Greetings Fellow Nerds!
Welcome to the newly-revamped GamerZone column, a monthly installment where we will be showcasing and reviewing many different great games out there! For the relauinch, we’ve got a bit of a bonus (as in, yes, there will be TWO this first month!) with a special retro-review of Telltale Games’ Back to the Future: The Game by our newest staff writer, Mr. Todd A. Davis. Enjoy and stay tuned for more later this month! Take it away, Todd!
I’m fairly new to the whole video-game-review thing, but I’ll give it my best. Thank you in advance for your patience. I’ll try to make it worth your while.
Like every child of the 80’s, who am I kidding? Like everyone, EVER, I love the Back to the Future franchise. (I believe US Immigration issues box sets with new citizenships.) So when they announced in 2011 that there was a new game coming out, I was like, “This is gonna be heavy!”
The game layout is a fairly standard one. You, as Marty McFly, walk around, help Doc Brown, and try to stop the collapse of the space/time continuum which would result in the destruction of the entire universe…granted, that’s a worse-case scenario.
The graphics are somewhere between the 90’s cartoon series and some of the better fan art floating around on the internet… it’s very cartoony. As a fan, I really appreciate the detail they put into Doc’s Lab/Garage and Hill Valley-Town Square. Very accurate. By the way, have you ever seen a movie shot on the Universal Studios back lot and NOT thought of BttF? That clock tower is unmistakable! Much like the music. I love that they used Alan Silvestri’s original score for this game as well. Not to use it would be like playing a Star Wars game with no John Williams. Speaking of originals, there was no containing my nostalgia as almost everyone came back to voice their original characters, with the addition of the great James Arnold Taylor as young Doc Brown.
Side Note: If you haven’t seen JAT’s one man show, you’re really missing out!
Unfortunately, the disconnected 3rd person view, makes this game difficult to control. Perhaps a format closer to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto franchise would’ve been a better approach.
If this one isn’t in your collection between your 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray boxset and the complete 90’s animated series, I recommend spending (no more than) $20 on a new copy online or at your favorite local gaming retailer, you know, if you have a serious collection to think about. Now, that being said…
The Bottom Line:
If I had to give this game a ‘thumbs up/down’ rating, I’d have to give it a ‘thumbs down.’ I wanna get my money’s worth when I invest not only my hard earned dollar but my very few spare minutes to actually play through it. The gang at Telltale Games were really going for a cinematic experience with Back To The Future: The Game, and they got it! The flip side to that coin is that a cinematic experience doesn’t always make for a great gaming experience. There’s little, if any, draw to replay this game.
But that’s not why we play Back To The Future, is it?
We play it, for the added adventure extended from the film into our controller. The music that sweeps us away to Hill Valley. The banter between the doofy Doc and the magnetic Marty. And the chance to…kiss a younger version of our mom. Ok, maybe not that last part, but you get the idea. Is is a great game? Well, no. But it’s a fun bit of nostalgia all the same. – 4.5/10
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Todd A. Davis
Staff Writer: Nerd Nation Magazine
@MrToddADavis
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