Jurassic Park

The Good
The game is scary and pulse-pounding and very intense - not unlike the movie. The visuals are sharp and the color palette is diverse thanks to the SNES platform. The music is good but the sound effects make the game shine. The employment of Dolby Stereo was essential; as the dinosaurs move about unseen in the forests around the player, the direction of their noises is related through the speakers. Hearing them move around you is intense.

The top down view, (like "The Legend of Zelda"), works well in making you the player feel like a stranger in a strange land. The first-person-perspective, utilized in indoor environments, establishes an atmosphere of claustrophobia and a sense of dread lurking behind every corner. Both systems work well and compliment the content of the game.

The Bad
No save feature - this kills the game. Everything else was spot on. Why the developers did not install the ability to save your game and why the publisher did not demand it will always be a mystery. "Jurassic Park" for the SNES loses a full point for this huge omission.

The difficulty is a bit on the harder side and the game can be a bit like a labyrinth sometimes as you the player are not always sure what way to go.

The Bottom Line
Most players when asked to remember a "Jurassic Park" videogame will usually describe the Genesis version. And rightly so, the Genesis version was very fun; the visuals were excellent for the time of release, the music wasn't too bad, and the gameplay was intense. It was a shame, though, that so many passed up the SNES version, which was, when looking at the videogame holistically, a much more ambitious and original title.

This game had down right scary and panic-causing moments, which was very uncommon to the prior to the release of the PSX. The game made superb use of Dolby Stereo - hearing what direction the dinosaurs are stalking you from slowly wears down the players nerves. And moments when the T-Rex bursts out of the forests and chases the player is absolutely hair-raising. These moments are from the top-down gameplay mode.

When entering buildings the perspective shifts to first person; turning a corner to find a velociraptor starring at you is creepy. Both types of gameplay are fun and bug free. And when the experience gets to be too much, the player has no choice but to press ahead because there is no save option. The goals for the player to accomplish in the middle of the game are a bit arbitrary, but thoughts other than surviving the game are quickly forgotten.