Dino Run
Dino Run is an American independent video game created by PixelJAM and XGen Studios, released on April 30, 2008, in which the player steers a Velociraptor through increasingly dangerous side-scrolling landscapes to escape an impending "wall of doom". The game uses simple pixel art and 8-bit sound to replicate the style of 1980s arcade games. Expanded and improved versions of the game were later released for Macintosh, PC, and Linux under the titles Dino Run SE and Dino Run DX. Two additional games, Dino Run: Marathon Of Doom and Dino Run: Enter Planet D were released as stand-alone titles.
Gameplay
The object of the game is to escape a "wall of doom" also known as "the apocalypse" which resembles a pyroclastic surge.[1] Meteors strike the ground as the player runs from left to right through landscapes populated by panicking dinosaurs of many species. Success is achieved by reaching a "sanctuary" alive.[2] Along the way, the player can choose to collect eggs and devour bones for additional points and, in reaching milestones, to advance their dinosaur's individual evolution using accumulating "DNA" (enhancing attributes like jumping height, strength, rate of acceleration and top running speed).
There are four levels of difficulty: easy, medium, hard, and insane. Throughout the challenge levels the player can collect "super eggs" which grant additional points and DNA. There are a total of 10 Super eggs that can be obtained.
Originally, the game only featured a single Challenge game mode. Later versions featured a Speedrun mode, where the player was able to unlock numerous unique levels by exchanging bones collected during previous plays. In 2010, a new mode for the game was announced - Planet D, a set of "weird" levels, which are similar to the levels in the Challenge mode, but alter the physics of the game in various ways. Before the release of Dino Run DX (September 2015), the difficulty level for Planet D could not be changed. Later that same year (2010), a multiplayer mode was added. In 2013, upon the official release of Dino Run SE, the game became a commercial release.
In July or August 2015, a new version entitled Dino Run DX, was released, along with the campaign for it in August 28, 2015 [3] In September 2015, it was released on the Steam platform, and has received further updates, including a set of special Halloween-themed levels, freerun mode, being able to have 6 players in one multiplayer race, improved sprites, multicolored dino NPCs, and 60 new hats based on other indie games.[4]
Milestones
When the player completes a certain milestone or goal, they receive awards of bones, DNA, and points for their stats, as well as a trophy. Trophies can be viewed in the awards section of the stats menu, and they come in three levels depending on the level of skill the trophy was achieved with: bronze, silver, and gold.
Reception
In the first three months following its release in the Steam marketplace, Dino Run DX was reported by Steam Spy to have accrued between 5,000 and 9,000 owners.[5]
References
- IGN: Dino Run
- The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival
- Dino Run Central [@doomsurf] (18 August 2015). "We've actually already soft-launched the campaign, but the URL is secret. it's not hard to find, though... :)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- http://www.pixeljam.com/dinorun/
- "Dino Run DX -". SteamSpy - All the data about Steam games. Retrieved 2015-12-27.