PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | Dino Crisis

Dino Crisis No frills, but all the thrills - Review By Tren Page 2/2 Running away isn't cowardly, it's survival! Another reason to finish the game, besides multiple endings, is to unlock the hidden battle mode. Those familiar with the battle modes in previous Resident Evil games will be right at home here, with Capcom finding a new way to spin-off the main story and offer the player a decent side-attraction. Unlike Dreamcast Resident Evil games, the battle-mode must be unlocked here which is probably a good thing as it gives you more to aim for. Thanks to the implementation of new difficulty modes, completing the game is a lot easier for the inexperienced survival horror player. One great improvement over Resident Evil is the ability to save infinite times, although saving can only occur when in specific rooms within the facility. Aurally the game is a mixed bag but the background ambience is excellent, with Capcom having mastered the ability to make the player surprised through a soundtrack perfectly synchronised to the on-screen action! As Resident Evil's eerie piano orientated music wouldn't be appropriate here, the soundtrack consists of more ambient tense effects, which certainly keep you on edge and let you know when something nasty is about to happen! Capcom's VMU display implementation is something they never falter on, even on quick conversions. In fact all of the quick survival horror ports so far, including Dino Crisis, feature much better VMU screen implementation than Resident Evil: Code Veronica and that's a Dreamcast developed title! Through the VMU, Dino Crisis keeps you informed on your current health situation, and ammo situation even going as far to tell you what type of ammo is currently in your weapon. The Bad Regina about to lose one of her arms to a vicious dino. The graphics in Dino Crisis, whilst an achievement on the PlayStation, look pretty poor now converted over to the Dreamcast. Unlike any of the Resident Evil PlayStation titles, Dino Crisis features backdrops created with polygons. Those familiar with Code Veronica know that with the Dreamcast's processing power, polygons certainly aren't a restrction to Capcom when creating lavish backdrops. However, the PlayStation's polygon pushing power isn't enough to come even close to competing with the Dreamcast and this quick port shows this fact very clearly. Most rooms consist of blocky items and very bland looking walls and textures. On top of that poor showing, Dino Crisis features a lot of polygonal errors which can detract from the experience somewhat. Even though this port is no better than the other Dreamcast Resident Evil games, Dino Crisis suffers more due to its heavy polygonal use in poorly modeled characters, animation, and backgrounds. Whilst the 2-D pre-rendered Resident Evil backgrounds lost some of their quality in their conversion to the Dreamcast's high resolution, they still looked detailed and created a palpable looking world. The low-res textures and low polygon count here just cannot hope to compete with these conversions or Capcom's Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Whilst the new inventory interface allows the player to manage a larger quantity of items more easily, it can be cumbersome at the best of times. Flicking between items and ammo especially, is time consuming and choosing which items to store in the electronic storage area isn't as straight forward as it could be either. Finally, while it may only be a minority of Dreamcast gamers who use the device, it must be noted that Dino Crisis lacks any proper VGA box support. The game does work with the "VGA swap trick" and plays fine except that will only display a black screen during any of the FMV cinemas. The main game part can be fully played with no problems, however, the introduction and ending sequences must be viewed on a television. The Final Word Dino Crisis suffers a lot more than Capcom's other quick PlayStation ports. Whilst the game does boast some of the best Capcom survival horror gameplay yet, there is no excuse for such an obviously lazy port and a complete lack of tidying up of the game engine. Despite all this, the game is available at a budget price so if you can look past the aged graphics, there is a great survival horror title here to be had. Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Genre: Survival Horror Highs: Great story, innovations to Resident Evil series, excellent ambient soundtrack. Lows: Poor conversion, clearly an aged Playstation game. Other: 1 player, VMU Compatible (8 blocks), Jump Pack Compatible. Final Score: (out of a possible 10) Visit this Game's Dreamcast Database Entry Previous Reviews Comments on this review? Mail Feedback.