History Pinball / BackToTheFuture

[[caption-width-right:300:TheOtherMarty, and it's not Eric Stoltz this time.]]

''Back To The Future'' is an [[PhysicalPinballTable arcade pinball game]] designed by Ed Cebula and Creator/JoeKaminkow. it was released in 1990 by Creator/DataEastPinball, and is based on the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' film trilogy.

->"Roads? Where we're going we don't need...roads."

The ''Back To The Future'' playfield is divided chronologically, with Hill Valley of 1885 on the left and the Hill Valley of 2015 on the right. While the player tries to raise his score by going between the past, the future, Biff's casino, and the clock tower, caught in the middle are the [=DeLorean=], Doc Brown, and [[TheOtherDarrin someone who should be but doesn't quite look like Marty...]]

Unfortunately, most pinball players consider ''BTTF'' to be fairly forgettable, a somewhat simple game that [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot fails to do anything interesting with the premise.]] As with most pins by Data East, [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames only the graphics and sound tied the game to the license,]] and its appeal is primarily with [[NostalgiaFilter nostalgia-seeking movie fans.]]

* NotQuiteStarring[=/=]TheOtherDarrin:
** Invoked, as Creator/MichaelJFox did not allow his likeness to be used for the game.
** Also, Fred Young was Doc Brown's voice (when the clip wasn't directly taken from the films, anyway).
** Artist Creator/PaulFaris' son plays Marty on the playfield and the backglass.
** It's unclear who voiced "Marty", but everyone agrees the voice doesn't even come ''close'' to sounding like Michael J. Fox.
* RevealingCoverup: To hide the fact that "Marty" isn't Michael J. Fox (see TheOtherDarrin, above), he is drawn on the backglass with his face covered by a pair of large dark sunglasses. This only served to draw ''more'' attention to his non-resemblance to Fox.

* TitleTheAdaptation

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_20191221_223154_zen_pinball.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"You're telling me you built a time machine... out of a pinball table?"]]
Many months after the first film's [[MilestoneCelebration 30th anniversary]], Creator/ZenStudios designed a DigitalPinballTable based on the films, which is available as an add-on to ''[[VideoGame/ZenPinball Pinball FX 3]]''. This table boasts a stronger fidelity to the source material with a full dot matrix display, a variety of more advanced table mechanics (including a slew of various targets and toys that best capture the atmosphere of each major time setting visited and the integration of the machine's iconic flux capacitator), full voice acting and the ability to "time-travel" to each major time setting, which is a "mission" in of itself.

!!The ''Pinball FX 3'' digital version of the table features the following tropes:
* AdaptedOut: Zen was not able to license the theatrical soundtrack for the game.
* AntiFrustrationFeature:
** At the start of each ball, you are given a 30-second ball saver. The ball saver also activates when a multiball begins. Plus, the table will prevent unfair drains from hitting drop targets crucial for missions, so if you bounce the ball into the outlane off of one and have no kickbacks available, the ball saver will activate immediately.
** Draining the ball during a main mission will not cancel it, unlike most tables. In fact, you ''can't'' fail a mission at all. You can pick up right where you last left off when you shoot the next ball in play.
* BurningRubber: Balls can catch on fire and leave behind iconic burning tire trails, just like the ones the [=DeLorean=] leaves when it time-travels.
* NotQuiteStarring: Both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd's voices or likenesses were not used. For the latter, [[Pinball/TheAddamsFamily not the first time this has happened.]]
* PowerUpLetDown: For those of you who care about getting to the wizard mode, whatever you do, ''think carefully about when you want to activate a multiball mode''. You certainly won't want to activate one when you're almost finished with a mission (or when you're trying to start the next one), because any active multiball modes, once started, ''will'' block you from continuing to the next one if you just finished a mission.
* ScoreMultiplier: Raise the score multiplier by spelling MCFLY on the return rollovers, then quickly shoot a lit multiplier lane within a brief time limit. Be aware that each lane can only be used once, making it more and more difficult to push the score multiplier up to the max of 10x!
* SkillShot: The player must launch the ball with just enough force that it lands on a very short crossramp. This is called a "crackshot" in-universe.
* SpellingBonus:
** Spell DOC to change the random award that will be granted once the bumpers are struck enough times.
** Spell TIME on the target posts to raise the amount of time available for bonus hurry-up modes.
** Spell DELOREAN to get bonus points, plus an extra ball the first time this happens.
** Spell MCFLY on the return rollovers for a chance to raise the score multiplier.
* WizardMode: [[spoiler:Finishing all 6 main missions will grant you access to the Time Paradox wizard mode, which is simply a huge victory multiball where you can score oodles of points as long as you keep at least two balls in play. Plus, if you finish all missions in the order of the films, you get an even larger multiball - ''seven'' balls to be exact!]]