Graphically, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis is hit or miss. While it doesn't show off the pure potential of the PS2's hardware, there are more than a few pieces of eye-candy to keep you from writing it off as a failure. The entire game has a rather murky, dusty feel to it thanks to the overabundance of blurry, low-res textures. Although this befits the game's jungle based 'levels', it doesn't do much for the overall look of the game. Each of the park's inhabitants (i.e. the dinosaurs) looks very good and animate rather smoothly. I would venture to say they looked life-like, but since I've never seen a real dinosaur, I don't have a basis for my comparison. One of the true stars of the graphical package is the special effects. Elements such as rippling water and some great looking lightning really help to keep this game from being an otherwise average title.

Thank you Vivendi Universal for putting the original John Williams score in the game. For whatever reason, this is one of the first times the original movie score has been included in a Jurassic Park game. For some, this may not sound like a big deal - but it's enough to make you really feel like you're running the park.

The concept behind Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis is one that, except for the five people who bought Sim Theme Park, will be alien to most console gamers. The basic premise behind the entire game is to give budding 'John Hammonds' the opportunity to run their own Jurassic Park. Much like similar 'Sim' games found on the PC (such as SimCity, SimLife, and SimEarth), players begin the game with only a few thousand dollars, a plot of land, and a dream. Over the course of the game, players will manage their own park and try to entice visitors to part with their life savings.

One of the more interesting things about Jurassic Park is the amount of freedom the game allows players. You can literally build the park of your dreams - the only trick is building it while keeping both your visitors and attractions content. On the surface this seems like an easy task - but once you delve into the game, you discover that nearly everything has an effect on everything else, making your job that much harder. Before you even begin building your park, you have to find something to put in it. This is accomplished by sending your paleontologists out into the field to collect amber, which as you probably remember, contains dinosaur DNA. This aspect of the game not only provides a catalyst for your park, but it also adds an educational element. Once you have the DNA, it's up to you to build a park that is pleasing to both your dinosaurs and your guests. As it turns out, dinosaurs are much easier to please than humans, but even this comes with its own logistical headaches. For example, let's look at the decision between raising carnivores or herbivores.

Choosing to raise a park full of T-Rexes is sure to pack in large groups of visitors; however feeding time becomes a problem since you can't simply plant trees like you could if you were raising a Brontosaurus. Carnivores require meat - and you have to provide them with it, which brings up another question: Should you allow them to hunt for their food or should you simply tie up a goat and let them find it (like in the movie). Allowing the dinos to hunt for their food is a good way to keep both your dinosaurs and guests happy (after all, who doesn't like a little bloodshed on their family vacation?), but this increases the risk of your attractions getting injured from their food defending themselves. In addition, you also have to raise other dinosaurs for them to hunt, costing you more money. On the other hand, simply feeding the T-Rex is much cheaper, but it will also affect his mental state, and increase the risk of him 'breaking out' of captivity and eating your visitors.

As I mentioned before, humans are much harder to please since you must not only keep them entertained (thus giving your park more money), but also think about their preferences and safety. You'll have to constantly keep an eye on whether or not you have enough food stands, bathrooms, worthwhile exhibits, and most importantly (from a business point of view) gift shops. Nearly every aspect of each of these 'shops' can be tweaked and refined to keep your visitors happy, which in turn translates to a better cash flow for your park. Another big component to keeping your visitors happy is keeping them safe. Failing to provide enough security measures, such as electrical fences and rangers could spell disaster for your park (not to mention your insurance rates).

Success in Jurassic Park: Project Genesis is defined by two traits - business sense and patience (and a touch of anal retentiveness doesn't hurt much either). This is not a game players will be able to jump right in and complete in a week. It's not until you're on your third or fourth failed park that you understand the game well enough to succeed. The magic of Jurassic Park is that even though you're losing, you're still having fun and will go back for another crack at it. However, the game isn't perfect, especially when it comes to guest AI, such as when they'll stand in line and complain about there not being enough bathrooms even though there's a brand new one a few feet away.

It's a proven fact that there are some games that just don't work with the typical console controller. This is probably why there aren't more games like this one on the consoles, however I was pretty surprised to see how well laid out Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis's controls were. I would have preferred some kind of mouse/keyboard support (UBS ports, they're not just for SOCOM headsets), but navigating each of the game's menus and running your park is fairly straightforward.

Jurassic Park began its development life as a survival-horror game. However, somewhere between then and now, it became a 'Sim' game. While I'm sure many gamers were licking their chops at the prospect of running away from the park's residents - the game's final concept proves to be just as entertaining and unique a prospect.