Game: Jurassic Park
Platform: Super Nintendo
Year Released: 1994



If there are two words that can completely sum up the year 1993 for me, they are Jurassic Park. I was ten years old when that movie came out, and it was one of the first movies I saw multiple times in theaters. I loved that movie, still do, and I also loved the book, the toys, and pretty much every other piece of marketing that was thrown my way in regards to the franchise.

However, one thing I did miss out on was the chance to play the Jurassic Park video games. By this point in the early 1990s, the 16-bit revolution was underway. Since I didn’t have a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis, my life was devoid of pixelated dinosaur goodness. Sure, there was an NES version as well, but I was probably too busy playing Maniac Mansion to notice.



Along with the SNES I recently acquired for my birthday (like most twenty-five-year-olds in this day and age), I also got a handful of games. Among them was the Super Nintendo copy of Jurassic Park. Since I still love dinosaurs just as much as I did when I was ten, this was one of the first games I tried out, although I didn’t really know what to expect.

In Jurassic Park, the player takes the role of Alan Grant, the main character of the film. Most of the game is played in outdoor areas of the park, and features a top-down view. Alan must travel the park looking for various weapons and items, but of course, there are terrifying dinosaurs everywhere getting in the way.



Like many games from this era, Jurassic Park isn’t exactly the most forgiving of titles. The player is essentially dropped into the park with no instructions whatsoever, and must figure out what do to and where to go with only the help of some vague signs with arrows on them. As Alan performs certain tasks that will eventually lead to his getting off of the island, he must also avoid dinosaurs that will appear out of nowhere from bushes or off-screen. I actually let out a little yell of surprise the first time a raptor crept up on me, and didn’t even have time to point my weapon at it before it had mauled me. There are also obstacles such as electric fences that will deplete your health if you accidentally wander into them, which is surprisingly easy to do.

In addition to these outdoor areas, there are also times where Alan will need to go inside certain buildings. At these points, gameplay completely changes from top-down to first-person perspective, and the screen is made to look like the player is wearing goggles (night vision goggles at later points in the game). This is a neat way to mix things up in theory. Unfortunately, the controls are a little wonky during the first-person points of the game. Luckily, the indoor dinosaurs appear to be a little more forgiving, staying near a certain point and not attacking Alan until he gets really close.



This isn’t a bad-looking game for the SNES era. The dinosaurs are pretty much all recognizable, although Alan Grant doesn’t look much like his movie counterpart. There’s some shadow usage going on, and different outdoor environments look nice enough. It’s not mind-blowing or anything, but it’s certainly above average.

The most annoying thing about Jurassic Park is that there is absolutely no save function anywhere in the game. Sure, it’s not the longest game, but not everyone has the time (or the attention span) to just sit in front of the television and play from start to finish. I know that this is only the Super Nintendo we’re talking about here, but games having built-in save capabilities were not uncommon at this time. Hell, even NES games like The Legend of Zelda and Maniac Mansion allowed save files, so why not this game?

Overall, Jurassic Park offers some fun times, but it is not the deepest or most memorable game. It’s nice to have in a collection of old-school games, and the kind of game you might pop in once in a while for a little bit of dinosaur fun. However, in the end, it’s not a rewarding-enough experience to be considered as classic as the film.

 

 

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