Back to the Future: The Video Game.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Has anybody else played this yet? I don't want to spoilerize anything drastic, but I will say that I fucking geeked out over this game. Yes, you get the DeLorean back through complete handwavium bullshit; it's a complete and total Asspull, with more bullshit technobabble than bouncing a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish.

But who cares? BttF is about as hard science as jello is hard as a brick. It wouldn't be Back to the Future without the DeLorean. You get the DeLorean back, you get Einstein back, and you get the doc - what more can anybody want?


Naturally the game is completely full of references to the movies, primarily Marty finding historical references to their exploits in the past, like "Clint Eastwood's" death in the ravine in an old, old newspaper. There's two time periods, both of which are wonderfully realized in Telltale's cartoonish way, and both of which are equally alien to us: 1986, and 1931. Yes, we're going back to the height of Prohibition.


I will note that there's one really, really frustrating part where you can seem stuck without realizing what to go and do, having exhausted all available dialog options. If you get stuck in that place, just have Marty walk away and take a break next to Emmet Brown and let the computer idle for a bit - it may take a few minutes. (Bad game design in that one spot.)


Completely aside, if you could pick another car to be made into a Flux Capacitor time machine, which would you choose? There's a lot of nice cars that I'd choose, but in keeping with the 1980s, I'd pick either a Merkur XR4Ti (or a Sierra Cosworth variant,) or a fire-engine red Audi Quattro.

[Archaic`]

While I loved the game, I did find it fairly easy overall. It also felt like it lacked for actual locations. I have a feeling that both are intentional decisions on the part of Telltale to make the game more accessible to people who haven't played adventure games before, so as to better appeal to the casual crowd of fans who may be drawn in simply by the license.

[JME2]

Ironically, the money that could go towards buying the game is instead going towards buying back the DVD's; I accidentally sold them off last year and I've succumbed to the urge to see the films again.

But if I do end up purchasing it, I think I'll look forward to it.

[ShadowDragon8685]

How did you manage to "accidentally" sell off your BttF DVDs?

Did they get mistakenly sorted into a garage sale box or something?

[JME2]

How did you manage to "accidentally" sell off your BttF DVDs?

Did they get mistakenly sorted into a garage sale box or something?

More or less.

I sold off about half my DVD collection last year in preparation for my relocation back to San Francisco after graduation. I naturally had other things on my mind and didn't realize they had been sorted into the box of death until I unpacked.

I deemed in an acceptable loss at the time, especially with the need to conserve money.

However, the local Amoeba Records now has the older set (hate the packaging on the new set) at a good price and with Christmas funds now available, I'm probably going to go in tomorrow and get it if it's still available.

[ShadowDragon8685]

How did you manage to "accidentally" sell off your BttF DVDs?

Did they get mistakenly sorted into a garage sale box or something?

More or less.

<snip pain>

You have my condolences.

[JME2]

Well, I picked them up an hour ago. And I just finished going through Parts II & III. The aspect ratio is correct, meaning that these were not part of the original framing fiasco from 2002. Glad to have them back.

[Archaic`]

Ironically, the money that could go towards buying the game is instead going towards buying back the DVD's; I accidentally sold them off last year and I've succumbed to the urge to see the films again.

But if I do end up purchasing it, I think I'll look forward to it.

Don't worry, Telltale are known for giving dramatic discounts on their games less than 6 months after their release. You'll probably see it for 50% off before June.

[JME2]

Ironically, the money that could go towards buying the game is instead going towards buying back the DVD's; I accidentally sold them off last year and I've succumbed to the urge to see the films again.

But if I do end up purchasing it, I think I'll look forward to it.

Don't worry, Telltale are known for giving dramatic discounts on their games less than 6 months after their release. You'll probably see it for 50% off before June.

Thanks for the head's up.

[JME2]

Ironically, the money that could go towards buying the game is instead going towards buying back the DVD's; I accidentally sold them off last year and I've succumbed to the urge to see the films again.

But if I do end up purchasing it, I think I'll look forward to it.

Don't worry, Telltale are known for giving dramatic discounts on their games less than 6 months after their release. You'll probably see it for 50% off before June.

Thanks for the head's up.

I probably will end up getting this if I allocate the funds; driving the Delorean through time is as much a childhood dream as using a proton pack and catching a ghost -- something which I finally managed to fulfill with the Ghostbusters game last year.