Video Games

The Lost World (PlayStation)

The Lost World for PlayStation is an action-adventure side-scrolling game developed by DreamWorks Interactive (under Universal Interactive Studios at the time) and Appaloosa Interactive. It was published by Electronic Arts and Sega for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997. In 1998 a special edition of the game was released which included new features and modifications.

Plot Playing as numerous dinosaurs as well as human characters, the aim of the game is to fight your way through Isla Sorna, Site B, to try and reach a radiophone to call for a rescue helicopter. Gameplay The game is a side-scroller that utilizes 2D and 3D graphics. You can play as five varying characters from Compsognathus, Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Human Hunter and Sarah Harding (also known as Prey).

Each character has their own special abilities and attributes. Each character must complete all levels to gain access to the next character. Found in each level are “DNA Bonuses” which access storyboard art for the specific character. If every bonus is found, a secret ending to the game will be revealed. The secret ending features a video of Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm congratulating you for finishing the game but urging you to then go outside.

The game ignores the events in the film, instead utilising the location, characters and dinosaurs to feature a new plot. The plot varies per character but the aim is to survive and progress through the levels. There are numerous dinosaurs in the levels that will attack you.

While playing as the dinosaurs, your aim is to travel across the island, defending yourself against other predators as well as InGen hunters. While playing as the human characters, you explore more urban environments including an underground complex, a geothermal center and an InGen lab. The Hunter’s goal is to eliminate any dinosaur threat and Sarah Harding’s goal is to escape the island.

The Lost World (Sega Genesis)

Developed by Sega for the Sega Genesis, The Lost World is an action-adventure video game developed by Appaloosa Interactive and was released on September 16, 1997.

Plot In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, you play as an unnamed character who must capture dinosaurs on Isla Sorna while stopping rival hunters from transporting dinosaurs to the mainland. Gameplay The game features a bird’s-eye view perspective similar to the original Jurassic Park video game for the SNES. The game takes place over nineteen missions spread across four sections of Isla Sorna, referred to as Sites One through Four. Boss levels are played at the end of each Site in order to advance to the next Site.

The game can be played as a two player Cooperative Mode, or play against each other in a Competitive Mode. There are a number of weapons including a taser, tranquilizer gun, shotgun and grenades, which can be used against hunters and dinosaurs. During the game you can also control vehicles such as an SUV and a hovercraft.

Chaos Island: The Lost World (PC)

Chaos Island: The Lost World is a real-time strategy video game for PC, developed by Dreamworks Interactive and released on October 30, 1997.

Plot The player controls characters displayed on a map, directing where they move with the mouse and providing commands either with the mouse or from the menu. The plot of the game follows the film but loosely, featuring six characters from the film voiced by the actor that played them. Characters featured include Dr. Ian Malcolm, Dr. Sarah Harding, Nick Van Owen, Eddie Carr, Kelly Curtis and John Hammond. At the start of the game, Ian Malcolm, Nick Van Owen and Eddie Carr are on Isla Nublar where they rendezvous with Sarah Harding to obtain a DNA serum used to control dinosaurs that they hatch.

A freighter takes them to Site B, Isla Sorna and crashes there in a storm. While on Isla Sorna, missions are largely spent combating hunters who are on the island to capture dinosaurs to take them to a theme park on the mainland. The hunters are hostile and will attack on foot, using Jeeps and tanks in later levels. Some missions resemble the scenes from the movies like rescuing the baby T-Rex and freeing captured dinosaurs.

After the hunters blow up the playable characters’ communications transmitter, the group have to make their way to the InGen Communications Center to contact the mainland for help. In the final level, the characters must all make their way to a helipad where they can be picked up. If you complete all missions successfully, a bonus mission is unlocked where you play as the mother T-Rex in San Diego.

Gameplay
At the start of the game you can play as either Ian, Nick or Eddie, with Sarah and Kelly being available as you progress through the game. Each character has different levels of speed, eyesight and number of supplies they can carry at a time. Each character can carry a gun to use against the dinosaurs and hunters. John Hammond appears in cutscenes between levels.

There are three difficulty levels and twelve missions to complete. You are required to build a base camp used for gathering supplies and dinosaur eggs. You can build a number of structures also, including shelters for healing characters, nests for hatching friendly dinosaurs and high hides for protection.

As part of the plot, you are required to breed and train a team of dinosaurs to fight against the enemies. There are eight dinosaurs from the films featured in the game, including Parasaurolophus, Compsognathus, Pachycephalosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus. All wild dinosaurs on Isla Sorna wear white collars and are hostile towards everyone. Herbivours can replenish their health by eating plants while carnivores can by eating hunters or other dinosaurs.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Arcade)

The Lost World arcade game is a light gun arcade game from Sega, released in 1997. Steven Spielberg received one of the arcade cabinets as a gift from Sega of America. The story follows on from the 1994 arcade game Jurassic Park. There were two versions of the display cabinet made, one which features seats for the two players to sit while playing, and the other was a standing game with guns for two players.

Plot In the game, Dr. Ian Malcolm and Dr. Sarah Harding go missing after travelling to Isla Sorna on a mission, conducting an investigation. A rescue team is sent to the island and the player controls one of two rangers whose goal is to find and rescue to missing couple. Gameplay The game features five levels based on environments from the film including a laboratory, a workers village and a beach. Four levels feature a boss battle that must be won to progress to the next week. Boss enemies include the T-Rex, Deinosuchus and Carnotaurus. Velociraptors are also featured as enemies throughout the game.

Pachycephalosaurus, Compsognathus and venom-spitting Dilophosaurus are also encountered throughout the game. The game also has random events through levels, so it will give you the opportunity to rescue a human who is being attacked by enemies. Killing dinosaurs results in the human rewarding the player with either a temporary weapon upgrade or additional health.

Trespasser (PC)

Released in 1998, Trespasser was billed as a “digital sequel” to the 1997 film. The director of The Lost World, Steven Spielberg was involved with the development of the game, as well as award-winning British actors Richard Attenborough and Minnie Driver. The game engine was advanced for its time and required a fast and powerful computer to display the graphics adequately. The game was ambitious in it’s design but unfortunately was rushed during production, leaving an incomplete game to be released. It ended up receiving negatives reviews and mocked as “…the worst game of 1998.”

Plot You play as Anne, the sole survivor of a plane that has crashed on Site B, Isla Sorna. It is set one year after the events of the film. You start with a fractured arm and no weapons, having to search your way through the island to find a communications post while avoiding dinosaurs and solving puzzles. Gameplay There are three cut scenes in the game that play before the levels begin, as well as an introductory video. Bill Brown provided an orchestral musical score.

As Anne travels through the island, she speaks to herself or remember audio clips from John Hammond’s memoirs. Richard Attenborough returned to record these memoirs which describe the creation and subsequent downfall of Jurassic Park.

There is no HUD in the game but Anne’s health is represented by a heart-shaped tattoo on her breast. There is no indication on how much ammunition is left in a weapon so the only way to find out how full a weapon is is to pick it up and wait for Anne to speak, where she says “about eight shots” or “feels full”. The game developers were aiming for a high level of realism but due to the rushed production schedule the game was left unfinished, meaning these unfinished features can become an inconvenience. There is also issues with the physics; Anne sometimes cannot hold onto weapons correctly or will drop something while walking.

You can use Anne’s arm to pick up, swing, push and throw objects. Many objects can be used as a weapon, allowing the player to become creative in improvised weaponry. The arm physics have been described as extremely cumbersome, requiring up to five buttons to be used fully (swinging, rotating, picking up etc). This can be particularly frustrating during a battle with approaching Velociraptors or other dinosaurs. This physics issue allows Anne to pick up and drag steel girders that would be impossible to move normally. As such, these girders can also be used as weapons. Sometimes the 360 degree rotating wrist and lack of elbow results in erratic and impossible movement.

Throughout the game and to progress through levels, Anne must collect key cards and diskettes to enter buildings or to learn more about the mission and what she should do next. Pressing keypads is difficult as it requires you to control one finger on Anne’s already difficult-to-control arm. Weapons also have no cross-hairs or ability to correctly aim, so shooting a dinosaur is best done at close-range. Anne can carry two weapons at a time (or an accessory) and the weapons incorporate realistic recoil, meaning you need to re-aim after every shot. No weapon can be reloaded.

Warpath: Jurassic Park (PlayStation)

The game is a fighting video game released in 1999 on PlayStation. It is a spin-off of both Jurassic Park and The Lost World, but follows The Lost World’s visual style and logo. The game was developed by Dreamworks Interactive and Black Ops Entertainment.

Plot Warpath: Jurassic Park is a dinosaur fighting game. The player can choose a dinosaur to fight with against the other dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ankylosaurus, Stygimoloch and Styracosaurus. Six additional dinosaurs are unlocked in the Arcade mode. Gameplay The arenas that are used to fight are based on various scenes from the films such as the T-Rex enclosure from Jurassic Park and the S.S. Venture deck from The Lost World.

Some arenas feature destructible objects such as boxes which will hurt the dinosaurs when they break them. Edibles characters sometimes scurry into the area, such as goats, humans, dogs and Compys, which replenish lost health.

The game features a variety of modes similar to other fighting games:

– Arcade: One on one dinosaur battle through eight fights. This mode has a time limit and round limit.
– Versus: Two player option for the same as the above.
– Practise: This is a chance for the player to experiment with moves and train against any dinosaur.
– Rampage: You control a dinosaur that fights against an endless array of dinosaurs in the same manner as the survival mode.
– Museum: This allows you to browse through the dinosaurs and hear information on the species.