Jurassic Park

Moby ID: 38357
Game Boy Specs
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Description official description

One of many different titles based on Steven Spielberg's 1993 dinosaur thriller, the version for NES and Game Boy is a top-down action game with exploration elements.

Playing as Dr. Alan Grant, the player must work through six levels by completing certain objectives including rescuing the kids Tim and Lex, restoring power, destroying Raptor nests and finally getting off the dinosaur-infested island. To advance in a level, a number of dinosaur eggs scattered over the area must be collected or destroyed. This will reveal a passcard used to gain entry to buildings, or some other items necessary to complete the assignment. The park's computer terminals can be used to request hints on where to go next.

Naturally, the levels are full of hostile dinosaurs. Dr. Grant can fend them off with his gun. Several ammunition types are available, varying in damage and shooting patterns. Killed dinosaurs will always drop the most basic ammo type, the others must be found. Next to ammo clips, there are boxes with question marks on them to be collected. These might include beneficial powerups like a health increase, but can also be dangerous and reveal a bomb.

Some levels end in boss encounters, including a Triceratops stampede and a fight against the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

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Credits (Game Boy version)

16 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 73% (based on 18 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 33 ratings with 1 reviews)

Fairly typical Game Boy action/adventure

The Good
Action games on the Game Boy seemed to come in two formats; platform or top-down exploration games. Jurassic Park is the latter, playing like a simplified version of the original Zelda. You take the role of Dr. Alan Grant, the closest person the film has to a hero, and you spend the game accessing different parts of the titular park in order to rescue characters and in turn be rescued. Unlike the film, here you can and will fight back, as you quickly get access to a bazooka and several types of ammunition for it, though that ammunition is limited.

The movie's premise adapts fairly well to a game with a group of runaway animals rather than people to defeat. As with most games of this type you have to explore an area to find a key, and rather oddly also have to collect eggs. This allows you to progress by opening doors. there are end of level bosses and challenges, such as rescuing Tim from a stampeding herd of Triceratops, or rescuing Lex from a T-Rex. The film's locations are fairly liberally adapted and make nice touches, even Mr. D.N.A. pops up in places.

The action is pretty well balanced and never becomes too hard. The controls make sense leading to a feeling of a well-designed and made game.

The Bad
The game is pretty long and can become tedious, as you hunt through every bush to find the last egg. The whole egg thing is a bit preposterous, why would dinosaurs leave their eggs scattered all over the place and not guard them? The pace plods along without much change, dully re-using locations and a few film scenario's without much drama or adding anything new.

The Bottom Line
As a film adaptation, this game could be far worse, it's a pretty fair adaptation given the platform, though without the license buzz its aura has faded.

Game Boy · by RussS (807) · 2010

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  • MobyGames ID: 38357
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Game added by Terok Nor.

Game added December 26, 2008. Last modified March 3, 2024.