We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (SNES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthough of Hi-Tech Expressions' 1993 license-based platformer for the Super Nintendo, We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story.

Played through on the normal difficulty level.

We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story is an action game based on the star-studded 1993 animated children's film of the same name. I never saw the movie so I can't speak to how faithful the game stays to it, but it all revolves around two kids, Louie and Cecelia, that have been kidnapped by some crazed scientist named Dr. Screweyes. You play Rex, a tyrannosaurus rex that somehow is transformed by a scientific invention (wait, is this Swamp Thing?) into a heroic figure that must stomp his way around New York City in order to save the children.

Even by SNES standards, this is a fairly absurd plot.

The game is typical of what you would expect from a movie tie-in aimed at kids. You run from left-to-right, jumping on bad guys trying to reach the goal in each stage. You get a range of attacks (which ones you can use at any moment are decided by your power level), including rock throwing and tail swiping, and you can find objects that summon other dinosaur friends to aid you in different ways - one can fly you to otherwise inaccessible areas loaded with bonus items, while another might charge through any enemies in your path. It's all pretty benign and kid-friendly. As long as you consider a T-Rex mowing down random people in a busy city as kid-friendly, that is.

The graphics are a bit uninspired, but they're generally nice to look at. It was made by Visual Concepts (the guys behind Claymates, ClayFighter, and Harley's Humongous Adventure), and though it's not claymation, the stylistic similarities are fairly obvious. Rex himself is an enormous sprite for a playable character, and some of the bosses are impressively large and fly about with no slowdown. The music is fine too, though the game would've really benefitted from a few more tracks for variety's sake.

The gameplay is about what you would expect, too. The levels are largely linear, though a few offer a branching path or two, and the powerups keep it interesting. The controls are a bit wonky feeling, though. Since it takes a moment to build up momentum, Rex's running and jumping feel slightly off. It feels like they were trying to make the character feel like he was heavy in the controls, but the jumping angles are really awkward and unintuitive. You'll be used to it by the time you get to the stages with demanding jumping sequences, but it is an annoyance that makes the game feel less smooth than it should.

All in all, We're Back! isn't a bad game - it's just underwhelming one. If I had gotten this and played it as a kid, though, I could certainly see enjoying it despite its flaws. It does what it sets out to do well enough, so if you're a fan of the film, you'll probably get a kick out of it. Otherwise, you're probably better off with Mario.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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