Capcom has had many successful franchises over the years, with some of its most popular remaining relevant even almost 30 years after their debut. TheResident Evilfranchise, for instance, is still one ofCapcom’s most profitable IPs, with it being well and truly back in full force following an awkward period in the 2010s. But there’s one Capcom survival horror franchise that hasn’t stuck around quite as long, and that’sDino Crisis.
Debuting in 1999, the originalDino Crisiswas a pure passion project for Shinji Mikami, and was intended to be the spiritual successor toResident Evil. Much like the originalResident Evilseries,Dino Crisisis a survival horror game with a fixed camera perspective. UnlikeResident Evil,Dino Crisispits players against an island full of ravenous dinosaurs. ThoughDino Crisisnever reviewed or sold quite as well as its predecessor series, it’s gathered quite the cult following over the years, and fans are desperate for some kind of remake, remaster, or a fully-fledged sequel. Regardless of what’s next forDino Crisis, it should take a page out ofJurassic World’s book.
RELATED:Capcom’s Dino Crisis Deserves the Dead Space Remake Treatment
The Next Dino Crisis Should Borrow Jurassic World’s Hybrid Dinos
TheJurassic Worldserieshas been a mostly disappointing journey into a franchise that really should have stayed in the ground after its first outing. While the firstJurassic Parkis a phenomenal adventure movie that broke new technological ground at the time, its sequels have never managed to live up to its high bar. At their best, theJurassic Parksequels experiment with new and fun ideas, even if they’re pretty silly, but at their worst, theJurassic Parksequels can end up being weak and boring, and that’s where most of theJurassic Worldmovies land.
TheJurassic Worldmovies aren’t without their fun moments, and there’s one idea that would be perfectly suited for a newDino Crisisgame. Introduced in the very firstJurassic Worldmovie with its central threat,the Indominus Rex, hybrid dinosaurs should be the big selling point of the nextDino Crisis. These hybrids are essentially dinosaurs that have been created by splicing together the DNA from multiple dinosaur species, taking all of their favorable traits to create one ultimate dino.
For the most part, theDino Crisisseries uses regular dinosaurs as its main antagonists. UnlikeJurassic Park’s mosquito DNA method,Dino Crisis' dinosaurscome from a rift in space and time, albeit one caused by some mysterious science experiments. So, in mostDino Crisisgames, the Velociraptors, T-Rexes, and Pteranodons are all just regular old dinosaurs with no special powers.Dino Crisis 3, however, shakes things up a little by jumping forward in time. InDino Crisis 3, players take control of a specialized military unit in the year 2548, sent aboard a ship that’s been missing for 300 years. On the ship, the player discovers a horde of dinosaur-like monsters, though they’ve been drastically mutated, giving them that classicResident Eviltendril-monster look.
WhileDino Crisis 3’s mutated dinosaurs weren’t quite as exciting as they sound, with hardly any variation among them, they were a nice change of pace for the series, and a notion that the nextDino Crisisgame should definitely carry with it. Though facing off against T-Rexes and Velociraptors would still be fun, there’s no denying that its lost its luster a little, with many games since 1999 allowing players to face off against dinos. Hybrid dinosaurs, however, could be exactly what the nextDino Crisisneeds to stand out from the crowd, and keep its players on their toes.
