Jurassic Park Collection Switch Review

Like many of us, I grew up wanting to be an archeologist. Dinosaurs always have, and most likely always will fascinate the inner child in me, and one of the best moments of my life was introducing my son to the Queensland Museum which features a full-size Muttaburrasaurus (a true blue Aussie Dinosaur) in the foyer. Much like the Dinos themselves, Jurassic Park was another obsession of mine, and when I was a kid, I enjoyed visiting my mate’s place to play the Super NES and the amazing Genesis Version of the game. Limited Run Games have seemingly done the impossible by brokering deals and creating the Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection, initially announcing 5 games which then grew to 7 when they secured the Sega versions (arguably the best iterations) to be included. How did they manage to do this? Limited Games uh… finds a way. What’s this carefully curated collection Like? Hold on to your butts as we find out!

The Collection

The Collection itself is presented as slides, allowing you to select your game and jump right in. The games are sorted as 8-bit, Portable, 16-bit, and Genesis. The 8-bit versions are the NES equivalent of games, Portable is Gameboy, the 16-Bit is Super NES, and Genesis are the much-revered Sega versions of the game. These aren’t just simple ports, however, as there are several modern improvements and features to help make your time at the park more enjoyable. These features allow you to add a CRT of Dot Matrix filter, depending on the game, further taking me back in time, as well as the ability to save anywhere by opening the menu (which is presented as the mirror from the Jeep which was a great touch. The best feature, however, is the ability to rewind the games like in the Forza series, making the sometimes punishing difficulty levels of the games, a little easier to bear.

Jurassic Park 8-BIT

The NES Version of the original Jurassic Park Game sees you collecting Dinosaur eggs while fighting attacking dinos off. It’s fun to play but also frustrating with not a lot of direction of what you have to do initially. When I finally figured out how to open doors (much like the raptors in the movies) I was greeted with a “?” Pickup that I collected which instantly killed me, forcing me to restart. Thankfully, the rewind feature is your friend and the game is enjoyable and worth a playthrough.

Jurassic Park PORTABLE

A very similar experience to the NES version of the game. I thought it was really cool that Limited Run Games added a Dot Matrix filter to emulate a Gameboy screen. It’s almost identical to the NES game, although for some reason I preferred to play this version, despite not being in colour. I had a bit of trouble with navigation until I switched to using the D-pad. This was more on me than the game though!

Jurassic Park 16-BIT

I missed this one the first time around and after playing the NES and Gameboy versions, I initially thought this was just a 16-bit version of them, however, I played on to find it has some great “Wolfenstein” type first-person sections as you explore different buildings and areas, as well as small puzzles to figure out. The presentation of this game looks great and it’s unique in the sense there are several different gameplay genres blended into one overall great game.

Jurassic Park GENESIS

Arguably, the best offering in this collection. The original SEGA Genesis version of Jurassic Park allows you to play as both Alan Grant and the Velociraptor in a side-scrolling adventure that sees you start in the jungle after a jeep crash, with the mission to fight your way to escape the park. The gameplay and platforming are tight and the animations are great. This iteration of the port is complete with scan lines and a classic CRT look that really captures the feel of the original version. The game does feature the same slowdown of the original when sliding and on some platform areas, but it perfectly captures the tension and tight gameplay of the same game we played as kids whether it be piloting a dinghy downstream as Alan, or stalking your prey as the Velociraptor.

Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues 16-BIT

To me, the weakest link in the lineup of titles. You play as a soldier who can select a variety of different missions that mainly entail a run-and-gun Contra-style play. I might have to try and give this one another go but for the life of me, I couldn’t seem to enjoy it. There are some invincible dinosaurs you just have to jump, and the speed of enemies makes this one a frustrating exercise of entering a new area, rewinding, and trying again. I have read elsewhere that originally Nintendo Power critiqued the original release and stated the difficulty was a bit unbalanced, and to me, this one seems like a step back from the original SNES release.

Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues PORTABLE

This version fared much better in my opinion as a side-scrolling shooter. The graphics and animations are fantastic (especially for its time) and it’s an enjoyable mix of shooting and platforming. It doesn’t seem to have the frustrating difficulty spike of its SNES big brother, and I really enjoyed my time on this one.

Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition GENESIS

Another classic I missed in the day, the Rampage edition features both Alan and the Velociraptor as playable characters but really ramps up the pacing of the first Genesis game. I enjoyed the Alan sections of the game but could skip the Raptor sections if I’m being honest. It’s still a good game in its own right but loses a bit of the charm of the original game by making Alan a one-man murdering machine facing off against both dinosaurs and soldiers.

Overall, the Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection is a well-put-together library of the games of our childhood. The added features make these classic games even more enjoyable, and the entire presentation is slick and easy to navigate. It’s clear the team behind this collection are fans of the franchise, and that care and respect for the source material shines through in this epic collection of games.

Can this Collection hold up to today’s standards and be enjoyable for all? You bet Jurassic can.