LEGO Dimensions: Back to the Future (Wii U) Review

By Drew Hurley 11.12.2015

Review for LEGO Dimensions: Back to the Future on Wii U

Cubed3 jumps into a LEGO world based on arguably one of the greatest films of all time in this second foray into the LEGO Dimensions level packs. It's clear that significant investments were put into the creation of this expansion, including reuniting Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in their iconic roles, but does the end product justify the high production values?

It's important to state straight off that the story mode of this pack is ridiculously short, since even when switching to characters from other franchises to collect all of the different collectibles, it's still only around an hour in length - and most people will complete it in half of that... The stages in the story level feel both underdeveloped and poorly designed too; tiny areas with a few very basic puzzles that squander such a rich universe filled with ample potential levels. Instead, the levels consist of a barn, the Doc's house, twin pines mall parking lot… and the list of disappointing areas arrives one after another.

Unlike the previous Doctor Who add-on, the story is not an original piece using the existing characters and lore, but instead, a strange recreation of some of the points from the movie; just strange snippets from the story. The performances are good enough, thankfully, and somewhat save the story level, since hearing both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd working together again and reprising their greatest roles is a joy for fans.

Screenshot for LEGO Dimensions: Back to the Future on Wii U

The story mode is a significant disappointment, especially when compared to the previous pack, yet the adventure world goes a long way to make up for these shortcomings. It takes place in iconic Hill Valley, and not just the "present day" Hill Valley of 1985 either, with special Delorean ramps also granting access to two other time periods, Marty and Doc can head off to watch "Jaws 19" in the far future of 2015, or mosey on down to the Wild West of Hill Valley 1885.

Fox and Lloyd continue their performances in the adventure world; Fox has the opportunity to play all the different McFly figures throughout all the time periods and the Doc has many iterations from the different timelines. These performances, writing, and characters are far superior to those found during the story mode, and are exactly what Back to the Future fans would want, though, sadly there still isn't a great deal of content to play through. There's only a few hours of playtime and considering the pack has the same cost as the Doctor Who pack, it's clearly inferior and lacking in content.

Not only is the game itself disappointing, but so are the physical LEGO pieces that come with this pack, consisting of Marty, a Hoverboard, and a mini Delorean. The Marty mini-figure is the same as was released with the LEGO Ideas Delorean, the Hoverboard is a wasted use of an accessory slot for something that could have been utilised as an accessory/ability for Marty, and while the mini Delorean is a decent mini-build there is nothing special about it, as it could be made with standard bricks.

Screenshot for LEGO Dimensions: Back to the Future on Wii U

Cubed3 Rating

5/10
Rated 5 out of 10

Average

Not only the prospect for a LEGO Back to the Future title, but with both original actors returning to provide all new performances? This should be a dream come true for the fans, perfectly timed too to be released on the same year of the 30th anniversary - which is why it is such a shame to see the property so underutilized. Back to the Future fans would be better off waiting for the Doc Brown fun pack, which while wouldn't give access to the story level would grant access to the far superior adventure world.

Developer

Traveller's Tales

Publisher

Warner Bros.

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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