Intro: In 1993 the film Jurassic Park was released. Coinciding with the film’s release two games were made for home consoles. One by the infamous developer Ocean for the Super Nintendo and the other for the Sega Genesis whose developer, Blue Sky, would be lauded for their Vectorman series. Despite both games’ successful sales they were both mediocre titles. Blue Sky saw the obvious problems with their title and decided a sequel/revamp would be a way to use the content they already made. Ocean decided to make a sequel to cash in on the success of their first. With different motivations both developers released non canon sequels to Jurassic Park in 1994.
Features:
Rampage Edition:
• Velociraptor is a playable character
• Multiple weapons varying in types
• Six levels
Chaos Continues:
• Two player co-op
• Surround Sound compatibilities
• Fifteen levels
Presentation/Story:
Rampage Edition: The plot seems to involve Dr.Grant trying to get off Isla Nublar alive. Grant goes through a series of levels until he gets on a raft to leave the island. The level settings include a shipping freighter, a Sahara, an aviary, and a waterfall. While on the raft he fights off a Tyrannosaurus Rex. After its defeat you win the game… that’s about it story wise. There is a campaign were you play as a Velociraptor but there seems to be no story. The end you fight a red raptor then win.
Chaos Continues: An epic intro video that has sound! This was impressive for the time and today it still is awesome in a campy action movie sort of way. A direct sequel to the original movie’s story. Dr. Grant and Sgt. Wolfskin( A black guy… What the fuck were you thinking Ocean?!) team up together to stop Biosyn from taking over Jurassic Park. This involves numerous set pieces varying from volcanoes to military installations and even a Sahara. The end culminates in a clash in Tyrannosaurs Rex which is preceded by a short helicopter vs. helicopter fight.
Gameplay:
Rampage Edition:
Controls: A major refinement in controls compared to the original game. The game follows traditional Run ‘n’ Gun controls: shoot, jump, change weapons. The Velociraptor has a bite, claw, and a jump that is reminiscent of Contra. These controls are a little stiff but after a little bit of play time it is unnoticeable. As Dr. Grant you have a wide selection of weapons which are all very satisfying.
Structure: The levels consist of only classic 2D side scrolling action. Unfortunately the level design is terrible. By terrible, I mean candidate for one of the worst level designs ever in a run ‘n’ gun. The entire thing is a jumbled mess of platforms and death traps with little to no sense of direction. The environments are fairly repetitive too. Luckily there are checkpoint markers that show what direction to go. Only one level is except to these faults and that is the Sahara level. All that is required is to go right, and even then it’s not too great. The Velociraptor levels are merely rearrangements or Dr. Grants levels.
Chaos Continues:
Controls: Follows the standard for run ‘n’ gun games. Shoot, jump, dodge, and change weapon. The game responds very well and basically it works how it should. The only annoyance is the fact the dodge requires you to be perfectly still and when an enemy spams it is completely ineffective.
Structure: The level design is nothing particularly fantastic but it serves its own function. The game allows you to choose what level you want to play which after being complete an emergency mission is mandatory. These emergency levels are timed and this can be a real pain. A few levels have dead ends and this can completely screw you over if you lack proper ammo or time is low. Other than those levels there are some really great set pieces which include a satellite dish on top of mountain that requires it to be scaled first.
Graphics:
Rampage Edition: The games style is slightly cartoony which works well. It is heavily influenced by the movie’s style more than anything else. The backgrounds look bad but the character sprites are decent. The best part of the graphics is the death animations which are not only satisfying but also awesome. The T. Rex was very underwhelming at the end.
Chaos Continues: The style is its own. It has this arcade home port vibe to it; a blend of Jurassic Park and Contra. All the dinosaurs’ sprites are done well except for maybe the orange and green T.Rex.
Sound:
Rampage Edition: The music is hit or miss. It depends entirely on your preference. The soundtrack is a series of techno-ish tunes which don’t really fit the Jurassic Park aesthetic. Most are completely forgettable with the exceptions of the freighter level and the title screen. The sound effects work well enough; not anything to be lauded. The dinosaurs’ roars and noises are pretty accurate and set the mood well enough.
Chaos Continues: One of the most underrated videogame soundtracks ever. If anything was done well in this game it is the sound. It shares the privilege of being one of the eight games released on the SNES to have surround sound capabilities. Ocean went beyond the call of duty. The tracks range from intense beats of a military installation to the subtle creepiness of an underground bunker without power. The dinosaur’s sounds are dead on. They seemed to have been taken directly from the film or at least emulated to an astounding degree.
Conclusion: Jurassic Park 2: Chaos Continues is superior to Jurassic Park Rampage Edition. I was originally going to state that they are both equal but after playing through both of the campaigns in Rampage Edition the difference in quality is great. Despite this, Rampage Edition is still a very fun game, but it has shortcomings. Some might say it is not fair to compare these games since they were developed by two different companies and on different consoles. This is probably true, but both shared the same licenses and were released at the same time. These titles are both surprising in that this is sub par to Blue Sky’s quality of output and that Ocean made a game that is actually great.
your review got way better. yes, i also agree that the snes version is the better one. great job!