
There they encountered a world of holographic cinema marquees, flying cars, Pepsi Perfect, auto-drying clothing, and a reference to the Cubs winning the World Series which - even 30 years on - nobody our side of the Atlantic understands.
Please accept our apologies for adding to the pile of what will doubtless become today's tsunami of Back to the Future articles, with this: some Back to the Future games you've probably forgotten about. Now get a fat load of this knowing reference: You have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy!
Back to the Future Adventure came out in 1986, and had but the most anaemic of ties to the movie. Looking more like an urban Wonder Boy, a squat Marty McFly leapt through levels while avoiding the police (or maybe they were The Blues Brothers), and barely tolerating an endlessly repeating, vaguely rock and roll, tune. Reaching a dancehall would reward you with the sight of Marty's parents falling in love. Repeat ad infinitum.
Despite some surprisingly authentic depictions for five of the film's locations - albeit all squashed together into a single street - and a nice touch in the way your health/remaining time was represented by deteriorating photos of Marty and his siblings, it was a convoluted action adventure thing that pleased nobody. Least of all Chronon - Emperor of Time. What a stupid baby's toy.
Unlike the above games, this one accompanied Marty's manic clock-gathering with semi-recognisable versions of Johnny B. Goode and The Power of Love. A handful of mini-games punctuated the main stages, including one - set during The Enchantment Under the Sea dance - which saw the player fighting to keep his fingers on the strings of Marty's guitar. It sounds like something a baby would have as a toy!
A mix of Paperboy-esque, avoid-the-dogs/Biff's cronies levels, top-down stealth, side-on platform sections, and puzzle minigames, it was about as convoluted and all over the place as the timelines were after Biff Tannen got his hands on the Sports Almanac! Do you see? Do you see what we did there? That's like something proper writers would do. Not like something a baby would do, with its stupid baby hands.
Weirdly, the levels were introduced by Woody Woodpecker, taking on a sort of ersatz Doc Brown role. Though a simplistic and broadly awful racing game, it's a real curiosity in that it boasts sections taken from the ride, which never appear in the movies - including an Ice Age and prehistoric Hill Valley. And yes - you did have to use your hands to play it. You know: like a baby would.