Line #61 VideoGame/DinosaurKing


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinosaur_king_ds.png]]
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6	''Dinosaur King'' is a CCG arcade game from Japan. The player pays for a starter deck and scans the cards into an arcade cabinet. Then they play a fighting game where dinosaurs (real ones ranging from obscure to well-known) with superpowers fight both each other using both a literal rock-paper-scissors and an ElementalRockPaperScissors battle system. As the player progresses, the arcade cabinet dispenses newer and rarer cards for them to add to their deck.
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8	Oh, and the superpowers? They're never really explained. We're just supposed to accept the fact that dinosaurs all had superpowers and the ability to [[DinosaursAreDragons breathe fire, electrify their bodies, and change in size.]] RuleOfCool, of course, applies.
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10	A [[TheAnimeOfTheGame tie-in anime]] was [[Anime/DinosaurKing eventually developed]]. It features the adventures of Max, Rex and Zoe, a trio of dinosaur-loving kids who search for dinosaur cards scattered all over the world before the Alpha Gang can retrieve them. The series has been brought to the U.S. by [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]] and is considered to be one of their best dubs. You can watch it on Creator/{{Netflix}} or Creator/KidsClick as of February 2018, and Creator/DiscotekMedia acquired the home video license later that year. A UsefulNotes/NintendoDS video game has been made that is [[RecursiveAdaptation based on the anime]].
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13	!!Tropes used in ''Dinosaur King'':
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15	* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Acquiring all 72 regular dinosaurs in the DS game rewards you with the ''Eoraptor lunensis'', which can use move cards of all elements.
16	* AdaptationalBadass: Though they still have some quirks, the Alpha Gang in this version is an actually dangerous threat that menaces the world, unlike in the anime, where Rod, Laura and Seth were the only competent members of the organization. Zander and Ed are perhaps the biggest examples. In the anime, they were a pair of bumbling fools that were Ursula's goons at worst, but the games portrays both of them as fairly skilfull [[EvilGenius evil geniuses]], with Ed being a hacker able to inutilize the entire electrical system of a whole town and Zander being a chemist able to propagate sleeping sickness through the Asian zone of the game.
17	* AdaptationalWimp: Zoe, who, unlike her anime counterpart, is not playable in the game and is a side character as opposed as a protagonist. She doesn't have a Dino-Shooter either, and in the post-game, the Alpha Gang steals some personal stuff from her as a way to claim revenge for their defeat at the hands of Max/Rex.
18	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: It's a 4Kids dub, so you should expect this to happen.
19	* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: The DS game, which uses real-life continents, but reduces them to a small town and three other areas at most.
20	* AwesomeButImpractical: In the DS game, most 10 MP moves, as well as most mystery elemental move cards.
21	* BagOfSharing: Move cards are shared between dinosaurs in the DS game.
22	* BigBad: Dr. Z is once again the main antagonist, commanding the other members of the Alpha Gang and the Alphabots. Also, though he retains some of his short tempered behaviour of the series, he remains as the BigBad till the end, [[AdaptationalBadass being more competent than his anime counterpart]] and [[spoiler:not suffering any betrayal at the hands of Seth, who, in this version, is completely loyal to the Alpha Gang.]]
23	* BossRush: In the DS game, all members of the Alpha Gang are refought in their lab in Antarctica, with some droids thrown in for good measure.
24	* CapcomSequelStagnation: The games. Version 2 didn't introduce any new storylines, only new cards, slightly tweaked gameplay, and the ability to take on Dr. Z, who is the final boss.
25	* CaptainErsatz/ ShoutOut: Aladdin looks so damn much like Disney's Aladdin.
26	* CarnivoreConfusion: Though they can't speak normally, the dinosaurs are established to be nearer human sentience than that of other animals. They also eat species-appropriate diets. It's implied carnivores would eat other dinosaurs/humans with no qualms, but in practice their diet tends to be fish.
27	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Dr. Owen. He's so amazed to see a real live dinosaur that he doesn't even acknowledge the Alpha Gang's threats to have it eat him, he only chases after the Alpha Gang afterwards because he fell in love with Ursula, and he thinks he can convince Dr. Z to give back the relic he stole as a wedding present.
28	-->'''Dr. Z:''' Good grief, man! What planet do you ''come'' from?!
29	* DemotedToExtra: Zoe in the DS game. She says she's still a part of the D-Team, but Max and Rex don't seem to agree as talking to her in the HQ has the player ask if she even knows what the D-Team is. She's also not playable, doesn't go on missions, and doesn't even get her own "Dino-Shooter" (what the game calls the Dino-Holders).
30	* DinosaursAreDragons: Partly thanks to the Japanese word for dinosaur meaning "fear dragon" and partly due to the fact that Terry and many of the other large carnivorous dinosaurs are bonded to fire cards.
31	* DopplegangerAttack: Ace's Ninja Attack.
32	* EmotionlessGirl: Reese seems to combine this with [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]]. Mind you, it's not hard for her to look sane next to the exciteable Dr. Taylor.
33	* EvilIsPetty: How does the Alpha Gang take revenge on Max/Rex after they defeat them in the Antarctic? By stealing Zoe's personal objects. It has to be seen to be believed.
34	* GottaCatchEmAll: Collecting all the dinosaur cards is a big part of the game. It's never really played up in the anime. The D-Team do spend the entire first season trying to catch 'em all, but it's less about being a master and more about keeping the Alpha Gang from abusing them.
35	%%* HealingHands: Paris, with her Nature's Blessing ability.
36	* LuckBasedMission: Finding a specific dinosaur in the DS game depends mostly on how lucky you get with the fossils.
37	%%* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Seth]]
38	%%* MechaMooks: The Alpha Droids.
39	%%* MiniGame: The fossil cleaning in the DS game.
40	* NoticeThis: Most things that can be interacted with outside of towns in the DS are marked with a sparkle.
41	* NPCRoadblock: All over the place in the DS game, where most areas outside of towns are blocked until something is completed in the previous one.
42	* PaletteSwap: See {{You ALL Look Familiar}} below.
43	* SpinOff: The game is actually a spin-off of an earlier game, ''[[VideoGame/KouchuuOujaMushiking Mushiking]]'', which was more or less the same thing but with beetles in place of dinosaurs. ''Mushi King'' wasn't imported to America beyond its arcade version, as the bug collecting hobby is much more perennially popular in Japan than in the US, but everyone loves dinosaurs.
44	* SuperMode: The Japanese arcade game has various dinosaurs that can access this in the middle of a battle, changing their color and powering up their next attack for a single turn (not counting ties) at the cost of half of their current health, reverting back to normal after the attack. In the DS game, the aforementioned HopelessBossFight with Seth leads to you getting your starter's SuperMode, the main difference being that it is simply a more powerful duplicate of your dinosaur and the color change is permanent.
45	* ToxicDinosaur:
46	** The game has a class of dinosaurs called the Poison type which can poison an opponent and deal extra damage after an attack for three turns due to the effects of the venom.
47	** Venom Fang gives ''Piatnitzkysaurus'' a toxic bite to deal small amounts of damage as the fight goes on.
48	* YouALLLookFamiliar: All dinosaurs of the same general group, such as the ceratopsids or sauropods, share the same model in the DS game. The model isn't even scaled to match the dinosaur's size, leading to an ''Opisthocoelicaudia'' (12 metres long) being the same size as an ''Isisaurus'' (18 metres long).

Context VideoGame / DinosaurKing