Upon first spotting this post you may be wondering why I’m talking about a videogame on a classic comics blog. Well, regular readers may remember back when I was reading Dark Horse International’s Jurassic Park comic that the advertisement for this game and the subsequent competition to win a copy of the Nintendo GameBoy version brought back many happy memories of playing it at the time. Those memories have now ended up costing me money.
Then, earlier this year I bought a bookazine about the history of Nintendo and the chapters covering this little joyful plastic box had me grinning from ear-to-ear so much that I invested in a refurbished GameBoy and a few games. I’m delighted to say those rose-tinted glasses weren’t playing tricks on me and I’ve been having a blast with it. When I eventually teared myself away from Tetris (easier said than done) I replaced its cartridge with Jurassic Park’s and travelled even further down memory lane.
So, I’d decided to follow up on my wistful reminiscing about the game with actually getting my hands on it again all these years later. I thought you might like to take a closer look with me. Those adverts for the multi-format game were brilliant, playing off of the Street Fighter II craze at the time with a killer tagline. Despite no GameBoy screenshots (they’d always show the so-called ‘prettiest’ versions in the ads) I remember desperately wanting to get my hands on it for my handheld.
I think I got the game before the next issue, which actually contained images of the version I was playing as part of that month’s phone-in competition. I wouldn’t have been allowed to enter these anyway, they cost a fortune, so I was happy to have the game already. I remember it not having anything to do with the plot of the film, with Dr. Alan Grant instead walking about with a huge gun(!) but that never put me off because it was just so much fun.
I recall playing it late at night, long after I was meant to be asleep for school the next day, viewing it through one of those huge, cumbersome GameBoy magnifier accessories with a built-in light and having to take little breaks because it was so damn heavy! These restrictions obviously no longer apply and I’ve been playing this game (and others) quite a lot, getting plenty of jealous looks from people around my age on public transport, accompanied by looks of confusion from younger generations.
I decided to spend a little extra on the GameBoy and get a refurbished model and the same applies to the games, simply because I’d like to have them all in their original boxes and in great condition so my collection looks as good as possible on the shelf. The Jurassic Park game arrived in near mint condition and I couldn’t have been happier. It even included the manual and some advertising leaflets for other games. I’d forgotten all about these.
The manual also contains some basic details on the dinosaurs and from reading these it’s possible to glean how they could act in the game, although this hasn’t been particularly helpful with the T-rex. With my collection started I needed a way to figure out what other games (ones I didn’t own at the time) would be worth my money, especially if I was prepared to pay a little more for them. It’s not like I could easily shrug it off if a game was crap.
With writing a classic comics blog, one which has already included Commodore Format, it’s only natural I’d turn to some contemporary viewpoints. Instead of relying on people’s memories for recommendations or retro reviews which often unfavourably compare them to modern games, I wanted to read the opinions of those who were playing the GameBoy at the time, those who had been invested in it as a ‘modern’ gaming device.
As it turns out options were limited. The only magazine I found on eBay dedicated solely to this machine was GB Action from Europress Interactive. This same company had published a truly awful Commodore 64 magazine in the early 90s called Commodore Power, but beggars can’t be choosers as the saying goes and so I’ve started buying issues which contain previews and reviews of games I’m interested in. As it turns out, it’s not a half bad way of doing my research.
You can see the game in action in these three short videos
The reviews aren’t exactly in-depth and each 68-page magazine can be read in very little time but it does what I need it to do. I bought my first few games for my new GameBoy before buying any of these issues so their review of Jurassic Park ended up being a kind of test in a way. As it turns out their review pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about the game as I play it now, decades after its release.
Finally we get to the game itself and you can see it in action in these three short videos of the initial levels, after which I become completely and utterly stuck and I’m not going to show you that out of embarrassment.
The first thing that struck me is that John Williams’ music is nowhere to be heard throughout the game, despite this being a fully licenced title, but after a while I just started playing it with the soundtrack playing on my HomePod so it made little difference. The Velociraptors and Dilophosauruses keep the player on their toes and a keen memory is needed to remember the layouts of the security buildings in which pass keys are needed to unlock the main gate and escape into the rest of the park.
In most levels of the game there are dinosaur eggs lying about the place and these must all be either destroyed or collected. Of course, collecting them means more points and rewards but in the levels in which pass keys are needed they’re essential, the keys only made available to you after all the eggs have been taken care of. This means venturing into all the nooks and crannies of the maps, including the undergrowth where anything could leap out at you.
Playing that first level made me feel like a child again but I have no recollection at all of this Triceratops stampede which popped up next. I definitely got a lot further in the game as a teenager but my ageing memory initially thought the levels were all pretty similar. This stampede is really tough, mainly thanks to the fact you have to guide Tim to safety which isn’t easy when he constantly stays a few feet behind you, often putting herself in harms way when you try to turn left or right and he’s jumping out in front of a dinosaur just to remain at the right distance from you!
Reading OiNK led me to Jurassic Park, which in turn led me back to this game and now I’ve a new hobby
I’ll admit it took a few goes to get through this and of course because it’s a retro game there are only so many lives to play with until it’s game over and we have to start all over again from scratch. Thankfully there are a handful of continues on top of the lives handed out, which gave me 12 chances altogether before turning off the GameBoy and plugging Tetris or Super Mario Land back in.
Moving on and the sparks of memory surged a little as I remembered the next level in which Grant is on a rowing boat making his way to the next area of the park. Each press of the button pulls Grant’s arms in once and moves him a tiny bit up the screen in whatever direction you have his boat facing. This technique takes a long time to master. Timing is key. Being on the water it’s not easy to turn in a different direction, you have to wait until he’s stopped rowing, plus you can’t speed ahead because you don’t know what’s about to come down the screen. Also, if you stop Grant will start coasting back downwards again towards any danger you’ve already passed!
The game is definitely a challenge and I remember it being so back in 1993. I just had a lot more patience back then, even after playing it for ages and having to start over, which I did without a thought at that age. I don’t care that it’s not close to the premise of the film or its characters. Look at the system it’s on, it was never going to be too complex but it’s still Jurassic Park to me and a hugely enjoyable slice of it too.
Reading OiNK in real time led me to doing the same with Jurassic Park, which in turn led me back to this game and now I’ve a new hobby. Playing Nintendo GameBoy games on an original machine is always going to be the best way to play these, and with Lemmings and Pinball Dreams gratefully received for Christmas it looks like I’m back in this world for a long time to come. So thanks Jurassic Park! Now, one more go to sneak past that Tyrannosaurus rex in level four. Young me would be so ashamed of me right now…
OiNK Blog 