Back to the Future Part II & III

Last updated
Back to the Future Part II & III
BTTFIIandIII.jpg
Box art of Back to the Future Part II & III
Developer(s) Beam Software
Publisher(s) Acclaim Entertainment [lower-alpha 1]
Designer(s) Paul Mitchell
Programmer(s) Graeme Scott
Trevor Nuridin
Composer(s) Tania Smith (Music)
Gavan Anderson (Sound Effects)
Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System
ReleaseSeptember 1990 [1] [2]
Genre(s) Platform
Action-adventure
Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player

Back to the Future Part II & III is a 1990 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the second and third films in the Back to the Future trilogy. The game was produced by Beam Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their LJN label.

Contents

Plot

Part II

When Doc takes Marty to the year 2015 to prevent his future son from committing a crime, old Biff takes the Gray's Sports Almanac and travels back to 1955 and gives the book to his younger self. Over the next three decades, young Biff uses the information to win money on the outcome of each sporting event he bets on, making him the richest and most powerful man in the world by 1985. To ensure that no one else gets their hands on the almanac, Biff travels through time and collects various items and puts them behind locked doors in three different periods. This action has caused a disruption in time, and now the space-time continuum is falling apart. With Hill Valley in ruins, Marty must now travel to all three periods, then find and return all the items back to their original places in order to retrieve the almanac and destroy it.

Part III

After Marty returns all items to their rightful places and burns the almanac, Marty then receives a letter from Doc via a courier that was written in 1875 (although 1885 in the film). According to the old letter, Doc has become stranded in the past and must be rescued or else this will start to threaten the future. Now, Marty must go back in time in order to rescue Doc with the aged but repaired DeLorean. Before they can return to 1985, Marty must find and return ten more items to their rightful location.

Gameplay

1985A Street Level from part II Back to the Future Part II & III.png
1985A Street Level from part II

Street level

The player controls Marty and attempts to defeat enemies by jumping on or throwing projectiles at them. The player must also collect fuel for the time machine and junk food for extra lives as they progress through each timeline.

Scattered and hidden throughout each timeline are Object Rooms (containing objects which must later be returned to other locations) and alleyways used to navigate street to street within the timeline. Some alleyways appear in all three timelines while others appear in one or two but not all three. At other points the player must use the DeLorean to navigate large chasms that appear on different timelines.

Object rooms

As the player progresses through the level they obtain keys by killing certain enemies. These keys are used to unlock the various object rooms throughout each level. Within each object room the player must obtain one of the items ostensibly scattered by Biff. The rooms appear as locked doors in Part II and caves or various buildings in Part III.

To retrieve the items Biff scattered, the player must participate in a mini-game within the object room involving collecting a certain number of stop watches in 60 seconds while avoiding enemies and obstacles such as cacti, quicksand and falling pellets.

Puzzle rooms

Puzzle rooms are hidden throughout each level and found in various drainage pipes and manholes. Each puzzle room contains the scrambled name of the object that belongs there. The player must unscramble the word and select the proper item from their inventory. Correctly choosing the item that belongs within the room reveals one section of a picture puzzle. However, if the player chooses the wrong item, the item is removed from their inventory and returned to the object room in which it was previously located, forcing the player to complete the challenge within that room to re-obtain the object.

In Part III, puzzle rooms are located under rocks that the player must break open by jumping on them a few times.

Time travel

After finding the remote control to summon the DeLorean, players can time travel between 1955, 1985 and 2015. However, adequate fuel must be collected before being able to time travel using the DeLorean.

Additionally, each time the player time travels a clone of Marty is created in that year which, when touched, will instantly kill the player.

Some platforms are out of reach in certain areas which need to be accessed to progress through the level. A player can plant an acorn in 1955 and then revisit that same location in 1985 or 2015 where a full-grown tree appears, allowing the player to access the previously unattainable space.

Reception

Skyler Miller of AllGame acknowledged Back to the Future Part II & III had little to do with the source material and had nonsensical elements, it was "a decent Super Mario Bros. rip-off" with "reasonably tight" controls and "passable" graphics. [3] GamePro, also comparing the game to Super Mario Bros., suggested its various arcade-style mini-game levels makes this cart as challenging and that they provide hours of fun. [7]

Stan Stepanic of Gamefreaks365.com gave Back to the Future II & III positive remarks in regards to similarities with The Goonies II , but gave it a largely negative review due to the lack of a password or save feature coupled with its notorious length, although there was a code to skip to the second half of the game. Stepanic stated that it took him roughly six hours just to map it, and he spent so much time trying to finish it he actually turned it off out of boredom. [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Released under the LJN brand name.
  2. ↑ Nintendo Power awarded Back to the Future Part II & III 3.5/5 for graphics and sound, 3.4/5 for play control, and two 3/5 ratings for challenge and theme/fun. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Back to the Future</i> 1985 film by Robert Zemeckis

Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, it follows Marty McFly (Fox), a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd), where he inadvertently prevents his future parents from falling in love – threatening his own existence – and is forced to reconcile them and somehow get back to the future.

<i>Back to the Future Part II</i> 1989 film by Robert Zemeckis

Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is the sequel to the 1985 film Back to the Future and the second installment in the Back to the Future franchise. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson with Elisabeth Shue, and Jeffrey Weissman in supporting roles. It follows Marty McFly (Fox) and his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd) as they travel from 1985 to 2015 to prevent Marty's son from sabotaging the McFly family's future. When their arch-nemesis Biff Tannen (Wilson) steals Doc's DeLorean time machine and uses it to alter history for his benefit, the duo must return to 1955 to restore the timeline.

<i>Back to the Future Part III</i> 1990 film by Robert Zemeckis

Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction Western film and the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, and Lea Thompson. The film continues immediately following Back to the Future Part II (1989); while stranded in 1955 during his time travel adventures, Marty McFly (Fox) discovers that his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd), trapped in 1885, was killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Wilson), Biff's great-grandfather. Marty travels to 1885 to rescue Doc and return once again to 1985, but matters are complicated when Doc falls in love with Clara Clayton (Steenburgen).

Hill Valley (<i>Back to the Future</i>) Fictional city in the Back to the Future film trilogy

Hill Valley is a fictional town in California that serves as the setting of the Back to the Future trilogy and its animated spin-off series. In the trilogy, Hill Valley is seen in four different time periods – 1885, 1955, 1985, and 2015 – as well as in a dystopian alternate 1985. The films contain many sight gags, verbal innuendos and detailed set design elements, from which a detailed and consistent history of the area can be derived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty McFly</span> Fictional character from the American sci-fi film trilogy Back to the Future

Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Back to the Future franchise. He is a high school student who accidentally becomes a time traveler and alters history after his friend Emmett Brown invents a DeLorean time machine. He was created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. In the film trilogy, he is portrayed by Canadian actor Michael J. Fox.

<i>Back to the Future</i> (franchise) 1985–1990 franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale

Back to the Future is an American science fiction comedy franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly, and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of the fictional town of Hill Valley, California.

<i>Back to the Future</i> (TV series) American animated television series (1991–1992)

Back to the Future is an animated science-fiction comedy adventure television series for television based on the live-action Back to the Future film trilogy. The show lasted two seasons, each featuring 13 episodes, and ran on CBS from September 14, 1991, to December 26, 1992, with reruns until August 14, 1993. Citing low ratings, CBS cancelled the show after two seasons. It was later rerun on Fox as a part of the FoxBox block from March 22 to August 30, 2003.

<i>The Uncanny X-Men</i> (video game) 1989 video game

The Uncanny X-Men, sometimes referred to as Marvel's X-Men, is an action video game released by LJN for the NES in 1989. It is a licensed game based on the series of X-Men comics of the same name by Marvel Comics. The lineup of characters in the game is very close to those appearing in the 1989 animated pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmett Brown</span> Fictional character from the American sci-fi film trilogy Back to the Future

Emmett Lathrop Brown, Ph.D., commonly referred to as "Doc Brown" or "Doctor Emmet Brown", is a fictional scientist character in the Back to the Future franchise. In the world of the franchise, he is the inventor of the world's first and second time machines, the first constructed using a 1981 DeLorean sports car, and the second constructed using a steam engine locomotive.

<i>Back to the Future: The Ride</i> Defunct theme park ride

Back to the Future: The Ride was a simulator ride located at several Universal Destinations & Experiences locations. The first installation opened on May 2, 1991, at the World Expo area of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. A second installation opened on June 12, 1993, in the Hollywood Lot area of Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. A third installation opened on March 31, 2001, in the San Francisco area of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan. Based on the Back to the Future franchise, the ride is a first person adventure that takes place after the events depicted in Back to the Future Part III. Riders engage in a race through time in pursuit of Biff Tannen, who has stolen the DeLorean time machine.

<i>Back to the Future Part III</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Back to the Future Part III is a video game based on the film of the same name. The game is different from LJN's Back to the Future Part II & III video game released for the NES. The game was released in 1991 for the Genesis, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Master System, and the ZX Spectrum. Each version of the game is more or less identical and all are loosely based on the popular film of the same name. The game was developed by Probe Software and published by Image Works and Arena Entertainment.

<i>Bill & Teds Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey!</i> 1991 video game

Bill & Ted's Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey! or Bill & Ted's Excellent Portable Adventure is an action-puzzle video game based on the Bill & Ted films released by Acclaim Entertainment for the Game Boy in 1991.

<i>Back to the Future Part II</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Back to the Future Part II is a 1990 action game based on the 1989 film of the same name. It was developed and published by Image Works for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Master System, and ZX Spectrum. The game has five levels based on scenes from the film, and was criticized as a poor conversion of the film. It was followed by Back to the Future Part III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeLorean time machine</span> Time travel device used in the "Back to the Future" franchise

In the Back to the Future franchise, the DeLorean time machine is a time travel vehicle constructed from a retrofitted DMC DeLorean. Its time travel ability is derived from the "flux capacitor", a component that allows the car to travel to the past or future. This occurs when the car accelerates to 88 miles per hour and requires 1.21 gigawatts of electricity.

<i>Back to the Future: The Game</i> 2010 video game

Back to the Future: The Game is an episodic graphic 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 plays the role of Marty, while Fox later appeared to voice two cameo roles in the final episode, reprising his role as future versions of Marty McFly in addition to playing his forefather William.

<i>Back to the Future</i> (1989 video game) 1989 video game

Back to the Future is a 1989 video game released by LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is loosely based on the 1985 film of the same name. A sequel, Back to the Future Part II & III, was released in 1990.

<i>Transformers/Back to the Future</i> Crossover comic miniseries

Transformers/Back to the Future is a four-issue crossover comic miniseries from IDW Publishing that debuted in October 2020. The series is a crossover event to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Transformers franchise by Hasbro and the Back to the Future films by Universal Pictures.

Music of the <i>Back to the Future</i> franchise Film franchise soundtrack album list

The music of the Back to the Future franchise is composed in conjunction with the development of several feature films and a stage musical, within the Back to the Future franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. All music in the franchise was composed by American composer Alan Silvestri, with The Musical being co-written with Glen Ballard.

References

  1. ↑ Nintendo staff. "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Back To The Future 2 & 3". beam.com.au. Archived from the original on July 11, 1997. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Miller, Skyler. "Back to the Future Part II & III". AllGame . Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Back to the Future II/III". Nintendo Power . Vol. 16. September 1990. p. 83.
  5. 1 2 Stan. "Back to the Future II & III Review". Game Freaks 365. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ Wen, Howard (December 1990). "Back to the Future, Part II & II". VideoGames & Computer Entertainment . pp. 70–74.
  7. ↑ Boogie Man (November 1990). "Back to the Future II and III". GamePro . No. 16. pp. 63–64.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.