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And so it continues. The everyday tale of boy meets mad professor and travels through time in a converted sports car. Yes indeedy, Doctor Emmett Brown and Marty McFly are at it again in Back To The Future II. The opening sequence consists of a pleasing rendition of the BTTF theme, followed by an animated sequence of the Delorean taking off from Marty's street. Not exactly mind-blowing, but a nice touch nevertheless.

And into the game itself, which is very straightforward, allowing you to get straight into the first of the five levels. This entails riding a hoverboard (yep, its a skateboard minus the wheels!) through the streets of a futuristic city, avoiding hazards such as cars, cats and other hoverboarding lunatics. One oddity about this level is that, despite the fact you're in light, cracks in the road still prove damaging. It's challenging...

Occasionally, something like a small flying jelly lands and transforms itself into a flashing letter. Ride over these and Marty gets an added dose of energy, points or speed, depending upon the letter he just trashed. Other ingenious tactics can be employed in order to progress though the level, such as performing gut-wrenching leaps to avoid obstacles, or attaching yourself of the back of a taxi to speed up your progress. A bit.

Some of the hoverboarders have serious attitude problems. In the long term, some sort of therapy may be what they need; in the short term, just punch their lights out. Marty kicks ass here much more than he did in the film.

Onward to level two. This provides a sedate break from the action in a single screen puzzle which requires nothing more than a small amount of logic. The screen display is an overhead view of "your home of the future" (which, incidentally, looks about as futuristic as our Dep Ed's flared trousers). [They're coming back into fashion, y'know - Dep Ed]

The aim of this particular game is to help Jennifer, your girlfriend, escape from the house without colliding with her future self or children - the consequences of which would involve the destruction of the space-time continuum. Or something equally afternoon-spoilingly bad. Whenever a pair of doors are opened, the occupants - Jennifer included - move into an adjacent room. And if both rooms are occupied, the baddies simply swap places. The ultimate aim therefore is to manoeuvre the future McFlys out of the way, leaving a clear path for your beloved's escape via the front door. Sounds easy? Well, it is.

Easy is not the word to describe level three though - AAARGH! might be more fitting. It's not that this is the most difficult of the levels but that the gameplay is annoying. The scenario is this: in order to get back to your Delorean you have to fight your way beat-'em-up style through an area of the city that makes the Bronx look like the garden of Eden. The range of combat moves is pretty limited, but this is no great shame, since your opponents aren't particularly clever, either.

It's just a case of repeatedly punching them until they disappear. Other hazards include bullets and flying barrels which have to be avoided by jumping or crouching.

This level's just a case of persevering in the vain hope that you'll eventually reach the next, hopefully more interesting, level. It a dirty job and it's a shame that someone has to do it.

Level four takes us back to the world of logic puzzles. A glance at the screenshots shows that this is one of those tried and tested sliding block puzzles. It's also the trickiest level of all and could provide a serious hurdle to anyone who's completely crap at puzzle games. The picture is made up of jumbled animations which build up the dance scene where Marty plays lead guitar for the rock band.

To make matters worse, it's also a race against the clock. This level has a catchy soundtrack, though.

It's back to the hoverboard for the fifth and final level. This is much the same as level one only a tad more difficult. Make your way through the streets of Hill Valley, meet up with the Delorean and board it ready for... Oh. And that's the end of the game. It should at least have been as impressive as the beginning.

In general, the games which make up the different levels are unoriginal. There are dozens of nice touches but these serve only to remind you that the game as a whole is full of unfulfilled promise. The sprites, are no better than average, but again there are a few pleasing effects (like the movement of the cats on levels one and five).

The sound is the most pleasing aspect, with adequate spot effects and a soundtrack which is sufficiently polished to ensure that you'll be whistling the tune long after your C64 has been switched off. Back To The Future II will provide a few hours, maybe even a few days, of fun but its lasting appeal is extremely questionable.

All that remains is to look forward to Back To The Future III. I can barely contain myself.

Mark:
Effective opening. Shame the sprites on level 1 are a bit knobby (some of the others are worse). It's the variation you get with five mini-games which makes this appealing but it's not my type of game.

Kev:
Level 1 is like Paperboy. I like the mix of arcade and puzzles. Didn't like the beat-'em-up on level 3. No, I wouldn't buy this. I don't usually buy hyped games anyway.

Matt:
Not a bad opening sequence and clever scrolling, but I wouldn't buy it. I think I might finish it too quickly. Level 2 is too easy. I liked the bits between levels and I liked level 4 best.

Gaz:
Really good opening. Music's all right. Like the graphics. There aren't enough moves on level 3. I like working out puzzles but the level 4 picture wasn't very clear. Don't think it's worth eleven quid.

1. Five different sub-games provide plenty of variety.
2. Effective animation on some of the sprites and the sliding block puzzle game.
3. Detailed backdrops and decent soundtrack add polish.
4. Uncomplicated gameplay lets you get straight into it.
5. Sophisticated smooth horizontal and diagonal scrolling.
6. Neatly incorporates some of the film's best themes.
7. Cheerfully colourful.

1. Unimaginative levels give this game a very short potential lifespan.
2. Some later levels are easier than earlier ones, instead of progressively becoming more difficult.
3. Unresponsive controls on the arcade levels.
4. Ploppy chunky sprites.
5. Limited continue options.