I've recently been thinking more about the video games I played in the 1980's. I had an
Atari 2600, as well as an NES, and played both quite frequently. My cousin next
door even had a Sega Master System, and I loved riding my bike over uninvited to
get in some rounds on their newest game. However, up until the
release of the Nintendo Game Boy at the very end of the decade, handheld video game options
varied wildly in quality, and were generally very limited in their
sophistication. Most of my handheld time was dedicated to Tiger Electronics, who
made units that were generally standalone, and solely dedicated to one game,
often, but not limited to a movie tie-in. I had several of these Tigers, and also loved
(short-term) trading them with my friends.
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| I also loved dinosaurs. Who didn't? |
All of my original units are gone
now, but nostalgia has fueled me to start collecting them again. Ironically,
though, this collection binge has been kicked off with a Tiger handheld I never
owned before, likely because by the 1993 release of
Jurassic Park, I was not
only occupied with my Game Boy, but a Sega Game Gear, as well. However, on a
recent trip to a Manhattan GameStop, the bright, 90's graphic design work on a
Jurassic Park Tiger Electronics handheld re-release box lured me in. The "we're
on vacation" allure of buying stuff one might generally pass on was too much to
overcome, and twenty minutes later, I was prying open the box in our Air BnB.
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| Whoever did the graphic design for the original Jurassic Park logo has made so much money for so many people |
Details abound on the box for this handheld that was re-released on May 1, 2021. It's a beautiful little piece of pop art, with flashy 90's colors causing a dopamine overload. That's a good thing too...because this Tiger Electronics
Jurassic Park ain't no
Jurassic Park for Sega Game Gear.
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| I wish I could play as the Tiger! |
The best Tiger Electronics games utilize bare-bones, black-line graphics, against a pale, faintly colored and stagnant background, in a highly addictive basic gameplay loop.
Jurassic Park is not one of those games. The basic gameplay loop is just not very fun. You play as the kids from the film, and your main activity is...running away. Yes, the main purpose of this game is to run away from velociraptors. You've got the option to hide in a tree when a raptor comes close. You can also jump over some kind of can-like object that rolls at your ankles periodically.
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| I guess the kids do hide in a tree during the movie...which is not the part from the movie I thought would make for a good video game. |
When you're in a tough spot, you can, for a limited amount of times, call in Dr. Grant to shoo away the raptors. So exciting! That's it for gameplay, but generally most Tiger games aren't anything more complicated than this. They are, thankfully, often more fun than this, though. It turns out, just running away from raptors is not very fun or exciting. You're get 60 seconds to do so before a "game over," 60 seconds you can actually spend just sitting in a tree. Of course, that doesn't get you any points--only running forward does--but really, what's the point? There's not even a cool sound motif among the generic bloops and bleeps!
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| Help, Dr. Grant, I'm bored!! |
Overall, there's only one reason to purchase this
Jurassic Park Tiger Electronics re-release: the packaging looks great. Just leave it in the box. The game isn't fun. It's not fun at all. It's a huge drag. And this is coming from a Jurassic Park fanboy. Do not buy this game expecting a good time. It's not. Nostalgia is the only reason to make this purchase. However, if you want a nostalgic Jurassic Park gameplay experience that's actually fun,
stick to the 16-bit versions...or even the Game Gear one. I miss my Game Gear.
SCORE: 2.5/10
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