Old School Games: Jurassic Park 2

Dinosaurs. I like them. Jurassic Park 2 on super Nintendo is a Contra type run and gun shooter. It has a few problems, but it's fun to play sometimes. You ever play this one? It has nothing to do with the second movie, that I know of, it came out way before.

My half brother with his super nintendo had a handful of games. Donkey Kong, Mortal Kombat 2, and Jurassic Park 2 were among those games. He would often stay with us when I was a kid, but that's not the story here. The story is about Jurassic Park and being a little kid sitting in the front row during the movie. When that dinosaur attacks that car, I was hooked. Even the lesser sequels I found something to enjoy. Now as far as games go, I'll talk one up.



You're a man with a gun. Player 2 is another man, with another gun. Somehow your gun can magically switch between murderous bullets with the L button and non-killing bullets with the R button. You can jump. You can shoot. What more do you want? One thing I had a tough time with today was climbing a ladder. I couldn't get around the top by just pressing up. I had to jump off the ladder and move. I fell a time or two and took damage.



Now my major criticism. The levels are too long. I get lost. I've little patiance for this type of level design. I don't make drawings of maps, that ain't my bag. That's why I don't like first person RPGs. I need to know where I'm going and what to do. I need some sense of pacing and purpose. When I'm just thrown out into a game and wandering around, I hate that. It's why I hate certain first person shooter levels, hunting for keys and just wandering around.


In replaying it today I've realized it has lost none of its difficulty. Its still levels that I can't figure out. I'll have to use a guide to beat this some day. Its just impossible for me to find my way around. Gameplay was still fun. One really annoying thing are the brown dinosaurs who maul at you. Without the sound even on I can hear the noise they make and its such a jarring noise I didn't even turn the sound up to make sure I was right. One great thing did happen on a level in a cave, one fell into a pit and killed himself. I laughed at that. As for sequels, Jurassic Park as a license has a ton of games. Including one where you control the park that's mostly functioning, one that's a notorious PC first person shooter, and one on Sega where you can play as a dinosaur!