Back To The Future

Back to the Future on the NES is a side-scrolling action game based on the 1985 film, placing Marty McFly in a race to set the timeline right. Released in 1989, it was developed by Beam Software and published by LJN, and it takes a much looser approach to the movie than a simple scene-by-scene adaptation. Instead of following the film’s story through dialogue and cutscenes, the game turns Hill Valley and its surrounding settings into hazardous platforming stages.

Marty moves through horizontally scrolling areas while avoiding enemies, obstacles, and other dangers. Clocks are an important part of the challenge, since collecting them helps keep the game’s time-related meter from running down. The action is deliberately straightforward: make your way across each section, grab useful items, and keep moving before time becomes a bigger problem. The controls and level layouts demand careful timing, particularly when dealing with narrow platforms and threats that can quickly drain Marty’s limited energy.

The NES presentation captures some recognizable Back to the Future ideas, including Marty’s race against time and the pressure to restore the proper future, but the experience is primarily an arcade-style action game. Its appeal today comes partly from that contrast. Fans of licensed NES titles may enjoy seeing how the film was translated into an early console format, while retro players can approach it as a compact, challenging platformer from the late eighties.

Back to the Future is best suited to players interested in unusual movie adaptations and the rough-edged design of the NES era. It is a single-player experience, and its simple premise makes it easy to understand even when the hazards become demanding. On RetroCloud, you can play online on your browser and revisit this curious piece of LJN and Beam Software history without needing the original NES hardware.