Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues Official Trailer (1994, Ocean Software)
10I always felt like this game was a response to the Sega developed Genesis version, which was the definitive first gen Jurassic Park game as far as I am concerned (the SNES version though was still great, just way different). Ocean saw a successful dinosaur platformer with lethal and non-lethal weapons and decided "Hey! We can do that too!"
Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues (also known as Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues) is a video game, a non-canonical continuation of the Jurassic Park series for the SNES and Game Boy. The game predicts that faith in the Jurassic Park concept is undiminished after the first game's events, and that International Genetics Technologies intends to reestablish control. In the meantime, the island is vulnerable to outside attack.
Jurassic Park 2 features a cinematic opening explaining that the main competitor of InGen, Biosyn, is sending in troops and scientists in an attempt to gain control of Isla Nublar for their own purposes. The instruction booklet indicates that InGen CEO John Hammond has personally asked Dr. Alan Grant (First Player) and a soldier named Michael Wolfskin (Second Player) to bring the island under control after Biosyn's attack.
Jurassic Park 2 is a side-scrolling run and gun game. The player(s) can select their level from a list and play through the game's stages in any order; however, "emergency" missions also appear after each level is completed, and the order of these stages does not change. Some stages offer a simple flat design, some have a platforming focus and others feature a maze of doorways which must be navigated to locate the exit.
Blockade mission, with Grant alone
Grant and Wolfskin can choose among three lethal weapons (rifle, machine gun, shotgun), and three non-lethal weapons (electric stun gun, tranquilizer gun, and gas grenade launcher). The lethal rounds are effective against humans and dinosaurs, while the non-lethal rounds are designed to incapacitate dinosaurs without killing them, so as to preserve InGen's investment; if the number of dinosaurs killed with lethal weapons by the player becomes too high, the game will end. Non-lethal rounds do not affect humans, while killing Raptors with lethal rounds will not affect the number of dinosaurs killed.
Only one of Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers was impressed with the SNES version of the game. The other three expressed disappointment that the series had turned from the adventure gameplay of the original to a generic run-and-gun with repetitive missions and drab graphics. Despite this, they scored it a 7 out of 10. Though they praised the audio, GamePro likewise dismissed the game as having drab graphics and over-familiar run-and-gun gameplay, concluding "you've seen this type of game play in a hundred other games; unfortunately, nothing new is added here to improve upon mediocrity." Next Generation magazine gave the game an "Average" rating of two stars out of five and praised its graphics, sound and introduction opening, but noted, "The action, no matter what the situation, ultimately waters down to the usual 'run-and-shoot' cash-cow." Super Play magazine also commented on the lack of freshness to the gameplay, but gave the game an 83% and noted the difficulty level, calling it "tough."