Back to the Future Ep 2 Review

Telltale games has done it again. Their handling of the Back to the Future franchise has been great for fans of the series and fans of adventure games in general, and even though this review only covers the second episode I have a feeling they will bring the series to an epic conclusion when everything's finished. It is always great to see a franchise handled with respect, especially when that franchise is as revered as Back to the Future. Telltale has spared no expense as they actually hired Christopher Lloyd to voice Doc, and they even collaborated with the co-creator/co-writer, Bob Gale.

In this particular episode, Marty has to prevent his family from being pulverized by the gang boss Kid Tannen, and Doc Brown is in trouble with the law. The episode begins with Doc being confronted by a police officer, which forces Marty to make a getaway in the DeLorean so he can save his grandfather from a fatal beating. The storyline is great, but like most episodic media it tended to string me along and left me wanting more by the end. Some of the puzzles were tedious, but I was never overly frustrated because the story kept a good pace. Technically the game seemed as sound as the first in the series, as it had excellent voice acting, a nice musical score, and some impressive graphics. I did notice a little slow down from time to time, but nothing gamebreaking. I'm not positive, but I'd be willing to bet the game has a significantly smoother frame rate on the iPad 2.

As with all episodic content it is best to play the games in order because jumping into the middle of a story would leave a lot of questions unanswered. There are five episodes planned, and the games are accessible enough for even non-gaming fans of Back to the Future to enjoy the story without getting bogged down. It is a safe bet that proponents of the first episode will likely enjoy Episode Two, and if Telltale's track record in the adventure game genre is any indication, the whole Back to the Future game series is likely going to reach classic status down the road.

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