Jurassic Park

"The game is better than the movie."

Produced in 1993, this game is of course based on the Spielberg film. It is one of the many, different, games released that year based on the film. While the SNES version was an overhead adventure game like Zelda, the Genesis version is a traditional side-scroller. In my opinion, the Genesis version is better and one of the few decent film licensed games on the console.

GRAPHICS: Atmosphere is the name of the game. Whether being in the Jungle, the abandoned electricity station, or the visitor's center; the graphics manage to capture the atmosphere of the film. The sprites of the humans are small and just above average, but what catches the eyes is, of course, the sprites of the dinosaurs. In the game, you will see various species such as the Velociraptor, the Triceratops, the Brachiosaurus, and some smaller like Compy and the Dilophosaurus. There is also the mighty T-Rex, but unfortunately, you only get to see it's head. The backgrounds, as aforementioned, are detailed and atmospheric.

SOUND: Not as clean as it should be, but manages to create atmosphere. Especially in the Jungle level. Apart from the music and the SFX (sound effects), you will hear backround SFX like birds and the sounds of far away dinosaurs. The music, although not great, is pleasent to listen to while playing and SFX do their job well. The growl of the T-Rex could be better.

GAMEPLAY: A great aspect is the fact that you can choose to be either Dr. Grant or a fierce Velociraptor. The bad thing is that the Velociraptor is not that good. The response of the dinosaur at the commands is poor and that makes the game too hard. It is also only five levels long. The Dr. Grant game is seven levels; ranging from the Jungle to the electricity station and from the volcano to the visitor's center. The control of Dr. Grant is sometimes slow but, with a little practice, you will have no problem. The game is hard, but there is a password system that is very helpful.

OVERALL: In conclusion, this is a fair game that is fun to play. Although not as good as some other great film games, it captures the atmosphere of the film. It has nice graphics and sound, and decent playability. If you liked the film, then you would probably have a great time playing this game for hours on end.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/01/03, Updated 03/01/03