"Jurassic Park" spawned a surprising number of separate games, and even non-canon sequel games, so of course "The Lost World" had its share of video game adaptations as well. First up is The Lost World: Special Edition for PlayStation 1, which is a freaking terrible 2D platformer. Click to read more and watch a T-Rex eat a whole bunch of dudes.
The Lost World in PSX is one of those games that I was aware of, because I loved dinosaurs and anything Jurassic Park, but I didn't have a PS1 back in those days so I never played it. Later on when I did get a PS1 I wasn't too keen on playing The Lost World because it had terrible reviews. Now, decades later, I have finally played it thanks to magical Internet swashbuckling and can happily and heartily give it a big ol' "meh".
The Lost World for PS1 and SEGA Saturn is a 2D side-scrolling platformer where you play as a compy, a raptor, a T-Rex, or a human. The different characters all play a little differently, of course, but the core 2D platforming is terrible for all of them. The dinosaurs can eat stuff to get health back, of course, and attack with their teeth and claws like you'd expect. The human has guns and health packs. It's all pretty by the numbers. The controls are freaking awful, though, so doing the actual platform jumping feels putrid. It is also very, very, very difficult because the enemies are numerous and deadly, so deaths come quickly and frequently.
If I had tried to play the original release of The Lost World I probably would have quit and not bothered to make a video at all. But I played the Special Edition version that was released a year later that had a new opening level and (allegedly) some other gameplay improvements. This was significant because the new opening level lets you run around as a T-Rex and eat a whole bunch of people so, naturally, I was hooked right away. This is a much better way to start than running around as a boring tiny compy for several levels like the original game.
Of course, that first T-Rex level is pretty much the best level in the entire game and the rest of it is pure sewage. I used passwords to jump around to the different characters and try them out and it is all just so awful. Even the other T-Rex levels aren't especially good, though you do see some other dinosaurs at least.
In the end, it's pretty darn bad. I'm glad I played it, though. That first level is a hoot.
