Marty and Doc look ready to go on the website.

Telltale’s “Back to the Future” series is making a big jump — to the store, where you can actually hold the game in your hand. And after you hold it, you can buy it for $19.99. Big deal for a company whose only releases have been downloadable thus far.

The company actually sent out two press releases related to the retail push this October — one each for Wii and PS3 — and CEO Dan Connors appears to be equally enthusiastic about both. Let’s compare:

“Securing a publishing agreement with Nintendo of America ensures that we can make our popular content available on every major console platform.  This signing is a significant milestone in our long-term growth strategy, “said Telltale co-founder and CEO, Dan Connors. “Back to the Future: The Game is a great fit for the Wii platform and we’re excited to bring it to retail this holiday.”

Compare that with his thoughts on publishing with Sony:

“Expanding our publishing agreement with SCEA ensures that our distribution channel encompasses the full spectrum of Sony video game consumers”, said Telltale co-founder and CEO, Dan Connors. “We are pleased to solidify our first-party publishing agreements and look forward to continuing our overall growth as an innovative interactive entertainment publisher.”

 

So, slightly different ideals with each console, there — and I have to wonder…is a retail version coming for Xbox 360, too? I guess we’ll find out.

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Telltale just announced that the first episode of Back to the Future is available for free, this alone should be reason enough to check out the game.  When I first heard about the game, I was pretty excited about it; not necessarily because Telltale makes spectacular games, but because the subject matter is near and dear to my 80′s loving heart.  The Back to the Future movies, are the type of movies that if they’re on TV, I’m probably going to watch it.  I’ve seen them all enough times that I can drop in and out of the movie, know where it is and enjoy whatever scenes I’ve stopped to watch.  When the 25th anniversary edition was released and AMC was playing all three movies back-to-back-to-back every night of the week, I watched at least some of each movie every night.  Probably more than is normal for most people.

So, Back to the Future (The Game) takes place six short months after Doc Brown and Marty’s third movie wherein Doc Brown decided to stay in the Wild West with his lady love, the teacher, Clara.  It’s May, 1986 and Marty and his father are dealing with the sale of all of Doc’s things since his “disappearance”.  When Marty heads outside in frustration, an intact DeLorean materializes in front of Marty.  As Marty, you search for clues in the car and those clues lead you downtown to meet with an older lady, a former journalist, named Edna Strickland.  What you find from her apartment eventually leads Marty back to the DeLorean which he steers to 1931 where Doc Brown has landed in jail as a suspect in an arson case.

It’s Marty’s job in 1931 to befriend Doc Brown’s younger self and find a way to get the older Doc freed from prison before ‘bad things happen’.

If you played other Telltale games, then you’re going to be pretty familiar with the format.  If you haven’t, it’s a straightforward sort of point-and-click adventure game.  You lead Marty around, click around to find clues and items that help you figure out how to progress the story.  Both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd gave permission for their likenesses to be used to create Marty McFly and Emmett “Doc” Brown, so the game feels as familiar as the movies might if you’ve seen them as many time as I have.  As an added bonus, Christopher Lloyd has provided his characteristic voice so Doc Brown sounds as he should.  Michael J. Fox does not voice Marty but newcomer AJ LoCascio does a great job of getting Marty’s voice down.  These details make the game what it is.  Without their unique voices and likenesses, I doubt this game would be seeing the same success it is.  There are other returning characters from the series, both George McFly and Bif Tannen make appearances and as is characteristic for the series, we also meet McFly and Tannen family members when Marty travels back in time.  Though they’re not voiced by their original actors, they’re done well enough to not be a distraction.

The game is short, as there are four more installments due.  But, you can get a few hours enjoyment out of wandering around Hill Valley circa 1931 and exploring the places and meeting the people therein.  What makes this game is the characters.  The same witty characters and dialogue are there and there’s obvious real effort in making this game feel and fit into the Back to the Future cannon as possible.  The puzzles are fairly easy, nothing really challenges you, though with four more acts to follow it’s hard to say if that’s just this episode or if we’ll be able breeze through them all.  As I said before, if you’re familiar with previous Telltale series: Wallace and Gromit, Sam and Max — this isn’t going to feel much different.  In fact, much like with the Wallace and Gromit series, I feel that the experience is in the characters and the call-backs to a familiar series that make this worth the time and money.

With the first episode free, if you’re a fan of the series, there’s no reason not to try this game out.  But, I would recommend grabbing the whole series.  At $25 when all five episodes are finished and released, you’ll get a several hours trek through a game with familiar characters in a new story that feels like it belongs alongside the first three movies.

I’ll be back soon with reviews for Chapters 2 and 3 of this game – I’m just as interested to see how the story progresses.

Marty McFly and Doc Brown’s adventures continue in the game, with a completely new story created in collaboration with the film trilogy’s co-creator and co-writer Bob Gale. In Episode 1 “It’s About Time,” Marty is just getting re-acquainted with the 1980′s when he finds out that Doc Brown is trapped somewhere in the past; and that he must travel back in time to save the Doc’s future! The story continues over 5 episodes, with new games releasing monthly. The third episode, “Citizen Brown,” released for PC and Mac earlier this week.

And hey, if you like it, you can get the full series (which is five games) for $24.99.

This deal ends…well, never.

Check out the game here.

Anyone who wants to visit the land of Strong Badia can now enjoy the entire collection for $14.95 through January 20. ($14.99 on PlayStation Network, probably because of PSN’s pricing structure.) So that makes each episode a smidge less than $3.00, which is quite the discount.

If you want more information about the “holiday” celebrated by Strong Bad fans, click here.

This first look at Telltale Games’ Back to the Future gives you a quick-and-dirty synopsis of the game’s setup – and it unfolds in a way that really has me going, “We have to go back, Marty!”

LOST jokes aside, this looks really good. Watch it yourself – you’ll see what I mean. It’s what a Back to the Future game should look like. Not to mention that since it’s from Telltale, it probably brings the whimsy. (Whimsy = good.)

Get your first look at Marty and Doc Brown’s adventure below.

Poker Night at The Inventory is a new Telltale Games title bringing together characters from Team Fortress 2 (Heavy), Penny Arcade (Tycho), Homestar Runner (Strong Bad) and Sam & Max (Max). The card game is getting released later this month on Steam for $4.95, and Team Fortress 2 players get a little extra something sweet.

Occasionally, there will be a special round that requires everyone at the table to buy in with special items from Team Fortress 2. Win that round, and you get the item. It’s a cross-game promotion!

Telltale provided a list of the items:

* “The Iron Curtain” weapon, for use by the Heavy in TF2

* Max’s Lugermorph handgun for use by the Scout and the Engineer in TF2; and Max’s Freelance Police badge wearable by any player in TF2

* Wrist watch from Penny Arcade’s Tycho for the Spy in TF2

* Styling “Dangeresque” sunglasses anted in by Strong Bad, wearable by Demoman in TF2

If you pre-order Poker Night at The Inventory, you’ll get a special poker visor for the Heavy, too.

For more, visit www.telltalegames.com/pokernight.

Marty and Doc look ready to go on the website.

Telltale Games has started to reveal information on pre-ordering Back to the Future: The Game. It looks like Xbox 360 gamers are being left out in the cold, with the final platforms being PC, Mac, PS3 and iPad (really, but if it’s anything like their other games, that will be awesome). Pricing for the PS3 and iPad versions of the game has yet to be decided, but the PC/Mac versions will be $24.95. That’s

If you’re looking to pre-order the PC/Mac versions of the game, there are a couple of nice bonuses. First off, they’re expected to debut first, sometime in December. As a Telltale-provided bonus, you also get access to another one of their games, Puzzle Agent, for free. This is immediate, so you don’t have to wait a couple of months to play. Also, there’s a charitable side to these pre-orders – for every one Telltale is donating $1.00 to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. (If you didn’t already know, Michael J. Fox, one of the stars of the original films, has been living with Parkinson’s Disease for quite some time now.)

You also have a chance to get connected with the team making the game – pre-orders get special access to a forum at Telltale, where you can talk to them throughout the process. Pretty neat, especially if you like all the behind-the-scenes access.

Speaking of going behind the scenes…here’s a three-part video series to get you acquainted, along with a description from Telltale.

Picking up shortly after the events of the third Back to the Future film, Marty and Doc embark on a completely new cinematic time-travel adventure. The story unfolds across five exciting episodes, with a new installment releasing each month. Telltale is creating the game in collaboration with Universal Partnerships & Licensing and film series’ co-creator/co-writer Bob Gale. The games will release soon after the Blu-ray debut and DVD release of the Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy on October 26, featuring all-new restorations of the classic films.

Look at how amazing this is.

Back To the Future: The Game started out the same way most good ideas do; a brainstorming session of “oh man, wouldn’t it be sweet if we did this?” Fortunately for the gaming populous, making a BTTF game 25 years after the movies was entirely possible, so Telltale went for it. They managed to wrangle Bob Gale, co-creator and co-writer of the original movies, to work with the team to help keep the Back to the Future experience seem authentic. While they do a fair amount of their own editing, Bob is always there to explain character motivations, potential professions, desires, etc. Though getting an original piece of the BTTF pie back in the fold isn’t an instant guarantee this game will be incredible, Telltale assures us, “if you’ve seen the films, you’ll really appreciate it”. As for why would you make a Back to the Future game? “They had a really good idea, and that’s all we need”.

While the game isn’t set for release until this winter, we’ve already been given a lot to look forward to. Doc and Marty will be the game’s main protagonists again, and rumors have been floated as to Christopher Lloyd reprising his role as the eccentric old inventor who spends his time hanging out with teenage time travelers. Even though it’s not a “direct” sequel, the game will still take place in Hill Valley, 1985, and be in the same universe as the original movies. When asked when our heroes might travel to, they simply replied, “they will be going through time”. Gosh, thanks!

Rating: E10+
Genre: Adventure
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Tell Tale Games
Release Date: 4/15/2010
Official Website

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The antagonist this time is a space-travelling General Skunkape (that’s pronounced Skoon-kar-pay although in typical Sam style, the General’s name falls victim to the less-than-flattering interpretation that bears resemblance to his ape-like appearance). The General is trying to take over the universe and arrives on Earth, just around the corner from the Freelance Police’s headquarters! His spacecraft is a massive, well, head that looks not unlike his own (modest chap that he is).

The new release has added controls – rather than the old point-and-click from previous games, players can now navigate using WASD or using the mouse to drag the pointer – obviously a development port from the additional platforms that the game has now been developed for; PlayStation 3 and iPad.

The graphics have been improved in a slightly more gritty way – not quite realistic, but about as real as an animated, talking, suit-wearing dog and bouncy quick-witted rabbit with a penchant for space and time travel yet preference for mid-20th century crime fighting techniques can get. The crazy 1950’s jazz music remains – a nice touch.

Puzzles are not always easy; the order of questions asked are important in navigating scenes – this can be annoying or rewarding depending on how much you like a challenge – but of course resorting to the pair’s box of tricks tends to clear things up for the lost player.

Personally I loved walking around as Sam, swatting Max out of the way with the flick of a hand – it makes me laugh every time. General Skunkape’s character was well-executed; a confident, diplomatic ruler with a little bit of a temper. And a few personalities from previous games pop up such as Spaceball and Moleman.

In Telltale Games’ trademark release format, the game has been released as part of a six-episode release available over over a monthly release schedule. The Penal Zone is somewhat short however the Devil’s Playhouse franchise promises more for the Sam and Max franchise, with a lot more pyschic powers to be revealed for Max (and who knows what trouble he’ll get into next?).

I love Sam and Max. The main characters are zany and charismatic, with jokes and references that adults will find hilarious and younger players will love the cute animations and easy gameplay.

The game is available for download on the Telltale Games website for PC or Mac; on iTunes for iPad; and on the PlayStation Network for PS3. The episodes can be purchased individually, or users can subscribe to the entire series for $US34.95 to receive each of the episodes as they are released. DVD copies for PC and Mac will be available after all five Episodes have been released. Episode 2: the Tomb of Sammun Mak in The Devil’s Playhouse series is also available now (preview below) and Episode 3: They Stole Max’s Brain! is due out this month.

Sam & Max: the Penal Zone is now available from the Apple Apps Store for the special limited time introductory price of $6.99. It will normally cost $9.99.