Whenever I get into archival mode, I start scanning my memory for those little nagging events that I know happened, but I can’t quite remember.
I definitely remembered playing a Jurassic Park video game at some point in the early 2000s, and as it turns out, that game was Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis—an immersive (at least at that time) video game where you could build your very own dinosaur theme park. Developed by and published by Universal Interactive and Konami, Operation Genesis was unique in the sense that I hadn’t ever played a game quite like it before.
Also, 9-year-old me had this weird thing going on where I was scared of the actual Jurassic Park movies, but not the game… weird, I know.
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Instead of just buying dinosaurs out of a menu, you had to fund global dig sites, extract DNA from fossilized amber, and clone up to 25 distinct species. Once you hatched a T. Rex, Velociraptor, or Brachiosaurus, the real chaos began. You were responsible for managing park security, placing low or high-tension electric fences, and catering to four distinct types of park guests—ranging from casual “Fun Lovers” to hardcore “Thrill Seekers” who literally came to watch carnivores hunt.
Unlocking Site B, however, was the real satisfaction. Modeled after Isla Sorna, Site B completely stripped away the theme park elements—no paths, no tourists, no ticket booths, and no fences. You simply placed up to eight hatcheries on a wilderness island, spawned dozens of dinosaurs, and watched them establish their own natural food chains and herd behaviors in real time.
While modern titles like Jurassic World Evolution have taken park-building graphics and mechanics to incredible heights, Operation Genesis holds a sacred place in gaming history. For those of us who spent hours balancing park budgets and dodging raptor breakouts on our PS2s, it remains a defining gem of early 2000s gaming.
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Featured Photo: Blue Tongue Entertainment, Universal Interactive, Konami
