Jurassic Park (Sega game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jurassic Park
Developer(s) BlueSky Software
Publisher(s) Sega
Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Release date 1993
Genre(s) Action/Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Media Cartridge

Jurassic Park is a video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis published by Sega and developed by BlueSky Software. It was released as part of the tie-in merchandise to the movie of same name from Universal Pictures.

While all of the 5 video games released named 'Jurassic Park' were released to tie into Steven Spielberg's motion picture nearly all of them borrow elements from the Jurassic Park novel by Michael Crichton on which the film was based. In the case of the Sega Mega Drive's Jurassic Park the use of Procompsognathus and the Jungle River attraction and it's pump house, as well as the abundance of park staff.

The team, which included Earthworm Jim creator Doug TenNapel, spent over 15 months making the title, a long time for a game in 1993. The 3D models for the dinosaurs were created using Stop Motion Photography while a team member was filmed acting out Grant's movements and was then digitized[1]. Sega claimed the game features ADI (Artificial Dinosaur Intelligence) causing the dinosaur enemies to react differently every time a player plays the level making no two games the same.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Jurassic Park is a standard action game, its level design seemingly putting it in the platform game genre, with the end objective being to reach the end of each level, traveling from left to right using items placed at fixed locations. However, the game features a then-uncommon variation in action games, giving players the option of using two characters that played almost totally differently to one another. The game was playable as either Dr Alan Grant or one of the film's versions of a Velociraptor. Grant is the default character and must be changed using the 'Player' option on the game's main menu.

Grant has crash landed on the Island and uses only weapons to defend himself, unusually all bar one of these (a Rocket Launcher) are non-lethal and will only knock out the dinosaurs for a short time, usually causing them to wake up more fierce opponents. Grant has ? weapons: two kinds of Tranquilizer dart (Blue, weaker, Red, stronger), three types of grenade (gas and exploding grenades to K.O. opponents, flares to blind them) plus a Tazer Gun and Rocket Launcher, all of which will run out if their relevant items are not picked up. Grant's health item is a medipack.

The Raptor, which escaped from its pen after lighting struck it, uses its teeth and claws to stop opponents. Like Grant, it cannot kill dinosaurs easily - or at all - but it can kill any human enemies. Unlike Grant, The Raptor is a fast runner, and can jump higher and farther than him, making The Raptor's game slightly easier. Its health item is generic 'meat', although it has the ability to eat a Compy to refill its health as well.

[edit] Levels

The Jungle - A generic forest/jungle level with vine swinging. A good deal of both the Jurassic Park novel and film are set in this sort of location (though Jungle and Forest levels were very common in platform games of the era). There are no Velociraptors in this level.

The Power Station - features ladders and boxes, making it quite similar to both it's novel and film depictions. Velociraptors first appear in this level as does the Tyrannosaurus rex who acts as the level's 'boss', his head bursting through the of the final screen causing you to carefully sneak around him or lose a life.

The River - For this level Grant required to use a motorized raft and players must pick up Fuel Tanks in order to keep the raft moving. The Tyrannosaurus appears again at the water's edge and an angry Triceratops must be passed at the levels finale. The Jungle River ride, while mentioned, does not appear in the motion picture. It was, however, a large part of the novel during which Grant Lex and Tim must evade the Tyrannosaurus at the edge of the river. This Level is omitted if the game is being played as the Raptor.

The Pump House - This level is incredibly similar to a key scene in Crichton's novel where Grant and the Children face the Tyrannosaurus in the Jungle River's pump house behind a waterfall, though the level is much larger than the small area in the scene.

The Canyon - The Canyon is a dry, desert-like area. No such area is mentioned in either the Jurassic park film or novel as being on the Island, which is tropical in nature. These sort of levels were, however, very common in the genre at the time. Raptors appear frequently and almost instantaneously in this level, which is slightly shorter than most.

The Volcano - The Volcano is another area that does not appear in the film, although the novel's end does feature a geologically-active cave system serving as a Raptor nest. Like The Canyon, this level is short and there is even bigger abundance of Raptors. This level is omitted if the game is being played as the Raptor.

The Visitors Center - This level is based very much on the design of the Visitors Center set from the film, and features the game's final boss battle, requiring the player to use the Rocket Launcher to destroy the large Tyrannousaurus skeleton in the main lobby to crush the Velociraptors.

[edit] Dinosaurs featured

[edit] Trivia

  • The final boss of Alan Grant's version of the game was also planned to be the motion picture's finale with the visitor center's giant skeletons crushing the Velociraptors. Spielberg changed the ending at the last moment after deciding the Tyrannosaurus needed to appear again (leading to that scene in the film relying solely on computer animated dinosaurs rather than a mix of animatronics and CGI)

When the game starts, at the logo screen, there is a Tyrannosaurus right under the logo that roars once before the game goes to the main menu.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

v • d • e
Jurassic Park video games
Jurassic Park
The Lost World
Jurassic Park III and later
Languages