Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Adventures in Jurassic Park, part 9.

I'm not sure why this is called the 'Rampage Edition', when it's actually an entirely different game to the other Mega Drive/Genesis platformer. Couldn't they have just gone with 'Jurassic Park: Rampage'?

Hey, a map screen! And I get a choice of three starting maps, very generous. I'll go with 'Aviary', because flying enemies are assholes and I might as well get this over with first.

The absolute very first thing that happened, was a pterodactyl carrying me to the top of the level and dumping me in it's nest. The bitch.

It may seem weird that these people can sit right under the nest, and be completely ignored by the pterodactyls, but that's just because dinosaurs hate Alan Grant, and want to destroy him exclusively.

I've got no clue why Dr. Alan Grant, world renowned palaeontologist, is taking down squads of mercenaries with a machine gun though. So I'm going to pretend that these guys were hired to drag him back to the island to take part in a televised reality TV spin-off of Survivor (called Survivor: Rampage Edition), and he has to murder them to escape.

Hahahahaha, eat darts you dumb dilophosaurus! Wait, there's something behind me isn't there?

I really hate these things. There's not a damn thing I can do to stop her carrying me right to the very start of the level now.

Jurassic Park (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Pterodactyls were a bitch in the original Jurassic Park game too, but at least in that they just knocked you around a little. Hmm, I thought Dr. Grant looked smaller in the Rampage Edition, but it looks like they took the same sprite and just drew a black outline around him.

Agh, bloody compys. They hunt in packs and like to latch on. Fuck it, I'm just going to jump down the middle of the level and hope there's no fall damage.

Hey, that worked out! Finally a game where making a blind jump down a hole actually gets me somewhere. Those weird plants are creeping me out though, so I'm gonna go exit stage left.

Oh come on, why won't these bitches leave me alone? This level does look a lot nicer though, and much more straightforward.

In fact the levels in this seem a lot more bearable in general than the ones in the first game, because they're not continually trying to get me killed with collapsing platforms, pits, spikes, water, electric walls etc. Though there's plenty of game left for that.

That's for shooting me off the ladder the first few times I tried to get up here. Asshole!

Sometimes Dr. Grant likes to climb the highest tower he can find, and pose with his gun in the middle of a lightning storm. Just to see what happens.

Well, I kind of got killed on that last level, but it's okay because thanks to the miracle of level select, I can check out the Savanna stage anyway. I have no idea why that dinosaur is just standing there instead of trying to murder me and consume my flesh, but I'm not complaining.

I've collected a whole bunch of weapons by this point, rocket launchers, grenades, shotgun... but there doesn't seem to be any point to switching from the dart gun and wasting my precious ammo. At least not on this level, which is pretty much entirely flat, with plenty of time to see every threat coming.

Nice parallax scrolling background though.

Okay, this level is getting old now. It seems to last forever. And after every section one of these damn helicopters shows up and harasses me. GO AWAY!


LATER.

I got worn down by this endless level and it's fleet of helicopters. And their bombs. So I'm just going to lie down like this for a bit.

Oh. I found this dinosaur from the start of the level standing next to the checkpoint I respawned at. It turns out that she runs really fast, and I was supposed to have been riding her from the start. It doesn't matter though because I soon got her bombed by the helicopter too and quit.


Well I think overall Rampage Edition turned out to be about as good as what I played of the first game, but I'm happy to be done with it. Next game.

Oh yeah, I forgot. I can play as the raptor. She seems to be more or less the same as in the first game too. Though they've taken out her ledge climbing and given her a black outline and a spinning double jump.

Also she's got a box meter in the top left. I don't know if that's a quest requirement or an inventory or what.

Oh. Once you collect enough boxes the screen turns red. It possibly does other things too, but I'm not interested in finding out if it means suffering more red screen.

Hey, the checkpoints have an arrow pointing to the exit! This is definitely a good thing in my opinion, as some of these levels can be a real maze. The ones that aren't an endless run straight to the right I mean.

You know, I was kind thinking about letting the 'ancient ruins' thing go unquestioned. I mean, there could be ancient ruins on Isla Nublar that we never saw, it's not an absurd concept. But that face in the background is shooting fireballs at me, and that's clearly way too 'Indiana Jones' to belong in Jurassic Park.

Yay I'm back on the Savanna level again. Because I'm a dinosaur myself now I can skip all the awkward 'oh crap, I hit a fence and fell off my dinosaur' bits, and just make a run for the end.


MUCH LATER.


Hey I reached the end!

Well, only the Aviary left to play now before presumably unlocking another set of levels. So far the raptor seems easier to play as than Doc Grant. She's faster, she can jump higher, he can... oh crap I just realised that I'm starting from the bottom of the level this time.

Ugh, come on, make the damn jump! I've been trying to get up here forever.

YES, I did it! I finally actually did it! I reached the nest. What, that's not the end of the level? Well where the hell am I supposed to go now?


Actually, I just realised that I really don't care. Screw this, I'm playing the next game.

Part 1: Jurassic Park (NES)
Part 2: Jurassic Park (GB)
Part 3: Jurassic Park (SNES)
Part 4: Jurassic Park (Amiga)
Part 5: Jurassic Park (Master System)
Part 6: Jurassic Park (Genesis/Mega Drive)
Part 7: Jurassic Park (Sega Mega CD)
Part 8: Jurassic Park Interactive (3DO)

Part 10: Jurassic Park II - The Chaos Continues
Part 11: Jurassic Park 2 (GB)
Part 12: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Genesis/Mega Drive)
Part 13: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (GB)
Part 14: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (PSX)
Part 15: Warpath: Jurassic Park (PSX)
Part 16: Jurassic Park: Trespasser (PC)