9.6 /10 1 Votes
4.9/5 Let's Play GBA Mode Single-player video game | 4.8/5 Emuparadise Initial release date 16 July 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Developers Konami, Konami HWI, KCE Hawaii Similar Jurassic Park games, Platform games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jurassic Park III: The DNA Factor is a side scrolling and puzzle game set in the Jurassic Park movie universe. It was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Hawaii and published by Konami in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance
Contents
Summary
A cargo plane flying over Isla Sorna is struck by lightning, and upon crashing, the dinosaur DNA it stored is spread across the island. The player then assumes the role of either Mark Hanson (a photographer) or Lori Torres (an ace pilot), and must wander around the island in a side-scrolling format, collecting DNA and avoiding dinosaurs. In each level, the player's character has the ability to switch between a background and a foreground pathway. Switching between the two pathways allows the player to access weapons and DNA samples, or to avoid oncoming dinosaurs. At the end of each level, the player will use the DNA that is collected in a short puzzle game, in order to create more dinosaurs. Completing this minigame will unlock more areas for the player to explore. At the end of the game, the military bombs the island, and the player escapes on a small plane, wondering if dinosaurs should really have a place in their world.
Reception
The game was met with negative reception upon release, as GameRankings gave it a score of 48.94%, while Metacritic gave it 44 out of 100. AllGame praised the game's graphics and sound effects, but also wrote, "Not only is the control awkward and difficult to master, levels are poorly designed and seemingly impossible to complete." AllGame also criticized the game's ability to switch between background and foreground pathways, writing "this just adds confusion, since swapping between roads can be tricky and the paths are oftentimes deceiving because of the limited screen size and resolution."
IGN praised its cutscenes, sound effects and music, but criticized its "sloppy game design," clumsy controls, and bad collision detection, as well as the game's background and foreground pathways: "Nothing casts a shadow, so you can't even tell if a DNA sample is hovering over the foreground path or lying on the ground on the background path."
GameSpot criticized the game for "disappointing" sound effects and music, and for sharing nothing in common with the film. GameSpot also criticized the game's background and foreground pathways, calling it "a confusing little gimmick that is mainly used to increase the amount of backtracking you'll have to do to collect the particles you need."