Back to the Future

General FAQ/Walkthrough
Written by Vegita, Guardian Of Destiny (VegitaBOD@aol.com)
Version 3.14

Ladies and Gentlemen, the most-patronizing FAQ for a game.  Ever.


Sections:

I    - Introduction
II   - Game Story
III  - The General FAQ (aka Controls, Stages, and Other Good Reasons
       to Shoot Yourself)
     A   - The Street Stages (AKA SHOOT ME!!)
     B   - Even Stage 1 - The Soda Shop (AKA SHOOT ME!!)
     C   - Even Stage 2 - Warding the Affections of Caroline (AKA...you
           get the idea)
     D   - Even Stage 3 - Playin' Guitar like Michael J. Fox Doesn't
           Know How
     E   - Even Stage 4 - Returning to 1985 (And away from this
           Wretched Game!)
IV   - Various
     A   - Helpful Hints
     B   - Revision History
     C   - Thanks
     D   - No Thanks



-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------
     ---------------------I:  Introduction---------------------
-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------

Welcome!  I am Vegita, Guardian Of Destiny, and I see you want help for the
Nintendo game "Back to the Future".  Well...might I inquire as to WHY you're
even bothering with this game?  Honestly, there's not much in the way of a GOOD
game here.  Sure, you've got the cheesy pseudo-shooter, plus a myriad of stupid
mini games.  However, that's all this game is!  Seriously!  I'm warning you up
front, this game is NOT a good idea.

First off, let's get one thing straight: Even though I am Vegita, I will try to
write from an un-biased point of view (although I still think I'm the best at
everything).  Second of all, if I catch anyone copying all or part of this FAQ,
ANY part of this FAQ (not counting little, inconsequential sentences like
"First off, let's get one thing straight), I will destroy you.  I will rip you
limb from limb like the excessively weak individual you are, and then I will
sue you for copyright infringement.  Well, ok, maybe I'll just sue you, but if
I got the chance I'd certainly go for the ripping of limbs from other limbs.

Third of all, I do not own the rights to this game, the names of the characters
in this game or FAQ, or have any ownership whatsoever of this game (except for
the cartridge sitting in my room, that is).  Those are the property of their
respective owners.  If I find a website with this FAQ on it, and it has been
changed in any way, does not give me proper credit, or is selling it without my
knowledge and consent, then I WILL have my lawyers contact that site.  Are we
clear (this means YOU, Vertsk8!)?


-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------
     ----------------------II: Game Story----------------------
-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------

Ah, the 1980s.  There were a lot of exceedingly strange movies made during the
1980s, covering topics ranging from a girls' 16th birthday (and everyone
ignoring her) to a rag-tag group of individuals infiltrating a Nazi Meeting
(albeit with tons of bad puns along the way) to...well, all those dance-themed
movies (Flashdance, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Das Boot, etc).  Then, in 1985,
came along "Back to the Future", a comedy starring Michael J. Fox and
Christopher Lloyd.  The premise of the movie was ludicrous, yet logically sound
- Doc Brown (Lloyd) makes a Time Machine out of a DeLorean, and asks his friend
(probably his ONLY friend) Marty McFly (Fox) to visit his greatest invention
during its trial run.  However, things go awry when a Libyian Group of
terrorists (whom Doc stole some Plutonium from to make his Time Machine run)
arrive and cause a panic.  Marty, in a huff to get out of there, hops in the
DeLorean and inadvertently transports himself back to 1955, 30 years prior. 
While there, he accidently disrupts the meeting of his mother and father, thus
creating the chain of events that cause him to never be born.  Marty then sets
out to restore time as it should have been, and maybe having a little fun in
the process.

What a great movie.  What a sorry, sorry excuse for a game that was made with
the license.  Seriously, I don't know how you could take a great premise like
that and screw it up.  You travel back in time, you accidently screw up the
meeting between your mother and father, you get them to meet back up, you beat
up the bullies, and you get home.  That would SEEM like a fun game, but somehow
during the process of making the game Beam Software royally screwed up.


-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------
     -------------------III: The General FAQ-------------------
-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------

Ok folks, there are a few things you'll need to know before you play this game.
 First off, don't.  Second of all, if you still want to play this game, then I
pity you.  Now, onto the individual sections of the game!


##########III-A:  The Street Stages##########

Controls:

B BUTTON        - By pressing the B BUTTON, Marty will jump up in the
                  air.  This is especially effective if you want to
                  waste your time by trying to jump over things.  See,
                  despite the fact that Marty can blatantly jump the
                  equivalent of 5 feet in the air on-screen, he can't
                  successfully clear a 3-foot park bench.  Sure,
                  he can jump over lesser objects, such as trash cans
                  or manholes (which would be much easier to walk
                  around rather than jump over, but what do I know)...
                  but the point remains.  So if you don't feel like
                  taking a trip into the sewers press the B BUTTON for
                  a ride.  Wheeee!!!
A BUTTON        - Pressing the A BUTTON will do absolutely nothing
                  until you've picked up a Bowling Ball.  Once you
                  have, by pressing the A BUTTON Marty will chuck a
                  bowling ball straight ahead of him with the hopes of
                  clobbering helpless hula-dancers, misguided athletes,
                  hard-working movers, and even the occasional
                  Bumblebee.  Good job, Marty, you're a menace to your
                  surroundings!  Let's put you in a radiation suit and
                  ship you off to Chernobyl! Stupid good-for-nothing...
DIRECTIONAL PAD - Press the DIRECIONAL PAD to move Marty LEFT, RIGHT,
                  UP, and DOWN on the screen.  Wow, isn't that
                  exciting?  We're making Marty MOVE!  Up next we'll
                  learn how to sell this game to an ususpecting friend
                  for some cheap cash!
SELECT          - Press this button really, REALLY hard until you see
                  bright spots before your eyes and you feel faint.
                  Then you'll know you're having a better time than
                  actually playing this game.  Otherwise, the SELECT
                  Button does nothing.
START           - Pressing the START BUTTON pauses the game, so you can
                  reflect on just why it is you're playing this game.

What happens during these areas:  "Marty McFly is stuck in a seriously-twisted
1955!  Help!"  Ok, seriously your goal is to maneuver Marty along the
exceedingly dangerous streets of Hill Valley as he makes his way towards each
of the "Event" levels (III-B through III-E).  You have to make it to these
Event areas as quickly as possible (1), or else time will erase Marty's
existance, removing him from ANY timeline altogether!

While you're meandering the streets of Hill Valley, your photo - which is
located at the bottom of the screen and shows crude drawings of you, your
brother and your sister - will slowly disappear.  This is a sign that time is
quickly erasing the future you once knew.  In order to counteract this strange
phenomenon, you have to collect Alarm Clocks that are scattered along the
streets.  How a bunch of Alarm Clocks can safely counteract the effects of time
unravelling at the seams I don't know, but the fact of the matter is you've
gotta nab 'em before you are erased!

Now, it's bad enough that Time is out to get you, but you've also got a
separate timer as well.  If you don't make it to the end of the area before the
timer is up, you lose one life (and you only get 4), so make sure you avoid
obstacles as best as you can!

Now, Time is out to get you, a separate Timer is out to get you...what else
could go wrong?  Oh, how about everything else in sight!  The screen rapidly
scrolls upwards, revealing more and more street/sidewalk/annoyances for Marty
to navigate.  Aside from the twists and turns of the street (3), you'll have to
contend with various "offensive" items.  Here they are, in a nutshell:

---The Pink Bullies:  These guys are tall, mean, and looking to pummel McFly
for no good reason.  Maybe because it's the 50s and anyone named "McFly" would
be fodder for this sort of thing.  Maybe it's because of repressed violent
tendencies that these Jocks have pent up.  Maybe it's because someone threw a
red Cap in with his white Tube Tops, and now he's wearing a Pink Shirt and
lookin' to beat the snot out of someone because of it.  What's worse is if you
manage to dodge this freak, he'll start chucking weird bluish objects at you. 
Jus what ARE those things, anyways...

---The Giant Bees:  Wow, bees were REALLY big back in the day!  These guys,
easily larger than Marty's head, will fly around him, attempting to touch him. 
Apparently because these guys are so big, they don't even have to sting him -
just by swinging their massive bulk into Marty will cause him to fall over.

---The Hula Girls:  Wait a minute...an attractive, scantilly-clad woman is in
the middle of the street, playing with a Hula Hoop, and this is supposed to be
a BAD thing?  I can understand how it would be a distraction, but certainly not
something that would make your average High School Teenage Male fall down on
the ground and wave his arms about (see the last footnote for more information
about this).  Maybe I'm just missing something.  What's even funnier about the
situation is that these women will start blowing "kisses" at you in an attempt
to sidetrack you from your quest.  Wait a minute...these "kisses" they're
blowing at you look just like those strange blue-things the Bullies were
throwing at you!  Uh...I think that explains quite a lot about those guys...not
that there's anything WRONG with that.

---The Blue Bullies:  These guys are a lot rarer than the Pink Bullies, but
they can be a menace just the same.  Instead of looking for affections from
McFly, these guys seem to be much more occupied with a more engauging project -
walking around in a square pattern, completely ignorant of anything going on
around him.  I'm sorry, but just how dumb do you have to be to walk around in
the middle of the street, oblivious to everything around you (which has already
proven to be extremely fatal).

---The Movers:  Ok, great, you've picked on the confused jocks, the attractive
women, and nature...of COURSE, the next logical step is the workforce of
America!  And what better way to do that than to assault harmless movers, busy
transporting an invisible sheet of glass?  Well, maybe these guys are just
practicing moving glass, with the hopes of being able to go into that job
interview and say "Look!  We've already got the proceedure down!"  Gosh, what
fun it would be to plow right throw those guys and laugh, because you KNOW
through your efforts you've cost another man his job.  You know, McFly, it must
feel good to be you.  I can't understand why people on the streets aren't
rushing out to help you restore your rightful timeline.  I mean, you're such a
nice guy and all, destroying people's future career plans and all...

---Park Benches:  That's right, the game wouldn't be complete if it didn't have
a neon-green, inanimate object that could harm you, now would it?  In this
case, it is a long Park Bench.  Unlike other harmful inanimate objects in this
game (such as George McFly), this particular obstacle can NOT be jumped over. 
That's right, Marty McFly, who demonstrates throughout the entire game that he
can jump roughly 5 feet upwards, can NOT successfully clear a 3-foot Park
Bench.  Maybe it's a Kryptonite Bench, who's effects are slowly draining Marty
of his will to live.  Maybe it's just a disgustingly-painted Park Bench with a
magical "No Jumping" aura around it.  Whatever the case, don't try to be a
daredevil here.

---The Open Manholes:  Yay!  It's a shortcut to another area, so you can
traverse quicker to the "Event" areas...wait, what do you mean it's not? 
Whaddaya MEAN it's not even a real manhole?  Yes, that's right Marty, these
things are DANGEROUS.  Normally, I wouldn't want to fall down a Manhole (unless
I was attempting to visit Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo), but
in this game I figured it'd be worth a shot.  No such luck...in fact, I don't
know WHAT these are, but they certainly can't be Manholes.  In real life, if
you ran straight across an open manhole the laws of physics would dictate that
the moment a plane didn't exist below you, gravity would being to pull you
downward at a constant rate.  Due to this, you would either fall completely in
or partially decend, the rest of you smacking into the concrete on the other
side of the hole.  In this game's case, however, by walking over a Manhole
Marty simply spontaneously falls over, as if some loveable young scamp
(preferably from a Disney movie) tied his shoelaces together while he wasn't
looking (and proceeded to sing a song, calling this troublesome person from the
future "Poo-Poo Man").  I don't understand why a Manhole would act as a trip
wire instead of a Manhole, but I guess that's just Hill Valley's crezzy, crezzy
physics in action.

Everything else in the stages, save the boundaries, can be jumped over or
otherwise easily avoided.  The Oil Slicks will simply make Marty slide around,
but he won't fall down, and you can jump the trash cans.

Ok, so we've seen the "bad guys" that "attack" Marty during his quest. 
However, he CAN gain an advantage or two, with the help of some items.
Scattered throughout the street are the aforementioned Alarm Clocks.  After a
certain period of time, you'll come across a Bowling Ball.  By picking this up,
you can throw Bowling Balls straight ahead of you (4), knocking down any
enemies in its path (5).  If you successfully take out a noving object
(bullies, bees, movers, etc), then you'll get points for it and that enemy will
disappear from the screen.  However, Bowling Balls can also destroy Alarm
Clocks, so be careful when you're chucking them about.  After picking up the
Bowling Ball, Marty will eventually come across a Skateboard.  Hop on the
Skateboard to travel twice as fast.  While on the Skateboard, you can still
Jump (still 5-feet up) and throw Bowling Balls straight ahead.  You simply move
faster.  If you manage to hold onto the the Bowling Ball AND the Skateboard for
a long enough period of time, you will occasionally see a set of Bowling Pins. 
Succeed in striking them with a Bowling Ball for a large amount of points! 
Yay!

There is one final thing to talk about before moving onto the Footnotes and the
next section - how you can die.  In each Area, you are given 4 lives.  You have
to make it all the way to the end of the area without your picture fading
complete AND without the Timer running out.  If either of these happen, you
lose a life.  Sounds simple, right?  Wrong - every harmful object you touch
causes Marty to fall on the ground (6), eating up precious seconds.  This
causes the picture to disappear even further and the timer to count down
quicker.  Also, whenever you fall down, any items (and enemies, thankfully)
disappear.  This can be both a blessing (bees) and a curse (skateboards and
clocks), as both helpful and harmful will disappear.

There is one final way to die - getting stuck behing an object (a blockade, a
trash can, a bench, or some other immovable object) when the screen scrolls all
the way to the bottom.  In effect, you are crushed by the bottom of the screen
(I say the Langoliers got you...it's all about Time, right?).

So in short - you have to make it to the end of the Street Area.  In order to
do that, you have to succeed in falling down as little as possible, and to keep
your family picture intact.  In order to do that, dodge as many hazardous
things as you can and keep picking up the clocks.  Nab a Bowling Ball and take
out enemies before they can overcome you, and grab a skateboard to move even
quicker (thus effectively beating the timer).  That's the long and short of it,
folks!


---Footnotes---

1 = ...which is apparently why Marty is on foot, as opposed to ANY other mode
of transportation!  It's called hitch hiking, son!  Stick yer thumb out and
MOVE, or else you're history (or a lack thereof, technically). (2)

2 = Actually in retrospect, most everything you come across - from women and
men, to animals, to even trash and inanimate objects -  is extremely deadly, so
I don't blame Marty for NOT wanting to ask someone on the street for help -
they'd probably skin him alive and drop his bones down one of those
oh-so-dangerous manholes as a warning to others.

3 = Just who the heck designed these streets, anyways?  There's no way in HECK
you could drive a car down these streets, even if they were free of all the
debris, you would have to take a car at roughly 1 MPH to safely handle the
turns.  Yeesh...

4 = Well, it's not like Marty can face another direction.  He only faces UP, no
matter which DIRECTIONAL BUTTON you press.  That's fairly impressive, running
and jumping backwards like that...

5 = Another interesting point of physics - just where does young McFly keep
these bowling balls?  He apparently "magically" makes them appear, so it is
safe to say that he has an infinite amount...however, if he has an infinite
amount of Bowling Balls, why is he wasting his time only throwing one at a
time?

6 = ...I find it funny how, whenever Marty falls over, he acts as if he's
throwing a tantrum.  I like to imagine he's thinking "WHY AM I IN THIS GAME? 
WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME, O GREAT LORD?  WHHHHYYYYYYYY?!?!?!"


##########III-B:  The Soda Shop##########

Controls:

A BUTTON        - Press the A BUTTON to use the "Super Shake".
B BUTTON        - Press the B BUTTON to throw a regular ol' Root Beer
                  Float.
DIRECTIONAL PAD - UP and DOWN move Marty up and down behind the bar.
                  LEFT and RIGHT, despite your best efforts, do
                  nothing.
SELECT          - Press the SELECT button.  Didn't do anything, did it?
                  Now press it again.  Still nothing, eh?  Keep
                  pressing it.  Nothin's happening, is it?  Well then,
                  that should tell you something - it does nothing.
                  Stop wasting your time!
START           - Pressing the START BUTTON pauses the game, so you can
                  look at Marty happily standing behind the bar,
                  awaiting a beating by superhuman bullies.

What happens during these areas:  "Marty must defeat the bullies before they
can throw him out of the Diner!"  Oh boy...apparently, an infinite amount of
bullies are planning on beating you up because you ticked off Biff.  Marty,
seeking refuge, decides to hide behind the bar of Lou's Diner.  In order to
keep the bullies from throwing you out (or rather into the door, which fails to
open for you), you need to stop them from getting to the bar.

Now, what's the most logical way to do this?  Simple - move Marty UP and/or
DOWN until he's in line with an incoming bully.  Now, chuck a root beer float
right into their face (7).  This will effectively knock them to the ground (and
then, after shaking their head wildly, they magically disappear).  You have to
successfully knock out at least 50 bullies without any of them getting to you
to move on - fail, and you're returned to the last Street Stage (you've gotta
walk back to the Diner).

Now, this stage starts off fairly easy.  Only 1 bully will come at a time, and
he usually moves slow (looks like they send the newer, not-quite-confident
bullies first).  After about 10 or so have been knocked down, they'll start
moving faster and coming in greater numbers.  Once they really start taking a
thrashing, they'll start throwing things back at you (it looks like pizza, but
one can't be sure in this warped day and age of 1955).  If you get hit by it,
Marty will be incapacitated for a brief moment, unable to move or retaliate, as
he wipes the stuff (pizza?) from his eyes.

What happens if the bullies are almost overwhelming you?  Well, that's where
your "Super Shake" comes in handy.  I don't really understand how a food item
could possibly knock down all comers at once (maybe it's Pulp Fiction's
mysterious "5-Dollar Shake"), but it does.  When you use a Super Shake, all the
bullies on screen are not only knocked down, but they're sent flying to the
back of the room.  Now THAT is a powerful drink!  However, you only start with
1 Super Shake, so use it wisely.  You can gain more when a Waitress skates
across the screen and puts one down on the bar for you.  If you hit her while
she's on her way over, she will simply turn tail and run off.  No shake for
you!


There, you know how to deal with the bullies!  Let's move onto another set of
Street Stages while we head towards the school!

---Footnotes---

7 = Let's look at the physics of this.  Marty can throw a Bowling Ball at a
VERY high speed (20 pounds, traveling somewhere around 30 feet a second = 600
lbs. of force).  Now, let's imagine what happens when he throws an 8-ounce root
beer float (in a GLASS, for cryin' out loud) and it hits you in the face.  I
don't think I'd survive the impact, let alone fall on my behind, cartoonishly
shake my head, and then magically disappear.  Of course, if we're going by
logic, then these bullies must be made of composite iron to be able to take
that sort of blow and simply shrug it off.  This game is full of Superhumans, I
tell ya!


##########III-C:  Warding the Affections of Caroline##########

Controls:

A BUTTON        - Pressing the A BUTTON will waste your time.
B BUTTON        - Pressing the B BUTTON, much like the A BUTTON, will
                  waste your time.
DIRECTIONAL PAD - By pressing UP or DOWN, Marty will move up or down.
                  LEFT and RIGHT, despite turning marvelous
                  auditions (and later performing in amazing scenes,
                  themselves), were left on the cutting room floor,
                  and therefore do nothing in this particular scene.
SELECT          - Apparently the creators of this game decided to
                  completely neglect the wonderous abilities that the
                  SELECT BUTTON can portray (i.e., selecting things,
                  moving things, and even occasionally pausing the
                  game).  Because of this, the SELECT BUTTON does
                  nothing but sit on your controller and look pretty.
START           - Pressing the START BUTTON allows you to get an
                  8-bit graphical representation of how most of the
                  world viewed "Caroline in the City" - with an object
                  between then and the TV, grimacing in pain.  Try as
                  hard as she might, most people just don't like Lea
                  Thompson outside of the role of Lorraine.

What happens during your unpleasant stay at the Library:  "Oh no, Marty's
future mother has a crush on him!"  Ok, now that is just wrong.  I realize that
was a fault with the movie, but come ON, man, did we really need the Oedipus
reference?  Ew ew ew ew ew...

Anyways, what happens in the library is fairly simple.  Marty is cornered by
Lorraine, whom she is busy expressing affection for.  In an attempt to avoid
he, he has taken up refuge on the other side of a desk (way to go, brainiac). 
Now, she begins shooting hearts at Marty in an attempt to win him over (ew ew
ew ew EW!).  Your job, as Marty, is to move UP and DOWN to block these hearts
(Hearts?  Why not kisses?) with the book he is holding in front of his head.

Now, you'll notice that Lorraine has a constant pattern of affection, moving
back and forth along the opposite side of the room.  Simply time your movements
to when you're going to "catch" the heart, and you should do fine.  Problem is,
after a while she speeds up, shoot hearts even faster.  Sounds like your mom's
getting desparate, Marty!

So, to summarize - Lorraine will move up and down, throwing hearts at you.  You
must move Marty UP and DOWN to successfully block these hearts.  If you miss
one, you are returned to the Street Stage prior to the Library state.  In order
to pass the event, you need to successfully block 50 hearts.  However, Lorraine
will begin throwing hearts at a faster rate, so you will be forced to move
quicker to compensate.  Got it?


##########III-D:  Playin' Guitar/The Dance##########

Controls:

A BUTTON        - Pressing of the A BUTTON will make Marty cry, just
                  like any self-respecting Emo guitarist.  Remember -
                  the wussier you make him look, the better a guitarist
                  you must be!  (8)
B BUTTON        - Pressing the B BUTTON will make Marty fall down. A
                  lot.  Really.(8)
DIRECTIONAL PAD - By pressing UP or DOWN on the DIRECTIONAL PAD, Marty
                  will move his guitar up or down.  By pressing LEFT
                  or RIGHT, Marty will turn to face left or fight.
SELECT          - By pressing the SELECT button, Marty will call out
                  Lammy from the UmJammer Lammy series.  She will then
                  proceed to beat the tar out of Marty for giving
                  guitarists a bad name with his horrible antics and
                  poor musical skills.  (8)
START           - Pauses the game, so you can reflect on just why it is
                  you're playing this game.

What happens during these areas:  "Time to make love come true, and save Marty
before he disappears from time!"  In this stage, Marty is aat the Dance Hall,
playing Guitar in the band.  Lorraine and George are in the audience, and it is
up to Marty to make them fall in love by playing Guitar well (9).

That's the premise of the stage, so how do you do it?  While Marty is on the
stage, 3 different musical notations will float across the screen - a flat
symbol, a sharp symbol, and an Eighth Note.  Marty has to move his Guitar up
and down on either side of him to "catch" these notes with it.  For every
symbol you catch, a meter on the right side of the screen builds up.  When the
meter builds to the heart at the top, Lorraine and George fall in love with
each other, securing Marty's future (10).  However, for every symbol Marty
misses, the meter drops significantly.  Play well, McFly, or you're gonna be
out of time!

Now, the trick is being catching symbols without fail.  Each of the symbols has
a different height they will hit Marty at, regardless of their speed when
travelling towards him.  Once you know that, you can complete this stage
without fail every time.  Now, I realize some of you aren't musicians (shame on
you!), so I'll describe each of the symbols.

Symbol #1:            The Eighth Note.
Description:          These look like a round dot with a straight,
                      vertical line on them.  At the top of the
                      Vertical line is a short curve leading away from
                      the vertical line.  This is generally what an
                      eighth note looks like:  ---------->       |~
How do you catch it:  These will always strike Marty in the      |
                      middle.  Simply have his Guitar in        O
                      its middle position and you will nab it.


Symbol #2:            The Flat Symbol.
Description:          In the music world, putting this next to a note
                      makes it one "half-step" lower, meaning that it
                      is slightly lower in pitch than a note without
                      the symbol.
                      A "flat" looks like a lowercase B (b).
How do you catch it:  These will always strike Marty low, so press DOWN
                      all the way to crouch and protect yourself from
                      those harmful, debilitating musical aids.


Symbol #3:            The Sharp Symbol.
Description:          In the music world, putting this next to a note
                      makes it one "half-step" higher, meaning that it
                      is slightly higher in pitch than a note without
                      the symbol.
How do you catch it:  These will always strike Marty high, so press UP
                      all the way to raise his Guitar up and stop the
                      harmful "Good Music" icons from getting through
                      and stopping Marty from ruining an otherwise fine
                      and decent Prom.

So, to recap - Marty has to catch the 3 different symbols to fill the meter. 
By moving the Guitar Up and Down, Marty nabs these symbols, building the meter
to the right whenever he is successful (and dropping it whenever he isn't). 
Fill the meter and Marty wins.

---Footnotes---

8 = Actually, pressing any of these buttons will do nothing.  I just thought
the game would be as LOT better if they actually did what I said they did.

9 = To be honest, if someone at my high school prom played Guitar this poorly
and was generally looking like a complete idiot, I'd probably ignore what was
happening onstage and go make out with MY girlfriend too.  I don't blame George
and Lorraine at all.  In fact, I think everyone the audience should have just
walked away from Marty and started kissing.

10 = Gosh, I need to learn to play guitar that poorly.  I mean, if I can make
people fall in love by butchering popular songs from the 50's, I could be a
veritable Cupid!


##########III-E:  Returning to 1985##########

Controls:

A BUTTON        - Pressing the A BUTTON originally made Marty honk his
                  horn, giving a semblance of reality in the game.
                  However, that was later on scratched (no one could
                  decide on what the DeLorean car horn sounded like) in
                  favor of Marty turning the headlights off and on (for
                  more of a challenge).  That brought up the point of
                  what good the lights would do, since this stage IS in
                  the middle of a Lightning Storm, with flashes of
                  light all over the place.  There were several other
                  ideas for what the A BUTTON would have done in this
                  stage, some good, but all were eventually taken out
                  of the game (11).  Therefore, pressing the A BUTTON
                  does nothing.
B BUTTON        - Much like the A BUTTON, the B BUTTON had a very large
                  role in this stage up until someone decided that the
                  stage itself was pointless enough.  Why bother
                  including something that would make the stage more
                  fun to play, you might ask?  Well, that apparently
                  was the rationalization...therefore, the B BUTTON
                  does nothing as well.
DIRECTIONAL PAD - The DIRECTIONAL PAD is what you use to move the
                  DeLorean around.  By pressing up, Marty will put his
                  foot down on the gas pedal, making him speed up (13).
                  Pressing LEFT and RIGHT made the DeLorean move LEFT
                  or RIGHT on the screen (14).
SELECT          - Pressing the SELECT button will waste your time.
                  That's all it does.  Sorry...
START           - Pressing the START button will pause the game and
                  make the screen freeze, allowing you to see a real,
                  live DeLorean onscreen being blasted by bolts of
                  lightning.  Marty, remind me to NOT have you do any
                  valet parking.

What happens during these areas:  "Now is the time, Marty!  Return to your
original time by driving the DeLorean down the street!"  The premis for this
stage is actually rather simpe - Marty must drive the DeLorean to the Wire
strung across the street right as lightning strikes it, thus giving his car
enough energy to race back to 1985.  In order to achieve this, Marty has to get
the DeLorean up to 88 Miles Per Hour (Marty's current MPH is written in the box
at the bottom of the screen).

Now, the tricky part about this stage is that there are lightning bolts
striking the street all over, and whenever Marty drives over a spot hit by the
lightning the DeLorean loses some speed (15).  You HAVE to be doing 88 MPH when
you come to the wire, or else you'll be stuck in 1985 forever.  Drive well,
dodge the lightning bolts, and head forward to your own time, McFly!

So, to recap - Drive down the street.  Don't hit stuff.  However, do get hit by
the Wire at the end of the street.  So hit stuff, but don't hit stuff.  Hit
CERTAIN stuff...yeah, that's it.

---Footnotes---

11 = ...possibly by the 1 person at the company that felt taking a popular
movie and making a bad game out of it (most likely named "Earl") was a smart,
profitable move.  Oh, that poor, misguided fool.  (12)

12 = Actually, I have no idea why nothing was done with the A, B, or SELECT
buttons throughout the game.  All I know is that the opportunity for something
neat, inventive, and fun was there, but it was not taken.  Come to think of it,
that pretty well describes the game itself!

13 = ...by causing the DeLorean to shoot small flames out of its
tailpipes...that probably isn't a GOOD thing, but what do I know about cars. 
After all, I've only successfully removed and taken engines out of a variety of
makes and models, as well as repairs on a number of others...but I probably
don't know ANYTHING when it comes to flames shooting out of a part of your car
that shouldn't have any flames near it.

14 = Which brings me to an interesting point - why is it the DeLorean, whos
wheels are clearly pointed parallel to the car itself, can move the car
straight to the left or right without turning at all?  In order for this to
happen, the wheels would have to be pointed perpendicular to the car, which
most any transaxle on a car will NOT allow you to do - suffice to say, if your
wheels turn that far, you've broken either the axle, or the ball joints that
hold the wheels on are sufficiently broken.

15 = Here's another interesting question - just how is it that these bolts of
Lightning are striking concrete?  This particular area must be so positively
charged that it's become a magnet for electricity!  According to the laws of
science that I know, lighting can't strike concrete because it can't conduct
electricity...but what do I know?  (16)

16 = ANOTHER point - if there is so much lightning all around, why doesn't
Marty just put a big metal pan on the back of the DeLorean, get up to 88 miles
an hour, and drive up and down the street until lightning hits him?  If this
area is so positively charged that lightning is striking non-conductive
materials, imagine what would happen if a conductive material happened upon the
area!  (17)

17 = Ok, one final point - is it just me, or do the areas of the street already
hit by lightning resemble the Japanese symbol for "Ri/Li"?  I kinda thought
they did...


-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------
     -----------------------IV:  Various-----------------------
-------------------------Back to the Future-------------------------


#####IV-A:  Helpful Hints#####

1 - At the end of every "Street" Stage, Marty can gain extra points by jumping
right as the stage scroll ends.  The higher in the air Marty is, the more
points he gets (100-900 in total).

2 - For every 10,000 points you collect, Marty gets an extra life.  This really
add up once you start bashing everything in site with a bowling ball.

3 - Both the "Soda Shop" and "Library" even stages automatically end when
you've gained 99 points (knocked out 99 bullies or 99 stopped hearts).

4 - This game sucks.  Don't bother playing it.


#####IV-B: Revision History#####

06-06-01:  Began work on this FAQ.  Why, I'll never know...maybe I'm a
masochist?
06-12-01:  Because I had nothing better to do, I finished work on this FAQ. 
Yeah, I think it's safe to say I'm a masochist.  At least I made this
(marginally) fun to work on, or else I'd NEVER have finished it!


#####IV-C: Thanks#####

Wow, there's a LOT of people here to thank, eh?

~CJayC (CJayC@gamefaqs.com, www.gamefaqs.com) for putting this FAQ up.

~Al Amaloo (www.gamewinners.com) for being such a cool guy, and having a great
site.

~Vertsk8pro@hotmail.com for giving me a heart attack with your childish "I
stole your FAQ and sold it with my name on it" antics.  Because of that, I now
do dozens of things to make sure people don't steal my work.  If they do, I
know exactly what to look for to see if they took MY work or not.

~Uh...I can't exactly thank God for the role he's taken in my life, because
that would seem like I'm trying to force my religious opinions on someone else
(which I'm not).  Therefore, I'd like to thank "Murray" for the role he's taken
in my life (Murray, you know who you are).


#####IV-D:  NO THANKS#####

If you write me asking for help with the game, I'll send you a link to my FAQ. 
If you ask for specific help, I'll try to aid you.  However, if you ask me
about something that is already covered in the FAQ, I will simply refer you to
the FAQ again.  I wrote the FAQ so that your questions would be answered here,
not so I could repeat that FAQ bit by bit through e-mail for the next few
years.  If you need clarification about something in the FAQ, ask about it -
but don't ask me to repeat anything.

Finally, no thanks to the programmers for forever tarnishing the memory of
"Back to the Future" with this game.  To quote the comic strip 'Red Meat'
(Redmeat.com), "It's not just awful, it's God-Awful."

And if you happen upon this FAQ at sites other than these:

www.GameFAQ s.com
www.Gamewinner s.com

Then please tell me ASAP!

Finally, if you are so bored you want to see a pathetically weak Dragon
Ball-related site, go here:

http://come.to/VegitaBOD

or

http://VegitaBOD.tripod.com/Homepage.html


This FAQ Copyright Vegita, Guardian Of Destiny, June 2001
