“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour you’re gonna see some serious shit.”

Simply experiencing Robert Zemeckis’ quintessentially 80s semi sci-fi feature Back to the Future is enough to have you fervently seeking the sequels and any other extension of the franchise thereof… which meant that anyone familiar with Telltale Games’ work would have been foaming at the mouth in anticipatory excitement upon discovering their plans to work with Universal Pictures to produce a series of episodic Back to the Future games.

Telltale have a solid reputation for producing faithful tie-ins and consistency within this episode structure they’ve so admirably made their own, their games incorporate the similarly winning point-and-click adventure formula, something that has landed the studio a faithful, rarely disappointed audience expecting slickly-produced generational throwbacks.

Film series co-writer Bob Gale was brought in to help give the game a real sense of a proprietary attachment to the films. Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd lend their likenesses to the games – both proffer their voices which Telltale use effectively – which, when coupled with Telltale regular Jared Emerson-Johnson’s nostalgia-inducing score resonating subtly in the background, creates the intended effect whereby you’re playing a Back to the Future game and not a game based on Back to the Future.

Episode One: It’s About Time!

As expected, references are abound right from the very beginning as you play out a tweaked variation of that iconic parking lot scene that introduces the beautifully stylised graphical display and subsequently the simplified menu where you can launch the first episode, the aptly named “It’s About Time!”. I must say that I was surprised to find the story deviate from the film but it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the episodes are set several months after the events of the films.

This first episode takes the Back to the Future construct and, after easing you into the core explore and inquire gameplay mechanics with a highly referential “look at all these things you’ll recognise” sequence, you’re thrust into the 1930s amidst the Prohibition Era that serves as a delectable backdrop for the story. As you solve the puzzle mysteries and progress, the Back to the Future universe is simultaneously referenced and expanded, giving fans more and newbies a way in. The voice work/script combo is the key here: newcomer AJ LoCascio takes on the role of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox voices another character in a later episode) and his incredibly uncanny voice alongside the real Doc Brown gives you instant immersion regardless of familiarity.

It’s About Time is instantly enveloping. The presentation is faithful, the charm of the films ever-present and Jared Emerson-Johnson’s score has the necessary resemblance to Alan Silvestri’s original goosebump inducing work. The actual story itself is intriguingly immersive, while the puzzles aren’t as much of a challenge as anticipated and the dialogue options can overwhelm when you’re wrapped up in the thrill of the chase, there’s a vibrancy which compels you to continue. The options are tweakable if you’re sure you don’t need the tips – goal notifications and hint levels can be altered in the options – and the PlayStation 3 trophies give you a miniature side challenge that you may find yourself scratching your chin to solve.

Outside of the simplicity of some of the puzzles and a few slight drops in texture quality that do recur in later episodes, It’s About Time is two hours well spent. Point-and-click games aren’t exactly built for game pads but there’s no issue with that transition here as the game plays just fine for pretty much the entirety (moments involving the transition from one place to another require you to lift off the analog stick to avoid walking in a different direction to intended though).

It’s About Time will ease you into the episodes, and I say this because the cliff hanger and the two hours before will make you want to keep right on going. [B+]

Episode Two: Get Tannen!

Story resumed, cliff hanger explained and you’re back in Back to the Future with a new story set in the same place. Good and bad: the 1930s is well-established in the first episode with plenty of the key characters with more to explore, but I was sort of hoping that I’d be jetting off to a whole new place. Perhaps Doctor Who has conditioned me too much and I should have seen the series as a five-part epic: consider my naivety something to take on board should you give this series a go.

Regardless, this episode is scripted very strongly building on the foundations laid before in the previous episode. Doc in particular has some wonderful lines – no less than you’d expect – and the episode is teeming with references and well-implemented puzzles. Word play and the inventory implementation is used to greater effect this time around, items obtained from the previous episode crossing over and even a false name you adopt for a spell continued.

Referential trophies are individual to episodes now so there’s plenty more minutiae to explore this time around. There’s a dual narrative running through this episode too by the way, the two plot lines weaving in and out of each other and explorable as you see fit which opens up the series construct ever further. You’re given another great cliff-hanger to culminate the thrilling story; were it not for the slightly underwhelming action-oriented finale leading up to this point, I’d say this topped the ending of the first episode. [A-]

Episode Three: Citizen Brown

This episode has the big shift I was expecting previously: you’re thrown into a dystopian alternate universe in more relative modern times, a wildly different setting and scenario to both the films and the previous episodes that shakes up the series excellently… at first. The story continues with you inside the Delorean that’s wedged firmly in a billboard on the outskirts of Hill Valley: the opening ten or so minutes are yet another introduction to the familiar yet different town, the layout recognisable but its contents altered.

This story is well-developed again with a very intriguing series-altering premise yet the puzzles aren’t as impressive or interesting as earlier ones. The processes of leading you from one scenario to another tip the scales from coincidental to convenient and there’s a guitar battle sequence that just doesn’t have the desired effect and features a character that, rare to the series, is very poorly voiced. The tepid puzzles dampen the effect the otherwise excellent individual story would have had on you; there’s plenty of dialogue to piece together this brave new world but a lot is lost in translation as you try to rush through the uninspiring challenges presented.

All of this leads to a flaccid ending, the foamy dregs at the bottom of an average beer with a fancy label that promises more than you get. It’s a damn shame because the two familiarly labelled beers prior were delicious and refreshing and this fruitily labelled beer you’d tried your best to appreciate; a failed experiment then, and you’re looking for your fourth to perhaps be a return to the comfort zone… [C-]

Episode Four: Double Visions

…which this certainly is. Welcome back to the 1930s, where… beer is illegal. Well, there goes my analogy.

That foray into the great unknown was a gamble that didn’t pay off and the series – after a bold and well-worked escape from the crazy world of the previous episode – is returned to familiar territory, Marty and Doc thrust back into the past to rewrite the righting of previous wrongs. The actions bring consequence moral lesson is put into play here as you meddle in the affairs of characters with disastrous effects for either some or others.

The puzzle ideas are starting to edge towards trite at this point and as you soon discover this episode is essentially acting as filler, a build-up to a big conclusion. The monotony starting to creep in to the structure is hard to mask with a great moral question and a few neat presentation tricks to frame the narrative and the debates of ethics have to take a back seat occasionally as you solve simple, necessary puzzles. [C+]

Episode Five: Outatime

This fifth and final episode is an excellent way to tie up the series, but falls short of being the master stroke I had hoped for after seeing an entire episode essentially used as preparation for this. The episode’s great, don’t get me wrong: the two-part story takes you all over the place, has some genuinely ingenious puzzles and some superb twists but it’s not the game-defining resolution I had been led to believe it would be.

Trying to see this for what it is, I can say that this episode returns the series to the form shown in the first two outings. It’s not a case of a little too late either: the first half of this episode has a story set in an expo hall which houses within it some sublime scripting and puzzle implementation, really making good use of the game’s explorative structure. Michael J. Fox finally finds a voice too, and this episode with him on board is resolute affirmation of the series’ most consistent, rewarding attribute. The scripting for this episode is once again excellent, bizarre yet extravagant cliff hangers acting yet again as great fan service.

This episode is really more for the already well-established fans of the franchise than the newly found ones but there’s plenty here to appeal to both a-plenty. This series is wrapped up satisfactorily and rewardingly, an ending that the beginning deserved. [B+]

Episode By Episode

Episode by episode, Back to the Future: The Game fluctuates in quality, but as a series this is a must-buy for fans and a must-try for the uninitiated. A treasure trove of nostalgia, this game is both the spirit of the film franchise reincarnate and an enjoyable chunk-by-chunk adventure.