BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II ========================== LOADING ------- SPECTRUM CASSETTE Insert the cassette into the player and type LOAD " ". The game will load and run. CASSETTE VERSIONS PLEASE NOTE: Due to this program being of several different parts it will be necessary for you to stop and start the cassette as instructed on screen by your computer. CONTROLS -------- Spectrum versions can be controlled by joystick and also have a redefinable keyboard option. Refer to the on-screen instructions for more details. HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN ..... ------------------------------ Returning from the year 2015 on an innocent sightseeing tour, Doc has some very bad news for Marty. Unless he goes back to the future with him in order to change the course of history, the future of his family could be in danger. Now it's up to him - or rather you - to put things right. BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II is not just one game - it's five separate games that each tell a chapter of the story, with you as the lead character, Marty McFly. If you've seen the movie you're bound to have some advantage as each of the levels is based directly on a specific scene from the film, but ultimately only quick reflexes and an even quicker mind will see you through safely. It's up to you now. Think about the future .... The object is to race through Hill Valley, and make it safely to the Town Hall, thus preventing a future disaster for your son. Your hoverboard is a pretty nippy mover, but you'll have to move fast to avoid Griff and his Gang." The screen is divided into two areas. The larger portion at the top is the game area, while the lower section is the status area, which appears throughout the game. The status area displays everything You need to know, relevant to the current level, including the year you're currently in (in this case, 2015), your energy level (you start with a full bar, and this is depleted along the way), number of lives remaining and the time remaining, and your score. CONTROLS -------- You control your movement on screen by use of the input device (keyboard or joystick). To move around, steer yourself in the direction Vou wish to go. To accelerate push the device forwards, and to brake, pull backwards. You can punch on-coming attackers by tapping the select button but by holding it down, you will be able to jump over obstacles such as manholes, gratings, puddles of water and kerbs. Your mission on this level is to get Jennifer out of the house without her bumping into any of its computer-controlled occupants, since this would not only cause severe damage to Jennifer's nervous system but also to the fabric of time itself. You view your home of the future from above and, as you will see, Jennifer is in there along with 2 or 3 other occupants. Getting her out sounds simple but it's far from easy seeing as you don't actually control Jennifer directly. You're presented with an eight-directional pointer. By moving the directional pointer in any one of its directions, you will flash two of the available doors. By using the SELECT button you can open the selected doors. When the doors have been opened the occupants of the connecting rooms will move from one to the other. All you have to do is get Jennifer safely out of the house's exit door without bumping into any of the future family. It's basically a logic puzzle so there are plenty of times when you'll have to sit back and think hard about where to move next. The key to success lies in not just watching Jennifer's movements but also the movements of the future family. Memorise which directions open which doors, and bear in mind that you are actually controlling the movements of the future family indirectly (In the same way that you're controlling Jennifer). It's a little like chess in the sense that you'll often have to look two or three moves ahead in order to keep on top of things, so a little forethought wouldn't go amiss. Good luck .... Working out what has gone wrong with the time flow and correcting it may be the first thing on your mind but before you can do that, you've got to get back to the DeLorean alive - and with 1985 in the state it's in it's not easy! This level is a right-to-left scrolling combat game where the objective is to battle your way through Hill Valley and reach the DeLorean. In each of these areas you'll come up against a variety of undesirable local residents who are all out to get you - these are not nice people. To defend yourself you have a simple array of combat moves at your disposal (you may want more but remember, Marty is not Bruce Lee). The moves are as follows... The walking left and right, crouching and jumping bit is pretty obvious, but kicking and punching is a little more complicated. Each combat move is slightly different (as you'lI see when you play the game) and will therefore have a different effect on its victim - this also depends on exactly who you're trying to beat up. Like the second level, this level is a logic puzzle, although this time you're more likely to be familiar with it. It's based on the 'sliding block' pocket puzzles where the idea is to slide the tiles in the correct order to make a complete picture. In this game the picture you're presented with is an animated one of Marty playing guitar at the dance. Or at least it would be if the tiles that make up the picture weren't horribly scrambled. Your job is to slide the tiles into the correct order to complete the picture before the time limit expires. Moving blocks is easy - making the picture isn't. You'll see that one space in the tile grid is always empty and this is the space that you can slide tiles into. Just select a tile, and move it into the relevant direction to fill the space - and create a new one. Once the picture is complete, you can proceed. Like the second level, the logic of this puzzle means you'll always have to look ahead if you're to get anywhere. LEVEL FIVE ---------- Still in 1955, Marty has followed Biff from the Enchantment Under The Sea dance and is hotly pursuing his car through Hill Valley on his hoverboard (which he brought back from 2015). Biff still has the Almanac, and to stop time from going askew, Marty must retrieve it before Bift reaches his destination. As before you have various enemies to contend with, including both you and old Biff, Biff's henchmen and the Hill Valley police - fortunately you can fight them off as before. You can also, as before, collect objects along the way for extra energy, points and power-ups (see LEVEL ONE for details). Don't forget to grab hold of the Almanac betore Bift or anyone else gets you. Your future depends on it. END GAME Even if you manage to complete BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II, the adventure is far from over, as the game's end sequence will reveal. There's still one more chapter to go... Watch out for BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III from Image Works.