The Final Word game review

Jurassic Park -- Sega of America

Dr. Otto
The movie cleaned house this summer, and the Genesis version of the Jurassic Park is gonna do the same this fall! This game kicks! As you may already know, you have the option to play the hero, Dr. Grant, or the nasty ol' Raptor. (Which is really cool. Bitin' folks is fun.) As Dr. Grant, you travel through seven levels of prehistoric mayhem, armed with everything from tranquilizer darts to stun guns to rocket bombs as you try to get to the visitor's center. As the Raptor, you move through five levels of armed park guards and other dinos as you try to get to a boat that will take you to the mainland. Obviously, the Raptor gets to use no weapons, but he's got a great high jump and one heck of a mean disposition (not to mention a six-inch retractable claw usable for various creature means of enemy disposal).

The graphics are some of the best on the Genesis to date (the jungle and the river levels are incredibly gorgeous), and the game features tons of digitized sounds (the dilophosaur's chirping is particularly impressive). Experienced gamers may want to jack the difficulty up to hard, but the average gamer will have his hands full at the normal game level (the control is awkward at first, but once mastered the game is much more fun).

Jurassic Park is the first in a long line of major game releases between now and '94... It's a great start, and if the rest of the games are as good as JP, Sega's gonna have a blowout holiday season. If you missed the movie, get the game. If you miss the game... Ouch!

Originally appeared Vol 2, Iss 3 (08-10/93)