Game music of the day: Jurassic Park

Game: Jurassic Park

Song: Gate Area / Jungle

Composer: Jonathan Dunn


Above: Gate Area from Jurassic Park

All therecent buzzaround Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park game got me thinking about previous trips to that ill-fated island, namely the adventure/FPS hybrid for the Super NES. It kinda got the shaft when it was first released, as the Genesis version was a 2D action game (starring a raptor, no less) that made this one seem plodding in comparison. However, I maintain this is the superior 16-bit Jurassic Park game, particularly when you consider its varied, high-quality soundtrack.

The above song is the first thing you hear - "Welcome to Jurassic Park" included (I assume someone on the dev team recorded himself just for the cameo?). It starts with just background jungle noises, then slowly adds layers of percussion and wind instruments. Very fitting for a tropical island "off the coast of Costa Rica," and so damn listenable!


Above: I'm also quite partial to the Pure Moods-style Mountain music


Above: The River music is surprisingly funky. A beat 65 million years in the making


Above: When you enter an elevator in the first-person areas (which handle like butt, btw), you're treated to this suitably grating jingle (raptor at 1:20!)

So while I initally gravitated towards the Genesis version for its raptor gameplay, I eventually came to appreciate and ultimately complete the SNES version instead. There's a lot more stuff to see and do, almost like a Link to the Past rip-off with dinosaurs. And if that doesn't sound like fun, you're wrong.


Spark Mandrill by Tomozawa, Yamamoto, Horiyama, Iwai and Takehara


Callista (Afterlife) by Saki Kaska


Battle Theme by Sasai, Yasuhiro and Kawakami

Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.