Back to the Future: The Game - Episode I: It's About Time

Back to the Future is a promising start for the five-part series and a treat for fans. While adventure aficionados might hope for harder puzzles and larger spaces to explore, casual players and first-time adventure gamers should have fun reconnecting with familiar characters.

For fans of the films, you can hardly go wrong with It's About Time. Adventure game fans might have a harder time justifying it, since while the puzzles are excellent, they go by a little fast, and can be a bit too easy for the seasoned veterans out there.

A great little sequel to an amazing franchise.

For fans of the hit movie trilogy, Back to the Future: It's About Time is exactly what we were hoping for.

It's comfortable, safe and fun. By never attempting to be anything but a game which plays out like a Back to the Future story, it succeeds tremendously.

Right now I think Telltale's created a very good game, and I have a feeling it's going to have an even greater future.

For a few hours peering into my laptop screen, Telltale managed to make me feel eight years old again. It may not be time travel, but it could be the closest you can get without a flux capacitor.

With a funny and engrossing story, and outstanding voice work, this is one game any fan of the franchise would do well to play.

Back to the Future is a welcome surprise – it's a movie-inspired game that doesn't suck. Instead, it pushes the characters in interesting directions and whips up a good story.

As an adventure gamer i have to criticize the far too easy puzzles and the controls that feel too much like a console game. But as a Back to the Future Fan I have to say: Well done, Telltale, this feels like a worthy extension of the trilogy.

Too easy and too short...but sparkling dialogues and a brilliant interpretation will move every Back to the Future fan.

Gameplay that refused to break any new ground can't tarnish the love and care shown in this nostalgia piece. [Mar 2011, p.68]

Despite its clunky interface and short length, Telltale's first episode of Back to the Future: The Game provides a steady stream of delights thanks to its charming story and eccentric cast.

Overall, I found the first episode of Back to the Future: The Game to be fun -- not amazing or anything, but fun.

Back to the Future: Episode 1 is a blast from the past that any fan of the original series will love. It's a damn good start to what will probably be a great season of adventures.

Telltale fans will get exactly what they came for, but newcomers might be surprised that point-and-click games even exist anymore.

If you have any love for the Back to the Future series or simply are looking to digest TellTale's latest click-happy adventure, you really can't go wrong with Episode 1: It's About Time.

While light on the gameplay side, the first episode of Back to the Future absolutely nails the charm, humor, and sense of adventure that made the films so much fun.

Back to the Future: The Game is at its best when it's fast-paced and doesn't bog you down with too many choices to make or inventory items to keep tabs on - the episode ends on a high note because its puzzles generate and maintain a sense of momentum that the middle section lacks.

A solid start for the series, though a little too short and easy to complete. Telltale, please, we want more! [Feb 2011, p.105]

It is a good adventure game, that is undeniable, that honorably continues such a charming movie series, but we think and know that Telltale can do better, and we are looking forward to the next episodes.

Despite its short length and easy puzzles, this episodic adventure still captivates with strong storytelling and compelling characters.

Generally speaking, Back to the Future: The Game is still worth some attention for fans of the movies. Its appropriate choices in art and audio, along with its 200% dedication to the films, will definitely keep Future fanatics off the manure. However, when it comes to the gameplay, my advice would be to try and not take it too seriously.

As a gamer I found it enjoyable, but as a fan I finally found an excellent extension to the film trilogy I love.

Get it to try something new if you haven't tried games of this nature, if you are a fan DEFINITELY get it to calm those nerves twitching from BTTF withdrawal.

The game hasn't reached Telltale's usual level yet, as the puzzles feel a little uninventive and the controls are a bit wonky. But it absolutely hits the warmth and riveting feeling of adventure from the movies, and the voice acting is spot on. Back to the Future – Episode 1 isn't quite there yet, but it's a very promising start for the series.

The idea to carry on Zemeckis' opera in a typical serial videogame from Telltale may be good, but puzzles and difficulty are too easy to prove a real challenge.

Fans will delight in the more nostalgic and clever moments of 'It's About Time', but it's a short, easy and somewhat bland introduction to the series, which we hope still has time to get a lot better.

But the swell of Alan Silvestri's score with the firing up of time circuits and the rev of the DeLorean's engine caught me unawares and genuinely made me feel like I was seven again: seven and filled with dreams that I too could listen to Huey Lewis and the News tapes on my Walkman and tit around on a skateboard. An authentic tribute.

TellTale brings us the first episode of a five episodic adventure based on Back to the Future. A good game and really interesting to the fans of the movies, but the game has many aspects to improve to even compare to other great adventures from TellTale.

You should just make like a tree and play something else.

Gaming version of Back to the Future is designed especially for fans of movie trilogy. Others get a slightly above-average adventure game only. [Issue#200]

If you like the films you really should play this game, if not there are much better adventures on the market.

It's nice to see such a rich franchise reinvented, but lets hope for more ambition and invention in the episodes that follow.

It sounds, and to a degree looks, like the movies but so far this run of the mill graphic adventure lacks the soul of the film franchise.

A waste of time; dull and shoddy, Back to the Future fails to deliver on anything that made the movies so much fun.

We were waiting for this game passionately, and maybe with too many high hopes. But "It's About Time" is disappointing, and really, doesn't measure up to the legendary trilogy. There's no real excitement playing through this first episode, and it's quickly forgotten once finished. Now, let's pray that Telltale will be able to spice things up and reach the 88 mph bar with the next episode.