Jurassic Park III: Dino Defender, or just Dino Defender is a 2001 side-scrolling video game as franchise to the movie Jurassic Park III. The player is depicted as a person in a bio-mechanical suit hired by Jurassic Park to bring power back to the electrified fences and capture all the free-roaming dinosaurs. The game has six levels, but seems only like five due to the easy training level.
Plot[]
After the training mission, the player is shown a cutscene. It shows a typhoon raging across Jurassic Park and destroying the fences. The dinosaurs were let loose, and the player is briefed that one must trap all the dinosaurs "before they destroy each other". Since it's too dangerous to deliver it by hand, the helicopters drop gear in supply boxes onto Isla Sorna. "Call boxes" can be used to lure dinosaurs and various other weapons to tranquilize them. "Circuit Breakers" scattered around the island can be switched on to activate the island's electricity. In the first level, the player lands on a beach with a few compys on it. The first circit breaker is on the left, whereas the player must either avoid, distract, or capture the compys. Soon after, the player will run into some raptors in a small cliff. (There is a hidden 4th raptor here) The player advances to the right where they must swim to any underground cavern. (There are two compys up the cliff) Level 2 starts here. The player must advance downwards, capturing all dinosaurs in the way. Left of the first circit breaker is an elevator with another raptor on it. There is another part if the player wishes to capture the remaining raptors and/or compys. Up in the surface is another raptor and Stegosaurus. Level 3 begins here. The player goes up a cliff, jumping over many gaps and dinosaurs (Baby Pteranodon, Adult Pteranodon, Compys, and a raptor.) At the end of the cliff, the player is chased by baby Pteranodons, and encounters a Tyrannosaurus Rex. (The player freezes as to what Dr. Grant says in the movie) The Pterandons distract it while the player escapes. At the 4th level, the T-Rex chases the player and falls down a pit. The player goes down it to turn on the 1st circit breaker while warding off the king of the dinosaurs. Now the player goes into the jungle, encountering Brachiosaurus, Velcoraptor, Pteranodon, and Stegosaurus. After going down a waterfall, the player gets past (possibly the same) the T-Rex. At an elevator, a Spinosaurus arrives and the player escapes on vines. Level 5 starts here. The T-Rex and Spinosaurus face off, with the Spinosaurus fleeing. The player then is in the Tyrannosaurus pen (otherwise known as the Rex Maze) and escapes underground. The player navigates through the hot gas pipes and capturing more Velciraptors. On the other side is the Spinosaurus pen. (Otherwise known as the Spino Maze) The player escapes in the vister center with the dinosaur following. The player must pull switches to cause skeletons to fall on the attacking Spinosaurus. After killing it, a cutscene shows the ending of the game.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay in Dino Defender is a fast-paced quick thinking challenge. The player must move around obstacles and find supply boxes, switch on circuit breakers and avoid dinosaurs. To collect gear to capture/tranquilize a certain dinosaur, the player must find a 'supply box' which contains a certain number of both 'call boxes', which are small microphones that play a dinosaur call, causing dinosaurs of that species to investigate. The other supply is gear, which can be a net, a tranquilizer or a distractor flare, which can be used to capture or distract dinosaurs.
At some points in the game, a player will have to swim underwater. When a player is underwater, an "air" gauge appears, which slowly decreases. If the gauge runs out before the player breaks the surface of the water, he dies.
Once the player has completed the game, one is rewarded with trading cards showing the dinosaurs the player has captured, which can be printed out. You must capture all of the dinosaurs of that species to actually get the trading card.
Dinosaurs[]
There are 7 dinosaur species featured in Dino Defender.
Main Dinosaurs[]
These dinosaurs are the only ones that can be captured. (With the exception of Spinosaurus) If the player touches the dinosaur or goes to a certain area, a cutscene of the dinosaur that kills the player shows it eating the screen. (Or showing the dinosaur with the screen disappearing in the dinosaur's mouth.) The background also changes, depending where the player is playing (Except for Compsognathus, Pterandon, and Tyrannosaurus)
Dino Defender depicts Compsognathus as a pack hunter.
- Compsognathus (Levels 1-3)
- Velociraptor (Levels 1-5)
- Pteranodon (Levels 3-4)
- Tyrannosaurus (Levels 3-5)
- Spinosaurus (Level 4-5)
Minor Dinosaurs[]
The player is faced by a variety of dinosaurs, such as Velociraptor and Compsognathus
Both herbivores can kill the player; the Stegosaur can kill one with its tail and the Brachiosaur drops branches down onto the player. In Level 4 the player must jump onto the Brachiosaur's head, however the dinosaur is moving and can knock the player off. The baby Pteranodon is almost like the adult, except they aren't as fast and don't follow you. (Except for the last two.)
- Stegosaurus (Levels 2 and 4)
- Brachiosaurus (Level 4)
- Pteranodon (Baby) (Level 3)
Non-Dinosaurs[]
- Jellyfish - found in most large bodies of water. They take no notice of the player, and cannot be incapacitated or killed. If the player makes contact with them while underwater, his or her air gauge will decrease much faster.
- Seaweed - while this is not an animal at all, the players air reserve will decrease faster when coming in contact with seaweed moving in the underwater currents. Like the jellyfish, the seaweed, and the danger it poses, cannot be removed.
Sequel[]
Later the same year, a second game called Jurassic Park III: Danger Zone, was produced by the same company and played like a board game. The player would roll a die. If they landed on different spaces, they had to play different minigames, such as one where the player must cross a ravine. It also used Trading Cards, and involved shooting dinosaurs to get DNA. If enough DNA was acquired of the target dinosaur, the player won and could visit Jurassic Park research labs.
See also[]
- Jurassic Park video games
- Jurassic Park III