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Jurassic Park 3: Island Attack

Score: 70%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Media: Cart/1
Players: 1
Genre: Adventure

Graphics & Sound:

Jurassic Park 3: Island Attack is the final game of Konami's trilogy of JP games for the GBA and while it isn't the best of the bunch, it's one of the most entertaining. Island Attack is definitely the best looking of the trio. Sporting a 3/4 perspective, it is impressive to see the amount of detail put into each of the environments. I did find them to be a little too dark though, and very, very brown. In my opinion, this is the only area where the game misses a step. The dinosaurs are brown, and so is the ground. In some areas, like the power plant and paddocks, this is not a problem, however in areas like the motorcycle chase, it is a major problem. Things are moving so fast, that you usually cannot see the raptors come up after you - resulting in a few lost lives.

The sound is a step in the right direction, but doesn't squeeze the most out of the GBA sound card. The background music is there, but since I can't recall any of the songs off the top of my head, they really aren't that memorable. I was disappointed in the dinosaur sounds. In the other two Jurassic Park games, the real dinosaur sounds from the movie were used, but in Island Attack, they all sound very generic.


Gameplay:

Island Attack starts out in the same why most JP games start. You, as Alan Grant, are flying a plane above Island Sorna (Site B) when something goes wrong and you crash on the island. As soon as you crash, your mission becomes clear - GET THE HELL OFF THE ISLAND!

Of course, getting off this island is a little harder than being voted off by the Tribal Council, so you must instead travel through eight areas of the island in order to reach the port and salvation.

Although Konami is marketing this game as an adventure game (I mean, it says ADVENTURE right on the box), I would not argue if they classified it as survival horror. This is not an easy game, and many times, you will find yourself in Resident Evil- like situations. For example, you are armed only with a flare gun, and you have three raptors charging right for you - what do you do? Lure them to the explosive box and take them all out with one shot. The inclusion of the Active Charge System also adds to the survival horror aspect. When you come up to certain doors, switches, or boxes, a power bar appears over them. Pressing B rapidly fills the bar until it finally opens. As you can imagine, this can make things hectic when you have some dinos looking to make a snack of you. For those looking for a more cerebral challenge, Island Attack also offers quite a few challenging puzzles.

I had a few problems with the perspective though, but nothing that made the game unplayable. I also did not like the aiming system. When you have the flare gun armed, pressing B brings up a targeting sight that is a little slippery to aim at the right target. An Auto-aim ability would have improved things.


Difficulty:

As you can imagine, getting off an island filled with dinosaurs would be quite a challenge, and Island Attack is no different. This is one tough game, but still a lot of fun. The only area the game really gets difficult to the point of smashing your GBA is the motorcycle chase.

Game Mechanics:

It will never cease to amaze me how some developers can do so much with so few buttons. The L and R buttons make cycling through inventories easy, so you'll always have the weapon you need when you need it. The actions of A and B are based solely on what the situation calls for. If you have a gun armed, B shoots - if you are by a door, it opens them. It is all very intuitive and easy to pick up.

If you have read my other JP reviews, you will notice something different about this one - no complaints about license use. This is one of the best uses of the Jurassic Park license that I have seen in a long time, it is a shame that it came on the GBA. Not to say the GBA isn't a good system - but the developers seemed to have so many good ideas with this game that I would have loved to have seen what it would have been like on a more powerful system.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

Nintendo GameBoy Advance Jurassic Park III: The DNA Factor Nintendo GameBoy Advance Jurassic Park 3: Park Builder

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated