In the final episode of the Back to the Future point and click adventure from TellTale, Marty has to get the missing DeLorean time machine back by setting the timeline right. He’ll have to make sure young Emmett Brown goes through with his demonstration at the 1931 Science Expo. But not only that, he’ll have to thwart the plans of an alternate timeline Doc who has teamed up with antagonist Edna Strickland. Will Marty be able to set things right and save Hill Valley’s past, present, and future?

Back to the Future: The Game is a point and click adventure, which is TellTale’s specialty. Use the mouse to guide Marty around specific locations, talking to characters and clicking on objects to examine them or pick them up, and using items to solve puzzles. Just like TellTale’s other adventures, this one is episodic, meaning you download it in small chunks, with one coming out each month or so. Like an episodic TV mini-series. Or a mini-movie in this case.

The visuals and characters are a bit more cartoony this time around, but not so much that it doesn’t look out of place. Just think of it like if Pixar, or at least DreamWorks, got a hold of the license and made a CG movie out of it. The music, locations, and familiar characters help add to the authenticity, though, and they even got Christopher Lloyd to play as Doc Brown! They couldn’t get Michael J. Fox to do Marty’s voice, which is PERFECTLY understandable given his situation. But the voice actor they did get sounds exactly like him! However, in the last episode, Fox does return to do a surprise role!

The only problems I had with the last episode was that it was a bit short, even for a TellTale game. Plus, it felt more like you were choosing dialogue selections and watching them play out, rather than real point and click adventuring. And the last episode wouldn’t let me save my game, and according to the message board, it appears there are a lot of other bugs, too. While I know TellTale will always provide help to fix these bugs, it is still a pain and one of the reasons why I don’t play too many PC games.

But even though the series started better than it ended, the straightforward puzzles and helpful new hint system make it easy for point and click beginners, and you’ll probably never have to exit to read a walkthrough if you get stuck. At any rate, Back to the Future: The Game is one of the few movie-based games that is actually fairly good, and is the closest thing to a Back to the Future 4 that we’ll ever get.

Kid Factor:

Past episodes of Back to the Future: The Game have been rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Alcohol Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes and Mild Violence. Episode 5 hasn’t been rated yet, but I’m sure it’ll be the same rating. Basically, if you’re OK with your kids watching the movies, they’ll be OK playing the game. Characters occasionally curse like they do in the films. And some of the puzzles and gags have mild suggestive themes and light violence. Regardless, fans of the movie, both young and old, will enjoy this game.

Tags: Game Reviews