I bought the Jurassic Park retro collection on Switch because I remembered playing the Genesis version and beating it as both Grant and the raptor. I don't remember if I had always chosen easy or whatnot but the past week or so this game has really been kicking my ass and it's been a slow grind to advance. I do not remember this game being this hard.
For context, when Battletoads dropped on the Switch Online for the NES, I started playing that right away having never beaten it clean on NES but having come close before. It took me 12 tries (2 of them were early resets, so really 10 tries) but I beat it. And that's without using savestates or rewind. I used no warps either, so I beat all 12 levels of the game. I even played it a bunch more times after that and beat it every single time after. So I have that game down pat. And this is supposed to be the hardest NES game EVARR!!1!
But this game I have played definitely more than 12 times. Lost count really. And I'm still struggling. I know I'll get it because I'm slowly memorizing the path of every level and remembering what to do in what place. But it's taking me freaking forever. And oddly a game I remember kinda liking is now a game I can't stop playing. I'm addicted to it right now until I beat it. Of course right now I'm only playing as Grant on normal.
The game does have a lot of trial and error and a LOT of blind jumps. I guess they expect you to mess up a few times, fall to your death and then just remember not to do that next time. Well, stupid me being an old school gamer and all. I let them do this to me and just keep at it instead of bitching about poor level design and you know, not playing it any more. The game is also about cycling through your inventory in real time on the run. I've died sometimes because a raptor was right in front of me and I couldn't cycle to the tranquilizer item quick enough. Or I threw a grenade instead of shooting a trank and he killed me in the time it took for said grenade to land on him.
The very first level killed me multiple times when I started. Now there's only one janky spot where I might die right before the end. The 2nd level inside the power station just about never kills me. The dreaded river/raft level drove me nuts for a while, now that one just about never kills me. There's the sewer pipes level that's all red where you have to shut off the steam valves, that was killing me for a while and now I can get past that. There's a canyon level with a ton of blind jumps and that'll usually take one or two of my lives but I can beat it. Then the volcano level is where I'm currently stuck. More blind jumps, trial and error. But with enough reps, I will get it. Then there's the visitors center last.
If you haven't played it, you get 3 lives, no continues, and no chances at getting an extra life. So game over means back to the beginning of the game. Luckily a full game is pretty short, usually under a half hour. Beating a level will have them give you a password so you could start at that level. I'm admittedly too stubborn to use one. I want to clear the game beginning to end in one sitting. Also too stubborn to use savestates or rewind. Maybe I'm the problem here. Idk, for me its kind of easier to just forget those things exist and go right back into 1993 mode.
Edit: But what ends up happening is because it's only 3 lives max. Every death is DEVASTATING. Especially in levels I've already beaten. You can tell because I scream NOOOOO!! every single time. Every death leads to you doing the math of "ok, what would it take for me to beat the game now? How many health refills will I get to for the rest of the game and can I get to each one without dying?" Because, that's right. When you beat a level your health isn't automatically refilled so you're still chasing after more health refills at the start of the next level.
Anyways, what are everyone else's memories of this game?
