The Lost World Gaming Weekend part 1

Last weekend, I had a theme.  I decided to review underrated but admittedly cheesy sea monster movies that I have enjoyed.  This weekend, I have decided on a different theme.  I am going to review two video games based on the Lost World: Jurassic Park film.  These two games stick out the most in terms of games based on the second film because I played them the most.  In fact, for a while there, they were the only ones I owned...I think.  Either way, they have had the most impact on my gaming experience with this franchise...well, mostly the second film of the franchise.  With that said, let us discuss The Lost World: Jurassic Park for the Sega Game Gear.

Story
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - You either love it, or you hate it. The film version got a pretty bad rap, but I thought it was entertaining (definitely milestones better than the third movie that can't even be considered a movie).  I personally enjoyed it and still do for the most part.  It was pretty entertaining.  The story for this game alters from the film as most adaptations do. Basically, you take control of an unnamed hunter who ventures into Site B for some reason that I can't remember. And for some other reason, you have a compsognanthus (you know, those little cute, but ferocious chicken dinosaurs that ate Peter Stormare in the flick) as a pet who becomes useful later on in the game. Again, I don't quite recall the motivations behind the hunter, other than just giving us a game to play. The introduction of the game is quite nice and spooky with flashes of lightning, glowing yellow eyes in the dark, the tagline "Something has Survived," and the reveal of the raptor the eyes belong to. After that, it's time to go shoot some dinosaurs.

Graphics
The graphics are nothing special, but there's nothing wrong with them either. They are good enough for the handheld with plenty of colors.   I think the jungle areas look nice, the dark alleys and spooky visitor centers have a creepy feel to them (even for a handheld), and the dinosaurs look like dinosaurs as best they can for the handheld system. Although to be honest, there were moments when I wasn't sure which dinosaurs weren't supposed to be raptors.  In one of the first levels you encounter some raptor-ish dinosaurs that hide in the long grass like in the film.  It seemed like they should be raptors, anyway.  But then, once you make it to the visitor center in the final part of the game, you encounter the raptors that look much closer to the film counterparts than what was seen in the beginning.  Okay, if those weren't raptors, what were they then?  Some minor confusion on my part I guess.  Visibility is perfect, although, that may also be due to the fact that you could control the brightness of your screen on the Game Gear.  Most of the dinosaurs look fine, I just had the issues with the uncertainty of raptors.

Music and Sound
I like the music and the sound effects. Some musical scores in video games really don't accomplish much, while others are nice and easy on the ears. The latter is true for this game. I liked the music, it was very entertaining, especially the exciting score for the boss battles. It was the same for every boss fight, but it was nice enough to listen to that the repetition didn't bother me. The sound effects were decent. Some dinosaurs chirped or roared while most only made gargantuan stomps.  Unfortunately, the raptors didn't make much noise, except when they leapt out at you or broke through an air vent, but not a huge deal. Is it just me or does it seem like I'm harping on the raptors a bit much? 

Gameplay 8/10
It is a platforming shooter.  Basically, you have one weapon throughout the entire game. That's it. Your life consists of five colored body vests. Each hit knocks you down a vest, so, five hits and you're dead. However, you have unlimited continues, which took away any challenge the game might have had. The game starts out with three levels to choose to complete in any order, but then it becomes completely linear with only three more levels to complete to beat the game.  The first three levels have you platforming, shooting and dodging animals, going from point A to B and fighting a boss.  The boss fights are pretty simple but I will give kudos to one boss fight for having some problem solving:  The Carnotaurus.  For those that haven't read the Lost World novel, Crichton included the Carnotaurus as a dinosaur that could change its color to camouflage itself.  In the game, *spoiler alert* the Carnotaurus hops around shrouded in darkness trying to eat you.  Your weapon is useless unless you switch on the lights.  It took me just a few minutes to figure this out, but I thought it added variety to an otherwise generic action game.  And speaking of variety, some of the levels that come after the first three have a fair amount of variety to them.  For example, the fourth level is all about pursuit and dodging.  You are being chased by a rather large triceratops and mostly you have to run and dodge.  A nice break from the typical shooting, but they incorporated a unique control scheme for this level that wasn't quite as smooth as it could have been.  The next level had you play as the pet compy.  Again, it was a nice break from the hunter game play as it allowed you to play as a dino when you could scale walls and attack other dinos.  The final level as back to its standard mode gameplay with a creepy atmosphere and music and complete with raptors and the T-rex as well its offspring.  It ends with a car chase trying to avoid being eaten by the rex.



Replay
I have to admit I played it over and over again.  I enjoyed it, but it was also freakin' short.  I'm not going to lie, it only took me about ten to fifteen minutes to beat it each time.  It has six short levels and unlimited continues.  The challenge factor isn't very high.  But if you enjoyed it the first time, then, you might pick it up and play it again another couple of times, because why not?

In conclusion, it is a decent game for the handheld system based on a franchise that has some variety in the gameplay.  However, it is very short with some questionable design choices and weird controls.  Ultimately, those gripes are not enough for me to put it down.  Ultimately, I enjoy the game and feel it is worth a look if you own a game gear and can find the game at a used game store.