Games based on movies: Back to the Future

Most games based on movies are notoriously bad due to a whole list of reasons that covers everything from inception and development to marketing and release.  The poor quality can usually be attributed to the game being released with a short development cycle so it can be marketed alongside the film and people will throw their wallets at it by association.  But it's no a surprise that even in 1989 after the movie Back to the Future  had been on VHS for over three years that the game based on a Spielberg and Zemeckis masterpiece was trash.

In the film, Marty McFly zips back in time while trying to flee some assaulting Libyans that had just shot Doc Brown, the inventor of the time machine.  Marty ends up in 1955 and inadvertently changes the course of history by coming between his parents before they fall in love.  He then has to right all the wrongs and convince the 1955 version of Doc Brown to help him get the time traveling machine  to take him "back to the future".  All the while there are shenanigans with the anti-hero, Biff Tannen, who bullies Marty's father and gets in the way of Marty's plans.  Without giving spoilers away to an almost thirty year old classic, I'll stop there.

While the story of Back to the Future is the classic of a generation, worthy of deep discussion regarding time travel, the game severely failed to match and I suspect no one thought it would.  For starters, the game skips the first part of the movie that takes place in 1985, so the character actually starts out in 1955 but there are no "cut-scenes" or dialogue to build the setting.  It was safe for developers to assume most people who bought the game had already seen the movie, but with no direction its a bit hard to grasp at first especially since the initial actions in the game replicate nothing that ever took place in the film.

The town where all three movies take place is called Hill Valley.

So far so good.  Hill Valley is in the game along with the town's notorious clock tower which is important later in the film, the "Dance" hall where Marty's parents first kiss, as well as the school where school is made.

But then, you start the game and suddenly a hot wave of WTF washes over you.

The object of the game is to run with Marty down a street in 1955 Hill Valley, and collect as many alarm clocks as possible while avoiding bees and girls hoola-hooping beside trashcans.. just like in the film! 

The image at the bottom of the screen is apparently a photograph of Doc and Marty.  The character on the right may be Biff Tannen but looks more like Zoolander.

If you don't collect enough clocks, the photograph fades away.  When it fades away, you die.  You get four lives so you must go quickly, collect clocks, and avoid EVERYTHING except bowling bowls which can be used as weapons.  Marty was all the time knocking out bad guys with bowling balls in the movie so this makes sense.

The stages look very similar to Paperboy and later in the game Marty acquires a skateboard that speeds up the game play.  Men carrying invisible glass panes across the street are obstacles to avoid in this game just like in Paperboy and are equally frustrating to dodge.

In the grand finale, you actually do get to see the famous DeLorean time machine in all its 8-bit glory.  Marty has to take it to the street at night and dodge lighting bolts and all kinds of other random junk while trying to reach 88 MPH before the end of the stage.  With success, you'll get Marty back to the future!  If not, you'll have to keep playing this stupid game until you do.

Image sources in order (1) (4) (2,3,5, Travicopter)