Jurassic Park III: Island Attack

"Third times the charm?"

JP3: Island Attack is the third and final Jurassic Park 3 title from Konami.
Each new release seemed to improve on the one before it. Simply put The DNA Factor was a horrible disappointment for JP fans, but Konami made up for it with the release of the entertaining (albeit maybe a bit limited) Park Builder, the first and only sim-city style game for GB as of this writing. Third times the charm? Lets find out.....
Gameplay: From the offset the game has two modes: Stage select, and Story. Stage select simply allows you to play stages cleared in Story . Story is split into eight stages that encompass several playing styles. There is five stages set in an isometric view, which is basically explained as a fixed overhead view that allows the developers to make stages that look sort of 3D and allow you full movement. Two of the stages are side scrolling, which I'm sure anybody who owns or has owned a 16 bit console or a GB knows what I am talking about. Then lastly one of the stages is a side scrolling motorcycle chase, where you have to avoid pits, and rocks all the while with hungry raptors in pursuit. Personally I take most to the isometric stages since the motorcycle stage is kind of basic and i've played side scrolling games to death in the past. Still the side scrolling stages are good enough that I found myself having a fun time with them. Anyways back to the isometric stages. The gameplay in these stage mostly consist of finding keys, pulling/or shooting switches, solving puzzles,breaking crates/moving them, and fending off dinos on you way to the current stages exit. The one odd thing is you can't obtain weapons to fill those pesky dinosaurs with lead. Instead you use a flare gun and blow up gun powder crates or barrels when an offending dino gets near to send him to his maker.(However, I must stress like Metal Gear running away from enemies usually is the best strategy.) You can also collect a tranquilizer gas gun (and ammo for it) to distract dinos for a short period, which works especially well in stopping a dino near to a gun powder crate or barrel. In various points during your adventure on Isla Sorna you will encounter a boss, the key to remember is these battles are all about timing. In it's current state the game would be great, but I'm happy to report the developers didn't stop there. Once you complete Story for the first time several extras will be unlocked. One of these is Survival Mode, in which you start from the begining and have one life to progress as far as you can in the game. Avoid being hit at all costs, and make sure to stock up on those medkits found in crates, just as a precaution of course. You can always check up on your survival mode best times thanks to the handy high score menu which records all your best times in the various modes. The other extra is a sound /music track test are added to the options menu. I feel survival mode alone manages to boost this games replay value from being played every once in awhile, to practically limitless since you'll always look to better your best times.

Graphics: The isometric stages look simply fantastic, with well detailed environments, that really take advantage of GBA's increased color capabilities, and not to mention are just plain cool looking since they look semi-3D. Plus Lighting effects and reflections round out this already impressive looking portion of the game. The side scrolling stages look like a good effort was put in them also, with a nice color pallete, and fairly detailed areas. However, the motor cycle stage looks pretty basic, and doesn't really whet your senses. One thing that always stands out in all the different stages is the dinosaurs . They are animated realistically, and are detailed enough that you'll have no trouble figuring out which species it is. Plus in the words of scar from ''The Lion King'' the big dinosaurs are to die for!

Sound: I found myself cranking up the sound on this one. The music is well done, and goes to show why GBA is capable of so much better sound then any other portable. What really astounded me was the dinosaur sound effects. Most of the various roars,growls, etc. sound pulled directly from the JP films. Just listening to a T-Rex roaring, or a Dilophosaurus screech out his trademark cry right before nailing his foe with poison glob on a portable is enough to make me wet my pants. Otherwise sounds effects are standard, with the usual gun blasts and grunts from you character when hit.

Control:The control is simple to learn but aiming weapons in the isometric stages may be akward for people not used to it. I personally have played games like Army Men and Perfect Dark for GBC which are really similar in design so I didn't have much trouble. One handy feature though is when you desire to blow up objects or flip switches by shooting them hold down the fire button instead of tapping it. Cross-hairs appear on the screen, you then simply move it until the cross-hair turns blue, then release to fire. This saves you from fumbling with shooting the object or switch since you mistake the angle. Otherwise movement in all modes is fairly standard and easy to get a hang of.

This has to be one of the best games based on the Jurassic Park license released thus far. The game is challenging, beautiful, sounds great, and best of all fun! The developers should be applauded for adding the unlockable Survival mode, since it will keep you playing for quite some time. Because if you are anything like me you'll always look to better your records and skill at this game.

Score:9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/02, Updated 01/24/02