DINO REX
Original Release: Taito, 1992, Arcade
Other Releases: PlayStation 2 (in Taito Memories II Jōkan, 2007), Switch (in Taito Milestones II, 2023)
Bigly dinosaurs bash it out in an eccentric and clumsy but intriguing fighter
Dino Rex (Arcade, Taito, 1992)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Dino Rex really isn't very fun to play, but it's quite the spectacle. It imagines an alternate history in which dinosaurs and humans lived side-by-side, with humans using them as horsies and trainable pit fighters. I can't say the graphics are "good" as they're oddly washed out at times, and some of the dinosaurs look like weirdly mushed Play-Doh, but they did really put effort into a lot of little details and the whole thing is accompanied by an atypical but nifty little Mesoamerican soundtrack.
So you pick one of seven dinos, then follow a surprisingly detailed story mode as your trainer seeks to become "Dino Rex" and enjoy all the finest pleasures of cave society until next years tournament. It's interesting in that it has a completely different feel from the flood of me-too Street Fighter 2 clones of the time; you really feel like you're maneuvering big and unwieldy beasts that can do huge damage around, helped out by generally good sound work and destructible backgrounds with lots of detail.
The problem is, the game is about as clunky as trying to actually order a dinosaur to fight. The hit detection is weird, and the dinosaurs can't turn around for some reason so when one foe goes past another they both slowly "reset" to their starting position a la a boxing stoppage. The only real good strategy to get through the game is to pick a dinosaur that has a good special move (demonstrated to you on the character select screen), use that to knock over the foe, then hit both attack buttons repeatedly to do a cool follow-up combo in which you lunge at the downed foe and toss them around with your teeth and tail some more.
It's tempting to assume this is a low-budget Primal Rage knockoff at a glance, but it actually comes before that game by about two years! It really was a pretty original idea in its time, and its weirdness and brutality makes it at least an interesting curiosity piece. The clunky gameplay will wear you out quick, though, and though the sound work is good on the whole the repetitive dinosaur screams do get annoying fast.
Comments
Post a Comment