Software:Jurassic Park III (arcade game)

Jurassic Park III
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Series	Jurassic Park
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	JP: October/November 2001 NA: March 2002
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Jurassic Park III is a light gun arcade game based on the 2001 film of the same name. The game was developed by Konami and was first unveiled at the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association in September 2001. The game had been released in Japan by November 2001, and was later released in the United States in March 2002. The game uses the same cabinet and motion sensor technology as Police 911, requiring players to dodge the oncoming dinosaur attacks. Alternatively, the standard cabinet provides a left and right button to perform evasive maneuvers. It was preceded by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, also a light gun game, but from Sega.

Gameplay

In the game, the player must kill dinosaurs by aiming and shooting at them with the light gun. The player is given eight bullets to shoot and must reload by shooting outside of the screen every time all eight bullets are used. A health bar is shown, which gets smaller each time the player receives damage. If the bar is gone, the game is over unless the player puts in more coins and hits the "start" or "continue" button. After a boss is killed, players sometimes given more health if they did well killing the boss. There are also two left and right arrow buttons on the dash of the console, which allows the player(s) to "Run away" from the dinosaur(s) to avoid taking damage during boss battles.

Plot

Two mercenary soldiers employed by InGen land on Isla Sorna by parachute, with orders by Alan Grant to rescue survivors that crashed on the island earlier on in the story (not shown). The Rangers soon see a pack of Compsognathus attacking one survivor. The player(s) now has to fight Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, and Velociraptor until the survivor is found. Then a cinematic cuts to a nearby pond, revealing a sleeping Spinosaurus underwater, which suddenly opens its eye. It then bursts from the pond and charges at the player(s) who must repeatedly escape it while fighting more Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, and Velociraptor. This is the first boss. Weak points on boss enemies are indicated by red crosshairs on certain body parts. After several attacks on the dinosaur, the player(s) reaches the landing area where the game started. However, the Spinosaurus follows them into the clearing, resulting in the second boss battle. The player(s) must repeatedly dodge it by hiding behind crates and shooting. Eventually the Spinosaurus gives up then the player and their teammates escape in an armored jeep. Another cinematic shows the Spinosaurus fighting a Tyrannosaurus, but the player(s) drive(s) away before a winner is revealed. The next level begins when the rangers find that there are more survivors in the hatchery. The player(s) stay(s) in the car at this time, fighting an Ankylosaurus, but the dinosaur quickly topples and destroys the car. This is the third boss. After it is killed, the player(s) reaches the hatchery, where several more survivors are rescued from a pack of raptors. The player(s) then exit(s) the building, only to find one last survivor being menaced by a Tyrannosaurus. The player(s) must fight it while avoiding to be eaten. This is the fourth boss. Once the Tyrannosaurus is killed, the player(s) begins heading for the coast.

On the way to the coast, the player(s) must pass through the Pteranodon aviary. After defeating a group of the flying creatures, as well as some more raptors, the player(s) must fight the fifth boss, a giant (alpha) mutant Pteranodon. After defeating it, the group heads to a boat, fighting more Velociraptor along the way. As the group moves across the river, they are assaulted by more Velociraptor, Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, and Pteranodon. After surviving these attacks, the player(s) faces off against the Spinosaurus which attacks while taking cover underwater. This is the sixth boss. When the group reaches shore, they make their way through a wooded forest and fight off another pack of Velociraptors, until night falls in and they reach their goal, the Marina. There, the Spinosaurus appears and attacks the group in a flaming background. This is the seventh and final boss. After defeating and killing the Spinosaurus, the group gets on the boat and they leave the island.

Reception

Jon Thompson of AllGame rated Jurassic Park III three half and a half stars and wrote that the game's most disappointing aspect was its graphics: "it still appears to be stuck in a time warp from several years ago. Even as the dinosaurs in the films have become more sophisticated, the visual treat that could have been offered to players isn't present here. It looks as if the game was built on the same engine as The Lost World. While the look is certainly servicable, it just isn't compelling. Characters, dinosaurs, and environments are blocky and unrefined [...]. Jurassic Park III was obviously not developed with the idea it would be a classic." Thompson wrote that the game's Escape button "doesn't play enough into the game to be considered a major or revolutionary feature," and that the feature "becomes less and less useful" as the game progresses. Thompson praised the game's music and sound effects, but concluded, "What players are left with is a thrillless, blocky, predictable experience, and will fail to impress fans of the previous Jurassic Park shooting games. Like the movie on which it is based, this title feels like an also-ran."

External links

• Jurassic Park III at the Killer List of Videogames