Dino Run

By: Derek Yu

On: May 6th, 2008

Pixeljam, the creators of Gamma Bros. and the Ratmaze games, have released Dino Run, the latest in their series of low-resolution Flash titles! The basic premise is that you are a little dinosaur escaping extinction! Run, run (and jump), as fast as you can to the end of each level before the “Wall of Doom” engulfs you.

This game’s a real charmer. Each of the 7 levels is meticulously rendered in beautiful lo-fi, with lots of little details that you will probably be too busy running past to notice. Along the way you’ll get to snack on birds, lizards, and fish, grab rides with pterodactyls, and discover lots of alternate passageways and secret nooks. Other dinosaurs that are fleeing the destruction will hinder you, help you, or just plain die at the hands of crashing meteors and other dangers – the entire atmosphere is kind of dreadful, in a really cute way.

There are quite a few extra features, like dino DNA upgrades, unlockable speedrun levels, various difficulty settings, and even a multiplayer online mode that lets you race against other dinos. A small donation will get you a Dino Run Bonus Package which lets you customize your dino’s look, among other things. Do eet – this game is really cool!

(Source: Tim, via the IndieGames.com blog)

Posted in Browser Games, Highly Recommended, Platformers | Tags: PixelJam

Mark

This is the best game Pixeljam games has released so far, and one of my favorite indies of all time. Enjoy it.

I did the beta test for this game, and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a beta test of any kind. Sure to be a classic.
http://www.getmagi.com TeeGee

Love it!

It’s indeed adorable, yet at the same time it’s the most scary game I played in a while.
Nikica

Cool game, go to the credits, wait that the third page appears and look at the top right corner, it’s me “Nikola Sobocan” !!!
Yello!

MAN THIS GAME IS AWESOME!!!This is already one of my favourite games!I’ve never heard of pixelaJam, but now I wanna marry my daughter to him. This is even better than Sonic. Go WiiWare man!!!
Fishy Boy

Not much time to play it now, but playing the first level was quite fun! Jumping over stegosaurs is rather satisfying.
Disraptor

Can it be downloaded or is it browser-only?
muku

Great game, but crashes waaayyy to often.
http://www.g4g.it FireSword

Dino ‘s most favourite song lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I
Gr.Viper

Nah..

Run! Run! Fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA9g8tOeamU
http://josephkingworks.blogspot.com Joseph

This game is SOOOOOO wicked, I’m fortunate to have been one of the beta testers!
Dingosaur

Amazing game. More people need to participate in multi player though. I’ll create a four player room and sit there for a minute or two without people joining, and the friggin’ server is full! Don’t be shy people, join up and race!
Adamski

Good game. The music got a bit too repetitive for me, though >.<
Dingosaur

On the contrary, I loved the music. There was a bit of time when I first started playing where the music kept cutting out, and all I wanted was to hear the sweet sweet sounds of that thumpin’ chip.
MIles

Miles from pixeljam here. We know Multiplayer is buggy. Today is the first real day of high volume testing we’ve been able to do. Updates are on the way..
Neddo

Does anyone know how to earn passwords for the cheats and mods (besides the hats)?
Sam

to get the passwords for cheats you need to donate… or be a beta tester… or make a very very convincing argument to a donater/beta tester, we have been meticulously trained to resist interegation and persistent whining.
Ichi

Awesome. I loved Gamma bros., but this is absolutely great!! sending a donation as soon as I get some extra Paypal funds.
Adam Atomic

This is pretty fun guys, nice job! Good intensity. The only thing I think that could be tweaked design-wise is for much of the first 3 or 4 levels the wall of doom might as well not exist, they lack a lot of the intensity (but none of the charm) of the later levels.

Falling through big holes, especially into the big crazy volcano in the 5th or 6th stage, was way cool, nice job!
Cave story

PIXELJAM GAMES ARE AWESOME!

Not only have they this LOFI quality in graphics but also in gameplay and scope. All the games have this “pickup and play” quality that reminds me of very early videogames (atari VCS or intellivision games) where you can play for 5 minute or try to beat some kind of sick record.
He has very intelligently included a replayability value with the RPG elements.

SRSLY GUYS Pixeljam is a really underappreciated indie wiz.
BlademasterBobo

This is the most fun I’ve had with a flash game in quite a long time. The graphics are great, and watching meteors slam into other dinos while you run past trying to avoid them has a very “epic” feel to it.

I never even saw the wall of doom, but maybe that was because I never stopped running for any of the items?
Cave story

The effects on the wall of doom are great. very dramatic.
Valkyrie

The pounce graphic makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Awesome game.
rodnonymous

a rip off of the podunkian’s classic Super Fun Dungeon Run
Dingosaur

No, it’s a rip off of Cave Story, durrrr.
Knifen

I hadn’t seen the wall of doom until the 6th level, but then I got really stuck at a stupid place and it caught up with me and I was like “Holy crap”. I managed to get away, and was running like crazy inside the doom for like 20 seconds. That was really intense! Awesome game!
Fishy Boy

I’ve got a chance to play it, and it’s really great. I love the simple art and how curved yet blocky everything looks. I like how this feels like Sonic done right. In Sonic you would basically hold right, unless it’s a platform section, but those parts weren’t fast. DinoRun is fast but requires more thatn just holding right if you want to live. Also, I felt rather satisfied when a meteor hit that jerk stegosaur and blew him up into a pile of bones.

Great game, overall.
Beefsurgeon

Pure awesome. Best Pixeljam game by far. Best browser game I’ve ever played (I’m no expert).
MrBig

Off Topic… Why is bit-blot.com down??? Is the new Aquaria 1.1 patch going to become available for windows users? Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.
Lez

Read under: AWESOME
HeyBarn

A very, very, very good game indeed. Well designed, presented and highly addictive. Retro is just SO cool. Keep the games coming Pixeljam, you rock! PS Hats are awesome – donate people, they are wicked! PPS Damn, where RU giant Bronto Egg!?!
stwelin

Simply, very fun.
Rabspat

Is it just me, or is one of the masks in the game the Terror Mask from Splatterhouse?
MikeK

After it loads up the flash screen goes blue and just sits there.
Miles Tilmann

MikeK:

a repost from indiegames.com comments:

IF YOU HAVE BLANK SCREEN (and game refuses to load further) – I had this problem in IE 7, then downloaded Opera 9, installed latest Flash and it worked.

try that and see if it works. switching browsers may help.
Lambchops

Meh, it’s OK I suppose but it’s nowhere near as fun as Gamma Bros was.

I liked the style and it was fun for an hour or so but I got bored of holding right and jumping after a while!
Mike K

At long last! My arch nemesis, MikeK. I, the true Mike K, have come to defeat you! There is no escape! Victory will be mine! Zahahahaha!
MisterX

That was unexpected. I had played one of the Ratmaze games only recently but didn’t enjoy it much. So I approached Dino Run with quite low expectation and wew, how wrong I was. I’ve only played through each level once and played one online race and I’ve had a really good time. Like you said it’s especially a very charming game :)

And even though it’s out of place here, thanks for featuring Ikariam on TIGS Derek! I just want to mention here that I’m having surprisingly much fun with it. I’m also on Iota and set up a community-based alliance of my own (GSPB) which somehow just got into the top 100. So, well, sorry for the off-topic but thanks!
Melly

I did feel that a few parts of it could have had a few more obstacles (earlier parts in which you run right for extended periods without seeing much) but later levels feel quite epic. Not a hard game, but it’s more about beating your last time than anything else. and pumping your dino, but it’s fun to do that as well.

And the lo-fi art is very stylish.
Richard

Reminds me a lot of Runman’s Monster Fracas, but with more to do than run. Both great fun games!
John H.

Another beta tester here….

If you’re just holding right, you probably won’t make it past the harder difficulties. Run down slopes to build up speed, and jump over upward slopes! But don’t just jump, jump just high enough so you land at the top of the slope, so you can start running downhill again. Also, you really need to catch pterodactyls on harder difficulties.

I still haven’t finished Insane mode, even with a maxed-out dino, although I hear other testers have.
Tantan

Why is it that the only games that make me squeal with glee are dinosaur games? First Carnivores 2, then Velociraptor Safari, and now this?

BECAUSE THEY’RE FUCKIN DINOSAURS!
CM

When you’re riding one of those… dinosaurs that you can ride (maiasaur?) and it dies, you fall through the ground and then look back to the top of the sky and continue falling, and you can’t start moving to the right again until you hit the ground, costing you a lot of time. It’s not really a problem except on the Dino Derby map, where you’re pretty much expected to ride those things. Other than that it’s a totally awesome game!
Ex-Former Fan

Reminds me a lot of Running Naked Through Flowers on the MSX.

Except it was a man. Running naked. Through flowers…
skaldicpoet9

Brilliant concept for a game. I love the sense of urgency the wall of doom gives the player, the first time I saw it I was like,”Oh, shit, screw the egg, RUN!!!”

Best lo-fi graphics I have ever seen as well. Great stuff.