Culture

Platforms: MAC, PC, LINUX (3/5).
Subtitled “Escape Extinction”, here is a short list of the paleontological inaccuracies in Dino Run: #1 Contrary to the lush pasture Pixeljam has created, there was no grass in the late Cretaceous period. #2 tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops were not contemporary, in fact paleontologists recently confirmed that triceratops was simply a juvenile torosaurus. #3 Due to the thrust-to-weight ratio, not to mention aerodynamic issues, a pterodactyl could not lift an entire velociraptor (a vicious beast with a coat of bright feathers), even for a short period. That being said, I appreciate the fundamental claim of Dino Run; that dinosaur fossils were not magicked into the ground 6000 years ago to test our faith.

 
Dinosaurs are totally the coolest. If you're like me, you'll die the first time you see an ankylosaurus. Perhaps the greatest way to honour the legacy of such magnificent creatures is an arcade-y, primary coloured, almost 8-bit sidescrolling videogame in which you play as a velociraptor running from a meteorite maelstrom.

 
Get past the fact that cold-blooded non-avian (because modern birds are technically dinosaurs) terrible lizards were actually killed by the low temperatures from dust blocking out sunlight, and you find a game with surprisingly subtle gameplay mechanics and production values. Unlike Mario-style platformers, which have distinct balconies to leap between, Dino Run requires you to judge the appropriate time to jump on a continuous undulating plane. It becomes a little more complex when you're assaulted by everything from meteor fragments to flaming mini-pterosaurs. It almost become a cliché to say it about indy-games, but the 16-bit soundtrack is surprisingly cool too.
 

I feel like $3 US is too much money though.