Evolution: Dino Dudes

"Lemmings in a Caveman World"

In the tradition of Lemmings, you have games such as Cannon Fodder and Dino Dudes, both of which require you to control you people and have them do things for the greater good of the people. Although Dino Dudes isn’t the flashiest game that I’ve played, nor is it as mindless destructive like Cannon Fodder, it does have a little bit of addictive qualities that make it a fun game when you’re bored. With plenty of jobs for your tribe to do and the puzzles that you come across, the game is spanned over 80 stages and is well worth your time if you’re a puzzle game fan.

The story that you have here is much like Lemmings in which you control your tribe of prehistoric men in a quest to better the species through puzzles. During your quest, you’ll have to work with witch doctors, wheelmen and other various people that need to be placed in the right spots in order to complete the stages. While you’re working with the game, you have to watch out for traps and otherwise and will stall your people. However, unlike Lemmings, you’ll find that you’re on a mission based system that will help you to complete goals and open up more stages.

-The Game Play-

Much like Lemmings, you have to work with the tools that are given to you in order to complete the various stages that are at hand. In some cases, you’ll be asked to free some people, or kill a dinosaur, but most of what you run across is the need to make it from one end of the stage to the other without getting trapped. You have control over several different types of tribesmen that will help you to get the tools that you need to master your goals, but you’ll also find that the game doesn’t have too much going for it aside from that. Once you’ve figured out the correct puzzle combination in the stages, then you’ll see that the game is simply a matter of point and click with the same results.

The control is something that you have to get used to in which you select a tool and then place it somewhere on the stage so that you can create something else to help you out. While you’ll find that the game seems to have complex control, there isn’t anything that you can’t learn in just a few minutes of play and the most complex puzzles just require the proper placement of people. Once you’ve learned how to work with the simple menu at the bottom of the screen, you’ll find that the most addictive quality is simply to make it from one end of the stage to the next. Anyone who has played Lemmings or a strategy game will find the interface here easier and much more of a joy to work with.

-The Visuals-

The visuals that you have here really aren’t that bad, but they do take a little time to get used to. Considering the fact that they are small, if you’re playing the game on a smaller television set, then you’ll be doing a lot of squinting in order to see just what’s going on. The environments are neat to look at, but they tend to mirror one another with some minor differences in between. The effects that you have from time to time are also interesting to watch, but again, if you’re using a smaller television, then you really don’t have much that you can enjoy.

-The Audio-

Probably the key point to the presentation is the audio in which you have plenty of tunes that are quest in theme and really keep you abreast of the game. Although you really won’t remember many of the themes, you will probably find yourself tapping your toe along with the caveman beat that accompanies most of the stages. The sound effects are limited however and you might find that some of them don’t really match what’s going on during the game. Most of what you’re hearing here is pretty good, though it can seem to be muted and muffled if you’re not concentrating on what the effects are attached to.

-The Verdict-

As with Lemmings, Dino Dudes is a pretty interesting game that keeps you puzzling through eighty stages of mindless questing. Though I wish there were some more different things to do during the game, you’ll still find that there is some addictive qualities that seem to lock on and keep you playing. The audio effects do bring the game to life, though the visuals are a little hard to work with on a smaller television screen. Consider Dino Dudes to be a game for the puzzle genre fans only and collect it if you’re looking get all of the available Jaguar games.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/02, Updated 09/30/02