Movies - Jurassic Park

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	Movies - Jurassic Park

Ever since the announcement of the 1993 Jurassic Park
feature film, based on the critically acclaimed novel by Michael Crichton, developer Ocean Software, BlueSky Software and Sega of America were outsourced to produce games to be sold to coincide with the release of the film on the popular platforms of the time.

Jurassic Park - 1993

Ocean

As the film was released, Ocean released three very distinct Jurassic Park games optimised for the different platforms.

Jurassic Park released for the NES and Game Boy were isometric action adventure titles, with various goals that loosely follow the plot of the film. Notably several levels were absent on the Game Boy version.

Another variation was the SNES version of Jurassic Park
, which incorporated isometric gameplay for outside environments but used a first person perspective as if looking through a pair of night vision goggles 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 Nintendo versions were based on the original novel, and not the movie's storyline. For instance, the last objective in the games is to wipe out the velociraptor nest with nerve gas gernades. This plotline only existed in the novel.

Lastly a version of Jurassic Park was released for PC:DOS and Amiga, that incorporated some isometric and first-person shooter gameplay, with notably improved resolution and artwork compared to the console versions.

Sega

Two very different games appeared on the Sega platforms.

On the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Sega Master System a side scrolling platformer action game titled Jurassic Park was developed by BlueSky Software. Interestingly this 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 level design. Notably the Sega Genesis version, due to being a more recent platform, had much higher detail and sophistication. A sequel was released using a new game engine and new artwork (with some of the original art as well), entitled Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition. In it, Grant's helicopter (that he just escaped on in the first game) crashes. Now he must deal not only with dinosaurs, but InGen as well. A new raptor must also make it off the island.

A very distinctly different game was also released for the Sega CD developed by Sega of America that was a point-and-click adventure game, with a strong emphasis on action sequences which require split-second timing. The game involved collecting dinosaur eggs around the park itself within a real time 12 hour time limit, much like Prince of Persia. It was played from a first-person perspective, giving the player a panoramic view of his surroundings as well as various tools to interact with it, and a trio of weapons to contend with whatever dinosaurs came into his path. Because none of the weapons (a stun gun, tranquilizer darts, and gas grenades) were lethal, each situation was in the form of a puzzle disguised as combat which required more than just shooting to survive.

Sega also released a rail shooter in arcades under the name Jurassic Park
which featured arcade style missions that involved protecting your vehicle by shooting any targets that appeared on screen, much in the style of Operation Wolf.

Continued success - 1994

With the film being released on VHS and the high level of success achieved by both the film and the video games, a second generation of games was ordered, limited to only the two most popular platforms of the last generation. A separately designed arcade game was also released that was originally going to coincide with the films release, but was pushed back until 1994, with Sega; the developer citing time constraints as the cause of delay.

Ocean developed a simpler action side scrolling platform game titled Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues based on an original sequel story to the feature film. The game appeared on the SNES and the Game Boy. The story takes place one year after the events of the film and you play as a team sent in to eliminate the dinosaurs and their nests using a selection of weapons and items.

Sega released an arcade game titled Jurassic Park like the previous generation of games, where players would be taken on an automatic tour of the park in the Jurassic Park tour cars (as featured in the films). The player equipped with a light gun must protect the vehicle from dinosaurs that appear onscreen. The game blends three dimensional polygons and two dimensional sprites to give the sense of movement. This was the first game of this genre to include 3D environments which paved the way for later Sega titles like Virtua Cop that included totally 3D environments. The game ran on the Sega System 32 hardware.

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Movies - Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park - 1993

Ocean

Sega

Continued success - 1994

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