Ben X

Back to the Future

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I had the great fortune to watch Super Mario Bros, and read the Wing Commander 3 novelisation in the same week a while back Both hilariously godawful, of course, although I suppose they both had tough source material to convert to a different medium.

SMB had a great cast though - Hoskins, Leguizamo, Hopper, Fiona Allen, Lance Henriksen, Fisher Stevens (blacked up in Short Circuit to play the Indian scientist) and even Dan Castellenetta as the narrator.

WC3 was intensely dull, and the authors had about three adjectives in use throughout. Kudos for the 'war is shit' vibe throughout, though.

The only good game-to-film adaptation I've seen is Silent Hill which, although it had a completely superfluous desperately-searching-husband thread (demanded by idiot Hollywood producers in order to insert male characters) and the occasional clunky dialogue line, was absolutely terrifying. the CG was fantastic, the monsters scary, and the main plot intriguing. I really felt like I was stuck in the head of an insane person for two hours.

Perhaps it succeeds because in this case, a hugely faithful move to screen, including direct transposition of dialogue and music, actually feels like a good fit. It's no wonder most adaptations are shit, it's incredibly difficult to take even the best film ever and translate it into an equal and representative gaming experience.

It got me thinking about film-to-game adaptations, though, and my favourite film of all time in particular. How would you make a Back To The Future game? I can't think of a single satisfying way to reproduce the wonder and excitement of that franchise in a video game.

Edited by bbX1138

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I had the great fortune to watch Super Mario Bros, and read the Wing Commander 3 novelisation in the same week a while back Both hilariously godawful, of course, although I suppose they both had tough source material to convert to a different medium.

SMB had a great cast though - Hoskins, Leguizamo, Hopper, Fiona Allen, Lance Henriksen, Fisher Stevens (blacked up in Short Circuit to play the Indian scientist) and even Dan Castellenetta as the narrator.

WC3 was intensely dull, and the authors had about three adjectives in use throughout. Kudos for the 'war is shit' vibe throughout, though.

The only good adaptation I've seen is Silent Hill which, although it had a completely superfluous desperately-searching-husband thread (demanded by idiot Hollywood producers in order to insert male characters) and the occasional clunky dialogue line, was absolutely terrifying. the CG was fantastic, the monsters scary, and the main plot intriguing. I really felt like I was stuck in the head of an insane person for two hours.

Perhaps it succeeds because in this case, a hugely faithful move to screen, including direct transposition of dialogue and music, actually feels like a good fit. It's no wonder most adaptations are shit, it's incredibly difficult to take even the best film ever and translate it into an equal and representative gaming experience.

How would you make a Back To The Future game? I can't think of a single satisfying way to reproduce the wonder and excitement of that franchise in a video game.

Actually, all three Back to the Future games were made into games for the NES.

They weren't horrbile... but they weren't the movies that they were supposed to represent.

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Yeah yeah, I've played BTTF 2 & 3 on the megadrive, and they were atrocious. But surely we can come up with something better than Probe Entertainment and Image Ltd (if my excellent research skills are to be trusted).

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I remember playing one of the BTF's on the NES back in the day and, literally, never getting farther then two minutes into the game before dying over and over again.

Ah, memories of impossibly hard NES games that would never get made today.

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I remember playing one of the BTF's on the NES back in the day and, literally, never getting farther then two minutes into the game before dying over and over again.

Ah, memories of impossibly hard NES games that would never get made today.

the best part was that you could create a paradox where you see yourself in the past and kill yourself.

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Finally, after 4 years, Telltale will be the ones to answer my question!

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Awesome thread-revival, bbX1138!

In my youth I actually outlined what I wanted from a Back To The Future adventure game.

You would be given free use of the Delorean within a certain block of time---for example: the week Marty is stuck in 1955.

Everyone in Hill Valley would stick to a set schedule and the puzzles would involve using time travel to interrupt them in meaningful ways. You would also create "past selves" that you must make sure stay safe.

Plotwise, uh, some organization from the year 1995 builds their own time machine and kidnaps Marty! As Marty, you are forced to accompany them on their own time travel expeditions until you break free and prevent them from...something.

This is what you do when you're a teenager.

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I wonder if it'll be anything like Day of the Tentacle... though I know that doesn't really follow the movie plot, but man, going back and forth in time is so fun and cool, especially with the adventure genre.

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I can understand Jurassic Park... but not sure about a back to the future game.

But I do love BTTF.

If it's as good as the Wallace & Grommit games then I'm sold.

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I can understand Jurassic Park... but not sure about a back to the future game.

It's interesting to me how many people are saying this.

And how many people are saying the complete opposite.

What in the world is causing this dichotomy?

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YOU CAN GO BACK IN TIME AND SAVE YOUR GAME BEFORE DYING SO THAT YOU WON'T HAVE TO REDO ALL THAT STUFF YOU DID BEFORE YOU HAD RESTART, RESTORE, OR QUIT...

wait.

Edited by syntheticgerbil

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Yeah, I have the opposite opinion: Jurassic Park :tmeh:, Back to the Future game: want.

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I just realized Telltale could do a spectacular crossover on the fifth episode of both series where Doc time travels to Jurassic Park before the guy from Seinfeld lets the dinosaurs loose and forms a partnership with Dr. Malcolm to stop the nefarious deeds and keep Jurassic Park fun and safe for times to come.

Alternatively, the doc could go back in time and prevent mosquitoes from being trapped in sap, thus making traces of dinosaur DNA non existent in the future.

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Heavy, Doc. So friggin excited!

I too, see BTTF as fitting more to the "Telltale formula". Like I wrote when I wrote it up, you could have to make sure Marty’s father dates his mom, chase Biff and the almanac through multiple time-lines and see the changes, Day of the Tentacle-style, or gather and fit together parts for the broken DeLorean.

I just realized Telltale could do a spectacular crossover on the fifth episode of both series where Doc time travels to Jurassic Park before the guy from Seinfeld lets the dinosaurs loose and forms a partnership with Dr. Malcolm to stop the nefarious deeds and keep Jurassic Park fun and safe for times to come.

Alternatively, the doc could go back in time and prevent mosquitoes from being trapped in sap, thus making traces of dinosaur DNA non existent in the future.

Dude, you are thinking in the completely wrong direction. Raptors on hoverboards.

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It's interesting to me how many people are saying this.

And how many people are saying the complete opposite.

What in the world is causing this dichotomy?

I don't know, but Back to the Future seems far more natural for Telltale given how well they've consistently executed interactive time travel stories with the likes of Chariots of the Dogs and The Tomb of Sammun-Mak. Plus there's the Dave "I was 50% project leader on Day of the Tentacle" Grossman factor to consider.

Of the two licenses, Jurassic Park is definitely the "How the hell are they going to approach that as a story game?" one, and I'm anxious to see how they handle it.

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It's hard for me to imagine a new Back to the Future *anything* without Christopher LLoyd and Michael J. Fox involved. Both their performances are so pivotal to the series' appeal. Even crafted by my beloved Telltale, the idea of new BTTF installments just does not sound appealing for that reason alone.

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What do you guys think are the chances of getting Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox to do some voice acting? Both are really respected actors and I don't think Michael J. Fox has ever done anything like this.

Christopher Lloyd on the other hand was in the Toonstruck project and the cancelled sequel to that great game.

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Toonstruck was and remains fantastic.

A Back to the Future game should, like Mike said, be like Majora's Mask where you can travel back and forth to change little things, while the whole world has a set routine of events. I mean, sure, the setting could work as an adventure, but then you wouldn't truly be exploring the experience of travelling through time on a grand scale. It'd just be like any other story.

So, I'm hopeful, but also sad when I consider it's probably not going to be like I described.

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Finally, after 4 years, Telltale will be the ones to answer my question!

ZOMG!

Also, I still want a game with these mechanics....!

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I'm wondering whether Telltale might step away from pure adventure for these games. After all, at least half of the stuff you remember from the films is cool action sequences.

I reckon Fox and Lloyd would be interested in doing the voices (or FMV zomg!) If Bobs Gale and Zemeckis give it their seal of approval. Then again, neither of them did the cartoon (except for Lloyd's live-action education book-ends), and there are cost and availability issues. Maybe they'll go for Dan Castelleneta!

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I would probably buy BTTF. I'm a BTTF fam I have the T-Shirt to prove it.

I just don't see where they could fit in the story. As the three movies are back to back story wise. So, it has to be after BTTF3. So will this be like the BTTF cartoon? Or will it be further in the future with Jules and Verne instead of Doc and Marty.

Jurassic Park as more room for story. But I'm not sure if I would buy the games.

ps, they should definitely also do Ghostbusters adventure games.

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Michael J. Fox hardly does any acting anymore, due to his Parkinsons. His appearance on Rescue Me was one of the rare exceptions, and his first job in years, so I don't know if he'd be down, even if it's just a voice. Lloyd is still acting, mostly smaller parts, so I guess he is more likely. Dude's getting pretty old at this point though. <.<

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Jurassic Park as more room for story. But I'm not sure if I would buy the games.
Jeez, how can you make a pronouncement like this? We know nothing about these games. Maybe they will be starring Sam and Max, like the LucasArts Adventurer comics.

:eathat::eathat::eathat:

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