Thank you AtomicTorch for sending us this game to review!

Dinocide is an 8-bit themed platformer game that will bring back fond memories to gamers that have enjoyed some NES classics.  There are two game modes: the campaign and a speed run.  Speed is important no matter which mode you choose because the main character constantly needs to be fed to survive! 

A caveman and his lady friend were relaxing on an island when a dinosaur god captured her.  Without giving it a second thought, he chased after her.  Unfortunately, he didn’t plan ahead and will have to rely on the unhospitable land to provide him with weapons and plenty of food to eat.   

To increase the game’s difficulty, his health bar and hunger level are shared.  That means that whenever he takes damage or throws a stone or a weapon, it depletes.  Fortunately, food isn’t too difficult to find.  Though I have to confess that I have died of starvation a couple of times within inches of a much needed snack.

Throughout the caveman’s journey he’ll travel across different terrain including jungles, deserts, and even under water!  There’s a wide variety of enemies as well including snakes, bats, scorpions, zombie pigs, skeletons, pooping birds and many more.  There are some challenging boss battles too!

To even the odds a bit, this caveman can collect and use various weapons and mounts.   In the beginning he’ll only be able to throw stones and later he’ll be able to collect axes, arrows, and boomerangs.   Various dinosaur and mech-like mounts are available as well.  Not only do the mounts offer an alternative and often more powerful attack, they provide an extended hunger/health bar!

If the caveman successfully ends a level equipping a mount or non-standard weapon, they will carry over into his inventory.  However, if he dies equipping a weapon or mount taken from inventory, they are forever gone.  If that’s not bad enough, there is NO WAY to backtrack and replenish your inventory.  This is especially harsh if you’re stuck at a boss level and have only rocks available.  

If you’re good at the game you can beat it in less than two hours.  There are multiple paths to choose in the story and you can replay the story mode by taking a different path or try your hand at beating your fastest speeds in the Speed Run mode.  Apparently I’m not too fast since all of my level scores were F’s.  

In the end, Dinocide is cute but has a frustrating inventory system that does not let you easily replenish lost items.  The $9.99 asking price is a bit steep for a such a short game as well.  If you like classic platformers it may be worth picking up on sale.  There is a demo available if you want to give it a try before parting with your hard earned cash.