Dinosaur typifies why most serious gamers stay away from movie-to-video-game properties. More often than not, they don't play well or look anything like the films they are meant to re-create. While there are exceptions, Dinosaur is the rule.
As you have probably guessed from the Disney logo on the front of the packaging, Dinosaur is an action-adventure that is based on the Disney animated feature film of the same name. The plot and dialogue of Dinosaur is irritating, but not as much as the awkward control and the substandard graphics. The game puts you in control of three characters: Aladar, a large iguanodon who relies on his swift charge and tail slap; Zini, a lemur who can jump and run very fast; and Flia, a pteranodon who can fly and glide through levels and is also the master of a swoop attack. All of the prehistoric beasts' skills are designed to complement each other. As you make your way through the game, you must use their skills in tandem to traverse the game's various stages. The PlayStation controller's shoulder buttons allow you to switch between characters.
Sandbox Studios, the game-design firm that developed Dinosaur for Disney Interactive, has not done this license justice. The environments are large, but extremely bland and unattractive, further evidence of the game's poor graphics and overall rushed feel. --Todd Mowatt
Pros:
May be attractive for younger, less-experienced gamers
Average Customer Review:
( 9 customer reviews )
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8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Don't Bother with this oneDec 21, 2001
I agree. I would definetly rate this 0 stars if it existed. Disney should be so ashamed of this one. Terrible graphics and sound. I lost interest in the first 20 minutes. It's very boring (zzzzzz). No adult or kid would want to play this. In the very first level, you can't even move anywhere! You can't stay one character for long. If you pick Aladar, he can't reach high above the trees, if you pick Zini, he can't defeat the big meat- eating dinos, and if you pick some weird taradactlyle that wasn't even in the movie, she can't fly to the ground! The movie was great, the game get's zip. I'm glad I rented it from Blockbuster before I bought it. Don't waste your money on this.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Its a fun game for the kidsJan 31, 2001
If you like the movie you will like the game to. The characters from the movie are in the game Zini and Aladar, and the there one more character, Flia and lots of enemies. There are 11 stages to pass, good luck.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
great game, great movieJul 25, 2004
When I first got this game, I really liked it. I LOVE dinosaurs, but there was only one thing I didn't like in this game: no Bruton! He is my favorite dinosaur! Don't ask me why. My favorite level in this game was level 7; Finding Neera. I don't know why, it's probably because t's nighttime (don't worry, you can still see the numerous raptors, about 3 or 4 Albertosaurus and the Spinosaurus that's attacking Neera). My least favorites are level 5 and 6, The Lake and Baby Sitting. If you're a little stupid (like I was) you'd be stumped on level 9 Unwelcome Guest. Here's how you do it: have at least 3 lightning energy (which helps your charachter do a special attack), go to one of the loose ceilings
(make sure the Carnotaurus follows) and do Aladar's thunder stomp. the ceiling will fall down on the Carnotaur's head. You have to do that on all 3 loose ceilings until the Carnotaurus is buried under rocks. Anyway, I'd recomend this to a dino lover.
5 of 7 found the following review helpful:
very nice dinasorsNov 28, 2002
this is the bestest video game in the world. i love beeng aledar and zini and his frend the big taridactl. i forget her name. you get to kill all these reely cute cool dinasors. i love the meat eatings the bestest. aledar gets to push and shove all of them. zini helps aledar by getting fruits and stuff down from the trees. the tractactl does something. i forget what her point is in the game. peeple who says this game is bad shoud take a chil pil. they need a big break. wich reminds me. by a disney dinasor game break games to. thank you for taking my revew seeriosly.
Still love this game, but it isn't for everyoneNov 11, 2010
By Super Nerd - The account owners teenage daughter Ah, another game from my childhood. This game has, and always will hold a special place in my heart. I loved this movie, went to see it in theaters with my grandmother, and begged and begged when I saw the PlayStation game in KB Toys. Needless to say, I got it. And let me tell you, I was an easily impressed child, but this game blew me away. It may have had poor quality graphics and choppy sounds, but it held my attention all the same. I was without a memory card and playing on a PlayStation2, and I would never get past The Lake because I couldn't figure it out, or I would have to turn off the system for fear of overheating, my Dad was quite protective of the machine.
Eventually the game was lost and I sort of forgot about it, remembering it from time to time and looking for it in various old-game stores, but I never found it again. Thankfully, I was able to buy it from a seller here, and when I hooked it up--still with no memory card!--I felt like a small child again. Now I'm better at video games and play RPG-style games, but Disney games like these still make me smile and want to play them again and again. Now, onto the game itself.
The story loosely follows the movie, with a couple changes, such as the addition of Flia. I am sure that this character was the pterodactyl-like beast that was carrying Aladaar's egg in the beginning of the movie. The dinosaur ended up dropping the egg and was never seen after that in the movie, but in the game, Flia rescues the eggs from raptors and finds Zini to help feed him. The three become friends and proceed to go through the island of the lemurs and various other 'worlds' until you meet the original cast of the movie--the large herd led by Krohn. You do various tasks to get to the end of the game, the paradise land.
As I've mentioned previously...the graphics aren't the best. They are slow, mediocre in appearance, and the game actually has poor hit detection, especially for Aladaars attacks. The music tracks are nice, but some of the in-game voicing and sound effects are scratchy and repeat themselves over and over again to the point of annoyance. All things considered, it definitely isn't the best game Disney has ever put out, but I DO still love it. There's just something about it that makes me get past all the cons and focus on the pros.
I'd only recommend this game if you can tolerate the cons. It's good if you enjoy the movie, like simplicity, or don't mind older games.
based on 9 reviews
( 9 customer reviews )
