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Jurassic Park
Sega's ambitious CD-powered island exploration
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PRESS START
An Introduction To Today’s Game
Here’s a bit of an odd one.
In 1994, while most Jurassic Park games had you running and gunning through Isla Nublar, Sega took a different path with their CD version of the classic film. Instead of the constant action of the other games, this version was a slow paced point-and-click adventure.
At the time, CD-ROM was still the Wild West of game development. Developers suddenly had far more space than cartridges allowed, and no real rulebook for how to use it. Full-motion video, CGI scenes, and slow transitional animations became experiments in themselves, and Jurassic Park on Sega CD leans hard into that mindset, showing off stair climbs and iconic movie locations simply because it could.
To borrow Dr. Ian Malcolm’s words, the developers never stopped to ask if they should, leaving behind a fascinating, if awkward, time capsule of early CD-ROM ambition.
Welcome to the thinking person's dinosaur game.
BEHIND THE PIXELS
Let’s Dive Into The Game
Jurassic Park for Sega CD is a first-person point-and-click adventure game that plays like a console version of Myst with teeth. You control a scientist sent to the abandoned Jurassic Park after the film's events to retrieve dinosaur eggs for preservation.
The catch is you have exactly 12 real-time hours to collect one egg from each of seven species and return them safely to incubators at the visitor center.
You’ll have to dust off your Duck Hunt skills for a few segments.
The gameplay combines exploration, puzzle-solving, and survival elements. You navigate through fixed points on the island, each offering a 360-degree panoramic view of your surroundings.
Using a cursor controlled by the D-pad, you search for items, examine clues, and interact with the environment. The cursor changes to different icons based on what you can do, like a magnifying glass for examining objects or a hand for picking up items.
Not having a mouse and being forced to play with a controller for a point-and-click game definitely feels awkward.
Combat encounters are puzzle-based rather than action-oriented. Your three weapons, stun guns, tranquilizer darts, and gas grenades, are all non-lethal, meaning every dinosaur encounter requires strategy. You might need to distract a triceratops with rocks, time your movements to avoid a raptor's patrol pattern, or use the environment to create barriers.
Oddly enough, these full motion segments are pretty entertaining.
The game's educational angle sets it apart from other movie tie-ins. Scattered throughout the island are Dinosaur Field Kiosks where Dr. Robert Bakker, an actual paleontologist who consulted on the films, provides video segments about different species.
These aren't just throwaway facts but genuine educational content that helps you understand the dinosaurs you're dealing with. It’s been over 30 years since I last played this game and these segments were easily the most memorable aspect of the game.
Emily Shimura delivers plot-critical information through video messages, advancing the story about corporate sabotage by rival company BioSyn.
You’ll come across scenes from the aftermath of the film. A nice little touch.
Visually, the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds with CG transition scenes between locations. While impressive for 1994, the graphics show their age with pixelation and CD compression artifacts. Now I love my pixel art, but this isn’t a stand out title for that art form.
The real star is the audio design. Jurassic Park was one of the few Sega CD titles to use QSound technology, creating an immersive soundscape. The roars, environmental ambience, and music pull you into the isolation of being alone on an island with dinosaurs. The T-Rex roar was created by recording angry alligators in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, a detail that speaks to the production's ambition.
Saving happens only at the visitor center, adding tension to your exploration. Loading times between areas can be lengthy, a common complaint even at release. The game typically takes 10 to 14 hours to complete if you know what you're doing, though that real-time deadline means you can't take too many breaks.
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WHERE TO PLAY
The original copy or emulation will be your best bet in playing this.
Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)
Loose: $10
Complete: $20
New/Sealed: $85
GAME INFORMATION
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RETRO HARDWARE
Reading about retro games is great, but playing them is the real goal. This new Retro Hardware section is about easy, affordable ways to get those classics running without the headache.
Miyoo Mini Flip V2
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It comes pre-installed with thousands of games, easily playing everything up to the PS1, with some N64, DS, Dreamcast and PSP thrown in. Everything that came out before those, it plays perfectly, including a massive Arcade library.
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GAME OVER
Why You Should Play This
Jurassic Park for Sega CD represents an ambitious experiment that doesn't quite stick the landing but deserves recognition for trying something different. In an era when every movie tie-in was a side-scroller or fighting game, Sega created an educational adventure that respected its audience's intelligence. The Dr. Bakker segments alone make this a fascinating time capsule, and the atmospheric sound design genuinely captures the feeling of being stranded on Isla Nublar.
The problems are real, though. Controller-based point-and-click might feel awkward to modern players, loading times test your patience, and the 12-hour real-time limit adds frustration rather than fun. The game is short once you know the solutions, and replaying it offers little new to discover.
Today, Jurassic Park on Sega CD is best appreciated as a curio, a glimpse at what developers thought CD-ROM technology could bring to console gaming. If you're a Sega CD collector or love quirky adventure games, it's worth experiencing. Solving the puzzles is still a fun process and the devs doing something with the IP that isn’t just a run and gun game is something to appreciate. Just don't expect it to recapture the movie's thrills. This game trades spectacle for contemplation, and your mileage will vary based on what you're looking for in a dinosaur adventure.
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