In 1993 Steven Spielberg brought the Mesozoic Era to life with Jurassic Park. It was the new age of the dinosaurs. Everyone was jumping on the dinosaurs train. Acclaim Entertainment even acquired Valiant Comics who had a comic book with a Native American time-traveling warrior named Turok the Dinosaur Hunter.
Acclaim also acquired an Austin Texas developer Iguana Entertainment. With the growing popularity of the first person shooter genre, Acclaim gave the team at Iguana a chance to turn Valiant's dinosaur Hunter into an FPS for Nintendo's upcoming home console the Nintendo 64. With a few months of delays Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was released to the North American market on March 4, 1997. The game paved the way for the FPS genre on the newest home console, selling 1.5 million copies and boosted sales of the N64.
After three sequels, one reboot, and three Gameboy games Nightdive Studios acquired the rights to the game and put out a remastered port of the N64 version on PC in 2015, then last year the studio ported the game to Xbox, now in 2019 Turok made its way back home to the Nintendo, and all I have to say is I want more N64.
Growing up my next door neighbor Ryan had the latest consoles so when he got the latest thing from Nintendo I was over at his house play the N64 after school, weekend and all summer long. I played Mario 64, Wave Racer and when Goldeneye 007 came out I tried to play it, though being disabled with only one good hand to use I couldn't due to the control layout itself and the mapping in the game. I wasn't able to play an FPS until I got a PlayStation.
So this is my first time playing a classic console FPS. Even though the game has retro graphics, primitive controls, and game play, I have been able to enjoy the game. I've enjoyed it so much I'd love to see more classics like Turok 2, Doom 64, and Quake on the Switch.
If you have never played Turok you play as a native American named Tal'Set, who is the protector of the barrier between Earth and the Lost Land. The Lost Land is a primitive world where time has no meaning, it's inhabited by a variety of creatures, from dinosaurs to aliens. Along with weapons from bows n arrows to staffs that shoot a lasers.
The game is everything I'd want from an N64 port, mappable controls, cheat codes and a way to do away with the things like fog people complained about when the game was first released. Though we have to wait for the second game to get everyone's beloved multiplayer feature. Besides that, and no true save state to start the game where you left off, this is a great first N64 FPS port for the Switch.
With this new budding relationship with Microsoft and Nintendo, we may be able to see a Perfect Dark port from Rare. Though Nightdive is the leader of the pack and they are not stopping with just one. I hope to see as many classic games they can get to bring back to life for us retro gaming fans. For $20 this is worth the price for this classic FPS. Pick it on the eShop or right here online.
