Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #389: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

Back in 1997 I was both a loyal Sega Genesis owner and an enormous fan of the Jurassic Park franchise. I owned the first two Jurassic Park games for the Genesis (Jurassic Park and JP: Rampage Edition) and I loved them both. This game? I didn't even know it existed.

How could I allow that to happen? Pretty easily, actually. This was one of the last titles ever released for the Genesis. By the time 1997 came around, I was already balls-deep in the Saturn and the PlayStation. I was laser focused on the crummy side-scrolling Lost World game that came out for those systems. I didn't have time for the Genesis anymore. It makes sense that I wouldn't even have noticed this game when it came out.

It only took me 25 years, but this game finally caught my attention here in the year 2022. How would I feel about it? Let' find out!

Story:

I'm not really sure what's going on with this game's story, as nothing is set up in the beginning of the game. All you know is that "something has survived" and that the game takes place on Isla Sorna instead of Isla Nublar - just like in the Lost World movie.

But that's pretty much where the similarities to the movie end. I don't know who you're supposed to be playing as. A guy in a white hat. Is that supposed to be Dr. Grant? I can't imagine, seeing how he's not in the movie. Then who? All I know is that he goes around the island, rescuing people and helping to cage up escaped dinosaurs - all while fighting against the bad guys who are there for evil purposes.

Apparently if you play this game with two players, the second player takes control of Ian Malcolm. Why couldn't they make Malcolm the main character? He is in the movie. I don't know. None of this makes any sense and I'm tired. I'm going to take a break from writing this review and go to sleep.

Gameplay:

I'm back! Now that my head has cleared a little bit, it's time to talk about this title's gameplay. The first thing you'll notice is that this game is not like its Genesis predecessors. IE: not a 2D side-scrolling platformer. This game takes place from an isometric perspective.

When the game starts up you are dropped into the middle of the jungle without much of an idea of what to do next. It takes a while to get used to things, especially if you don't have this game's instruction manual - which I did not. At first it just seemed like I was aimlessly wandering around the game's first few stages. I slowly learned that I had to use the pause menu to read through mission objectives. A map was also available via the pause menu. As soon as I became clear of the direction this game was going (setting objectives on your map and locating them), everything became a lot more fun for me.

As you play through this game you'll get your hands on a variety of weapons. You start with a tranquilizer gun and a taser, but it's not long before you've got a machine gun and some grenades in your inventory. There are power-ups that you'll find all over the place. Everything from health pickups to extra lives to extra ammunition - which you'll quickly learn is very important to always keep maxed out as you play.

I enjoyed searching for each stage's hidden Jurassic Park icons. When you collect five of these, extra lives, ammunition, and supplies are airdropped for your character. These pickups were a godsend to me as I played through some of the later levels, which can get quite difficult.

Each stage operates through a hub area, known as a site. Each site contains at least three missions within it. You have to complete these missions to move onto the next area of the game. Examples of missions include: herding escaped triceratops into cages, rescuing trapped miners in a cave, and destroying all the satellite dishes within the stage. Towards the end of the game there is a truck escort mission that is absolutely frustrating and one of the worst things about the game. But overall these missions aren't too horribly difficult, although some of them can take quite a long time to complete.

That's one of the things I like about this game. This isn't something you can sit down and beat in one hour. I remember beating Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition on literally my first attempt. This game took me almost an entire week to complete. I didn't count them as I played, but this game's Wikipedia page says it contains 19 missions. Some of these missions take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to complete. This makes for a surprisingly long game.

Most stages put you in control of your character as he explores the stage, shooting dinosaurs and collecting items. I like that this game keeps things fresh by giving you vehicles you can control, such as Jeeps and boats. They really help you get around the level and explore things more quickly. The layout of some of these stages is like a giant maze. You're going to find yourself pulling out your map and examining it quite often. A personal annoyance is that you have to pause the game to open up the map. I really wish there was a dedicated button to simply bring the map up on your screen.

There is some variety to be found, as every once in a while you'll play through what I call a variant stage. You'll ride a motorcycle, shooting dinosaurs or ride a boat and do the same. And some of the missions, particularly towards the end of the game, help keep things from getting repetitive or monotonous. Admittedly, the middle of the game suffers a bit from monotony.

Graphics:

This is a good looking game. It better be, seeing as how it was one of the last Genesis games ever made. The cutscenes at the beginning are as good as anything seen on the Genesis. The stages, at first glance, can seem a bit bland. Everything often looks the same. There's probably only so much you can do with the jungle setting. But the characters and the dinosaurs themselves look pretty good, as do the animations and the explosions. You have to take the good with the bad in this one. I think there's more good to be found here than bad, however.

Sound:

I really like this game's music. It's got this jazzy and atmospheric Ecco the Dolphin kinda thing going for it. I liked the sound effects too, many of which were taken directly from previous Jurassic Park Genesis games. Two thumbs up from this guy right here.

Overall:

This was a surprisingly deep experience for me. The other two Jurassic Park games for the Genesis were fairly short and easy, not offering a whole lot in the way of depth or replay value. This game, however, is jam packed with content.

It's long. I'm not sure of exactly how many hours I spent with this game, but it had to be at least 15. Each stage is filled with secrets areas and items to discover. I didn't even fully explore each stage, either. If I had it would have likely extended my gameplay experience by several more hours.

There's a lot to see and do in this game. I don't know why this surprises me so much, but it does. Maybe it is because I had never heard of this game before, or because I had been so let down by the 32 bit Lost World adaptations. But I came into this game thinking it was going to suck, and that it was going to be a cheap cash grab for people who were still clinging to their Genesis in 1997.

But this game is good! That said, it can be quite difficult at times. Some of the missions are an absolute pain in the butt, to the point where the game completely stops being fun for a while. And many of the stages are overly long, forcing you to explore an enormous map in order to collect everything on it. Having to pause to bring the map up 90 times a level? It's annoying.

The annoyances in this game really begin to add up after a while - to the point where I can't honestly say I'll ever come back to the Lost World again. And even though I think this game is "better" than Jurassic Park or Rampage Edition for the Genesis - I likely will come back to play those games many many times between now and the day I die. I can't say the same about this.

That's going to drag the final score down a bit. I still think that on the whole this is a pretty darn good, surprising, and deep game. I just wish its execution was just a little bit better.

THE GRADE:

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1983:

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