Back to the Future: The Game

Back to the Future: The Game
Release Year: 2011
Systems: PS3, multiple
IGN Score: 8.0


Following a solid year in gaming in 2010, thus far 2011 has been pretty lack luster. There are only a few games scheduled to come out that I'm interested in and I wouldn't be surprised if the new Zelda game gets pushed back to 2012. Plus the Playstation Network has been down for nearly a week now. The lack of great games has forced me to look in unusual places to find good games, which is where Angry Birds and now the Back to the Future Game came from.

Back to the Future: The Game is a point and click action adventure game that utilizes many familiar faces from the movies and puts them into an entirely new story. From the beginning you will recognize the familiar soundtrack from the movies and there are many references to events and characters from the movies as well. The voice acting is pretty decent and even stars Christopher Lloyd. Fans of the movie (presumably all players of this game are fans of the movie) will get a kick out of all of these references and frankly these references are what carry this game and make it at least decent.

The game play itself is slow paced and frankly pretty dull. You play as Marty, and you walk around and can click on various objects with the goal of finding clues to help you solve various puzzles in order to get new information. The game play actually reminds me a bit of Maniac Mansion, an old classic NES game. However, I don't find the storyline all that interesting, though episode 2 was much better than episode one. In summary, Doc goes back to the 1930s where he is framed by one of Biff Tannen's gangster relatives in the arson of one of his prohibition-era speakeasies. Marty then travels through time and talks with people in order to find clues and free Doc. The puzzles themselves aren't too difficult, but you will sit through a lot of repeat conversation if you don't ask the correct questions in the right order. It gets frustrating after awhile and I usually just press the help button as it tells me exactly what to do that way I don't have to waste time.

The graphics are just OK. The animation is pretty choppy at times and in general the game reminds me of a Sega CD game from about 20 years ago. This game costs $20 and takes about 8-10 hours to beat. If you're a fan of the movie then chances are you will find this game to be at least somewhat amusing. It's a decent time. I just wish there were more games out this year that interested me so I didn't have to settle with playing a game that is just decent. L.A. Noire can't come quick enough.