Let's talk Jurassic Park video games! Any system up for grabs

[Steven]

Since I only played the two on SNES, I'll comment on those only. Would love to hear your opinions on whichever JP games you've played over the years.

So I been playing a lot of JP1 and 2 lately thanks to Jurassic World coming out last month. It was my first time playing either game ever, after wanting to play them for 20+ years.

JP1 seems to be very much a "loathe or like" kind of game. It's wide open, confusing (without a FAQ especially), pretty tough, no saves, and the interior sections are clunky. I kind of hated it at first but after looking through some FAQs and having a sense of what to do, the game's become more enjoyable. It's still heavily flawed, but it's not terrible by any means (particularly for a movie game).

I probably would have enjoyed it more in 1993. It's harder playing the interior today than I imagine it would have been 22 years ago when it would have felt more "cutting edge."

As for JP2 I'm a fan. Much superior game IMO and love how it plays a bit like Contra. Super tough though, and again, no passwords means it's a bitch to complete. But once you get enemy placement down and what weapons to use, it's quite fun. It's also got a 2 player co-op mode which instantly brings it up a notch in my book.

[Ogreatgames]

I have played one Jurassic park game but cannot remember the name of it, it was the one where you played as the small lizard reptile and throughout the game you switched creatures. Everything retro 22 years ago was cutting edge but some still hold a bunch of value today. I did not know JP2 was 2 player, or that JP1 was so open, thanks for the insight.

[bb_hood]

Jurassic Park for Sega CD is one of my favorites. Its a point-and-click game where you travel around the island collecting dinosaur eggs.
There are FMV cutscenes with this one guy talking about Dinosaurs and other scenes where people give you tips.
Its a pretty short game but there are 2 parts in the game that are very hard to figure out. It has a creepy atmosphere, especially around the raptors.
You have to shoot a few dinosaurs at various parts of the game but mostly its a puzzle game. It has horrible load times though.
I had this game when it was released, it was one reason I bought a Sega Cd.

[Steven]

I have played one Jurassic park game but cannot remember the name of it, it was the one where you played as the small lizard reptile and throughout the game you switched creatures. Everything retro 22 years ago was cutting edge but some still hold a bunch of value today. I did not know JP2 was 2 player, or that JP1 was so open, thanks for the insight.

Sounds like the Sega Saturn version? Look it up and let me know if it was that one.

I just spent the past 4 and a half hours beating Jurassic Park (SNES) for the first and last time ever. No saves so I had to power through. Man, it's actually not that tough in terms of enemies. It's tough in terms of endurance. I used a FAQ because damn, without one I wonder how kids beat it back in the day. Shit is CRAZY, like certain computers can only trigger certain actions.

It was nice to beat it, but I'm probably never doing that again, lol.
It was quite a rush though to find the last egg right before taking off in the helicopter. Too bad the ending is worse than the Jurassic Park III movie, lol. But I'm proud (and sad) to say I've beaten Jurassic Park. It's not too bad, but way too flawed to be good. GameFan gave this game a 95%. LOL. Good times. It seems like the majority were impressed by the first person sections back in late '93, and had I experienced it then as a kid I'm sure I would have, too.

[Tanooki]

I have to admit I've never touched any of them really other than I think a few moments of the one on the NES and it was overhead and confusing, ended up going into a power station I think and then outside I got eaten. Got mad, never went back, then later saw how clunky and terrible it was and dismissed the sequels. Now that you write that about JP2 on SNES I may have to look into it. Harder games aren't an issue if they're not confusing or badly setup.

[celerystalker]

I really like the first SNES game a lot, but some sort of save system would have done it wonders. Really odd choice not to include something like that.

I've spent the second most time with the 3DO game. It's basically an FMV collection of puzzles, but I always struggle with enjoying it without actual footage and replacement actors.

[Tanooki]

The odd choice was a sadly common one with third parties then, cheaping out and being sloppy. Cheaping on not having a battery, and sloppy excluding a password as well.

I wouldn't care much, I'd play something like that in the Retron5 which would hot save where I left it. I can't commit sitting hours on end at a TV anymore with a little kid.

[celerystalker]

Yeah, my son just turned 7 months old. If I actually get a large chunk of time like that to myself, I can't justify spending it on something like Jurassic Park.

[sfchakan]

All of these posts and no one said anything about the Genesis games?

I'm honestly the other way around. I got JP1 for the Genny as a gift shortly after it came out. I first played through the Doctor Grant mode of the game and had a blast with it. I think I ended up finishing it a few times overall. The raptor mode was a little different, but I think I only played through it once.

I barely remember playing Rampage Edition. I couldn't tell you a thing about it at this point.

The Sega CD Jurassic Park was kind of neat. As a young teenager who adored the property at the time, I thought it was cool.

[Gameguy]

I have played one Jurassic park game but cannot remember the name of it, it was the one where you played as the small lizard reptile and throughout the game you switched creatures.
That was The Lost World for PSX and Saturn. Just saw it mentioned on youtube recently because of the new movie that came out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_World:_Jurassic_Park_(console_game)

[Dashopepper]

I need to finish the SNES JP. The first person interior sections were the most frightening thing at the time. But even sinking tons of hours into it im not sure even how close I was to the end. I rember it being extremely hard but i get the feeling with a guide I'll make short work of it.

[Steven]

I need to finish the SNES JP. The first person interior sections were the most frightening thing at the time. But even sinking tons of hours into it im not sure even how close I was to the end. I rember it being extremely hard but i get the feeling with a guide I'll make short work of it.

The interior sections yesterday actually got me to jump twice, lol. Those raptor growls can be a little unsettling. The raptor nest in particular is creepy-ish. Really could have used a strafe button though. I'm still not a fan of the interior sections (it moves a little too slow/clunky for my liking... worse than SNES Doom IMO) but it grew on me yesterday I have to admit especially when I knew what to do.

Tips:

-For a walkthrough, use http://www.flyingomelette.com/faqs/jpwalkthru.html

I pretty much followed the key steps (although I found the 18 eggs on my own without consorting to the guide). The eggs aren't hard to find. Just travel the game world and look everywhere you can. It's not as bad as it sounds.

-Interior sections reload with food and ammo although killed dinos do not respawn. Use this to your advantage. You can really stock up on weapons

-Speaking of weapons, even though the HUD displays ammo as full, you can grab more ammo and basically get "unlimited" ammo. Since it doesn't show you a number, you think it'll run out, but I shot 50 missiles yesterday and the ammo graphic never changed. It made the game really easy

-Best two weapons to have simultaneously are the Bolas and missile launcher

-You can finish the game probably between 3.5-4.5 hours. Start early on a weekend if you can, plus you can always take a break and leave the game on, come back later. Or if you're crazy like me, just blow through it in one long sitting. I almost quit at several points yesterday, but somehow kept pushing on like "Man, I already been at this for 2 hours. Might as well keep going at this point..." and before I knew it, I was collecting my last egg and leaving the island! I don't regret it, and it's going to become one of those 'Did I really do that' type gaming memories for me, but I'll probably never do it again lol. One of those things you wanna do once, but have no burning desire to re-conquer. It is kind of a fun open world sandbox kind of survival horror experience though... in its own twisted and depraved way.

-Oh yeah, press select to switch to your Cattle Prod. You'll need it for the Compys coz shots tend to fly over their little heads. When I figured this out 2 hours in, it made the outside areas so much easier.

[kainemaxwell]

I finished jp for snes when i was younger in an evening. A long evening. Nintendo power maps helped for the 1st person sections and finding the hidden cave with gear and ammo helped too.

[Ogreatgames]

Yes I remember the Lost World, although I did not beat it. I played the PS1 version.