Check out the video version here: https://youtu.be/yvrgiAFwss0?si=R7izcBdwkDHpyScy

Welcome to 16-Bit Brawl, a series where we pit two Sega Genesis and Super NES games against one another to see which one comes out on top. This time, we'll be comparing the SNES and Genesis versions of Jurassic Park. 

There weren’t many multimedia properties in the early 90s bigger than Jurassic Park. The movie was a smash hit, the book it was based on sold a bajillion copies, and before you knew it it was patented, packaged, and slapped on a plastic lunchbox! Movie quotes aside, Jurassic Park was everywhere, and that obviously included video games. Last time, we looked at another popular 90s property, Aladdin, that was adapted into two pretty different video games for Sega Genesis and Super NES. But Jurassic Park is going to be even tougher because holy cow, these two games are VASTLY different. 

Also similar to Aladdin, most people’s gut reaction to this question is typically to say the Sega Genesis game was superior, and this again has a lot to do with nostalgia and popularity. This was Jurassic Park, so both games were pretty dang successful. Let's take a look at the contenders. 

Sega advertised the ever loving heck out of their Jurassic Park game, and to my knowledge it was undoubtedly the more popular game. It was developed by BlueSky Software and was published by Sega themselves in 1993. It featured a sort of digitized look that took its visual inspiration directly from the movie. It also famously let you play as the raptor if you wanted to, which is awesome no matter how you slice it. 

Meanwhile over on the Super NES, Jurassic Park was also released in 1993, but this one was developed and published by Ocean. It was a wildly ambitious game, taking players through a much more colorful top down world with first person shooter segments that you could actually control with the Super NES Mouse if you wanted to. It was a pretty successful game, but without Nintendo shouting about its existence from the rooftops the way Sega did with their JP game, it sort of got lost in the shuffle a little bit. 

Both platforms also had sequels made, in fact the Genesis has a Lost World game as well that coincidentally has much more in common with the first SNES game than the first Genesis game, but that’s neither here nor there. Today we’re comparing each platform’s first Jurassic Park title. So let’s get to work.  

Graphics (1 point): 

This is a hard category because neither game looks particularly bad. Well, that really depends on what you’re looking at really, but that's the case with both versions. The Super NES game plays out from two different perspectives, overhead and first person. The visuals are very video gamey, if that makes sense. It’s colorful, and all the dinosaurs have very clearly defined video game sprites. This lends the game a sharp and well animated look for the overhead segments. In the first person segments though, the visuals kind of fall apart. Since this was the Super NES and not a more modern platform more well suited for 3D gaming, things are naturally extremely pixelated, and the framerate chugs along in slideshow territory at all times. It’s really quite cool and very impressive for its time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. 

The Genesis game though has a very impressive digitized look. Grant looks like Grant from the movie, but more importantly, the dinosaurs look like the dinosaurs from the movie. The environments are super cool too, especially the jungle the first stage takes place in. The only real drawback is some of the animations are really choppy, especially the T-Rex. Still, when looking at these games side by side, it’s clear the Genesis has the advantage. The Super NES is still impressive, but the Sega Genesis is the winner. 

Jurassic Park for Sega Genesis: 1. Jurassic Park for Super Nintendo: 0. 

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Sound (1 point)

This category, on the other hand, is pretty heavily favored toward the Super NES. The Sega Genesis version has some neat tunes, but the vast majority of its soundtrack is mired in that trademark Genesis “fart noise” category. Some of the dinosaur sounds are really quite good, and the T-Rex that says “SEGA” when you power the game up is undeniably cool, but all in all this game fails to do much good in the sound department. 

The Super NES, though, sounds fantastic. The sound effects are very cool, but the actual soundtrack absolutely rules. It does have this habit of starting and stopping rather abruptly when you move from location to location, and there could be more variety, but in a side by side comparison this really isn’t much of a contest. Neither has a perfect audio score, but the Super NES definitely comes out on top here. 

Jurassic Park for Sega Genesis: 1. Jurassic Park for Super Nintendo: 1. 

Gameplay (2 points)

And now, the tie-breaker. The all important gameplay category that’s worth 2 points. And we have… well…

So, let’s start with the Genesis game. It’s a side scrolling action platformer with some fun alternative segments. You can ride a boat, climb ladders, push crates, and equip a number of weapons. It’s all great on paper, but the controls are just dreadful. Thankfully this was addressed in the sequel, but unfortunately that’s not the game in the competition this time around. Controlling Grant is an absolute chore, and the frustrating level design doesn't help matters. 

Of course, its saving grace is the fact that there are two entirely different campaigns, one for Grant and one for a Raptor. Playing as the Raptor is awesome. It moves with a real scene of weight, and eating Compys to restore health is a joy. Sadly, the controls aren’t much better here, which means when the novelty of playing as a raptor wears off, you’re left with a game that’s frustratingly difficult to play, and not in a good way. 

So with all that, you’d think the Super NES game would be a shoe in for the win, right? Well, not so fast. 

At its core, the Super NES does have the Genesis game beat thanks to its solid controls. However, it has its own troubles that bog it down pretty hard. The first person segments can be dreadfully sluggish, and the whole fetch quest aspect tracking down Raptor eggs is very difficult without a proper in-game map. But the biggest tragedy of Jurassic Park for Super NES is a lack of any kind of save or password feature. If you’re going to finish this game, it’s going to have to be in a single sitting, which is no easy task. This game can get VERY tough, and it certainly isn’t short, especially your first time through. It’s never quite as frustrating as the Genesis game when it comes to the moment to moment gameplay, but the act of actually figuring this game out from beginning to end is beyond daunting, and can become very not fun very quickly. 

Both games have their highs and lows, and while they’re for incredibly different reasons, they ultimately cancel one another out. Sorry, but this category is a tie. 

Jurassic Park for Sega Genesis: 3. Jurassic Park for Super Nintendo: 3. 

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And there you have it, folks. Our second game, and it’s a draw. That may seem like a cop out, but when it comes to comparing video games, sometimes they're both going to even one another out. No matter how I slice it, if I'm looking at these games objectively, no one is better or worse than the other. I personally prefer the Super NES game, but that's the one I grew up with. Looking back at it now and playing it next to the Genesis game, well, neither one is a genuine masterpiece, but they’re both equally good and bad in different ways. Super NES takes it on sound, Genesis does great on graphics, but the games themselves are equally awesome and flawed. So no matter which flavor you decide to play, the overall experience is going to be similar, depending on your personal tastes, that is. 

This contest is a tie. 

Well, what do you think? Have you played both versions and think one is clearly more fun than the other? Do you think the Genesis version’s music is better than I’m giving it credit for? Is playing as the raptor cool enough in principle to overshadow broken controls? Let us know. No matter what, as long as you’re enjoying the game you’re playing, it doesn’t matter what we say. This is all in good fun, which is what video games should be in the first place. Now let’s get off this island before a T-Rex eats us!