Back to the Future Part 2

[UncouthHayseed]

I've never experienced the Universal Studios attraction outside of watching it as a part of the special features on my Blu-Ray boxset (which let's face it; really isn't experiencing it at all... as much as merely watching a cheesy and somewhat underwhelming extra)

I partly agree - would be undoubtedly better to give the thing a real life whirl (and y'know, there's a rumour it might be resurrected in some form, this fateful 2015 year) - but I think it's quite nice they included high quality on-ride footage in the special features.[nb]For those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBui6iuvzhA[/nb] That's a rare little treat in the theme park world. I wish Disney would do it for some of their shuttered attractions; many, like the superlative Horizons or the whimsical World of Motion, are works of art, in my opinion, and can sadly now only be re-experienced through blurry YouTube videos.

Did anybody play the recent Back to the Future: The Game? It's canonical, apparently, set after the trilogy. Christopher Lloyd voices Doc, and Claudia "The Best Jennifer" Wells returns as Jennifer. Marty, meanwhile, is voiced by an eerie voicealike (though I read Michael J. Fox makes a vocal appearance at some point).

[St_Eddie]

I partly agree - would be undoubtedly better to give the thing a real life whirl (and y'know, there's a rumour it might be resurrected in some form, this fateful 2015 year) - but I think it's quite nice they included high quality on-ride footage in the special features.

Oh, please don't misunderstand me!  I think that it's absolutely marvelous when studios include the footage from theme park rides as a special feature on DVD/Blu-Ray (other examples include Aliens and Terminator 2).  It's just that, yeah... it's not the same as experiencing the ride obviously.  Still bloody nice to have it on disc for archival reasons though and they're always fascinating to watch from a historical perspective.

Did anybody play the recent Back to the Future: The Game? It's canonical, apparently, set after the trilogy. Christopher Lloyd voices Doc, and Claudia "The Best Jennifer" Wells returns as Jennifer. Marty, meanwhile, is voiced by an eerie voicealike (though I read Michael J. Fox makes a vocal appearance at some point).

I played up to episode 4 (out of 5) and then gave up.  Basically, in terms of actual gameplay; it's like a halfway house between your typical modern Telltale game (for example; Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead) and their older - and frankly superior - output (Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island etc.).  It's too easy but still not as insultingly non-gameplay/interactive movie based as their newer stuff.

You're right about that guy doing the voice of Marty.  He's spot on.  Like unbelievably so; it's uncanny! Doc sounds very old though, which is naturally understandable given Christopher Lloyd's age but still... (reminds me of Tom Skerritt's reprisal of his role as Dallas in Alien: Isolation... raspy doesn't even begin to cover it - only that's worse than Lloyd because Skerritt is supposed to be portraying a man in his 30s!).  My main issue with the game was that, like you say; it was being hyped up as a continuation of the movies.  In essence, it was to be Back to the Future: Part 4!

Which is exactly the problem I have with it; when I played it, it didn't take too long to realise that from the visuals, through to the story and onto the characters; this game isn't a continuation of the movies at all, it's a continuation of the bloody cartoon!  There's a moment where Doc constructs some kind of tunneling machine (sorry to be vague - it's been a while) and as it goes off camera, crashing and bleeping in a ludicrous fashion; I realised that this game really can't be viewed as canonical to the movies.  It's far too cartoony and silly.  I felt lied to.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure the intent by Telltale was to make a continuation of the movies (they even got original scribe, Bob Gale to come in a pen a story) but as far as I'm concerned, they fucked it up.  Why go for a cartoon visual style?!  Other than because of the limitations of your game engine of course (which really isn't the players concern).  Why have over the top elements and ridiculous cartoon characters at every turn?

Meh... I really wasn't impressed and have no desire to go back and finish the final chapter.  I would certainly recommend people whom are interested in playing the game to approach it without expecting a continuation of the film series.  I wish I had!

[Steven]

I haven't played any of those Telltale games but they all look like dogshit compared to the old Lucasfilm stuff, 3D graphics that aren't as nearly as expressive as drawn characters, basically extended cutscenes with very little puzzle solving or interactivity, the Dragon's Lair arcade game born again. Relying on a license is the first way to limit creativity in game makers, if something has to stick to the Back To The Future story then you're just experiencing the movie again but with a few shit obvious objectives as part of the interactive element.

That said were any of the Sam & Max games any good? Apart from the obvious original Hit The Road Lucasarts title. I haven't touched any of the Monkey Island titles as 3D just seemed a rape of the form, though I wasn't a fan of Curse Of either, the graphic style and humour were lacking with the fracturing of the original team.

[greenman]

When exactly did seriously picking apart the logic of BTOF's time travel become something people seriously not ironically did?

[St_Eddie]

When exactly did seriously picking apart the logic of BTOF's time travel become something people seriously not ironically did?

Ever since the Internet first clawed its mighty talons into the back of the opinionated beast that is society?  As for "When Exactly" though, I can't be sure. 4:27pm, I think.  Don't hold me to it though.

I haven't played any of those Telltale games but they all look like dogshit compared to the old Lucasfilm stuff, 3D graphics that aren't as nearly as expressive as drawn characters, basically extended cutscenes with very little puzzle solving or interactivity, the Dragon's Lair arcade game born again. Relying on a license is the first way to limit creativity in game makers, if something has to stick to the Back To The Future story then you're just experiencing the movie again but with a few shit obvious objectives as part of the interactive element.

That said were any of the Sam & Max games any good? Apart from the obvious original Hit The Road Lucasarts title. I haven't touched any of the Monkey Island titles as 3D just seemed a rape of the form, though I wasn't a fan of Curse Of either, the graphic style and humour were lacking with the fracturing of the original team.

I wouldn't say that's necessarily hyperbole but it's quite possibly skirting a little close.  Quite honestly, I'd say that it's a mostly accurate assessment but I'd also hasten to add that the majority of adventure games aren't fit to lick the boots of the Lucasfilm/Lucasarts classics, so it's not really a fair comparison to hold other developers to (it is however, a good thing for other developers to aspire to).  That's not to say that there aren't other adventure games out there that are equally great in my estimation though (they are albeit, different in artistic style to the Lucasarts classics).  For example, The Longest Journey, Gabriel Knight and Broken Sword are games which I personally adore.  I've also got a huge soft spot for the King's Quest series but I'm not going to cite that as a classic because I don't want to start a thread riot (much less get even further off topic)!

I will say that I think that even the mediocre adventure titles have their worth when choosing a title to play. I would certainly place Telltale's earlier games within that category.  I'm glad that I've played their earlier titles (mainly the Sam & Max series and Tales of Monkey Island) because they were reasonably enjoyable and moderately funny (faint press, I know but I did say 'mediocre').  Also, you know what?  Ultimately they succeeded in keeping my stupid brain from thinking about dumb things like continuing work my own adventure game instead of playing other, far better adventure games made by other people instead.

As for Telltale's Sam & Max series specifically (and viewing it as its own thing), I'd say that overall they're good fun but not without their issues.  Also, frankly... they're kinda bland (I really don't think the cheap looking, low budget 3D does the genre any favours at all). Having said that, the puzzles are generally well designed and whilst they do start off easy, they progressively get harder as the episodes advance, eventually becoming aggravatingly tricky and infuriating until that glorious-euphoria-of-finally-solving-that-one-particular-bastard-son-of-a-cunt-puzzle-moment occurs and everything in the world seems right.  Which is of course, how it should be[nb]Arguably.  Obviously, I don't really stand by this, certainly not as an obsolete.  However, I do love me some classic adventure game euphoria, which you just don't get with easier titles.  It's like smack vs M&Ms... I would imagine.[/nb].  Aside from that; most of the gags are inoffensive (also, rather crucially, not particularly funny) and there are also some of the most irritating characters that you'll ever meet scattered throughout the series.  So that's nice.  However, there are also some gags peppered throughout each season that got a genuine belly laugh from me.  So it's not all bad.  Like I said, they're mediocre.

On the other hand, when compared to Lucasarts' own Sam & Max: Hit the Road, they actually are kinda garbage, so I do see your point!  Actually, fuck Telltale and particularly fuck The Walking Dead and its ilk.  You know what, ultimately Telltale succeeded in keeping my brilliant brain from thinking about brilliant things like continuing work my own adventure game instead of playing other, far worse adventure games made by other people instead.

For the record, regarding my opinion on a couple of the points that you mentioned:

* 2D art for point & click adventure games, every single time. Period.  It's such a shame that so many companies are going down the 3D route in the age of HD.  Whatever else one may have thought about it, Broken Sword V was downright gorgeous.  It's mostly a budget thing these days I guess (2D animation is generally very expensive compared to 3D).

* The Curse of Monkey Island is tonally and visually a betrayal of Ron Gilbert's brilliant first two games.  It is however, also one of my favourite adventure games of all time.  I do fully understand where you're coming from though.

* The modern incarnation of Telltale is its own thing and largely different to the company that produced those earlier titles.  The likes of The Walking Dead and Jurrassic Park are less adventure games and more interactive TV shows (which in actuality amounts to little more than Dragon's Liar, like you said).  Some people like them, which is fine but I'd be lying if I didn't say that it irks me every time someone refers to them as being proper adventure games (priggish elitist; I know).

To try and get things somewhat back on track...

What other Back to the Future games have people played?  I played the Megadrive version of Back to the Future III and couldn't even get past the first level because it was quite frankly beyond my absolutely pathetic gaming ability / fairly challenging / ridiculously difficult impossible!

[Steven]

Thanks for the info, we've been over some of this stuff peripherally with some of the other game threads, may be time to resurrect/start up another thread to comment on this stuff in the next few days, specifically Lucasfilm and the fracturing. I mean for fucksake Telltale games had Steve Purcell working for them yet had the games in 3D, what a waste!

Anyway.. I had this version Back To The Future 2 on the Amiga. I think a mate had this version which was famously awful.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I had the Spectrum game. It was pants, but as a BTTF obsessive at age 10, I still played it a lot.



I also collected the Panini BTTF stickers. I guess they had been released a few years previously but WH Smith, for some reason, still had an old box filled with packs, some of which had been sellotaped back together. Never could find the album to put them in though.

[Steven]

Back To The Future, Doc.