Back to the Future Game Review

Gen Xers have been waiting for a decent "Back to the Future" video game since 1985. The LJN Nintendo game and it's "Part II/Part III" combo sequel didn't cut it in the slightest. The online flash game with the original DVD release was also crap. But in 2009, Atari released "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" which was a successful "sequel" with the voices of all the original cast members. For some reason, given their consecutive movie release years, it seems "Ghostbusters" and "Back to the Future" go hand in hand in pop-culture and share the same fan base.

So it appears Universal Studios took a page from Sony's playbook for "Ghostbusters" and reached out to Telltale Games to create a virtual sequel to the "Back to the Future" series. They attempted to get the original cast just like "Ghostbusters." Alas, Michael J. Fox, Tom Wilson and Crispin Glover (no surprise) declined to return. Thankfully, Christopher Lloyd stepped up to reprise Doc Brown and producer Bob Gale was a consultant on the project. With the heart of the cast and one of the original writers/producer, Telltale was off and running.

The result is quite entertaining, so far equaling the appeal of Atari's "Ghostbusters." Telltale Games is releasing "Back to the Future" in five episodes via direct download and accessed through a dashboard-style interface. Unlike "Ghostbusters," which took a photorealistic approach to the game almost recreating the youthful appearances of the actors, Telltale opted with "Back to the Future" to take a stylized approach. The result is something in the direction of Pixar's "The Incredibles," and it works well conveying the spirit of the original actors without crossing into digital wax figures.

Voice acting is superb, with Marty McFly's voice all but matching Fox's. The weakest voices so far have been the very brief sound of Lorraine's voice that doesn't seem to clinch with Lea Thompson's and the voice of Biff Tannen, which in some lines is perfect. In others, it's somewhat off. An unexpected but impressive acting job is done by the actor voicing George McFly, which sounds very much like Glover. Telltale also ponied up the cash for Huey Lewis' "Back in Time" which adds a nice touch in the background on Doc's jukebox and the end credits.

Thus far, the opening episode is available. Titled "It's About Time," it will be followed in February by "Get Tannen." OK fanboys, I'm about to describe the story so that means SPOILERS are ahead. Cover your eyes.

THE STORY

The game opens at Twin Pines Mall through the lens of Doc's JVC video camera. Here Telltale recreates "temporal experiment number one" from the original film, but through the "eyes" of Marty behind the lens of the video camera. It's an extremely cool touch and immediately immerses us in the world of "Back to the Future." But something is horribly wrong - the DeLorean doesn't return with Einstein and then Doc disappears! Fortunately for Marty it is a nightmare and he wakes up in his bedroom. The date? May 14, 1986.

From there, the plot gets going as Marty races over to Doc's house where George McFly is overseeing the sale of Doc's estate so the bank can sell the property to build a parking garage. Marty is convinced that Doc is coming back, Biff is rummaging through Doc's stuff and out of nowhere, the DeLorean returns in front of Doc's house with Einstein in tow, but no Doc. Just a tape recorder with Doc's voice imploring Marty to come rescue him and an old fashioned woman's shoe. With only Doc's tattered journal to help him and the time circuits display on the fritz, Marty and Einstein trace the shoe to old, crabby Edna Strickland, presumably the mother of James Tolkan's Mr. Strickland from the series.

Marty learns from the old bat and her exhaustive newspaper collection that she lost the shoe the day an infamous Hill Valley speakeasy burned down. Within the newspapers is the horrifying news that a man named "Carl Sagan" was arrested for the arson of the speakeasy and killed a few days later, in the year 1931! Marty recognizes this Sagan as Doc! He and Einstein take the DeLorean and head off to 1931 to save Doc from the gangster and bootlegger Kid Tannen.

The story is well written and executed in the classic point-and-click adventure style. You choose what Marty says and gather clues and information from the locals, using items and solving situational puzzles to achieve objectives. The play control is solid and enjoyable. I was a little annoyed at first that the plot is similar to "Part III" with Doc in dire trouble and Marty heading to his rescue, but I found the writing so original and the attention to detail so complete, I quickly forgave the setup.

In a lovely mirror to the original film, Marty enters a soup kitchen on the Hill Valley Square. Inside a guy is eating soup and behind the counter a thuggish guy is reading the newspaper. A guy bursts into the soup kitchen and begins harassing the soup eater, yelling "McFly!" At this moment, I finally realized what it would have been like to be Marty pulled out of time. It never occurred to me that I was in the same building that served as an aerobics club, the Cafe 80s, malt shop and Western Saloon. When Kid Tannen yells "McFly" and the soup eater begins stammering, I was genuinely surprised and knew I should have seen it coming.

What follows involves convincing a 17-year-old Doc Brown to build a rocket drill so Marty can spring old Doc from jail. What stands in Marty's way? A young Edna Strickland looking for a good story for the newspaper, having to subpoena his own grandfather and staying one step ahead of Kid Tannen, who is out to ruin Hill Valley. All the while trying to remember that your name in 1931 is Harry Callahan. Or was it Michael Corleone or Sonny Crockett? You decide. It's classic "Back to the Future!"

CONTROLS & GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is an upgraded version of the classic point-and-click adventure. The keyboard controls Marty smoothly as you guide him through the world of Hill Valley. The cursor, in the shape of the Flux Capacitor, allows you to highlight and interact with objects in the scenery. The controls can get a bit wonky when the perspective changes and some of the environments are stylistically tilted or at an interesting angle so sometimes Marty changes directions and bump into a wall for a sec (don't worry, it doesn't hurt you). In other words, up might be up on one screen but when the perspective changes up could make Marty turn right instead. It's not a real problem, just an occasional annoyance.

The other issue I have with this game are the interaction choices for speaking with the other characters. You are often given three choices at each verbal intersection, but on many occasions the choices are all there merely to amuse you. When you click any of them, Marty ends up saying a pre-scripted universal answer. Example: On one occasion I saved the game before a conversation and tried all three potential responses, reloading each time to take an account of the reactions. With each choice, Marty simply said "Uhh…" before Doc Brown interrupts him. Seems kinda cheap of the designers to dodge that way. There were a few moments in which the game was buggy and dialogue was missing, including a key line from Doc Brown that I am still not sure what was said. A shame, as it was Lloyd's dialogue.

The puzzles are not always a walk in the park and it was nice to have some challenges, but nothing that drove me to cheating with a walkthrough. However, I would not describe this game as super challenging, at least not the first chapter. The strength of this game lies in the quality of the storytelling and character development. It FEELS like "Back to the Future" in a way that the short-lived cartoon was unable to accomplish. I am currently working through the second chapter right now and the game continues to delight.