Prehistorik Man has a really cool running animation on the SNES, and is that pre-Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Kazooie speak?
Rahan’s theme is really good. I think I only know Wolmark through Ulysses 31, which also had a pretty rad opening theme. Interesting to hear about parents banning their kids from reading the magazine it was published in due to communist related concerns.
With Primal Rage, I remember first hearing about it through news over how violent it was, more so than Mortal Kombat, even! But this was also during a time where gross out/shock kids/teen products were in full swing. Jurassic Park was out, and at some point there were even toys where you could tear chunks of the dinosaurs off to reveal bones/muscle/organs underneath. Gross out and scare your family with dino parts and ooze. Always some kind of ooze with a play set.
I kinda want to blame the ugliness on the gross out era of the 90s, but the kind of ugly in these games is a little all over the place. Less Primal Rage/Dinosaurs for Hire “cool ugly” and more newspaper comic/hallmark card, not really that cool, ugly.
Very curious to know if Japan was also hit by dino-mania, too. I was actually playing Joe & Mac a few weeks ago and noticed a cameo of another Data East caveman in it. Congo, from Congo’s Caper. A pretty cute caveman game.
Would Adventure Island also count? Meijin is kind of caveman like.