Previous Next

Time just won't stand still for Marty McFly. Having been catapulted to 1955 in Back To The Future and bounced between future, present and past in the sequel, he's now been thrown right back to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown in this final episode of the trilogy.

Confused? Well, it's like this. At the end of Back To The Future II, the Doc's customised time machine/DeLorean transported him back to late nineteenth century America, to a small frontier town in the Wild West.

Marty, in the meantime, is stranded in 1965 - but moments after he thinks that all is lost, he receives a letter from the Doc dated 1885, which explains how he has forged himself a happy life as a blacksmith, and wants no help from Marty - he also leaves specific instructions on how to find the DeLorean which he has hidden in a disused mineshaft.

However, as he's digging out the DeLorean to make it back home to the present day, Marty discovers the Doc's headstone in a nearby graveyard - dated just a few days after the letter. Realising that something is wrong, Marty vows to save the Doc before he's killed, and sets the DeLorean to travel back to 1885.

Playing the roles of both Doc Brown and Marty, your task is to rescue the Doc's beloved (Clara Clayton) from certain death, return everyone to their own time zones and fight off challenges from Buford Tannen, Marty's nemesis.

This plot unfolds over four sections, two of which (the Shooting Gallery and Pie Throwing) you can practise before you undertake the mission as a whole. It's well worth trying these out before you start, because the further you progress, the tougher it gets!

In truth, this is one film that didn't really provide the richest source of material to convert to 16-bit - but Probe has made good use of the licence. Four levels might not sound like much, and after the first one (which should only take a few attempts to complete) you could begin to wonder what you've spent your money on. You're not left wondering for long though: the shooting gallery is a frenetic and very tough section which will have your hands aching, while the pie-throwing contest takes ages to conquer because Buford's gang are spread out, the control method takes some getting used to, and the perspective is an unusual one.

Get past those and you face the toughest challenge of them all in the train section.

The sum total is four neat and varied sub-games: the combination of different styles - shoot-'em-ups, leap and dodge race game and Operation Wolf-style action - mean that every level is a surprise and you don't have time to get bored. One let-down is that the sections don't form any kind of narrative on their own, but there are plenty of humorous (and sometimes random) presentation screens to keep you informed.

The graphics are nicely drawn throughout, but it's the sound that contributes most 1o the atmosphere: it's not particularly complicated or awe-inspiring, but the selection of Wild West-style tunes sets just the right mood. The highlight is rendition of the theme from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly! The whole package is an enjoyable combination of game types which should please fans of the films.

There will be no changes as far as rootin', tootin' or shootin' go, so in all respects this should look, sound and play like the Amiga version.

Once again, the action should stay the same, on both 3.5" and 5.25" disks. Apart from that, no further details about the graphics modes or sound support a available just yet.