Prehistorik is a 1991 Video Game by Titus Software, with a sequel, Prehistorik 2, released in 1993. They are both Platform Games where you control a caveman (named Prehistorik in the manuals) in his search for food (for himself and his family), killing wild animals and other cavemen in order to gain points and complete levels.
The sequel was later remade on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Game Boy under the name Prehistorik Man. In this one, a bunch of dinosaurs stole the village's food supplies. Having no way to replenish them before the winter strikes, the village Elder sends the caveman (now named Sam) on a quest to find the fabled Dinosaur Graveyard, so they can get enough bones to buy a new supply. As an extra motivator, Sam also gets the beautiful Elder's daughter's hand if successful. This version was later re-released on the Game Boy Advance and DSiWare. A Video Game Remake of the original was also released in 2013, but was delisted from all digital stores after it turned out to be received horribly.
Unrelated to Prehistoric Isle games.
This game provide examples of:
- 100% Completion: Prehistorik 2 and Prehistorik Man tallies up all collected food items after each stage, with the latter having the Elder berate or congratulate you based on how much percentage of food you gathered back to the tribe to eat in said stage. Items and gifts gathered in a Bonus Level can actually break past 100% completion for the stage it is entered, making the Elder stand in awe and praise Sam's achievement to high heaven.
- Adaptation Expansion: Prehistorik Man greatly expands on Prehistorik 2, introducing new locations and settings, and even creating a small world with the inclusion of other characters, tribes, towns and even mythology as explained by the Elder.
- Adaptational Name Change: The manuals for the first
and second game call the protagonist caveman "Prehistorik", but the SNES Prehistorik Man changed it to Sam, who stuck with fans as the name for him. For the 2013 Prehistorik remake, the main character is called Grag instead. - Advancing Wall of Doom: Prehistorik Man has the tree on fire level, where Sam has to quickly move upwards to avoid a blaze of fire from turning him into ash.
- Air-Aided Acrobatics: The Windy Tree level has Sam use gusts of wind to extend his jumps in order to reach higher platforms.
- An Ice Person: Prehistorik Man's third boss, a sea serpent monster from an icy region, has a freezing breath.
- Artistic License – Paleontology: As the usual with this trope, humans co-existing with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs Are Dragons is also in full effect, with a number of them having fire breaths.
- Attack Its Weak Point: All bosses in Prehistorik have a specific one: the toes for the large dinosaur, the tail for the triceratops and the face for the huge caveman.
- Auto-Scrolling Level: In Prehistorik 2, one level has you platforming your way down a giant hollow tree. The screen steadily goes down and if you go completely off the top, or fall to the bottom before another platform appears, you die.
- Bamboo Technology: Slimeville has working elevators and transporters out of rocks, vines and bamboo.
- Background Boss: The 2nd boss in Prehistorik Man stands in the background while trying to hit Sam with its arms and spiked balls. The idea is to strike the spiked balls back at its head to beat it.
- Battle Boomerang: There are two type of Apemen enemies in the Apemen Village levels, with the more resilient ones carrying and attacking with boomerangs.
- Beast Man: The Apemen is a tribe with monkey-like features living on a village set on top of trees.
- Bears Are Bad News: Grizzly Bears are enemies early on, and Polar Bears appear in the last stages.
- Blackout Basement: The Dark Tree level, which is completely dark and requires Sam to be guided by a tamed firefly who provides a limited light source.
- Bland-Name Product: WcDonald's fries and sodas are among the food items to collect.
- The Blacksmith: One of Sam's team members in Prehistorik Man, who creates weapons for Sam.
- Blob Monster: Mucus monsters in Prehistorik Man's Slimeville stages
- Boss-Only Level: The even-numbered levels in the first game. All bosses are fought in a secluded boxing ring, and you challenge them right at the start, without needing to get there through any platforming gameplay.
- Bottomless Pits: A recurring feature of all levels, as they are classic platformers.
- Camera Abuse: In the 2013 remake, enemies occasionally get smacked against the screen when you kill them. It does nothing except obscure your view.
- Canis Latinicus: Prehistorik Man's ending credits lists all level enemies with a Latin-esque humorous "scientific name". For example, the sliding penguins are "Freising Mybutoff".
- Carry a Big Stick: Sam's primary weapon is an old-school wooden club. In Prehistorik 2 he gets a larger wooden mallet as a stronger version.
- Checkpoint Starvation: The original Prehistorik (as well as its predecessor Titus the Fox) gives you a code for each level that lets you continue from that level. However, it doesn't give you that code at the beginning of the level: instead, you have to find it, somewhere in the middle, and quite often hidden in some hard-to-find area. If you almost complete level 4 without finding its code, well, back to level 3 for you.
- Cranium Ride: Sam can stand on top of turtles and spiders in Prehistorik Man, often helping cross over big chasms or avoid spiked sections. In Prehistorik 2, he can bounce off them for a similar effect and to get higher jumps.
- Cool Old Guy: The Village Elder, who dispenses wisdom and mythology to Sam before each stage, and is the one who comes up with solutions for any problem the group comes along in their journey.
- Damsel in Distress: The Elder's Daughter is kidnapped during the Crystal Caves stages, and Sam has to rescue and lead her safely out of them.
- Death Throws: Used in Prehistorik Man for Sam and the mooks. Interestingly, the way drowning is handled changes late in the game: Initially the character is thrown when he hits the bottom (once you've hit the surface you can't swim or jump out anyway), but after being told water makes you drown, the death animation is changed to drowning.
- Death from Above: Giant boulders come crashing down all over in the Old Volcano level, product of the still-erupting background volcano.
- Death Mountain: The Ancient Bridge (2nd stage) is set on a mountain, while Cloud Canyon is at the side and over a canyon
- Department of Redundancy Department: In the Japanese P-Man, Inventor is called "Doctor Hakase"...or "Doctor Doctor".
- Developer's Foresight: Attempting to play the game after the date on the computer surpasses the year 1996 makes a message from the developers appear, surprised that their game has stood the test of time well enough to still be played.
- Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Some dinosaurs in Prehistorik Man can breathe fire.
- Distressed Dude: The Hunter is kidnapped during the Ape Man Village stage, and Sam needs to find 3 keys to open his cage and rescue him.
- Dirty Cop: The officer at the end of every vehicle-based Gimmick Level in Prehistorik Man will always threaten Sam with arrest for having no license to use the gadgets, but will let it slide after Sam gets enough diamonds from the stage.
- Dungeon Shop: The merchant in Prehistorik Man sets up shop in pretty much any non-friendly territory...though he'd not get close to the haunted Dinosaur Graveyard.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first game has a timer and hunger meter, and requires eating a certain amount of food to finish the level. This requirement was dropped in the second game.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: When played on Easy, Prehistorik Man ends in level 14 out of 23, right after the second boss.
- Edible Collectible: The object is to gather food for the tribe. Said food comes in four groups: Dairy, junk, fruits, and big foods.
- Elephant Graveyard: The Dinosaur Graveyard serves the same purpose, only for dinosaurs. It is also haunted by the spirits of deceased dinosaurs, who can't be hurt at all and must be avoided.
- Enemy Roll Call: In the normal ending of Prehistorik Man, all enemies and bosses are listed with a fake Latin name.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep":
- All characters but Sam in Prehistorik Man are called by their profession (Hunter, Metalsmith, Inventor...). Averted in the French version, where the Hunter is called "T-Rex Jack". Others still have only titles, though (though the chief and his daughter are named in the manual)
- The manual for the Japanese version, instead, calls the Inventor "Doctor Hakase" and the chief's daughter "Lady June".
- Everything Trying to Kill You: Spiders? Check. Werewolves/Bigfoot? Check. Some random moving floor taking you to your doom? Check.
- Eyes Are Unbreakable: When burned to ashes.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: The Final Boss in Prehistorik 2 throws these alongside rocks, for some reason.
- Fetch Quest: Several in Prehistorik Man. In the 4th level, the High Jungle, Sam needs to find and retrieve 3 gems. In the 16th level, Slimeville Town, he instead needs to find 4 pieces of a book. Others include a spotted lion's skin (level 2), a torc (5), three keys (12) and a firefly (13).
- Fossil Revival: The final boss of Prehistorik Man is a giant Tyrannosaurus skeleton.
- Framing Device: The story in the manual for Prehistorik has the game being framed as a story told by descendants of Prehistorik's family.
- Friendly Shopkeeper: The merchant that assists Sam in Prehistorik Man offers a lot of services to Sam for a price, including information and extra lives. He's doing so out of personal benefit, however, as he plans to sell the foods to the village once Sam gets the bones from the graveyard.
- Gadgeteer Genius: The Inventor in Prehistorik Man, who creates vehicles for Sam to use:
- a Hang Glider to pass over a canyon.
- a Pogo Stick to reach the treetops.
- a Sports Wheel, an unicycle to escape from an hostile tribe.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: While the second game is no stranger to odd bosses, the final boss still takes the cake for how ridiculous out of place it is: a giant living stone statue of a minotaur who is half-way fused with a wall set inside a gothic-style castle (in itself the most out of place area in the entire series).
- Gimmick Level: There are several in Prehistorik Man, most notably three stages that change gameplay entirely as Sam has to use a different invention (a hang glider, a pogo stick and a monocycle) in order to continue.
- Goomba Stomp: In Prehistorik Man, enemies can actually survive up to 4 stomps, but doing this nets 4 bones instead of just one.
- Goomba Springboard: Most enemies who don't work as a Cranium Ride serve as this, propelling Sam higher the more he jumps on them.
- Green Hill Zone: The first level in the first game, overlapping with Prehistoria. The only major hazards besides the enemies are some spiky rocks that can be easily destroyed and some bonfires in the caveman houses. Otherwise, it's a conventional starter level to learn the basics of the game.
- Happily Married: As seen in the ending of the first two games. Prehistorik Man ends in this, as Sam's mission was a success and, as promised, he got the Elder's Daughter hand to marry her.
- Harmless Freezing: The Sea Serpent's ice breath freezes Sam upon contact. If Sam manages to unfreeze before falling off the iceberg, he's no worse for wear (unfreeze too late however, and you drown).
- Hearts Are Health: The series uses hearts to represent Sam's health, having 3 hit points at start. In Prehistorik Man, enemies that hit Sam and are killed drop 4 mini-hearts, and if Sam picks them all he recovers the lost hit point.
- Heart Container: Prehistorik Man has 4 of these hidden in the stages, that increase Sam's health by one.
- Idiot Hero: Sam isn't particularly bright, and needs to be explained all sort of stuff...like that he can't breath underwater. According to the second game's manual, Sam (or Prehistorik as he's known there) needs to concentrate in order to strike at different directions, and his IQ lowers when he crouches, but in exchange he hits much harder.
- Idle Animation: In Prehistorik Man Sam has a few, including falling asleep and waving at the player.
- I'm a Humanitarian: You defeat stunned enemies by eating them (illustrated by them turning into a bone with score points written on it). This can be done to caveman enemies as well.
- Killer Gorilla:
- The first boss in Prehistorik 2 is a large gorila wearing a hooded jacket. For some reason.
- The Ape Men in Prehistorik Man are a tribe of human-sized gorillas living on trees.
- Level Ate: Bonus areas in Prehistorik 2 are made up of candy and food, with a giant roast pork lying far away in the background.
- Levels Take Flight: The Cloud Canyon, which introduces the Hang Glider. Sam has to maneuver around the sky, picking up wind to soar higher, in order to cross over the canyon.
- Living Statue: The Final Boss in Prehistorik 2 is a giant minotaur statue trapped in a wall. For some reason.
- The Lost Woods: The Dark Forest, also seen in Prehistorik 2. It's a dense forest filled with enemies, including squirrels that throw acorns at Sam and red snakes that serve as stationary hazards. At one point in the first game, the level employs Tree Trunk Tour so Sam reaches the higher areas of the trees, and at the end he goes back down by defeating a swan enemy to make a wooden platform descend.
- Meaningful Name: The little checkpoint animal in Prehistorik Man is called "Rees-Tartah".
- Miniature Senior Citizens: The Elder is the shortest member of Sam's party, and by far the oldest.
- Mook Maker: The large dinosaur boss in Prehistorik releases smaller dinosaurs mooks as its only attack; while the living tree in Prehistorik 2 sends bugs at Sam instead.
- Motion Parallax: The GameBoy version has multiple, fully formed layers of parallax scrolling in the intro —the trees in front of Sam run faster than Sam and the text boxes he drags, which in turn move faster than the foliage in the background. The text boxes themselves are animated this way, although with no transparency, to allow their movement to be differentiated from Sam's.
- Mr. Exposition: Seemingly the Elder's only reason to tag along Sam's journey is to explain to Sam the location and objectives of each level, as well as expose on the area's history.
- Named After First Installment: It uses Numbered Sequels, with the first game just called Prehistorik. The series name refers to the game's time period, Prehistoria, as well as being the name of its protagonist according to the manual.
- Nothing but Skulls: The Dinosaur Graveyard is littered by the remains of death dinosaurs.
- Nubile Savage: The Elder's Daughter has the killer looks and the clean appearance despite living in a cave on a prehistoric village.
- Officially Shortened Title: In Japan, the SNES game is called P-Man.
- One-Word Title: Prehistorik refers to the game's time period, Prehistoria.
- Organ Drops: Enemies aren't killed, but rather turned into meat drops temporarily (they're still animated and start walking again after a few seconds). By walking over the body, you EAT THEM ALIVE, producing a giant bone (that rise into the air with points written on it). In the last level, your enemies are other cavemen. (Also, everything seems to just contain one big bone... including cookies and ice cream... which can be found underwater... in a game taking place in the stone age.) Averted in Prehistorik Man, where all defeated enemies drop bones, the setting's equivalent of money.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: The final boss in the original Prehistorik is a really huge caveman, big enough Sam needs a catapult to reach and hit his face.
- Playing with Fire: Prehistorik Man's first boss is a fire dinosaur. A subtype of Dinosaur mooks also have a fire Breath Weapon.
- Poison Mushroom: A skull item that kills Sam if he touches it.
- Polar Penguins: Sliding penguins are mooks in the ice stages.
- Prehistoria: The overarching setting of the games, being most noticeable with the first level in the original game.
- Prequel: The logic assumption for Prehistorik Man, given the first two games shows Sam Happily Married, while this one shows how he got his girl.
- Projectile Platforms: In the burning forest level, Sam has to use the spears created by Blacksmith and throw them at the hardened trees, creating temporal trampolines he uses to climb and go over them.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The group formed in Prehistorik Man, which includes a Mad Scientist, a blacksmith, a hardened adventurer, the wise Elder, his daughter...and Sam.
- Reformulated Game: Prehistorik Man is very different from Prehistorik 2, retaining only the basics of the gameplay and most of the graphics. The layout of the levels is all new and there are several characters giving advice and help; among them, an inventor providing the player several gizmos. Prehistorik 2 has a Level Ate that is absent from Prehistorik Man.
- Re-Release Soundtrack: The GBA and DSiWare versions of Prehistorik Man each feature a completely different soundtrack than the original SNES version.
- Rise to the Challenge: In Prehistorik Man, the "Burning Tree" level has Sam running up a hollow tree as a blaze of fire quickly raises below him.
- Running on All Fours: Sam's running animation on Prehistorik Man.
- Scenery Porn: Prehistorik 2 has some gorgeous sprite artwork to depict the prehistoric views of each levels, going from green fields, freezing tundras, lush forests and gothic castles. Prehistorik Man inherited most of these graphics and art style as well.
- Sea Monster: The boss in Prehistorik Man's Stage 21 is a giant ice serpent.
- Shout-Out: Sam's...Shout in Prehistorik Man is borrowed straight from Tom's.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The third level in the original game, the late stages Icebergs and Ice Wastes in Prehistorik Man, and the second-to-last setting area in Prehistorik 2. Though the floor isn't slippy, plenty of swordfish mooks jump from the cold waters, so timing is important to avoid them.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: The Inventor, who creates traveling vehicles much advanced for the setting of the game. To note the most advanced area in the game is Slimeville, which still uses elevators and platforms made of bamboo and rock.
- Spelling Bonus: BONUS warps you to a bonus stage.
- Stepping-Stone Sword: Thrown spears can be used as platforms.
- Super Drowning Skills: Lampshaded in Prehistorik Man: the death animation actually changes from "Bottomless Pit with water in it" to "drowning" after the character is told, late in the game,note you can't breathe in water. Which means, in this game you actually learn to drown.Metalsmith: Be careful of that water stuff, you can drink it, but you can't breathe it.
- Super-Scream: Sam's got a pretty strong shout in Prehistorik Man, it serves as a screen-clearing attack.
- Temporary Platform: Devious ones: they fall instead of disappearing, but fall faster than you, meaning it's too late to jump away, just as if they had disappeared.
- Tennis Boss: A way to damage the second boss is to club back the spiked balls he throws.
- Tree Trunk Tour: At one point in the first game's forest level, Sam has to enter a tree and climb it from inside to reach the higher area.
- Turns Red: The small dinosaur mooks go from yellow/brownish to red and become much more aggressive when hit.
- Underground Level: While not entirely, the Crystal Caves force the player through several underground tunnels and areas.
- Weird Currency: Bones. They can buy food, information and services.
- When Trees Attack: The second boss in Prehistorik 2, a demonic tree stump with hands.
- Winged Soul Flies Off at Death: The original game has your character first turn into a skeleton, then fly away, winged, white-skinned and with a halo, into heaven.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: "Prehistorik"
