Video game review - Back to the Future: The Game for the Nintendo Wii

If there was one video game genre I definitely appreciate, it’s the “point and click” adventure game.  I thought I’d never get to enjoy that type of game since I’m not really in direct control of my character.  But, if there is one selling point for me, other than the puzzle solving, it’s the story aspect.  Watching a story unfold has become something I’ve definitely found an appreciation for in video games.  For these games, my first was Zack and Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure and I enjoyed it for its puzzles, charming humor, and unique approach.  For unfolding stories in games, my first was Super Mario RPG, but my favorites include Metal Gear Solid, Eternal Darkness, and Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.  So, what would be better than to review a game based on a movie series that is rich with story, charm, drama, heart, and entertainment?  So, here’s my review on Back to the Future: The Game. (Note: this was the latest of the adventure games I got.  I will get to Sam and Max on the Wii soon enough)

Graphics

The game has well-crafted 3-D models of the necessary characters in the franchise.  Just like the Ghostbusters game for the Wii, the game adopts a more animated feel to the characters as opposed to a more realistic feel.  To me, this could not have been a better idea as I have seen that more life-like models have been devoid of feeling at times, if not most of the time.   When you have a very energetic series like Back to the Future, you should definitely get the most of it by leaving them in a more animated state.  There are flaws, however.  For starters, in the finished product, when the story progresses over a major story point, there are issues loading the models.  I recalled playing through the first episode to learn and see that Doc’s eye was missing.  Then, there was the slowdown.  I was going to say it was the Wii’s limitations, but it turns out that this occurs on other systems too, but not to that great an effect.  Simply put, these games are best suited for PCs, but they are still rather passable on the Wii and other consoles.  So, it’s not that bad a deal.  However, since this game was ported to the Wii from the high end systems, one has to wonder how much better this would have been on something like, the Wii U.

Sound

Let’s look at the game’s music, sound effects, and voices.  Musically, this game draws directly from the soundtracks of the movies, and does them great justice.  I can’t exclaim that enough.  The original musical cues are a treat as well.  The sound effects are realistic enough and sharp.  I also have a great appreciation for the vocal casts that Telltale games puts together for games like this.  In this case, they did rely on voice actors for the majority of the characters, in and out of the movies.  However, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Claudia Wells all return to add their vocal expertise to the game in roles either peripheral to their original characters or as their original characters.  Making Christopher Lloyd Doc Brown’s current self through the whole game was a wise idea, along with Claudia Wells doing Jennifer, since she was the original.  As for Fox, well, I’ll let you find out who he is in the game.  Are there flaws?  Yes.  Unfortunately, with the loading issues, there are sound issues that go along with it.  The dialogue skips or cuts off.  The music also loops when stuck on a part.  Thankfully, this game hasn’t frozen like Sam and Max: Season 2 on the Wii, but it is good I never pushed it that far.  Regardless, the sound is good.

Control

The controls of this game play to the strengths of the Wiimote and Nunchuk  rather well.  You can either move from place to place with the analog stick or point at something and press the A button to walk toward it.  If you want to run, double tap the action button or hold down the B button to run.  Other than that, other face buttons and controls bring about the pause screen, the inventory, and you can even pull up the next goal you have to complete.  When it comes to responsiveness, the controls are rather responsive.  The only issue is how the game tends to lag behind as part of the various loading issues the game tends to have.  It will seem like you didn’t  choose anything, but you did, only to have it come up much later.  However, this isn’t a fault of controls, but more a problem with the way the game was ported.    If you can get around this, you should have a good time playing the game.  In all honesty, it doesn’t severely hamper the game.  Although, if you can’t stand lag, do the necessary things to prevent it (like remove on-screen clues and subtitles).

Etc.

First off, there are little to no extras.  As in, no secrets, no extra art, or whatnot.  If there is, it’s already unlocked.  I haven’t found it, nor care to.  The story is the major selling point for the game here.  Here’s the breakdown:  Marty dreams that Doc is vanishing, even though Doc hasn’t been seen since taking off to 1885 with his new wife, Clara, and their sons.  This story takes place after the events of the final Back to the Future movie as Marty is reaching graduation in his time of 1986.  Upon learning the bank is foreclosing on Doc’s house and property, Marty goes to see if he can save it, if not salvage some items.  Then, all of a sudden, the DeLorean appears with a message.  It has to do with Doc, being in trouble, while lost in time.  It’s up to Marty to once again save Doc, while saving his history upon running into more relatives to members of Hill Valley (specifically the Tannens, the Stricklands, and yet again, the McFlys).  The game’s lasting appeal all falls on the story.  This game actually has all 5 episodes that were released separately compiled together on one disc.  You can play any episode at any time as well.  I enjoyed playing through it the first time and will always go back to it.  The creators put a lot of care into the story as they allowed the actual writers and developers of the movie to give their consulting input.  That said, you get a game that acts as an official 4^th movie to the franchise.  It’s not perfect, but it is pretty solid.  And, as a fan of story, I’m not disappointed.

Final Verdict

Back to the Future the game is the 2^nd game based on the movie franchise that actually does the franchise justice.  The other game is the Japan-only Back to the Future 2 game.  This game is rich with story, charm, humor, suspense, and a linear storyline that is worth playing out to see how it all ends.  There’s even a cliffhanger at the end, promoting the sequel to this game.  There are control issues, which have to do with the graphical output and porting of the game, but it’s not so severe that it ruins the gaming experience.  Again, I suggest that if you want to avoid any lag and problems, take off the subtitles and on-screen clues.  However, the game leaves you enough clues on the hints menu to give you an idea on what to do next.  So, it’s not a total loss.  If you haven’t done so already on the system you own, get this version and actually give your Wii consoles a solid game to play for a long time.

Next review covers the game that started my interest in games of this caliber.  And wouldn’t you know it, it consists of a team of a rabbit and a dog…who walk and talk like humans.  Nice!