The over 20 year wait for Back to the Future fans is almost over, as TellTale’s Back to the Future videogame series kicks off for PC and Mac. The episodic content is the first real fiction in the franchise cannon since the end of the third film, released back in 1990. This will hardly be the first game in the history of Back to the Future though, as the series has spawned a series of often forgettable games, hop in the Delorean and let’s take a look back.

Back to the Future (1989, NES, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC – LJN): Perhaps fitting, the first Back to the Future game was modeled after the first movie, kind of. In the NES version, you controlled Marty Mcfly as you skateboarded through Hill Valley in an attempt to collect clocks and other power-ups to save the future (represented in a photograph at the bottom of the screen). If it looks and sounds familiar, it should — it’s Paperboy in a shiny coat of Back to the Future paint.

The most disappointing part of the game? You didn’t get to control the Delorean until the very last level of the game — it’s not too bad though, the game only took between 30 and 50 minutes to complete.

The eventual home computer versions were a bit different, presented as a side-scrolling adventure, you still control Marty, but your job is to get George McFly and Lorraine to fall in love by collecting objects like flowers, and love poems.

Back to the Future II and III ( 1990, NES, LJN): Remember the part in Back to the Future II where Marty jumped over enemies in spiked shells to collect junk food and fuel so the Delorean could get back to 1985? Yeah, me either, but that’s what LJN had you doing in this pack of 2 NES games. While the Sega Master system and PC releases saw the two games separately (with slightly spruced up visuals), Marty’s second and third gaming adventures were decidedly plumber influenced.

Back to the Future 2 (Sega Master System Version)

Universal Studios: Theme Park Adventure (2001, Gamecube, Kemco)

If Marty and Doc could, they’d probably go back in time to stop their association with this stinker.  To put the game into perspective, imagine going to the Universal Studios theme parks, having mace sprayed in your eyes (the graphics were that blurry and bad) and having to partake in cruddy mini games that revolved around the parks’ attractions. Run through Hill Valley! Fight off Jaws! Get really…really bored!

Yes, there was a Back to the Future minigame in this 2002 clunker, but most people didn’t get to play it since the rest of the game was just so terrible.

Check Blast tomorrow for a review of Telltale’s first Back to the Future Episode!

Innex and AtGames today revealed the FireCore system. What does it do? Why it plays all your old Genesis cartridges of course! And comes pre-loaded with 20 Genesis titles perfectly fit for the nostalgic gamer.

The FireCore is a plug-and-play console and sells for $49.99, though we can’t find it anywhere but Buy.com and comes loaded with Sonic and Knuckles, Ecco The Dolphine and 18 more. Additionally, you can plug in up to two wireless FireCore gamepads to it, but that’ll run you extra dough.

Innex also released a portable machine with a 2.4 inch LCD screen with 20 licensed titles built in including Golden Axe, Sonic and Knuckles and Ecco. The press release we received didn’t say where one could buy the machine, so, happy hunting!

Have a look at this video describing the SEGA Portable for more.

There’s nothing you can do about your Game Gear TV tuner, which will be rendered useless in the digital conversion of television in February 2009, but you will soon be able to relive the classic color handheld games and original 8-bit Sega Master titles on Nintendo Wii’s virtual console.

The Nintendo Wii Fanboys report the first two games will be Fist of the North Star for 600 points and Fantasy Zone for 500 points. The 100 point fluctuation is due to licensing costs.

So why Master and Game Gear at the same time? After all, Game Gear will become the first handheld console represented on the Wii — before Gameboy or DS. Sega Master and Game Gear used similar hardware, and it’s easy to do both at once.

This move isn’t a huge surprise considering all the Sega Genesis titles available on Virtual Console, but it’s welcome news for those that want to experience vintage Outrun, Shinobi and Alex Kidd.

The games are coming to Japanese Wii’s next month. No American release dates have been announced, but we’re waiting with bated breath.