Back to the Future: The Game is an episodicgraphic adventure video game based on the Back to the Future film franchise. The game was developed and published by Telltale Games as part of a licensing deal with Universal Pictures. Bob Gale, the co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer of the film trilogy, assisted Telltale in writing the game's story. Original actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd allowed the developers to use their likenesses in the game for the lead characters Marty McFly and Doc Brown, respectively. Although Lloyd reprises his role as Doc, A.J. LoCascio voices the role of Marty, while Fox later appeared to voice two cameo roles in the final episode, reprising his role as Marty as three future versions of him, in addition to voicing his forefather William.[6]
The game is split up into five episodes available on multiple gaming platforms, the first episode released for Microsoft Windows and OS X on December 22, 2010. PlayStation 3 and iOS versions followed in February 2011. Episodes 2 through 5 were released throughout February to June 2011, with the final episode released on June 23. Telltale published the series as retail products for the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles for North America.[7] Deep Silver published the retail PlayStation 3 and Wii versions for Europe on May 4, 2012. To commemorate the films' 30th anniversary, Telltale Games released the game on PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 13, 2015. The ports feature updated voice work from Thomas F. Wilson, who played Biff Tannen in the films (Biff was voiced by Kid Beyond in the original release).[5]
Gameplay
Back to the Future: The Game is a graphic adventure played from a third-person perspective. The player controls Marty to explore the 3D environments using either the keyboard, mouse or game controller to move. The player can have Marty examine objects, talk to non-player characters (initiating dialog through conversation trees), and perform specific actions in order to solve puzzles and progress the game. Some items can be picked up and stored in Marty's inventory, and then can be used later to interact with other characters or objects. The game provides a list of current goals for the player to complete to advance the game. The player can access a hint system, revealing one clue at a time from a number of cryptic clues for how to solve a specific puzzle.[8][9]
Plot
Six months following the events of the third movie, Emmett"Doc" Brown had remained far absent from 1986 that the bank began foreclosing his home and properties. Marty McFly arrives in time to the foreclosure sale to prevent Biff Tannen from acquring Doc's notebook with information regarding time travel, but is shocked to suddenly discover the DeLorean time machine, which he thought was previously destroyed [N 1], has returned outside his house, with both Doc's pet Einstein as well as a recording of Doc explaining of the DeLorean's automatic retrieval system should Doc have fallen on hard times. Being plagued with a recent nightmare of Doc fading away, Marty sets out to investigate, discovering that Doc, under the alias "Carl Sagan", was arrested for arson of an illegal speakeasy and killed by Irving "Kid" Tannen in August, 1931.
Marty returns to 1931 to rescue Doc, using an invention crafted by Emmett's younger self, still a legal clerk at the time. In spite of the breakout failing even with the invention successfully crafter and Kid's interference, the rescue is successful, but Marty starts fading away when attempting to return home, discovering his grandfather Arthur "Artie" McFly, Kid's accountant, was killed due being subpeonaed into testifying against Kid, and thus have to make another trip to rescue him. While Artie is saved, Marty and Doc return to an alternate 1986 where, due to Kid never having been convicted, the Tannens have become a powerful crime family whom dominated Hill Valley. They are forced to make yet another return to 1931 to convict Kid with the help of Kid's moll Trixie Trotter, finally saving their supposed future from Tannen abuse.
However, their actions cause Doc to fall in love with local reporter Edna Strickland, whom takes Doc away from his supposed destiny in watching Frankenstein - which would inspire him to pursue his scientific career - and this creates an alternate, quasi-orwellian 1986 which Edna used Doc and his inventions to turn Hill Valley into a conformist society. Marty, supposed to be a model citizen in this reality, is forced into breaking rules to get an audience with Doc - now called "Citizen Brown" - and painstakingly tries to persuade him on his supposed original destiny. While he agrees after learning Edna usurped Citizen Brown's original rehabilitation program and turned it into a brainwashing one, Edna detains both Citizen Brown and Marty, whom only manage to escape with the help of the alternate versions of both Marty's family and girlfriend, Jennifer Parker.
Citizen Brown repairs the DeLorean and thus returns with Marty back to 1931 to prevent Emmett and Edna from falling in love, but the damage caused by the DeLorean when it crash landed in alternate the 1986 cause it to arrive nearly three months into their relationship. While Marty is adamant in sabotaging Emmett and Edna's relationship, Citizen Brown has become worried about what would happen with Edna and causes a fallout between both, and Brown drives away with the DeLorean. While Marty is successful in destroying Emmett and Edna's relationship and even inspiring Emmett in returning to being an inventor even without him watching Frankenstein, Citizen Brown picks up a distraught Edna, explaining everything and offering to help thwart Marty's plan.
At the Hill Valley Science Expo, in spite of Edna and Citizen Brown's attempts, Marty is successful in helping Emmett accomplish his original flying car project and even in standing for himself against his father, Judge Erhardt Brown, allowing differences to be settled as the project is a success. Enraged that the plan was foiled and that Citizen Brown would not help her further, Edna hijacks the DeLorean and fatally runs Citizen Brown over, inadvertently activating the time machine, causing all of Hill Valley to disappear. Doc, as his original self, returns in another DeLorean with instructions given by Marty and takes him into 1876 after learning Edna - exposed as the arsonist whom destroyed Kid's speakeasy which Doc was originally accused of - had inadvertently destroyed all of Hill Valley when trying to burn down a saloon being set up by Beauregard Tannen. Doc and Marty manage to stop Edna from burning the saloon and return her to 1931, where she's arrested and jailed alongside Kid, and Citizen Brown's DeLorean fades away.
Doc and Marty return to 1986 where the estale sale never occurred as the Browns' reconciliation allowed them to remain part-time in Hill Valley, Edna and Kid had married and Doc's original disappearance is explained as Doc's effort to mount up a history album on the McFly family as a graduation gift for Marty, but had trouble finding information on Marty's grandmother Sylvia, revealed to be Trixie, which was a stage name. Suddenly however, three DeLoreans appear, each with a different future version of Marty driving them, asking the original Marty and Doc to help repair their timelines. Marty and Doc, however, decide to enjoy the present for a while and leave the alternate Martys arguing with each other as they depart to an unknown time in their DeLorean.
An in-development screenshot showing the simple user interface and the character designs for Marty McFly and Doc Brown. Both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd allowed the developers to use their likenesses within the game.
The development team sought input from fans on various scenarios by means of an online survey[13] and brought in trilogy co-creator, co-writer and co-producer Bob Gale as story consultant.[14][15] Several concepts he and director Robert Zemeckis had originally conceived for Part II, such as the exploration of the Prohibition era and Doc's family history, were reworked into the game.[16] Telltale Games found adhering to the films' established timelines to be one of the greatest challenges regarding the development of the script.[17] Many ideas had to be scrapped due to conflicts that would have caused paradoxes with the stories of the films.[17] Gale stated that although the game is not part of the series canon,[16][18][19] it is possible that it could take place in alternate timelines.[20]
Three months after its initial announcement, the team revealed the first piece of concept art for the protagonists, created by artist Ryan Jones and based on actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, who allowed their likenesses to be used for the in-game characters.[15] Season designer and writer Michael Stemmle emphasized that the game's graphics would take a less realistic and more stylized approach while trying to stay true to the feel of the trilogy.[21] The puzzles were designed to rely on applying items in the inventory to characters and objects as the developers did not think of Marty as a protagonist that would build a gadget from various parts.[21]
Audio
As Michael J. Fox was unavailable to reprise his role as Marty for the game, newcomer A.J. LoCascio voiced the character instead,[22] though Fox later provided voice work for Marty's great-grandfather William in the fifth and final episode of the game, as well as for the three futuristic versions of Marty who appear in the game's final cutscene.[6][23][24] LoCascio was able to get the part when his audition sample ended up in the email inbox of voice director Julian Kwasneski, and managed to impress both Gale and Lloyd with how closely it resembled the sound of Fox's voice during the time the trilogy was filmed.[22] Lloyd returned to voice Doc Brown and began his first recording session for the game in late September 2010.[25] Later, Claudia Wells joined the cast, reprising her role as Jennifer Parker from the first film.[26]Kid Beyond provided the voice for Biff Tannen in place of actor Tom Wilson in the game's original release,[27] but Wilson returned to voice the character for the 30th anniversary re-release.[28]James Arnold Taylor voiced the younger Emmett Brown.[29] Though the game features other returning characters including George and Lorraine McFly, voicework for these characters are provided by a variety of voice actors in the Bay Area. The song Back in Time by Huey Lewis and the News, which was written for the first film, appears in the game.
The full voice cast for the games is listed below:
To promote the title, Telltale brought a replica of the DeLorean time machine as part of their booth display at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo which occurred shortly after the game's announcement.[30][31] Prior to the game's release, Telltale Games published their first Facebook game, Back to the Future: Blitz Through Time, with mechanics similar to Bejeweled Blitz, to tie in with the episodic series.[32][33] It has been taken down as of 2012.
A voucher for a free copy of the first episode of the series was included in the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release of the Back to the Future trilogy on October 26, 2010.[34] A promotional offer was made on Telltale's web site to download a free copy as well.[35] Via this promotion, however, the first episode began distribution on February 16, 2011.[36] As of April 2011, Telltale offered the first episode for free for anyone with a registered account at their website.[37] As a pre-order bonus, Telltale offered buyers a free copy of Puzzle Agent, access to a pre-release insider forum on their web site, and stated that they would donate one dollar to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research for each pre-order.[38][39]
Release
The first episode of Back to the Future: The Game was released for free via Telltale Games' website, for both PC and OS X on December 22, 2010,[40] with a later release for the PlayStation 3, also made free on the PlayStation Store, on February 15, 2011,[41] and iOS two days later.[2]
Subsequent episodes were later released for each of these platforms on the following dates:
Episode 2 was released on PC and OS X on February 16, 2011;[42] on PlayStation 3 on March 29, 2011;[43] and on iOS on April 20, 2011.[44]
Episode 3 was released on PC and OS X on March 29, 2011;[45] on PlayStation 3 on May 3, 2011;[46] and on iOS on May 26, 2011.[47]
Episode 4 was released on PC and OS X on April 29, 2011;[48] on PlayStation 3 on June 7, 2011;[49] and on iOS on June 2, 2011[50]
Episode 5 was released on PC and OS X on June 23, 2011;[23] on PlayStation 3 on July 26, 2011;[51] and on iOS on July 21, 2011.[51]
The same year, a full retail version consisting of all five episodes for PC was released on September 29, and on PlayStation 3 and Wii on October 25, across North America;[4] EU versions for all three platforms were released the following year. Additional releases for PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One were released globally in October 2015.[5]
The game was free for PlayStation Plus subscribers in January 2012.[52]
The game was delisted from all digital storefronts by the end of 2018, following the closure of Telltale Games.[53]
Back to the Future: The Game received generally positive reviews. The first episode, "It's About Time", was praised by several reviewers as an effective start to the series. IGN's Greg Miller gave the episode a score of 8.5/10, writing, "it's a movie-inspired game that doesn't suck. Instead, it pushes the characters in interesting directions and whips up a good story". Miller praised Telltale Games for recreating the Back to the Future universe with attention to detail and for the iteration's witty dialogue.[64] Nathan Meunier of GameSpot gave the episode a 7.5/10 score, saying the series "shows a lot of promise with its debut installment". The review added that "the entertaining story that follows is enhanced by believable character interactions, imbuing the adventure with a great sense of authenticity". Meunier did note that the installment was "surprisingly light on challenge and content".[65] Ben PerLee from GameZone summarized his praise of the game by saying it is a "feel good cinematic experience that any fan of Back to the Future will want to check out, and everyone else would do well to check it out".[66]PALGN gave the installment a 7/10, saying that fans of the films "will find plenty to love with all of the callbacks and nostalgic moments", but calling the game's pace slow and the 1930s setting uninspiring. The review concluded: "Fans will delight in the more nostalgic and clever moments of "It's About Time", but it's a short, easy and somewhat bland introduction to the series, which we hope still has time to get a lot better".[67] In a 2/5 stars review, The Escapist said the first episode of the game "doesn't quite get the tone [of the films] right and fails to offer up much compelling gameplay". The reviewer called the setting, situations, and characters "bland", further describing the characters as "cardboard nobodies", and did not review the rest of the series.[68] The consensus among critics was that the voice acting was exceptional, with particular praise directed at A.J. LoCascio's impersonation of Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly. Most reviewers were critical of the episode's puzzles as being too simplistic and easy.[64][65][67][68] Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the episode an average review score of 74/100.[55]
In 2016, IDW Publishing released Back to the Future: Citizen Brown, a comic book of the game and adapted by Bob Gale and Erik Burnham. It was released over five issues from May to September.[73] The comic follows the story of the game albeit with some minor changes, which according to Bob Gale: "...I convinced IDW to go back in time with me to correct a few mistakes we made the first time around, as well as to set up some things that pay off cleverly in true BTTF style".[74]
↑ Burnham, Erik(w),Robinson, Alan(a),Santaolalla, Maria(col),Lee, Shawn(let). Back to the Future: Citizen Brown,p.3(December 1, 2016).IDW Publishing,ISBN9781631407932.
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