Jurassic Park is a great movie for people who enjoy dinosaur films and for those who like to be on the edge of their seats throughout a movie.

The movie may be a little scary for the younger kids, but the Jurassic park toys are always big hits.   Every kid has their own unique interests, whether it’s trains, legos, or dinosaurs.  And, most likely, whatever toy the child is interested in, there is probably a major obsession that may come along with it.  And from my experience, that obsession may be there for quite some time.

I have a nephew who LOVES dinosaurs.  He is 6 years old, and pretty much has a Jurassic Park toy in his hand at all times.   If it’s not a Jurassic Park toy, you can bet it’s some kind of a Godzilla action figure.  The point is, they are dinosaur type of toys, and he loves everything that has to do with these creatures.  And, he has watched all the movies out there about dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park, which was directed by Stephen Spielberg, has won 3 Oscars.  The story is about cloned dinosaurs which were created using DNA.  This DNA was found in a mosquito that was preserved in amber.   These dinosaurs then take over an island in Costa Rica, causing havoc on the island.

Dinosaur fans could enjoy watching the following dinosaurs in the movie:

Velociraptor

Cearadactylus

Dilophosaurus

Euoplocephalus

Hadrosaurus

Hypsilophodon

Maiasaura

Microceratops

Othnielia

Procompsognathus

Tyrannosaurus

Stegosaurus

Styracosaurus

Triceratops

Apatosaurus

Meganeura

As will all movies, the toy industry is quick to cash in.  There are many different Jurassic Park toys available.   If you have a son, a grandchild, nephew or a friend who is a dinosaur fan, consider buying a Jurassic Park toy, such as action figures, games, videos and posters, etc. It’s sure to be a hit.   You can check out the full catalog of Jurassic Park toys, which are located on the right hand side of this page.

The movie Jurassic Park came out in 1993. It wasn’t long before game developers hitched a ride on the huge success of the movie by releasing Jurassic Park video games. In fact, the first games were released at the same time as the movie hit the theatres, a common practice nowadays. Since then, there have been 25 game releases to coincide with each film of the Jurassic Park franchise.

The first games were fairly simple by today’s standards, but at the time some of them were quite advanced. Most followed the actual plot of the story pretty loosely, as gameplay was limited in terms of what characters could actually do and how and where they could move. The first movie came out along with six different video games:

-Jurassic Park for NES and Game Boy: isometric gameplay (a 3D environment with 2D graphics…like The Legend of Zelda) that followed the plot of the film somewhat
-Jurassic Park for SNES: similar to above, but also incorporated a first person perspective and one of the first ever video games with surround sound capability
-Jurassic Park for PC:DOS and Amiga: isometric and first person, and much better artwork and screen resolution
-Jurassic Park for Sega Genesis and Game Gear: side scrolling platform game (like Super Mario Bros.)
-Jurassic Park for Sega Mega-CD: point and click, first person with time limit and puzzles
-Jurassic Park, arcade version: a rail shooter, also by Sega, that was the first arcade shooter to use 3D environments

Both the film and the games were a huge success, so when Jurassic Park was released on VHS (remember VHS?), a second generation of Jurassic Park video games came along with it:

-Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues for SNES and Game Boy: both versions were original stories, and much harder than the first version
-Jurassic Park Interactive for 3DO: Some RPG features, simulated PC interface and video segments with look-alike characters

In 1997, DreamWorks made their own game to go along with the second film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, for Sega Saturn and Playstation. It was a side scrolling platform game with a 3D environment, but there were a lot of flaws with character control. Another version came out for the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive that was much better, with vehicles and a GPS mission map and way better graphics. Other games based on the second film were:

-The Lost World: Jurassic Park for Game.com (a handheld console)
-Jurassic Park: Chaos Island for PC (strategy game)
-The Lost World: Jurassic Park arcade version, by Sega
-Jurassic Park: Trespasser for PC: first person shooter, a ’sequel’ to the second movie and only playable because the modders eventually took over
-Warpath: Jurassic Park for Playstation: also by DreamWorks, a dino-on-dino fighting game

Jurassic Park 3 saw an explosion of games between 2001 and 2005. Three PC games were released, two of which were for children. Five games came out for the Game Boy Advance alone, and had good graphics and gameplay. The best game of this time was Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis for PC, Xbox, and Playstation 2. It’s a sim game, where you get to build and manage your own dinosaur park and create dinosaurs.

Three Jurassic Park movies…25 Jurassic Park video games. At least the games improved over time, even if the movies didn’t!

If you have little dinosaur fans stomping and roaring around your household, try one of the Jurassic park games to keep them occupied. Jurassic Park 3: Island Survival is a fun game that the whole family can play together.

Obviously, Island Survival is based on the third movie in the Jurassic park series. One player is always the dinosaurs (yes, all of them!). The rest of the players are humans, and they have to try and make it across the island and get to their rescue spot on the far beach while the dinosaur player tries everything they can to keep them from escaping. The game is won when the dinosaur defeats all the humans, or when the first human escapes the island.

Humans can choose to be one of seven characters from the movie: Billy, Alan, Eric, Amanda, Paul, Udesky or Nash. The tokens are cardboard and a little flimsy. The dinosaur player gets to control 6 pteradons, 3 raptors, 2 spinosaurus and, of course, the T-Rex himself. The dinosaur pieces are really nice, and made of sturdy plastic. Each character also has life chips that determine how much life they have left.

The board is a good size, very large and easy for little hands to move around. There are four special dice, and you have to put stickers on each side which tend to come loose if you play often.

Movement is based on rolling the dice, for humans and for dinosaurs. There is a die face that allows three humans to move in one turn, but generally each human moves individually. Same with the dinosaurs, except for one die face that gives every dinosaur on the board the chance to move one space each.

Dinosaurs and humans start in different areas on the board. The dinosaurs are limited to certain zones (4 zones in total) that the humans have to get through in order to escape. Once humans are in their territory, dinosaurs can attack! Attacks are also controlled by rolls of the dice. Humans have a 50% chance of escaping an attack but if they don’t, they lose life chips according to how the dice fall.

Cards bring an element of chance to the game. When humans land on certain squares they can draw a card that, if they’re lucky, lets them get out of a battle or transport other humans to a safer location. Of course, the humans aren’t always lucky!

You can play the game with two to four players, but four is better. An average game lasts about a half hour, maybe a little less, but be warned…kids want to play again, and again! Young kids especially love it, and it is a really good, simple introduction to strategy-based adventure games. It’s a fun game for adults too, as it isn’t as tedious or young as some other family games.

All in all, this is one of the Jurassic Park games that really is a fun way to spend an afternoon with your kids.

Here is a fun Jurassic Park Toy!

• Schleich Junior Velociraptor Model Dinosaur Toy
• Length: 5.5″ Width: 1.6″ Height: 2.5″
• Age 3+

Product DescriptionGreat for Kids. Even though this item is smaller than the Schleich’s original line, they are definietely not lacking the quality. What makes this item so great is the price. They make them smaller to be able to afford the whole set. This item is not only a toy, but an educational series of hand painted replicas that reveals the prehistoric world. Manufactured from a high quality vinyl (rubber), this extremely realistic piece is hand-painted, with non-toxic paint, fo. . . More >>

Schleich Velociraptor Dinosaur

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