diverse, unsung figures in video game history[4](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/) • [10](https://www.salon.com/2020/08/20/high-score-netflix-france-costrel-melissa-wood/).
Costrel explained the series' arc as a shift in the player's position: it begins with *Pac-Man*, where players become participants inside the game, and ends with the beginning of the third dimension, where players adopt the game's perspective, and with multiplayer games, where players join a community[4](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/).
The production combines in-depth interviews with industry professionals, archival footage and classic commercials, and reenactments styled to look like old-school video games[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score). GameSpot's review highlighted the animated scenes used alongside anecdotes as a distinctive production touch[5](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/high-score-netflix-review-the-most-impressive-vide/1900-6417528/).
## The high-score concept behind the title
The series takes its name from the arcade practice of recording the best performance on a machine, a practice with its own documented history. Bally began printing official target score cards for its pinball machines in 1932, on games such as *3-Ring Circus*; *Kewpie Doll* (1960) displayed an adjustable "score to beat" that rewarded players with a replay, and *Deluxe Batting Champ* (1961) recorded and rewarded the "high score"[12](https://game.engineering.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/isaksen-thesis-FINAL-2017-05-01A.pdf).
For video games, the history begins with *Sea Wolf* (1976), the first game to use the term "high score", letting players compete for the single top score on a machine, though scores were lost when the machine was powered off or reset[12](https://game.engineering.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/isaksen-thesis-FINAL-2017-05-01A.pdf) • [13](https://www.denofgeek.com/games/first-video-game-high-score-invented-history/). *Star Fire* (1979) was the first game to let players enter three initials next to their score, also tracking how many coins were used; later that year *Asteroids* introduced the standard Top 10 leaderboard with initials, and *Defender* (1981) used AAA-battery-backed memory to keep an "All-Time Greatest" table even when unplugged[12](https://game.engineering.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/isaksen-thesis-FINAL-2017-05-01A.pdf). A scholarly account argues that highscoring emerged from the infrastructure of arcade gaming and became a distinct way of playing, one that parallels score-driven practices that spread into fitness and finance as computer technology spread in the 1980s[14](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2016.1210277). As games moved online, high score tables gave way to achievements, replays, and persistent records of play[15](https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/eludamos/article/download/vol3no2-4/5895/22280).
## Reception
Critical response was generally favorable. GameSpot called it the most impressive video game documentary to date, praising its scope, interviews, and inclusive message, and scored it 9 out of 10[5](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/high-score-netflix-review-the-most-impressive-vide/1900-6417528/). On Metacritic it holds a metascore of 62 from 10 critic reviews, labeled generally favorable, against a user score of 4.1 from 86 ratings[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/). Rotten Tomatoes reports a 78% Tomatometer from 27 reviews and a 55% audience score, with the critics' consensus noting that the series takes on side quests but has enough nostalgia to entertain players of all ages[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/high_score/s01).
Critics also identified limits. RogerEbert.com found the episodes bounced between subjects in a way that left the series less focused than it should be[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/). Common Sense Media judged it far from comprehensive, noting that the segment on Electronic Arts founder [Trip Hawkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/trip-hawkins) omits his post-EA ventures, and suggested the series might have extended into the 2010s rather than ending with the first-person shooter[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score). [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) wrote that the personal, unexpected stories were the highlight, occasionally the only thing saving the series from a rote history lesson[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/).
The series is rated TV-14 by Netflix's US rating as reviewed by Common Sense Media, which noted graphic in-game violence in later episodes, infrequent profanity, and brief references to drugs and sex[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score).
## References
1. [High Score, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087)
2. [High Score, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019087)
3. [High Score: Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/high-score)
4. [Netflix's High Score tells the stories of gaming's golden age, GamesBeat](https://gamesbeat.com/netflixs-high-score-tells-the-stories-of-gamings-golden-age/)
5. [High Score Netflix Review, GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/high-score-netflix-review-the-most-impressive-vide/1900-6417528/)
6. [High Score Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-score/)
7. [High Score: Miniseries, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/high_score/s01)
8. [High Score (2020) Netflix Documentary Series Review, Geeky Hobbies](https://www.geekyhobbies.com/high-score-2020-netflix-documentary-series-review/)
9. [Netflix Video Game Docuseries 'High Score' Is Not Like 'The Toys That Made Us', The Cheat Sheet](https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/netflix-video-game-docuseries-high-score-is-not-like-the-toys-that-made-us-how-its-different.html/)
10. [Netflix's "High Score" creators set out to reveal the diverse, unsung heroes in video game history, Salon](https://www.salon.com/2020/08/20/high-score-netflix-france-costrel-melissa-wood/)
11. [Film Review: High Score -- Limited Series, People of Play](https://www.peopleofplay.com/blog/film-review-high-score-limited-series)
12. [Lars Doucet et al., thesis excerpt on high score history, NYU Game Engineering (Isaksen)](https://game.engineering.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/isaksen-thesis-FINAL-2017-05-01A.pdf)
13. [What Was the First Video Game With High Scores?, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/games/first-video-game-high-score-invented-history/)
14. [On the media practice of highscoring, Cogent Arts & Humanities](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2016.1210277)
15. [Generations of Game Analytics, Achievements and High Scores, Eludamos](https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/eludamos/article/download/vol3no2-4/5895/22280)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats › Premiered 2020 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license