Back to the Future is a series that needs little introduction. It excellently mixes action, adventure, comedy, and sci-fi, and perhaps a few other genres, resulting in three of the most beloved films of all time. Part II was released on 22nd November (USA), 24th November 1989 (UK). Directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue, Jeffrey Weissman. It was written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis.
Some of Back to the Future is set in the then-distant future of 2015, while the real 2015 brought nothing but disappointment; the one depicted in the film, hower,had flying cars, hoverboards, and 80s nostalgia cafes
The Games on Film
Marty, disguised as his own son, goes to Cafe 80s to prevent his son from getting arrested for taking part in Griff’s (Biff’s grandson) criminal plan. Cafe 80s is full of pop culture references and stereotypical over-the-top 80s design and fashion. For instance, the video waiters seem to be a nod to Max Headroom, although Headroom doesn’t make an appearance. They have the same glitchy
robotic movement and screensaver-esque background of repeating patterns that are iconic of the Headroom style.
To one side of the cafe is a Wild Gunman arcade. Two kids are trying to get it to work. It starts up, but the kids don’t have any idea how to play.
Marty steps in to show off his sharp shooting skills. The kids are unimpressed, calling the game a baby’s toy.
In the other corner of the cafe is a Pac-Man (80) arcade that has a sign on it that says “priceless artefact DO NOT TOUCH”. This could also explain why the Wild Gunman arcade was turned off. Perhaps it also had a sign that the kids removed?
Cafe 80s
(Arcades)
Wild Gunman (Nintendo) (Arcade, prop made for the film)
Pac-Man (Arcade, 1980, Namco, Bally)
Later in the film, Marty buys the Grey’s Sports Almanac from an antique store called Blast from the Past. In the window, there is an array of 80s treasures (I’ll only be highlighting things that are video game-related, sorry Dragnet on VHS).
Blast from the past antiques store
(NES games)
Jaws, NES Game. (NES, Westone ) (1987)
Burger Time, NES Game (NES, Data East) (1987)
(Hardware)
Apple Macintosh (1984)
“undefined keyboard” (198?) (Something that looks like a grey computer keyboard between the Mendocino box and the Bee Gees record.
(Misc)
Pac-Man tin lunch box (Aladdin,1980)
A Baby’s toy?
At certain points, it’s hard to tell what kid is saying what, but here’s a rough transcript of the scene.
Kid
Is this a video game?
Kid
I got it working!
Kid
My dad taught me about these.
Marty
It is Wild Gunman
Kid
How do you play this thing?
Marty
I’ll show you kid, I’m a crack shot at this.
Kid
You mean you have to use your hands?
Kid
That’s like a baby’s toy.
Marty
Baby’s toy?
Video games in the future
What are even video games in this 2015? One of the kids says his dad taught him about video games. This probably means retro games, or the games his father grew up playing. This might suggest that his father is either Marty’s age and waited to have kids, or is perhaps a little younger than Marty. These kids are about 8 years old. In 2015, Marty’s son was 17 so was born in 1998; these kids were born around 2007.
Ironically, in the real world, 2007 is when the Nintendo Wii was the most popular home console. Most Wii games used the Wii Remote (Wiimote) and motion controls in some way. I think the concept of games controlled by motion would have been quite a futuristic idea back in the mid-to-late 80s when the films were being made.
The kids act like using your hands to control a game is a really outdated concept. This begs the question, just how are video games played in this version of 2015, some kind of TNG Holodeck?
The term “video game” is still used in this version of 2015. The film doesn’t really cover, or try to predict future video games, as it does with other things like Holograms in cinema. “Video” implies some sort of screen and video signal. In 2015, Marty’s home is shown as having a wide-screen TV, which is controlled through speech and doesn’t show a controller. There’s also some kind of window projection system. Marty’s kids wear what look like VR glasses. Is this how games are played?
Alternatively, in this 2015 “Video” could also be an anachronistic term that is kept despite the advancement of technology, in a similar way “rewind” is still used today, when it originally referred to the physical “rewinding” of actual film/tape.
Wild Gunman DEEP DIVE.
Wild Gunman (1985) was a popular light gun game on the NES. The gameplay was a quick-draw/shooting contest where the player goes up against a series of wild west cowboys/bandit types. The player must draw and fire before they do.
In 1986, Wild Gunman was included in certain PlayChoice-10 machines, but it never had a dedicated machine like the one depicted in the film. (Similar to the Rocky pinball from Rocky III, see Games on Film #1).
Looking closely, you can see the PlayChoice-10 logo on the side of the arcade. Furthermore, the actual gameplay seen in the film, while reminiscent of the gameplay and graphics of Wild Gunman, was actually an animation made especially for the film.
The title screen is also different from the real NES version. The text in the title Wild Gunman has more of an orange hue on NES, but is pink in the film’s mock-up arcade.
Wild Gunman, along with the NES itself, came out Oct 18th 1985 in the US. The first Back to the Future film is set in October 26th 1985. Furthermore, when the NES debuted in America, its primary test location was New York. The NES saw a nationwide release in the States later in 1986.
The location of Hill Valley is fictional, but it is supposed to be in California, which is around a 5-hour flight to New York for those not up to date on their US geography. So, while it would have been technically possible for Marty to have played the NES version before going back to the future.
Would a week really have been enough time to get that good at the game (maybe that’s why the Principal thinks he’s a slacker, because he spent the last few days playing Wild Gunman non-stop)?
Wild Gunman came out in 1984 in Japan, but back in the 80s, the import scene wasn’t what it is now, so it would be unlikely for Marty to have imported the game and a Famicom (Japanese NES).
Still, some anecdotal evidence could come from Part III when Marty comments to Doc that “All the best stuff is made in Japan” Doc’s dismissal of things made in Japan might come from a post-WWII bias. (Japan saw large economic growth from the mid-to-late 50s through to the 70s, becoming an industry leader in technology in high-end audio and video equipment.)
If Marty was an early adopter of Japanese electronics, then the argument could be made that he had a Famicom, though I still think it’s too much of a stretch. The line likely refers to TVs and Walkmans, etc; and retrospectively videogames, from Marty’s 1985 perspective, Nintendo wasn’t a huge name yet at home; however, when Part III came out in 1989, Nintendo and other Japanese video game companies were the driving force of the industry.
So the line, as written in Part III takes a 1989 perspective on Japanese technology (including video games). Although in the context of the film’s universe, the Japanese dominance of the videogame industry had not fully happened yet.
What even is this about?
Anyway, did you know that Wild Gunman actually originated as an arcade game back in 1974*. Instead of pixels, it featured live-action actors and was an early example of FMV games. This is something that saw a resurgence in the 90s with games like Night Trap (92).
Although it would have been technically possible for Marty to have played Wild Gunman (1974). I find it very unlikely he would have, for one, although somewhat similar, the gameplay of the two games is different enough to require a different skill set.
In BTTF: Part III, Marty uses his sharp shooting skills to win at the shooting gallery game at the town fair. When he’s asked where he learnt to shoot like that, Marty replies 7-11. (While not stated as referring to Wild Gunman, the implication is heavily implied to be connected to the scene from the Cafe 80s. 7-11s and other convenience-type stores sometimes had arcade games.)
So, we’ve established that there is little to no chance that Marty could have played any version of Wild Gunman before going back to the future. However, one possible explanation for this discrepancy could be that Marty’s 1985 is set in a different timeline (alternative reality) from our own 1985. Basically, in Marty’s 1985 Wild Gunman had a dedicated arcade machine and/or the NES came out much earlier.
Wild Gunman was released on the Nintendo Wii U‘s virtual console as part of Back to the Future Day, October 21 2015, in recognition of the same date Marty goes to the future in the film.
Lastly the scene in Cafe 80s is notable for featuring a young Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings, 01) make an appearance as one of the kids trying to play the game, along with child actor John Thornton (Thornton had a short stint of roles throughout 1989, mostly TV roles, but seems to have left the industry in the early 90s)
The Games on Film
Jaws NES
An action shooter with very light RPG elements. The game takes elements from each of the Jaws films, but was more of a tie-in with JAWS (4), The Revenge (1987). This is one of two Jaws references in the film. The other being the JAWS 19 hologram outside the cinema that surprises Marty when he first arrives in 2015.
The Jaws references are a clear reference to Steven Spielberg, who directed the first Jaws film in 1975. Spielberg was key in the development of the Back to the Future series and was an executive producer on all three films.
Burger Time NES
Originally an arcade game from Data East. Players take control of Peter Pepper and must create giant hamburgers by walking over the top of ingredients that are separated on levelled platforms. Walking over said ingredient sends it down to a lower level, thus completing a burger. The game was ported to many of the home consoles and PCs of the day.
The inclusion of the NES port of Burger Time in the film doesn’t seem to have any clear relation, other than it was an iconic item from the 80s, and it fits in quite nicely with all the other antiques. Unless the “Time” part of Burger Time was supposed to be some very subtle joke.
Pac-Man tin lunch box
Pac-Man was a huge arcade hit and one of the very first video games to be heavily merchandised. There were many different Pac-Man products back in the day, which were part of the Pac-Manina marketing blitz of the 80s. The lunch box was made by Aladdin, a company well known for its lunch boxes sporting designs of popular films and TV show characters. Founded in 1903 and still around today, making food containers.
Apple Macintosh
A much-loved computer from back in the day. While not what many would think of when it comes to video games. The Macintosh held host to many classic titles. Its compact design, mouse controls, and graphic interface were revolutionary and brought in a new era of home computers.
Keyboard
What looks like a grey keyboard, although it can’t be identified, could be associated with some games. (For younger readers, many early computers were more modular in nature and didn’t have towers, with most of the hardware being contained within the keyboard itself.
Time Travel
This next part is more of an interesting thought experiment about time travel and how even a very well-plotted and thought-out idea like Back to the Future has a number of funny inconsistencies.
**The saleswoman at the “Blast from the past” antique store was played by Judy Ovitz, who I estimate to be in her late 30s to early 40s at the time of filming. Assuming the character is supposed to be the same age, that would mean they were born around 1972 to be about 43 in 2015. This means she would have been around 13 in 1985, Marty’s original time. What does all this mean? Nothing! More than that, it puts a new perspective on things, with the saleswoman being alive to witness most of the things in the store. E.g., the Dustbuster (1979) is portrayed as some ancient artefact in the context of the film, but its invention is younger than the character. The bottom line is that time travel is confusing, Back to the Future Part II is a great movie, and Wild Gunman is NOT a baby’s toy.
**My estimates are based on the age of her husband, Michael Ovitz, who was born in 1947. There is no definitive birthday for Judy, so based on the information that they met at college and assuming they were about the same age, give or take a year. This is what I’ve based my idea on.