The game is a standard platformer with similarities to Super Mario Bros., where the player, as time traveller Marty McFly, defeats enemies by jumping on them or throwing projectiles, and collects icons in order to successfully clear each stage. The first stage of the game is based on Back to the Future Part II, and takes place in the three time periods seen in that film (1955, 1985A, and 2015.) The player starts in the year 1985A and must find 30 items that have been scattered from their proper time periods, enabling Marty to retrieve the sports almanac back from the corrupt and powerful Biff Tannen. The second stage, based on Back to the Future Part III, takes place in that film's Old West setting of 1885 (despite a programming mistake indicating the year as 1875.) Only 10 items must be collected in this significantly shorter stage, enabling Marty and Doc Brown to use their locomotive to travel back home to 1985.
