THE EXPLOSIVE REVIEW

Story:
You have crashed on Isla Nublar aka Jurassic Park and must collect the eggs of seven species of dinosaurs scattered around the park. You have a real-time twelve hour limit in order to accomplish this.

Graphics:
The graphics are top of the notch for 1993. Movie-like quality, tons of detailed frame speed, solid pixels, the ability to pan in 360 degree motion, and smooth moving images. The graphics suit it well, from your movement to the reactions and attacks of the animals themselves. Visually, this game is much more well put together than its Sega Genesis counterpart which was a totally different animal in of itself.

Controls:
It’s a point-and-click adventure game, it’s rather easy to get the hang of here, even if you have never played a point-and-click game before, you’ll pick up on this long before you tune into the mechanics like use of items and battle options. Overall, no complaints whatsoever. Point-and-click games are really that hard anyway.

Gameplay:
Although it’s a point-and-click game, it has a lot of focus on action sequences with split-second timing. You must work your way around the park, collecting dinosaur eggs under a real twelve hour time limit (ala “Prince of Persia”). You play from a first person perspective with a panoramic view of your environment and surroundings, you have plenty of tools to interact with it as well as weapons (a stun gun, gas grenades, and tranquilizer darts), none that are exactly dangerous but most of the combat here is often disguised as a puzzle of sorts, so you’ll have to do a little more than just shoot in order to survive.

The game has mixed difficulty, you may find yourself taking up to an hour in one area of the park. You don’t have all the time in the world here, you only have twelve hours to accomplish all of your objectives which range from collecting dinosaur eggs, fixing areas of the park, restoring power, and avoiding bad guys who eventually show up.

Overall:

 This is a very enjoyable game as long as you complete your objectives and do what you need to do. The game also makes several references to characters and events from the original book by Michael Crichton; I think it’s somewhat like a precursor to “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” in some ways.

“Jurassic Park” also has a eerily creepy vibe to it as well - You’re all alone in a park with all these dinosaurs, there’s no dialogue, you’re on your own, and there’s bad guys on their way to the island who will show up in the later hours of the game (trust me, when you see that helicopter coming in and landing somewhere beyond your horizon, you will feel a lump in your throat). It’s too bad Sega CD didn’t come out with more games of quality like this one.

Rating: ***1/2

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