Let the Giganto Games begin
By Paul Hunter
If you've got a preschooler in the house, no doubt you've heard about Gigantosaurus, the prehistoric cartoon based on the bestselling book by Jonny Duddle. Starting in 2020, Outright Games has been publishing games based on the popular series, first with Gigantosaurus: The Game and then last year with Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart. Now they're back with Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports, a brand new four-player party game developed by Infinigon.
The bread and butter of Dino Sports is a story adventure called the Giganto Games that can be played solo or with up to three others in local play. Before the games kick off, you get to choose to play as one of the four main stars of the cartoon series: Rocky the parasaurolophus, Bill the brachiosaurus, Tiny the triceratops or Mazu the ankylosaurus. Who you choose comes down to aesthetics only as all characters control exactly the same.
Kicking off the games is a well-animated cutscene with full voice acting explaining that it's pineapple season and the winner of the Giganto Games gets to gorge on a juicy pineapple prize. Guarding the coveted prize is the titular Gigantosaurus, who comically has a habit of falling asleep, putting to question his ability to actually guard the reward. Meanwhile, behind the scenes the dimwitted raptor siblings Cror and Totor scheme to steal the pineapple, but of course, things don't quite go as planned as lots of comedy ensues.
Peppered throughout the story bits, you'll play the eight different minigames that make up the Giganto Games. These include rock climbing, hang gliding, ice dashing, stunt surfing, raptor triathlon, jump dive, dino fruit blast and stop and go. Each game is a snap to learn and they're quite fun, but be aware that a couple of the games require button mashing and can be a little draining, so you may want to take a breather between games. After each game players will receive points based on their performance, and at the end of all eight matches the Giganto Games winner gets crowned.
Beyond the Giganto Games, there's also a Custom mode where you can choose up to ten different games to play one after another, and can also be played with up to four-players locally. This is likely the mode you'll gravitate to after completing the story since it's not quite as entertaining watching the cutscenes a second or third time.
While the total number of minigames isn't very high at just eight, they are a solid bunch and quite varied. For instance, Dino Fruit Blast is an on-rail FPS shooter, while Stunt Surf and Ice Dash are fast-paced racing games. Meanwhile, Jump Dive is similar to a music rhythm game requiring you to push specific buttons in time. This game is very accessible as well, with two difficulty settings: Kids and Grown-up.
Also included in Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports is an Extras menu that allows you to rewatch any of the game's cutscenes, but more importantly, features 12 puzzles that kids will have a blast completing. There are 4x2 and 6x3 puzzles all featuring recognizable characters from the cartoon.
Rounding out the package is a rather robust Challenge mode featuring 27 challenges in all. Most of them are based on the eight minigames and require you to achieve a certain time or accumulate a specific amount of points. However, there are some rather fun new games where you get to play as Gigantosaurus and smash objects to build up power to eventually hit a log for distance. In some of the more difficult challenges, the minigames will add new hazards like playing rock climbing with tons of rocks that will rain down and knock you off the wall. My family had a blast playing through the challenges and thought they added quite a bit to the overall offering.
Final Score: 8/10 - Great
Developer: Infinigon
Publisher: Outright Games
Genre: Party Game
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
If you've got a preschooler in the house, no doubt you've heard about Gigantosaurus, the prehistoric cartoon based on the bestselling book by Jonny Duddle. Starting in 2020, Outright Games has been publishing games based on the popular series, first with Gigantosaurus: The Game and then last year with Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart. Now they're back with Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports, a brand new four-player party game developed by Infinigon.
The bread and butter of Dino Sports is a story adventure called the Giganto Games that can be played solo or with up to three others in local play. Before the games kick off, you get to choose to play as one of the four main stars of the cartoon series: Rocky the parasaurolophus, Bill the brachiosaurus, Tiny the triceratops or Mazu the ankylosaurus. Who you choose comes down to aesthetics only as all characters control exactly the same.
Kicking off the games is a well-animated cutscene with full voice acting explaining that it's pineapple season and the winner of the Giganto Games gets to gorge on a juicy pineapple prize. Guarding the coveted prize is the titular Gigantosaurus, who comically has a habit of falling asleep, putting to question his ability to actually guard the reward. Meanwhile, behind the scenes the dimwitted raptor siblings Cror and Totor scheme to steal the pineapple, but of course, things don't quite go as planned as lots of comedy ensues.
Peppered throughout the story bits, you'll play the eight different minigames that make up the Giganto Games. These include rock climbing, hang gliding, ice dashing, stunt surfing, raptor triathlon, jump dive, dino fruit blast and stop and go. Each game is a snap to learn and they're quite fun, but be aware that a couple of the games require button mashing and can be a little draining, so you may want to take a breather between games. After each game players will receive points based on their performance, and at the end of all eight matches the Giganto Games winner gets crowned.
Beyond the Giganto Games, there's also a Custom mode where you can choose up to ten different games to play one after another, and can also be played with up to four-players locally. This is likely the mode you'll gravitate to after completing the story since it's not quite as entertaining watching the cutscenes a second or third time.
While the total number of minigames isn't very high at just eight, they are a solid bunch and quite varied. For instance, Dino Fruit Blast is an on-rail FPS shooter, while Stunt Surf and Ice Dash are fast-paced racing games. Meanwhile, Jump Dive is similar to a music rhythm game requiring you to push specific buttons in time. This game is very accessible as well, with two difficulty settings: Kids and Grown-up.
Also included in Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports is an Extras menu that allows you to rewatch any of the game's cutscenes, but more importantly, features 12 puzzles that kids will have a blast completing. There are 4x2 and 6x3 puzzles all featuring recognizable characters from the cartoon.
Rounding out the package is a rather robust Challenge mode featuring 27 challenges in all. Most of them are based on the eight minigames and require you to achieve a certain time or accumulate a specific amount of points. However, there are some rather fun new games where you get to play as Gigantosaurus and smash objects to build up power to eventually hit a log for distance. In some of the more difficult challenges, the minigames will add new hazards like playing rock climbing with tons of rocks that will rain down and knock you off the wall. My family had a blast playing through the challenges and thought they added quite a bit to the overall offering.
The Verdict
Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports is a fun four-player party game with eight highly replayable minigames that kept my family coming back. The Giganto Games story mode is surprisingly funny and features animation and voice acting on par with the popular cartoon. If you're looking for a new party game to play with the gang, Dino Sports is dino-riffic.Final Score: 8/10 - Great
Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports details
Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PCDeveloper: Infinigon
Publisher: Outright Games
Genre: Party Game
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
A key was provided by the publisher.