Dino Rex
| Dino Rex | |
|---|---|
Japanese Arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Taito |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Director(s) | Chiho Kimura Takatsuna Senba |
| Producer(s) | Ichiro Fujisue Masaki Ogata |
| Designer(s) | Naomitsu Abe Yosuke Tsuda Takaaki Tomita |
| Programmer(s) | Masahiro Okamoto Takamasa Hori Takayuki Shinma |
| Artist(s) | Masahiro Terakoshi Masami Kikuchi Tatsuya Ushiroda |
| Composer(s) | Hiroshige Tonomura Y. Ohashi |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Switch |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | |
| Arcade system | Taito F2 System |
Dino Rex is a fighting arcade video game developed and originally released by Taito in Japan in November 1992. Set during the 25th century BC on a prehistoric South America, players assume the role of a warrior commanding his dinosaur companion as he enters a tournament held by the current titular king to become the next ruler while facing matches against other rivals. Its gameplay consists of one-on-one fights, with a three-button configuration, featuring special moves and combo techniques.
Produced under the working title "Project D-Rex", Dino Rex was created by most of the same team behind Gun Frontier and Metal Black, including director Takatsuna Senba and was originally intended to be a shoot 'em up game, but it was instead retooled into a fighting title due to the success of games like Capcom's 1991 Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. It uses stop motion animation for its dinosaur fighters, predating Atari Games' 1994 Primal Rage by two years. Initially launched for the arcades, it was re-released only in Japan under the compilation for PlayStation 2 titled Taito Memories II Jōkan on 25 January 2007. Taito re-released the game on Nintendo Switch in Japan in August 2023 as part of the Taito Milestones 2 collection.
Dino Rex has been met with negative reception from reviewers since its release, who criticized aspects such as the visuals, controls and difficulty.