DinoPark Tycoon : Pt3. Massive Layoffs, Messy Park Manager (MS-DOS and Mac-OS Classic Computer Game)
Channel: LIFE RPG
Date: 22/11/2016

DinoPark Tycoon is a computer game I put plenty of time into as a young child along with my cousin. While it was nice to revisit Dino Park Tycoon, it can't hold my attention like it did when I was younger.

If you would like to play DinoPark Tycoon for yourself, it can easily be downloaded for DOSBOX! I suggest you at least give it a chance if you haven't tried it before.

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DinoPark Tycoon is an educational business simulation computer game released by MECC in 1993 for MS-DOS and MacOS. Players run a theme park which features dinosaurs as its main attraction. The goal of the game is to care for the dinosaurs while keeping the park clean, organized, and well maintained.

DinoPark Tycoon was released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer home video game console in early 1994. It contains minor changes to gameplay and graphics.

DinoPark Tycoon was developed by Manley & Associates Inc. and published by MECC (later SoftKey). Two versions were released: a retail version and a special school version, which was released to public elementary schools across the United States and Canada. In addition to the retail software, the school version includes background information and classroom activities for teachers. It was not required by the schools' curricula, but was intended to be a fun way for the students to learn basic finance and management skills. Writer Larry Blasko of the Associated Press described the game as having realistic similarities to real-life business management, along with skills such as mathematical estimation and "what if?" analysis.

The objective in DinoPark Tycoon is the successful administration of a dinosaur park. Players start off with a $5,000 loan in the retail version, or a $20,000 loan in the school version.[1] The money is used to pay for the land, dinosaurs, fencing, food and employees necessary to run the park and pay back the loan; failure to meet loan payments results in the park's foreclosure.[1] Once the loan is paid off, players may expand the park and earn profits. If players are confused, an animated dinosaur appears and guides the players through the game.

Players then visit supply stores to buy the necessary items for park maintenance. The food store provides meat for carnivores, plants for herbivores and seeds for planting. The general store provides fences for the dinosaur pens, with varying degrees of strength and price; concessions such as bathrooms, gift shops and parking lots; and advertising, which is bought per season. The employment office offers the personnel to run the park, and Dino City retails the dinosaurs for the exhibits.

As time passes, players face problems such as escaping dinosaurs, sick employees, and seasonal attendance declines. According to Atari, "Keeping the staff paid and the dinos fed and healthy is an ongoing task that requires kids to analyze graphs and numbers and make decisions based on their assumptions. The trick is to scratch out enough profit to expand the park with capital improvements and bigger and better dinosaurs."[1] After paying off the loan, players may choose to sell their park; if it has been successful, the player achieves an onscreen award and an entry on the top scores list. -Wikipedia

Let it be known that I am reviewing this game as it runs under DOSBOX, as such, some performance complaints may be a resulting factor of this and not the game itself. I also am reviewing the commercial release of the game which differs from the educational release in the amount of money you are given at start. The latter giving a generous $20,000 versus the measly $5,000 home users receive.

What we have here is yet another business tycoon game that puts players in the role of an owner of a dinosaur park. You are given only $5k as starting capital and must spend nearly all of it just to set up your facilities. Dinosaurs require land, fencing, and food. You are given three different region types to choose and dinosaurs each have their preferred region. Desert is the cheapest. Dinosaurs are not cheap, also, and staff require a great deal of money to keep around.

As you progress through the game trying to stay afloat, a number of awful things can happen regardless of any preparation you may have done. The most annoying and frequent are dinosaur escapes. You could have the best wall and have it electrified and your dinosaur will escape as if it didn't matter in the least. When this happens, you must buy your wall and dinosaur and take a hefty financial hit. Each time this happened to me, my park was finished. Even having every staffer, it did not matter. At all. Bye-bye dinosaur. -Guuthulu