After the announcement of the 1993 Jurassic Park feature film, based on the critically acclaimed novel by Michael Crichton, developers Ocean Software, BlueSky Software and Sega of America were licensed to produce games to be sold to coincide with the release of the film on the popular platforms of the time. In 1997, several developers, including DreamWorks Interactive and Appaloosa Interactive, produced various games for nine different platforms to coincide with the release of the film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
For the 2001 film, Jurassic Park III, a total of seven games were produced, including three games for the Game Boy Advance and three PC games. Lego Jurassic World, released in 2015, is based on each of the series' four films, including Jurassic World. Since 1994, a number of other video games that are not based directly on any of the films have also been released.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Ocean Software
Ocean released three distinct Jurassic Park games optimized for different platforms.
Nintendo versions
Jurassic Park, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Nintendo's Game Boy, is an action-adventure game played from an overhead perspective, with various goals that loosely follow the plot of the film. The Game Boy version is a port of the NES version, and features the addition of a database with information about six of the game's dinosaurs.
The NES version was released in July 1993. The Game Boy version was originally scheduled for release in July 1993, but was not released until August 1993. Nintendo Power, reviewing the Game Boy version, wrote negatively, "Aiming can be awkward because the gun is offset on your shoulder and doesn't shoot straight in front of you," but positively wrote, "Good graphics and fun game play. You really get a sense of the movie danger."
Another variation was the Super NES version of Jurassic Park, which incorporates isometric gameplay for outside environments but uses a first person perspective for indoor environments. The player has to complete several objectives to beat the game and escape the island, such as turning on the park's power system and rebooting the main computers, as well as collecting raptor eggs. The Super NES version of Jurassic Park also incorporated four-channel Dolby Pro Logic surround sound.
The Nintendo versions include elements from the novel that were not used in the film. The NES/Game Boy version includes a raft level, similar to a scene from the novel. Another level requires the player to destroy Velociraptor nests with bombs, similar to a novel scene in which characters infiltrate a Velociraptor nest while armed with nerve gas grenades. In the Super NES version, the player must use a nerve gas bomb rather than explosive bombs to destroy the nest. Another objective in the Super NES version, taken from the novel, is to prevent velociraptors from escaping to the mainland on a ship.
PC version
Ocean also released a PC version of Jurassic Park for DOS and Amiga. As in the Super NES version, the PC version also features isometric and first-person shooter perspectives.
Sega
Sega released four distinct versions of Jurassic Park for five different platforms.
Genesis
Sega published a side-scrolling platformer action game titled Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis. Developed by BlueSky Software, the game can be played in two modes, either as Dr. Alan Grant or as a Velociraptor. Playing as each provides the user with an alternative story and different levels.
Game Gear/Master System
Another version of the game, developed and published by Sega, was released for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear in 1993. The game is an action-based side-scrolling platformer, like the Genesis version. Unlike the Genesis version, Grant is the only playable character. In addition, this version of Jurassic Park features driving levels. The Master System version was released exclusively in Europe and Brazil.
The Game Gear version â€" scheduled for release in September 1993 â€" features five areas of Isla Nublar, with three levels in each area, for a total of 15 levels. The player can play the first four areas in any order, but cannot access the final area â€" Jurassic Park's Visitor Center â€" until the other four are completed. Each area begins with a driving level. At the end of each area is a boss enemy, such as Brachiosaurus, Pteranodon, Triceratops, and Velociraptor. The player is armed with three non-lethal weapons: a stun gun, an aerial stun weapon, and gas grenades. Medical kits can be collected to refill the player's health bar, while bottles can be collected to expand the health bar.
The Master System version also features five areas, with locations including mountains and a forest. The fifth area is only accessible upon collecting all of the hidden Jurassic Park logos in each of the earlier areas. In both versions, Jurassic Park is opened to the public upon completion of the game.
Sega Visions wrote, "Even without the hot Jurassic Park license, this portable action game would stand on its own with solid graphics and game play." Mean Machines magazine gave the Game Gear version a rating of 35 out of 100 and criticized the game for a lack of levels and variety, as well as, "Awful sampled roars and instantly forgettable music."
Cyril Lachel of DefunctGames.com gave the Master System version a "D" rating and called it "one of the worst-playing 2D action games you'll ever see." Lachel criticized the game's ineffective weapons and wrote that, "The real sin of the game is that the dinosaurs tend to attack you from off the screen, which means that you'll take a lot of cheap hits before making it to an even cheaper boss. [...] On the bright side each of the levels are unique and (for the most part) interesting." Lachel concluded, "With its terrible controls, boring levels and entirely too difficult boss battles, this is one park you don't want to visit. This is not the worst Jurassic Park game on the market, but it sure comes close."
Mega-CD/Sega CD
A point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sega for the Sega CD in 1993. The game's events take place after the film. The player controls a scientist who becomes stranded on Isla Nublar after a helicopter crash. The player must search the island to retrieve eggs from seven different dinosaur species and place them in an incubator at the Jurassic Park visitor center.
Arcade
In 1994, Sega released a rail shooter arcade game titled Jurassic Park. The game features missions that involve the player using a joystick to protect a vehicle by shooting any targets that appear on screen. The machine's cabinet resembles the rear of the film's Ford Explorer tour vehicles and contains hydraulic pistons to move the seat according to action on the screen.
Sequels and other games (1994â€"1996)
A sequel to the Sega Genesis version of Jurassic Park, entitled Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition, was released in 1994, and immediately follows the events of its predecessor. In it, Grant's helicopter crashes on Isla Nublar after taking off from the island. Now he must deal not only with dinosaurs, but InGen soldiers as well. As in the game's predecessor, the player can play as either Grant or a Velociraptor.
Additionally, Universal Interactive released Jurassic Park Interactive exclusively on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. The game plays out through eight different minigames and features FMV segments starring look-alikes of the main characters. Also in 1994, Hi Tech Entertainment released Jurassic Park: Paint and Activity Center, a painting activity game for DOS.
Ocean developed an action side-scrolling platform game titled Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues and released it for the SNES and Game Boy in 1995. The SNES version uses an original story and is a sequel to the film, while the Game Boy version reuses the film's plot. In the SNES version, which takes place one year after the events of the film, the player controls Dr. Alan Grant, who is sent to Isla Nublar by John Hammond to prevent BioSyn (a rival genetics company) from stealing dinosaurs from the island.
On August 12, 1996, Universal launched an online game titled Jurassic Park â€" The Ride Online Adventure, to promote Jurassic Park: The Ride. In the game, the player controls Jurassic Park's director of operations, who must stop an escaped Velociraptor that is wondering inside a compound, where the game takes place. The player must walk through hallways while avoiding the Velociraptor. The player must search in offices and other rooms for objects that can be used and combined with one another to stop the Velociraptor or gain entry to new areas. The game includes a feature known as the "IntraNet," which contains files on the park's employees and records, as well as information on InGen and its dinosaurs.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
To coincide with The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the second film in the movie series, studio DreamWorks utilized its internal software company, DreamWorks Interactive to create their own game.
For the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, DreamWorks and Appaloosa Interactive developed The Lost World: Jurassic Park, a side-scrolling platformer portrayed in a totally 3D rendered environment. The game features five playable characters and 30 levels. In 1998, an updated version of The Lost World: Jurassic Park was released for the PlayStation, featuring various gameplay improvements.
Appaloosa Interactive developed another version of The Lost World: Jurassic Park that was published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Played from an overhead view, the game contains levels brought together by four hub areas on Isla Sorna and also contains four unique boss levels. It also has driveable vehicles, a large number of dinosaurs, and a GPS system used for mission objectives.
Four versions of the game were developed and published by different companies for handheld game consoles, including Nintendo's Game Boy, Sega's Game Gear, and Tiger Electronics' Game.com and R-Zone consoles.
ENGAGE games online, a multiplayer gaming website, announced in June 1997 that they had secured the exclusive online game rights for The Lost World: Jurassic Park through an agreement with Universal Studios. As in the films, the game was to be set on a tropical island of genetically engineered dinosaurs. In the game, the player's objective would be to capture one egg from six different dinosaur nests and return the eggs to a laboratory. The player would have to fight against dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor, as well as other players trying to complete the same mission. Gameplay would consist of four teams, with up to 32 players. Availability of the game was to be announced later that year. At that time, a retail version of the game was not planned.
DreamWorks also released Chaos Island: The Lost World, a strategy video game for the PC, with similar gameplay to Command & Conquer. The game is played across 12 levels, and involves the player creating dinosaurs that can be controlled and used against enemies. Six actors from the film provided their voice to the game.
An arcade game titled The Lost World: Jurassic Park was also released by Sega, and made use of the then-powerful Model 3 arcade hardware.
In 1998 a PC first person shooter game titled Trespasser was released, billed as a digital sequel to the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The game was highly ambitious and featured one of the first large scale physics engines in an action game. The developer was pushed by the publisher to ship it to coincide with the VHS release of The Lost World whether it was ready or not. This meant many elements of the planned game design were shelved and many bugs, some major, still remained in the game, resulting in negative critical reception. In April 2002, the game received a large modding community called TresCom, which released many patches and graphical updates for download on their forums.
Warpath: Jurassic Park (1999)
In 1999, DreamWorks released Warpath: Jurassic Park, a fighting game for the PlayStation, featuring 14 playable dinosaurs and arenas based on locations from the first two films.
Jurassic Park III (2001)
To coincide with the third film in the series, Jurassic Park III â€" the first film not based on a Michael Crichton novel and not directed by Steven Spielberg â€" a number of video games were released for the PC, arcade and Game Boy Advance.
Knowledge Adventure developed and published two video games aimed primarily at a younger target audience: a side-scrolling platformer titled Jurassic Park III: Dino Defender; and Jurassic Park III: Danger Zone!, in which the player moves around on a virtual board game map. Later that year, Knowledge Adventure produced Scan Command: Jurassic Park, which utilized a portable barcode scanner accessory known as the Scan Command.
A light gun arcade game titled Jurassic Park III was published by Konami and released in 2001. The game features a motion sensor system similar to that of Police 911. Also in 2001, Konami published three games for the Game Boy Advance, two of which were also developed by Konami:
- Jurassic Park III: Island Attack was developed by Mobile21. The game is an isometric action-adventure game, where one plays as Dr. Alan Grant trying to escape Isla Sorna by traversing the 8 different game environments to reach a rescue boat. The game allows the player to choose to run from many of the enemies encountered, or collect and use items to destroy them.
- Jurassic Park III: The DNA Factor is a side-scrolling platformer with many puzzle-solving elements. The game allows the player to play as either a professional photographer or pilot to search Isla Sorna for the DNA of dinosaurs. Each level involves fighting dinosaurs while searching for all of the DNA to open the exit. Then, using the collected DNA, the player must correctly create different species of dinosaurs, which becomes increasingly complex as the game progresses.
- Jurassic Park III: Park Builder is similar to Sim and God games such as SimCity, Theme Park World and Zoo Tycoon, where the player views the game from an omnipotent perspective tailoring a virtual amusement park that includes building rides, shops, food outlets, and dinosaur facilities.
Announced in 2001, Jurassic Park: Survival was a third-person adventure game in development by Savage Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, as well as the GameCube and PC. However, due to conflicts with Vivendi Universal over payments, the game was canceled.
Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure (2001)
In 2001, Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure was released for the Nintendo GameCube. Based on many of the Universal theme park rides, the Jurassic Park ride requires the player to take control of a gun turret on the back of a Jeep to defend against dinosaurs.
Jurassic Park: Dinosaur Battles (2002)
A PC game titled Jurassic Park: Dinosaur Battles, also produced by Knowledge Adventure, was released on September 10, 2002. Dinosaur Battles is basically Scan Command: Jurassic Park without the portable scanner accessory. The game involves a group of young explorers stranded on Isla Sorna, where the evil Dr. Corts (voiced by Kath Soucie) has carried out experiments to control dinosaurs and pit them against each other for fights.
The game features six playable creatures throughout the game, each one with six primary skills to defend against Corts' creatures. Before playing against enemies, the player must arrange pieces of dinosaur DNA to enable each creature's skills. Unlike Scan Command, which requires the player to scan barcodes to receive DNA, Dinosaur Battles presents the player with a list of more than 500 DNA pieces.
The game primarily consists of the player controlling a creature from a top-down perspective while carrying out tasks such as locating certain facilities. During this portion of the game, enemy dinosaurs often randomly challenge the player to a battle. The player can fight or choose to abandon the battle.
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (2003)
In March 2003, Vivendi Universal Games released Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, a park-building video game developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment that allows players to recreate their own Jurassic Park, featuring 25 dinosaurs and a multitude of rides, shops and other attractions. The game was released on Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC.
Jurassic Park Institute Tour: Dinosaur Rescue (2003)
Jurassic Park Institute Tour: Dinosaur Rescue is an action video game developed and published by Rocket Company and released for the Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan on July 18, 2003.
Later Jurassic Park games (2010â€"2015)
In August 2010, Gameloft released Jurassic Park, an action/adventure mobile game based on the first film. As Alan Grant or Ian Malcolm, the player must escape from Isla Nublar while fighting against dinosaurs, mercenaries, and poachers. The player can also play as a T. rex. Jurassic Park: The Game, a four-part episodic adventure game series set after the events of the first film, was developed and published by Telltale Games on November 15, 2011, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac.
Jurassic Park Builder, developed and published by Ludia in 2012, is a construction and management simulation video game in which the player builds a Jurassic Park theme park. An Aquatic Park with aquatic animals and a Glacier Park with extinct animals from the Cenozoic era can also be constructed.
A fan-created project, titled Jurassic Park: Aftermath, is not a full video game, instead featuring Isla Nublar's Jurassic Park as an interactive environment that can be explored. The project has been in development since at least March 2013, using CryEngine 3. A new arcade game, titled Jurassic Park Arcade and developed by Raw Thrills, was released in March 2015, and is based on the first three films in the series.
Jurassic World (2015)
Several video games based on the 2015 film Jurassic World have been released or are in development. Ludia released an updated version of Jurassic Park Builder in April 2015, titled Jurassic World: The Game, for iOS mobile devices. Lego Jurassic World, an action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, was released for eight different game systems on June 12, 2015, coinciding with the film's theatrical release. The game is based on the series' first four films, and was later released for Android and iOS on March 31, 2016.
Jurassic World Survivor
By June 2014, Cryptic Studios was developing a third-person open-world video game, similar to H1Z1 and based on Jurassic World, in which the player would assume the role of Owen Grady. The game was being developed with the Unreal Engine 4 game engine, and was nearly finished when it was cancelled in May 2015, after the closure of Cryptic Studios' Seattle location. It was to be released on Steam, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network. In June 2016, it was reported that the game was in development by a different studio, with Perfect World Entertainment as publisher. In October 2016, Perfect World reserved a web domain for the game at JurassicWorldSurvivor.com. In December 2016, the company filed a trademark for Jurassic World Survivor.
Jurassic World Evolution
In August 2017, it was announced that Jurassic World Evolution will be released in 2018, to coincide with the release of the fifth film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The game is based on the 2015 film, and will be developed and published by Frontier Developments. In addition to management and simulation, the game will also feature creature development.
Video games
Titles released in the 1990s
Titles released in the 2000s
Titles released in the 2010s
Upcoming titles
Cancelled titles
Related titles
See also
- Jurassic Park (pinball)
- Jurassic Park
References
External links
- Jurassic Park licensees at MobyGames
