Overview
Dino Rex is a 2D fighting game developed and released by Taito for arcades in October 1992.
Set in the prehistoric era, players control a fierce dinosaur led by a tribal warrior as they fight the dinosaurs of other warriors in gladiatorial combat to become Dino Rex (or "master of the world").
The game's use of model figures and stop-motion animation and howling dinosaur shrieks are reminiscent of early films featuring giant beasts (or Kaiju), which are parodied in the bonus stage (in which the player's dinosaur rampages through a modern-day city). The concept of a traditional fighting game with large dinosaurs would later be used with popular Kaiju brands (mainly Godzilla), as well as the violent American-made arcade game Primal Rage.
It was later included in the 2007 Japan-exclusive PlayStation 2 compilation Taito Memories II Joukan. The game was also included in the Taito Milestones 2 compilation for the Nintendo Switch on August 31, 2023, with a standalone version digitally released on November 16, 2023 as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
Characters
The game includes six dinosaurs to choose from, each with their own special abilities:
- Allosaurus
- Triceratops
- Pachycephalo
- Tyrannosaurus
- Ceratosaurus
- Stygimoloch
At rare occasions, players can participate in a "sudden death" segment where they briefly take control of the handlers themselves in one-on-one combat. Along with match draws, this segment is used at the final boss of the game, where the warrior fights off against the titular Dino Rex (and, on victory, unmasks himself to reveal his resemblance to Taito's earlier barbarian hero Rastan).
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