Jurassic Park Interactive

• Title — Jurassic Park Interactive • Developer — Studio 3DO • Publisher — Universal Interactive Studios • Series — Jurassic Park • Platforms — 3DO • Genre — Action • Modes — Single player • Designer — Gregory A. Gorsiski

The game's interface is a computer screen that allows the player to navigate a map of the island, as well as a collection of five minigames programmed by Dennis Nedry. Players have to locate various guests on the map, then engage in a short first-person action level that either involves outrunning a Tyrannosaurus in a jeep, escaping from a small building containing raptors, or shooting approaching dilophosaurs with a charged electric gun. The end of the game comes once the player successfully relocates all of the island's guests to the helipad dock and locates outside help by breaking through the minigames. Depending on the difficulty level chosen (Normal, Hard, or Expert), more guests are shown on the map to be saved, and less time is allowed in total to break through the minigames. In the minigames the player controls feather-light jeeps and microchips that blast floppy disks that read "DUMP".

Jurassic Park Interactive had originally been intended as the 3DO pack-in title for the console's October 1993 launch, but delays in development pushed the release date back. Approximately 10 people worked on the game during its 14-month development period, with a budget between $12 million. Designer Greg Gorsiski said about the game: "It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How do you rewrite a linear story for a non-linear environment and make it better? It's a task that a lot of game designers wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole." The game was not showcased at Chicago's Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1993, as the developers chose to keep it a "closely-guarded secret" until its release. Jurassic Park Interactive was the first game to be published by MCA's Universal Interactive division. Universal and MCA hoped the game would increase sales of its struggling 3DO Interactive Multiplayer game system. Universal Interactive spent a considerable amount of money to market the game. Jurassic Park Interactive was the only video game adaptation of Jurassic Park to use footage and music from the film. Although footage from the film is included in the opening sequence, actual shots of actors' faces are noticeably edited out. Look-alike actors portray the characters in further game cutscenes and images. MCA had no plans to convert the game for release on other game systems, possibly to promote the 3DO, although Gorsiski also said it would be difficult to rewrite the game for other systems as it took advantage of the 3DO's superior technology.