Yabba Dabba Doo!

It had to be said. And now that all of the necessary and strange—albeit extremely predictable comments—are out of the way, we can move on to the review.

So I was looking for an NES game with no featured review, and what do my eyes spy? A Flintstones game! Yeah, not that exciting, since TV show/Video Game crossovers usually stink (much more so on such an old and limited console). Still, out of what could only have been either some morbid curiosity or my inner child squealing with delight over a classic cartoon turned video game, I decided to set out to play, finish, and review The Flintstones: The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak!. And so, having done the first two, I'm here to complete step number three: tell everyone how good (or bad) the game is.

But first, it's time for some overview info on the game. It's an NES title about The Flintstones (bet you didn't see that one coming, now did ya?), and what might be equally shocking is that it's a platformer. Oh the originality!

Predictable details aside, The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! implements a few surprising and interesting gameplay elements and at times, some cunning level designs. Indeed, this one holds some shockers for you.

The first surprise is the character select system: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble are always together in this game (though only one is visible at a time) and you can cycle between the two at any given moment. Each character of course has their own strengths and abilities, which I found incredibly innovative on such an old system.

Fred's strength is... well... his strength. His attacks deal more damage than Barney's, plus he can charge his attacks for more power, though you won't often be able to know in advance that you'll be needing to attack (and even fewer are the moments that you'll be able to actually do so). His special ability: he can grab the edge of a cliff or platform when he jumps or falls, which is probably far more useful than it sounds, as you will need to use this many times to finish the game.

Barney's strength: he has a slingshot, so he can often hit enemies from a distance and have a far better chance of not taking damage (did I mention that both characters share the same health meter?). His special ability is that he can grab ahold of ledges, poles, etc. and scale sideways, hand over hand. He can also pull himself up on top of said ledge/pole and stand there for a few moments before falling (and he can jump while balancing on them). And again, you'll need this ability to finish the game.

The controls are simple and fairly predictable:
A = Jump/ use character's special ability
B = Attack
Up + B = Use special item in inventory slot


But enough with formalities, let's get on to the review!


Graphics: 10/10
Incredible.

This title probably has some of the better graphics on the NES, and they're consistent, so there's no glitching in and out, or sloppily designed sprites that pop up along the way.

Speaking of sloppily designed sprites... they're about as rare in this game as good hair days are for me: there aren't any. Instead we have nice, solid, colorful sprites that perfectly reflect the cartoon that inspired them, and evoke a sense of childhood joy. In fact, the sprites and backgrounds are a large part of what makes the game grab your attention.

As for backgrounds and level designs they're wonderful, and are what pushed my graphics rating from a nine to a ten. Every level is fresh and bursting with an intense childlike cartoonish quality that makes you feel like you're really playing in the town of Bedrock.

Well, I may have exaggerated a little there. Not EVERY level's design is that way. The final level will in fact make you want to scream bloody murder, so be sure to wait until your neighbors aren't home... or within a three block radius when you play it, lest you find yourself wearing a nice white jacket when the police are called and find you trying to strangle your monitor/NES. Not that I would know anything about that...

Highlights:
-Very well executed sprites

-Levels perfectly emulate the feel of the cartoon

-I now have a pretty white jacket with shiny buckles on it


Sound: 9/10
Excellent.

So the sound here is really quite good, with nice tunes, including a well done 8 bit rendition of the Flintstones theme song at the title screen. In fact, I find most of the music in this game quite enjoyable, with the exception of the tune that plays while you're climbing up to dinosaur peak itself, which sounds like it was trying to play some notes that were about five octaves too high for the NES sound board. Still, the great quality tunes that you'll encounter in this one will more than make up for the sour notes on the way up the mountain.

The sound effects are the only real downfall for the game in audio, as the jump sound effect is a little unpleasant (an unfortunate thing for a game in a genre that focuses mainly on jumping, no?), and actually had me turning the volume down at one point to keep from disturbing anyone within earshot. However, the other sound effects aren't bad at all, they just aren't really of note.

So with great music and decent sound sound effects, The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! has good audio, and despite the jump sound effect being somewhat unpleasant (though not really annoying), it earns every bit of the rating it gets here, and probably more.

Highlights:
-Great background music

Story: 7/10
Very Good.

Allow me to preface this section by saying that I see the competition on story for an NES title as being incredibly weak. Indeed this game came from an era when the average game had literally no story IN the game, and what story the instruction booklets gave were so simple that the average toddler show's story was on par with them. "Save the princess from the dragon...ish thing", "Save the princess from the...whatever the heck Ganon is", "Save your girlfriend from the pumpkinhead ghost guy", "save..." yeah, you get the point. So this one wasn't nearly as unoriginal as the competition. Add to that the fact that you get some cut-scenes along the way, and you have yourself a fairly nicely done story for an NES game.

The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! decided to depart from this trend (look out Mickey Mouse Clubhouse script writers! You have competition!), and offered us an almost fresh --though decidedly weak-- story. At the start we find Fred looking for Pebbles, and Barney somehow suddenly realizing that he hasn't seen Bamm Bamm for a while either (how even a near caveman could not realize that his toddler was nowhere around is beyond me) the two decide to set out to find them. Simple, right? Perhaps not as simple as it would seem, since Murphy's law decides to kick in and make this one a little more difficult. I'll leave it up to you to figure out how that happens though. The only real negative thing that I can say here is that the ending is beyond stupid. It's like wearing a meat suit into a room full of pit bulls stupid. Which, incidentally, is why Lady Gaga's pre-music career application for a job at an animal shelter was rejected (if only they'd hired her...).

Highlights:
-No princesses to save!

-A somewhat original story, with actual cutscenes and cartoon illustrations

-A game story with a moral: you should never let Barney Rubble watch your kids


Depth: 8/10
Exceptional.

The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! offers a decent amount of depth for an 8 bit game, including over ten levels (don't want to spoil the exact number for you), two minigame style sports levels (I believe they were Hockey and Basketball, Bedrock style), an innovative character select system, an inventory system for powered up weapons and various items (though you can only hold one item at a time), and various powerups and bonuses to pick up along the way.

So as you can see, this game isn't just your run of the mill platformer by way of depth. It would seem that Taito set out to prove something with this one, and prove something they did. They proved that all of the other companies weren't being held back by system limitations, but instead just didn't care to try any harder. They also proved that they knew how to make a pretty good game.

Highlights:
-Innovative Character select system allows you to swap characters at any time you want or need

-Fun minigame type levels

-An inventory system that's small, but useful, requires you to plan and use some forethought before picking up a new item


Addictiveness: 7/10
Very Good.

There were a few things that factored into this rating, with the fact that I didn't have any trouble at all with sticking to this game from start to finish, without playing anything else along the way. It isn't perfect, and there are other games on this system that are more addicting than it, but it cannot be denied that this is a good game and one that's enjoyable enough to play straight through.

Another thing that affected the rating is the fact that I had a blast playing the minigame sports levels. In fact, they were some of the most fun that I've had playing a game in a while! I actually saved on those levels so I could drop in and play them again sometime. They're just that much fun. Clearly Taito should have just made a Flintstones sports compilation game.

So yeah, I started out playing this game so I could have something to review, and before I was finished, it had become a gem of a game to me. The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! is one of my two favorite NES platformers, which means I'll very likely play it again if I want some 8 bit gaming fun. The other NES platformer that I place in the top two with it is Super Mario Bros. 3, so maybe that gives you an idea of how much fun I had with this one, and how highly I think of it.

And on a final note, the music in this game is a large part of what makes me love it so much (especially that overworld/map theme). I've had the world map tune in my head the whole time I've been writing this review. It's that memorable as far as 8 bit tunes go.

So in short, yes I will definitely play this game again, and yes, it will be very soon. In fact, I plan on playing it as soon as I'm finished with this review, or more specifically, the sports levels.

Highlights:
-Playing the minigame levels are a blast

-The music alone pulled me in


Difficulty: 6/10
Challenging.

While most of the game will be little to no challenge for an experienced platform gamer, there are a few spots that will boost the difficulty considerably, and one level in particular that will make you want to pull your hair out...ohh Now I get why my gamer friends all shave their heads! They grew up on games like this one! Well, that and they're old and probably balding anyway (just say "no" to comb-overs, kids).

The boss fights likewise are almost always fun, and often a bit of a challenge. It's always nice to see games with boss fights that you look forward to facing, since so many games make the bosses more of a chore or trial to be endured. Indeed, most boss fights here are rather enjoyable. Pity the soul who fights the monkey at the quarry though.

Highlights:
-Challenging enough to keep you trying for a while, without costing you old men what little hair you have left (put a cap on during the final level though)


Overall: 8.2/10
Exceptional.

It seems like I haven't been giving out this high of a rating to many games lately, but The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! is easily worthy of such a high mark. It's fun, original, and innovative. It also has some great tunes, and nice level designs. It's obvious that Taito knew what they were doing when they made this one, and they successfully made a good TV show/Video Game crossover. Now if they could just teach their tricks to all of these other developers that keep on trying to do the same.


In the end, The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! is a great game that I highly recommend to all fans of side-scrolling platformers. It offers great platforming fun like you're accustomed to, but also offers some nice innovations and even sneaks in some surprises for you along the way. So while it may not be the best game on the system, in my opinion it's at least one of them.

Nice review man. I might go try it to see if this game is really as good as you say it is.

Well I gotta say it "Great review man" cuz now I've got to play this game.  One of the easiest ways to tell if a review is good is does it influence my decision to play the game.  In this case yes definitely cuz I'm going to be playing here in a couple of minutes.  Thanks for another great review Eirinn.

Eirinn : Good review although I would like to expand on something you said...

Although Licensed games off of MOVIES generally stunk back then, there are several platformers(as well as beat 'em ups) on the NES based off very popular cartoons from back in the day that were great.

1. Ducktales
2. Darkwing Duck
3. Chip N' Dales Rescue Rangers
4. Tiny Toons

(These are just a few that I can remember off the top of my head, I'm sure there's some I'm forgetting)

Generally speaking on the NES, if Capcom made a game based off of a cartoon, it was good. Konami also had some gems as well. That's not even mentioning the games based off of TMNT that were all good as well. (Although the best ones were ports of Arcade games)

Oh god!!! You did it again.... You're reviews just get better and better. I might check this game out. I'm busy with donkey kong land now tough (DARN DIDDY KONG!!)

megamanmaniac : Thank you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It has somewhat of a different feel than many platformers of the time, but it was a great game in my opinion.

fightorace : Thanks! It's great to hear this review got someone to try the game. I hope you enjoy it.

Jordanv78 : True. I somehow overlooked TMNT, and as for those others, I haven't tried them that I know of, with about a five minute run of DuckTales and even less than that of DarkWing Duck. I'll have to check out the Tiny Toons game for sure.

I also made a mistake in saying this was in the top two with SMB3: I forgot Splatterhouse - Wanpaku graffiti (though it was Famicom only), which is my favorite. It's a toss up between this one and SMB3 for second favorite.

imamonster : Thanks, man.