#prehistoric setting

Dino Rex

The release of Capcom's Street Fighter II in 1991 caused the arcade scene to be flooded with a huge number of clones. Taito's Dino Rex is the first to come out of the company, and is actually more ambitious than most, being that it features gigantic dinosaurs slugging it out, rather than the usual roster of karate guys and gals. Released in 1992, it might be easy to surmise it was influenced by Jurassic Park, being the film that sparked a dinosaur craze for at least a few years, but that movie came a year later. More likely, it was inspired by the works of Ray Harryhausen and any number of classic stop-motion monster movies from the 60s. It also predated Atari's similarly themed Primal Rage by two years. 

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Primal Rage II

While it could never be as big as Mortal Kombat, Primal Rage managed to outdo just about every other MK competitor of the time. Perhaps it was the appeal of dinosaur combat, at a time when Jurassic Park was the coolest thing ever. Maybe it was the merchandising, made from characters that almost seemed like they were designed to be toys. It might have even been the multiple ports, meaning that nobody, not even the folks desperately clinging to the Amiga, could possibly escape the game. Whatever the reason, a sequel seemed inevitable. 

Prehistoric Isle

Long ago, before SNK was known mostly for their fighting games, they dabbled in a variety of genres, including shooters. Prehistoric Isle in 1930 is one of them, released before their Neo Geo system. As the title implies, it's not the usual generic space battle, but something much more original. The story of this game combines two famous myths: the disappearances of ships and aircraft caused by the Bermuda Triangle, and the existence of a "lost continent" where dinosaurs, cavemen and other remains of the prehistoric era still live. The protagonists are a couple of pilots that, during the investigation of said disappearances, stumble upon an uncharted island that they dub "Greenhell Isle", after they discover that it's full of murderous ancient creatures.