Hi-Tech Expressions was a gaming company that was most noted for its work in the arew of Commodore 64 games and also occasionally the Amiga. When it published Flintstones: Dino Lost in Bedrock, it was a surprise to the gaming world. Released in the very early nineties, Dino Lost in Bedrock is a fairly standard platform game that features the Flintstones, Rubbles and all of the gang from the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
Flintstones: Dino Lost in Bedrock has some very good qualities in a platform game.
To begin with, it was well ahead of the graphics game for the time of its release, and even still looks fairly good today. It features sixteen colors and also offers some features that were novel for the time, such as simple sounds and joystick support. The keyboard is more user friendly, truth be told, but people who like the feel of the joystick have that option.
The next greatest quality of the game is how it is so reflective of the cartoon, which is probably why people would play it in the first place. After all, if you are not a fan of the Flintstones, you are probably not going to pick up a game that stars the prehistoric
family. The premise of the game is that obviously Fred’s pet dinosaur, Dino, has become lost somewhere in Bedrock, and he and Barney have to try to find him. This was probably a storyline in one of the actual cartoons. Users can play as either Fred or Barney. Moreover, the characters look like the characters from the classic cartoon. There is no heinous pixelation that leaves the user wondering which character he is playing or what he is doing. Many of the obstacles and monsters that Fred/Barney will face are recognizable from the animated series. There are a lot of dinosaurs incorporated into the action as Fred/Barney does the jump and run platform thing. Another point, very reflective of Fred’s character, is that fact that Fred is a terribly slow character and seems to take all the time in the world to do the simplest thing. It is not a bug…it seems to be how he is designed. Truly, there were few cartoon heroes quite as fat, lazy and loveable as Fred Flintstone.
The “bad” points of the game are not so much bad as they are simply challenges for the platform gamer. The controls are easy to learn but seemingly slow to respond. It takes some practice and some effort to nail the timing for this game. As mentioned above, the character jumps are slow, but that could be an intentional ploy. Overall, fans of the Flintstones will love it for what it is, but people seeking an innovative and wildly fast-paced platform game only, may find it somewhat lacking.
