|
Back to the Future: The Game is a game for the Nintendo Wii released in 2011. It's a continuation of the popular Back to the Future film trilogy, taking place six months after the storyline in the movies.
It's a "graphical adventure" in which the player, as Marty McFly, interacts with the people and environment around him unlocking clues and progressing through the game in order to rescue Doc or himself.
Production
The game was officially announced in June 2010 (along with Telltale Games other graphical adventure Jurassic Park: The Game which wasn't released on any Nintendo systems). The Back to the Future game was originally released as 5 downloadable episodes for Windows and Mac OS. It wasn't until later that it was available as a complete game for the Wii.
Bob Gale, the co-creator/writer/producer from the film series, was brought in to consult for the story. Although the game is not considered canon with the films, the game explores and expands more of both Doc's and Marty's family histories. It also introduces more characters such as Edna Strickland, the older sister of Principal Strickland at Marty's school. The game also explores new time periods, like the Prohibition Era.
While film actor Christopher Lloyd reprised his role as the older Doc Brown, James Arnold Taylor voiced the younger version. But Michael J. Fox only had a cameo appearance in the game. New voice actor A.J. Locascio played the part of Marty, who sounds uncannily like Michael J. Fox. Also, actress Claudia Wells (from the first Back to the Future film) reprises her role as Marty's girlfriend Jennifer.
Main characters
Marty and Doc
- Marty McFly
- Doc Emmett L. Brown
- Edna Strickland
- Einstein
- Biff Tannen
- George McFly
- Kid Tannan
- Arthur McFly
- Trixie Trotter
- Jennifer Parker
Episodes
It's About Time
Doc in jail
Beginning six months after the film trilogy (which puts the characters in May 1986) Doc has been gone for those past few months so his estate was up for sale. But the DeLorean time machine suddenly appears without Doc. So Marty sets out to find when and where Doc was lost in time. After some research, he realizes Doc was framed for the destruction of a speakeasy in 1931 and then killed by Kid Tannen.
Heading to 1931 to save Doc, Marty enlists the help of Doc's younger teenage self to build a rocket drill and break him out of jail. In doing so, Marty also subpoenas his grandfather Arthur McFly to be a witness in a future trial to put Kid Tannan behind bars.
When Marty arrives with the drill, he finds that Doc was taken to a different jail. Following the police transport, Marty discovers that it was actually Kid Tannen that took Doc. Together, Marty and Doc free him and send Kid Tannen into the back of a manure truck. Just as they are about to jump back to 1986, Marty begins to disappear from existence...
Get Tannen!
Inside Kid Tannen's speakeasy (left to right: Cue Ball, Marty, Trixie Trotter)
It's then that Marty and Doc realize that Marty's grandfather Arthur is killed by Tannen's goons because of the trial. So they jump back in time a few hours to try and prevent the murder from happening. Marty is able to sneak in to Kid Tannen's speakeasy and rescue Arthur.
Having succeeded, Doc and Marty travel back to 1986, only to find that Kid Tannen never actually went to jail and his family has risen to one of the top crime families in California. So the duo again travel back to 1931 to fix the timeline.
With the help of Officer Parker and the lounge singer Trixie Trotter, Marty is able to finally make sure Kid Tannen is put behind bars. In doing so, they accidentally alter Doc's history, causing him to fall in love with the young reporter Edna Strickland and not pursue a life of science. As the DeLorean time machine jumps back to 1986, Doc vanishes and Marty ends up in yet another altered timeline...
Citizen Brown
The courthouse in an alternate 1986
With the DeLorean time machine crashed and damaged, Marty now finds himself alone in an alternate 1986 in which Doc, known as Citizen Brown, is married to Edna and together made Hill Valley a "big brother" dystopia.
After finally granted a meeting with Citizen Brown, Marty eventually convinces him that the current reality is not the way things should be. Edna, knowing Marty will try to ruin everything she's done for the city, takes both Citizen Brown and Marty as prisoners and subjects her husband to the same brain-washing she used on her Hill Valley citizens...
Double Visions
Marty in the Citizen Plus ward
Marty awakens to find himself locked up in a Citizen Plus ward awaiting his brain-washing. With the help of Jennifer, he manages to escape the room only to find that Citizen Brown is currently being brain-washed. Disguising himself, Marty is able to free Citizen Brown and escape the ward.
Citizen Brown is able to repair the DeLorean and the two of them jump back to 1931 to try and prevent the young Emmett Brown from falling in love with the young Edna. While Marty devises a plan to break them up, Citizen Brown becomes enamored by the younger Edna all over again and begins to have second thoughts about the break-up plan.
With the help of Trixie Trotter and some manipulating of the young Emmett, Marty successfully breaks them up. Marty eventually convinces Emmett to turn back to a life of science, while at the same time, Citizen Brown begins to devise his own plan against Marty...
Outatime
Beauregard Tannen in the Old West
The next morning, Marty can't find Emmett at the Science Expo where he's supposed to demonstrate his newest invention and straighten out the timeline. He soon discovers that Citizen Brown has kidnapped him. After rescuing Emmett and chasing Citizen Brown and Edna away, it's revealed that Edna was actually the speakeasy arsonist.
With the timeline fixed, Citizen Brown vanishes, Edna steals the DeLorean and the real Doc arrives from 1986 to pick up Marty. But, suddenly, 1931 is warped around them, leading them to believe that Edna traveled back in time and altered something.
Having done some research, they found out that Edna accidentally burned down all of Hill Valley back in 1876, so Marty and Doc jump back to the Old West. There, they find Edna about to burn down a saloon, which would eventually burn out of control destroying the whole town. So Marty stops her and a chase ensues involving both DeLoreans.
They manage to stop Edna from escaping, dump her back in 1931, where she is put in jail for her speakeasy crime. Then Marty and Doc head back to the 1980's where Doc explains that he originally traveled to 1931 to do some research on Marty's family history.
Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 67.17% |
| Metacritic | 66 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| IGN | 7/10 |
| NGamer | 50/100 |
| Nintendo Life | 7/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 6.5/10 |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 78/100 |
Reception of the game was in the mediocre-to-positive range. While the graphics and gameplay fell short, it had a strong story that closely tied in to the films, something fans of the film trilogy appreciated. The long loading screens hurt the game's ratings as well.
External link
See also
- Back to the Future (NES)
- Back to the Future II & III (NES)
- Super Back to the Future Part II (SNES)