Forgotten Gaming- We're Back! A Dinosaur's Tale

Name- We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Tale

Platform- Sega Genesis

Developer- Funcom/Hi-Tech Expressions

Released- 1993

Picture it: Staten Island, 1995. Loving parents bring their son to the local Palmer Video on a Friday afternoon for a weekly tradition: a video rental for them to enjoy later that night, and a game rental for their 5-year-old to enjoy for the weekend. The boy owns a handful of games for his Sega Genesis, but the rentals let him get a taste of the console’s vast library for a fraction of the price. A game catches his eye based on a movie he’s never seen before, and on a whim decides to rent it. He plays the game and enjoys it for what it is. He returns it at the end of the weekend. Some time later he decides to rent it again, and this game inexplicably becomes part of his rotation, despite it having zero redeeming qualities. 25 years later, the game remains a fixture of his nostalgia. That 5-year-old is me, and the game is A Dinosaur’s Tale. Let’s dive in.

A Dinosaur’s Tale is a video game tie-in to the movie We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story. If you’re a millennial, (not only does the above story probably sound all too relatable to you, but) this movie might sound familiar but only vaguely. We’re Back was produced by Steven Spielberg’s short-lived animation studio (responsible for such characters as Fievel from An American Tail), and like any animated feature released during the Disney Renaissance, if it wasn’t a Disney movie it was doomed to obscurity. The general consensus toward We’re Back was that it featured a dark and complicated plot that never fully materialized. Though its cast had some star power, its weak original score, characters, and short running time worked against it. It never really gained its fans, nor has it been rediscovered enough nowadays to be considered a hidden gem. How fitting, then, that a mediocre movie received an equally mediocre video game.

Any depiction of New York in the 90s must include the World Trade Center. It's a rule.

A Dinosaur’s Tale is your typical, garden-variety 16-bit platformer. At this point in the Genesis’ life, even the most pedestrian game developer was able to string together a competent game, and this one is no different. At the start of the game you choose to control either Louie or Cecilia, the movie’s protagonists. From what I can tell, the choice is purely cosmetic (even the voice clips don’t change!) aside from a swap of the first and third levels. Main platforming levels are broken up by faux-3D levels where you control one of the several dinosaurs from the movie, but more on those later. The dozen or so levels take very wide liberties from the events of the movie, but still manage to make sense in their own narrative via curiously long text intros before each stage. If you’re one of the few to remember the movie, the game’s iteration of the plot is… inventive.

The platforming levels are simple hop-and-bop affairs. The graphics are average, the gameplay is average, the level design is average… is it clear enough that this game is completely average? The game does try to stand apart a little through the wishbubble mechanic. In-level item pickups are rare throughout the levels, but defeating enemies turns them into ‘wishbubbles’ your character can collect. The pause screen doubles as a simple shop where these bubbles can be spent, and this is where you’ll get most of your pickups. You can buy hit points, a shield, a boomerang weapon, running and high jump shoes, even extra lives. Since wishbubbles can only be collected by defeating enemies, it introduces some very light strategy and risk/reward elements. It might be worth defeating more enemies without buying back lost hit points if it means accruing enough bubbles to buy a boomerang, for example.

The visuals are bright but aren't shy to have a darkness about them.

It’s almost an unwritten rule that 16-bit games must attempt some kind of 3D trickery to show off their programming prowess. Surprisingly, A Dinosaur’s Tale makes a valiant effort. In between most of the standard levels are behind-the-back 3D levels where the main goal is to avoid head-on obstacles. They come in two flavors: flying above a forest, and the much more interesting city blocks. The flying stages give off a weak effect and are very tough to navigate cleanly. But the city stage uses a very unique and smooth shading effect that legitimately comes off 3D. Maybe it’s just me, but few Genesis games have managed to pull off such a effect so well. How dare a game as mediocre as this have segments that look so good?!

The Genesis is notorious for the abrasive sound quality of some of its games, but A Dinosaur’s Tale manages to sidestep this with a warm and mellow soundtrack. Many of the tracks are quite good, with catchy tunes done justice by great instrumentation. Don’t be surprised to find yourself humming a couple of themes for a few days after playing.

The 3D effect is 10x better in motion. Look up a gameplay clip. Do it now.

The graphics and music come together to form a game that has an underlying moodiness to it. Though the colors can be bright and the music is sometimes peppy, in general the game takes on a darker tone with its heavy shading and minor melodies. Perhaps this is why I keep coming back to A Dinosaur’s Tale. Even though it’s a kids game based on a kids movie, there’s the slight edginess to it that’s difficult to explain. Many kids properties from this era shared this quality, which may be why a lot of 80s/90s media holds up for adults today.

A Dinosaur’s Tale is a structurally sound and functional game. It’s got average gameplay, an above-average soundtrack, and a few stages with that 3D city gradient that looks better than it has any right to. If you’re looking for a cartoonish platformer to spend an hour or so with, this game will definitely scratch that itch. Rediscovering games in 16-bit libraries is en vogue today, so if you come across this one, pop it in. You’ve played much better, but you could do much worse. Just be careful it doesn't stick with you for the next 25 years.