Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure (1991). Play online

Summary

When I finally dusted off Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure for the NES, the first thing I noticed was how it tries to feel like an epilogue to the movies. You hop between Bill and Ted, slipping into wildly different periods – from medieval castles to a futuristic “Modern World” – and hunt for quirky items the game calls “historical bait" to coax the displaced figures back to their proper times. The soundtrack is a dead‑stop oddity: short, non‑looping renditions of folk and rock classics like “Scarborough Fair,” “Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey,” and even a snippet of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.”

Despite its charm, the title quickly gets bogged down in endless corridor‑wandering; items are maddeningly hard to locate, turning exploration into frustration. Critics echoed this sentiment, landing the game in the low‑fifties on Nintendo Power and earning abysmal scores elsewhere. Fans of the franchise might smile at the humor, but the adventure feels more “bogus journey” than a triumphant sequel.

Storyline

The game opens with Rufus summoning Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan for a crucial mission. Ted arrives first, then Bill, and they learn that time‑space rebels have snatched a host of historical figures, leaving them stranded across the ages.

Rufus hands them a single pay‑phone‑booth time machine and warns that any mistake could ruin the future concert that will launch the Wyld Stallyns’ music career. Because they arrived alone, he tells them to work separately.

Bill’s first task is to hop through eras, planting useful items for Ted to find later, then begin his own hunt for a missing figure. After Bill secures a personality, Ted follows the same pattern, leaving clues for Bill as he rescues his own.