How the Jurassic Park video game franchise keeps fans coming back for more
The Jurassic Park game franchise has released a series of video games over the past decade, demonstrating the longevity of a video game and movie combination which has existed for 29 years.
The first movie, Jurassic Park, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, was released in 1993, and the video game of the same name, which was developed by Ocean Software, appeared the same year. But how has Jurassic Park been a staple of entertainment in both movies and games for almost three decades?
Evolution through innovation
Essentially, the franchise has understood the value of releasing video games to accompany movies, with the Jurassic Park movie trilogy and the Jurassic World film trilogy both being complemented by video games. The huge popularity of Jurassic Park is illustrated by other innovations in the entertainment industry. The officially branded Jurassic Park slots, which are available to play as a casino game at an online casino in Canada with real money, such as Genesis Casino, feature the stars of the movie and dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, and Triceratops. Evidently, the popularity of the video games and movies means that there is an already existing audience to play the branded slot games, with titles like Jurassic Park: Gold and Jurassic World: Raptor Riches now available.
Ultimately, the franchise has been able to deftly move with the times while maintaining a link with the past. The Jurassic World trilogy introduced fans to a new generation of Jurassic Park stars in the form of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The new movie in the series, Jurassic World Dominion, which has exceeded box office expectations, sees former stars of the franchise Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum all return in an emotional homecoming 29 years after the original, which is sure to create feelings of nostalgia in fans of the franchise.
Moving with the times
The various Jurassic Park video games have always been at the forefront of the latest technological advancements and game genres, which has contributed to the wide range of different Jurassic Park games on the market. Jurassic World Evolution, which was released in 2018, gave players the unique opportunity to build and manage their own dinosaur theme park, while Jurassic World Evolution 2 took this a step further. The game was able to satisfy the preferences of a range of gamers by introducing four different game modes: Campaign, Chaos Theory, Sandbox and Challenge.
In 2020, the Jurassic World Aftermath VR stealth video game saw the franchise become the latest movie-based game to embrace virtual reality in a survival adventure with players trapped in a research facility as they explore the virtual world and solve puzzles in order to survive.
Jurassic Park video games continue to delight fans of the franchise. While there are rumors that the latest movie could be the last in the franchise, the box office figures could well mean that Universal Pictures decide that the huge popularity of Jurassic Park shows that the franchise is not yet showing any signs of extinction.