Nerdicus Genesis Review #23 : Back to the Future Part III

Title : Back to the Future Part 3

Publisher : Tengen

Genre : Action Platformer

Players : 1 Player

Release Date : 1993

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $15-$20

It feels like ages ago since I played the Back to the Future games on the NES. It's not like it's something I miss. Hell, those games were absolute torture. It's a damn shame too considering that the BTTF trilogy is by far one of my favorite movie trilogies of all time. ALLLLL time. Not even an exaggeration, I can watch those movies for a week straight and not get sick of 'em.

With such a love for a movie series, you would be correct in assuming that I was aching for a BTTF game that I would actually enjoy. Well, since the NES didn't offer me anything worthwhile, I've turned over to the 16-bit generation. Surely the Sega Genesis has what it takes to make a decent BTTF game?

Great Scott, was I wrong.

Here we have Back to the Future Part 3 for the Sega Genesis. Oddly considered to be the worst of the trilogy (hell, I think they are all fantastic), this game throws Marty McFly and Doc Brown into the wild wild west where they need to get...you guessed it...back to the future. Unfortunately, the DeLorean is f'ed up beyond all belief, so they need to strap it to a train in order to get enough speed to travel through time. Oh, and then send that train off a cliff. Of course!

Well, let's see what the Sega Genesis does to remind us of how awesome that movie was. Strap on your cowboy boots and don your cowboy hat...it's time for Back to the Future Part 3. Oh, and my name is Clint Eastwood for this review.

This game is nothing like its NES predecessor. Remember that garbage that combined parts 2 and 3, but it was just a side-scrolling, puzzle, adventure cluster of a game that made absolutely no sense? Yeah, at least this one isn't that bad.

But let's not talk about bad. Let's talk about how INSANELY difficult this game is. I kid you not, when I say it took me hours to beat the first level the first time around. It's downright impossible. You need to memorize every single little nuance of the level and time your jumps and ducks accordingly while riding a horse. Absolute torture. But I digress.

Back to the Future Part 3 is basically a series of various levels with a different style of gameplay for each one. The first one is a side scrolling horse riding level where you need to jump over obstacles, and shoot bandits all the while trying to rescue Clara before she falls off the ravine. Do me a favor, if you get a chance to play this game now just go do it. Come back here, and tell me it's not impossible.

If you beat it on the first shot, i swear I'll give you $100 or something.

If by some miracle you make it past the first level, you'll move on to the next which is a typical arcade style target shooter. Not sure how many points you need to get past this one, but this level is at least much more forgiving than the first. Hell, they should have started with that one.

Third level, is a pie plate flinging contest. This level is an absolute joke, and reminds me of that horrendous sub-level you have to beat in the first Back to the Future game on the NES. It's also just as bad to aim your plates at the bandits. Just fling em as fast and hard as you can, and eventually you'll hit em all. It is funny how Marty can take bullets, but Biff's men can't take pie plates. Marty's impervious I guess....

The final level is of course the train. You'll need to detach all the train cars, and activate the engine at the front of the train in order to get enough speed for the DeLorean. 88 miles per hour my friend.

And that's it..that's the entire game....did you have fun? I didn't.

Alright, the game is prettier than the NES ones, but it's just as bad. Gameplay wise, it really does nothing for you. The levels have no cohesion whatsoever, and it's as if the designers had no idea what type of game they were making. Nothing is consistent. And once again, don't even get me started on the difficulty level. It's downright maddening how hard this game is. It's not even hard, it's frustrating.

Let me move on to one more thing that annoyed the hell out of me. The music. Dear God, the droning digital beeps and bloops that comes out of this cart is enough to make my head explode. They couldn't afford to do a better job of taking one of the best movie soundtracks of all time and throwing it into a 16 bit game? Man, even if they used the OST the game might have at least been semi enjoyable. Then I could have just let the game sit and have music play in the background.

It looks like I'm batting a big old fat .000 for Back to the Future games....perhaps there is one out there that will appease my lust for a Marty McFly adventure. Somewhere........*sighs* Somewhere.

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until next time, keep on gaming!