By Adam Smith on October 7th, 2011 at 9:28 am.
Let’s start off today with something free that could eat up a massive chunk of your Friday, in bite-size portions. You may remember Pixeljam’s Dino Run, it entertained John many a moon ago, back in the days when death by meteors actually seemed more likely than death by economic collapse. Detailing the last days of the dinosaurs in documentary-style pixel graphics, it’s a hectic race for survival, as meteors slam into the ground seeking to obliterate all life. The special edition allows you to customise your dinosaur (hats, dinosaurs in hats) and includes a couple of new modes, one of which allows multiplayer racing (several dinosaurs in hats). As part of the pack, which is only free today and tomorrow, you’ll also receive Space Rubbish and the spiffy soundtrack albums to both.
One day, a new sentient species will arise, kicking away the dust of our greatest achievements and uncovering the occasional pair of human skeletons, locked in their final embrace as civilisation collapsed around them. In the new world that arises, some clever sort will make a game called Person Run and they will force tiny representations of our kind to flee disaster of our own making while wearing comedic shoes and bowties. You know this to be true.
Dino Run SE is available on Windows, Linux and iOS.
07/10/2011 at 09:34 Nathan_G says:
Why thankyou, don’t mind if I do!
That first screenshot is enough to know this is a must play for me.
[EDIT] The only thing that could make this better is split screen racing.
Damnit… I had things to do today.
07/10/2011 at 09:38 sabrage says:
This game has an INCREDIBLE soundtrack. Better than VVVVVV.
07/10/2011 at 21:08 Wulf says:
<_< >_>
Not sure I’d say better than, but as good as? Sure! It really is.
Both have their well deserved place of reverence in my music folder, along with the likes of the Shatter OST, which is also so very, very good.
07/10/2011 at 09:44 MonkeyMonster says:
T-Rex in a Trilby – only bettered if he were flying a F-15… :D
07/10/2011 at 09:46 TNG says:
You had me at “hats”…
07/10/2011 at 09:47 MrEvilGuy says:
I was dinosaur once
07/10/2011 at 10:01 Norskov says:
There’s another free game(and soundtrack I believe) if you download the DinoRubbish MegaBundle instead: http://pixeljam.bandcamp.com/album/dinorubbish-megabundle
07/10/2011 at 10:33 Magnetude says:
I just came back here to point this out after paying cash moneys for just Dino Run. I’m now struggling with the moral dilemma inherent in buying the other bundle for 1p, seeing as I probably would have paid the same price for it as I bought the other bundle for, but on the other hand I’ll show up in their system as one of those miserly bastards that ruins this sort of things for everyone, oh no oh no, please update the article Mr Smith!
07/10/2011 at 10:43 Adam Smith says:
Updated to save others from your fate! Be miserly though, since you have already paid cash moneys. Do it in my name and I shall explain myself when judgement comes.
07/10/2011 at 10:54 Magnetude says:
Phew! Thanks for your speedy crisis resolution Adam, I’m commenting on your articles every time I face a moral quandary from now on.
Also that Space Rubbish game looks totally sweet and I expect to have loads of fun with it. It’s like an arcade version of Elite as far as I can tell.
07/10/2011 at 10:57 RobF says:
Space Rubbish is set in space but really, really isn’t rubbish. It’s an ace take on Asteroids and the soundtrack is awesome.
Definitely worth investigating if you haven’t already.
07/10/2011 at 19:02 Phasma Felis says:
@Magnetude: It’s not really Elite-ish. More like, well, Asteroids with different enemies and powerups and physics. You progress through levels in a linear fashion, and sometimes get a chance to redeem your winnings for new stuff in between.
Also, be prepared to restart several times, because the wrong buying decisions can make unwinnable pretty fast. Upgrade your mining efficiency early and often; its income boost is not small.
07/10/2011 at 21:06 Wulf says:
I have to add my voice and say that I found Space Rubbish to be surprisingly brilliant as well.
07/10/2011 at 10:02 Ondrej says:
Argh, I totally thought it’s Google Checkout powered, then found out it isn’t… I’d buy it in an instant it it were :(
07/10/2011 at 10:11 Icarus says:
“some clever sort will make a game called Person Run and they will force tiny representations of our kind to flee disaster of our own making while wearing comedic shoes and bowties. You know this to be true.”
You mean Canabalt? http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/
07/10/2011 at 11:03 MonkeyMonster says:
Make the person flee giant turds and other toilet based items and you could call it Logan’s Runs…
IGMC
07/10/2011 at 21:01 Wulf says:
Canabalt, whilst fun, is very primitive compared to DinoRun, though. It’s sort of like comparing the original arcade Wonderboy to the latter games. There’s a great level of depth to DR that I just haven’t seen matched, yet.
07/10/2011 at 11:48 westyfield says:
I paid for it anyway. Not sure why, it seemed like the right thing to do.
07/10/2011 at 21:08 KillahMate says:
Yeah, I paid for it as well. I mean, it said ‘Pay What You Want’, so it felt rude not to chip in with a few bucks since I was getting two games and a soundtrack. Which is excellent psychology: if it had just had a link to Download with a different Donate link I probably wouldn’t have paid.
07/10/2011 at 11:55 frenz0rz says:
Yes yes yes yes yes yes! I LOVE Dino Run!
07/10/2011 at 12:51 Hodge says:
Sold.
07/10/2011 at 13:03 caddyB says:
I’m going to pay for it as soon as I get my paycheck =(
sorry dino developers.
07/10/2011 at 14:29 deadly.by.design says:
Hilariously, a fatal Youtube error occurs every time I try to watch the video. Right when the meteor lands.
07/10/2011 at 16:58 Donkeydeathtasticelastic says:
This is the best fucking thing ever. In the history of everything.
07/10/2011 at 17:12 DOLBYdigital says:
Wow!!
First thanks Adam for pointing this out and for the humorous article. This game looks and sounds amazing, downloading now and will pay just because this is so sweet :)
07/10/2011 at 18:01 Rehykja says:
Now my avatar of choice might finally make sense! Love this game. Bought it a while back and have no regrets. :)
07/10/2011 at 20:59 Wulf says:
/me_too
I bought it when I first saw them advertising it, since I keep going back every now and then to have just another go at DinoRun. It’s never left my mind since I played the beta. It’s a very memorable game.
07/10/2011 at 20:58 Wulf says:
This is likely the best jump & run I’ve ever played. I was actually in the beta for the original. I remember playing the standalone executable on one of my old laptops, which was Linux-laden. Those were fond memories, since it really, really is quite good. Since then it’s had loads of features bolted onto it, and hats, just for the amusement value of that.
I’m especially attached to my shadowy black raptor, what with his equally shadowy black top hat.
What really makes it though is the system of discovery and reward, if you take the chance to go away you’ve never gone before, or to take a leap of faith, the chances are you’ll find something nifty that you hadn’t seen, that would reward you. This is one of those few instances of games where I actually think unlocks work. And they do work well, and seem to compliment the game nicely, but perhaps that’s just to do with the quick amount of time the game is played in? I’m not sure.
Anyway, I’d love to see more run & jump games with this sort of complexity. Usually they’re admittedly pretty but incredibly simple and primitive affairs compared to DinoRun.
And yes, DinoRun has an incredible soundtrack that could rival VVVVVV’s.
07/10/2011 at 21:11 Dervish says:
I find it rather offensive that Canabalt received so much more attention than this one.
07/10/2011 at 21:17 Wulf says:
Except that’s not what I said.
What I did say is that, entertainingly, DinoRun was an evolution of the genre.
But apparently I have induced some butthurt in a Canabalt fan, despite actually liking Canabalt myself. :P
Oh, Internet.
07/10/2011 at 21:26 Dervish says:
Dude. I’m saying Canabalt kinda sucks, and the attention it received was disproportionate.
07/10/2011 at 21:42 Malawi Frontier Guard says:
This game has dinosaurs in it. Instant Wulf favorite.
08/10/2011 at 12:55 Saint_loup says:
“Dino Run SE is available on Windows, Linux and iOS”. I think you meant Windows, Linux and mac OS.