Comments on: Dino Run

Dino Run

pancreas — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:48:39 -0800

Pixeljam (the folks responsible for the retro flash classic Gamma Bros) have just released a new game: Dino Run. Control your dinosaur and escape the wall of doom.

By: the dief

the dief — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:08:28 -0800

Without a doubt, one of the most stressful flash games I've ever played. Gah! Dinosaur! Avoid the black doom! But great. Greater than it should be. Haven't tried multiplayer, but I'm sure that's awesome too.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:39:35 -0800

The 'buy more levels with bones you collect' mechanism requires a bit more commitment than I'm willing to give a flash game. Fun, though.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:51:13 -0800

Bad game design: player can't tell good objects and bad objects apart. Does that fuzzy thing give me life, or kill me? How about that other one? I'm still not sure which was which. Good game design: after falling a ridiculous distance that I assumed was death, I landed on a path that let me crawl back up. Mario would kill for such a shot at redemption.

By: Nedroid

Nedroid — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:02:16 -0800

The only thing that will kill you is the giant black wall of doom, and I think it's pretty easy to realize that it isn't a good object. Plus, all the powerups are displayed on the "How to Play" screen. It pretty much boils down to "Eat everything you can while avoiding everything you can't."

By: rokusan

rokusan — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:05:24 -0800

Bad game design II: foreground and background objects often indistinguishable. Can I walk on that, or will I pass over or under it?

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:16:33 -0800

Aww, poor widdew dino..

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:17:32 -0800

It pretty much boils down to "Eat everything you can while avoiding everything you can't." Funny, I was given the same instructions at birth, modified slightly around age 12.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:56:42 -0800

"Eat everything you can while avoiding everything you can't." Funny, I was given the same instructions at birth, modified slightly around age 12. Poor Becky Sue.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:04:35 -0800

The bad game killed my cute li'l dinosaur! Bad! Bad game!

By: stresstwig

stresstwig — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:16:49 -0800

I didn't know poor controls was the reason dinosaurs died.

By: stresstwig

stresstwig — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:17:27 -0800

Sorry, that was a little oversnarky-- I liked the game, but its controls were awful for me, especially when you had to jump over rocks and what not after being in a pit.

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:23:45 -0800

I jumped right into the game after reading only the first sentence of the OP. This was a mistake. "Hey, asteroid! I get it, land of the dinosaurs and everything. Heh, this game is pretty fun. Whimsical animation, smooth physics. Sorta reminds me of Sonic. And-a-jump and-a-leap and-a-eat-eat-eat. Alright, steady... and... yes! Nailed the tree full of eggs! *rumble* High score, here I come. So now I just need to jump over *rumblerumble* this little *rumblerumble* hillock and over *rumblerumble* that *rumblerumblerumble* um... what's that *RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE* HOLY SHIT BIG BLACK WALL OF DOOOOOM *RUMBLERUMBLECRUNCHSMASHDOOM*" I can say without hesitation that the Big Black Wall of Doom is among the most harrowing presences I've ever encountered in video games. "!" indeed, little dinosaur guy.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:48:30 -0800

(Disclaimer: I was made a beta tester for this game after submitting bug reports from Ratmaze 2, which I FPP'd some time back. I'm glad someone else posted this one, for as a tester I couldn't.) I've been enjoying Dino Run, in one form or another, for months now, and it's been great to watch it grow. There's really a lot to find. I still haven't gotten two of the super eggs. On controls: The controls are actually pretty good, but realistically, your dino doesn't jump straight up but away from slopes. This'll catch you on overhangs if you're not careful. It feels a lot like Sonic the Hedgehog in that regard. On bone collecting: It's not hard to collect bones, especially once you hit level six, there's a large skeleton that's worth a good number just from running across. Plus I think anything you eat is worth at least one bone. Anyway, challenge mode is the "main" game, which is composed of randomized level pieces. The speedrun levels are pre-made routes. Rhaomi: Agree about the wall of doom. That "!" is actually a recent addition, it started happening less than a week ago.

By: Leech

Leech — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:29:58 -0800

Nice, but not that good as Gamma Bros. Respect to PixelJam.

By: wastelands

wastelands — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:09:58 -0800

Nice game. I always appreciate these Flash games. My aging computer can't do the 3D stuff very well.

By: wastelands

wastelands — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:17:24 -0800

I will add that Shift doesn't seem to do anything for me. Except maybe when I eat one of the yellow flowers. But the help says sparking feet = push shift, but nothin' happens.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:21:44 -0800

The feet sparkling line is a little misleading, wastelands. I'd ignore the sparkle effect. The way it works: You begin each level with a turbo boost. Press shift to use it; you'll get the flower-eating sound effect. You'll go a bit faster than usual for a bit. About 20 seconds after the boost, you'll get another, but there's really no good way to tell it's available than to keep trying. Also, it only works if you're on the ground, so if you don't hear the sound when you press shift and it's been long enough, wait until you have solid footing. If you save up DNA, the turbo boost gains extra effects at 250 (super jumping) and 500 (super strength).