Classic Jurassic Park games hit PC next week, bringing hope for the series’ most ambitious misfire to return
NES, SNES, Game Boy and Genesis games are all good, but when will Trespasser get the redemption it deserves?
Jurassic Park is cracking open the amber of some of the 8 and 16-bit console games based on the dinosaur movie franchise, bringing its NES, SNES, Game Boy and Genesis outings to PC next week. Fingers crossed, the anniversary return of the series’ earlier video games might lead to some of its overlooked adaptations getting their chance in the spotlight. In other words: when will Trespasser finally get the respect it deserves?
The Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection does exactly what you’d expect a bundle with that dry a name to do, cramming seven retro games into a single digital package.
That’s seven games by technical reasoning, but three games with different names and ports, as you’ll get the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Genesis games all just called Jurassic Park; the SNES and Game Boy versions of 1994 non-canon sequel The Chaos Continues; and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition, a different Genesis-only sequel that lets you run around as Alan Grant and blast dinos with a flamethrower and rocket launcher.
The games won’t be quite as they were 30 years ago, with the modern benefit of being able to have save states and other quality-of-life additions. There’ll apparently be some new in-game maps too, if you’re already familiar with the originals.
The collection only includes 8-bit and 16-bit games from 1993 and 1994, missing out slightly off-the-beaten-track picks like 1994’s 3DO FMV-supplemented minigame collection Jurassic Park Interactive and the decidedly less action-packed Paint and Activity Center for DOS.
If we’re lucky, this return for Jurassic Park’s early video games - coming back to mark the film’s 30th anniversary - might eventually be followed by some of its later outings released around The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Could this mean we eventually see redemption for the overly-ambitious, technically innovative - if somewhat misguided and flawed - Jurassic Park: Trespasser, which went on to influence everything from Half-Life 2 to Halo and Far Cry (plus Octodad)? All being right in the world, licensing finds a way.
Until justice is done, you’ll be able to give Jurassic Park’s early video games a go when they hit Steam for $30 on November 22nd.