This was the original idea for Dinosaur King. It was immensely popular in Japan. Tournaments were held periodically, such as the one depicted in this video on the right; they were announced on the now-defunct KyoryuKing.com website.
Story[]
Dr. Taylor was on a paleontology mission in Africa with his son Max and Max's friend, Rex. Max discovers stone slabs and finds dinosaurs are calling them for help. An evil organization called the "Alpha Gang", led by the nefarious Dr. Z, traveled back in time to hunt down the dinosaurs and use them to take over the world. It is up to Max and Rex to travel around the world, defeating Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang while hunting down the dinosaurs.
The story keeps expanding as the machine keeps upgrading.
In one such story, Max and Rex travel back with a "D-Watch" and find Alpha Droids building a base. Max then defeats them and wrecks the base, but Rex is captured by Dr. Z as Max battles Zander. He then tries to get to their other base, but is attacked by Rod and Laura. He then battles Ed and Seth when Zoe shows up and helps defeat them.
Max and Zoe head to the Alpha Fortress and Max defeats Ed again, then Zoe beats Ursula. They beat Rod and Laura again and rescue Rex, when Dr. Z is trying to create Alpha Dinosaurs. Max and Rex defeat him while Zoe destroys the machine turning the dinosaurs into Alpha Dinosaurs, but he escapes.
The above information marks the end of Dinosaur King arcade distribution to Asia and Europe. Japan will then begin to add in Spectral Pirates into the conflict. The cards will begin to have Super Dinosaurs and the Armored Dinosaurs.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay is a fairly simple 1v1 mechanic based on Rock-Paper-Scissors. Upon starting, the arcade machine dispenses to the player a random physical card (either Dinosaur or Move) that can be used for this or later games. A player can either select to control a default dinosaur within the machine (like the gray arcade Triceratops), or "slash" a Dinosaur Card they have (in a manner like a credit card) on the machine, and then can slash up to three Move Cards to be used, one of each Sign. They are then faced with a (seemingly) random automated opponent, or a second player can slash a set of cards, assuming 2-Player Mode was selected at the beginning.
The game is comprised of a series of turns. Each turn, the player has 10 seconds to select to attack with either Rock, Paper, or Scissors (Dinosaurs have an Attack stat for each Sign, with their strongest being their "Critical Move", the Sign their card shows). In the same 10 seconds, the either automated or Player 2 opponent does the same. The selected Signs are compared according to the standard Rock-Paper-Scissors rules, and the winner attacks the loser, deducting the used Sign's Attack stat points from the loser's Strength (health) stat points. If a tie occurs, both players are hit for minimal damage. Identically structured turns repeat until one Dinosaur's Strength (indicated by their health bar at the top of the screen) has been depleted. In the story mode, Reese will also often give the player hints as to the opponent's upcoming play. Interesting to note, while the camera view of the Japanese arcade game remains stationary off to the side between the fighters except during Move Card usage, the camera for the English arcade game jumps around to see different angles of the dinosaurs during the attack selection stage.
Move Cards are activated under conditions dictated by the individual cards. Most Moves allow the winner to give a stronger attack either after or instead of the normal hit. The effectiveness of most Moves are determined by the Dinosaur's Technique stat (higher Technique, usually accompanied by less Strength, makes for stronger Move attacks and make random effect activations more likely). Nine specific Normal Moves have their effectiveness determined by how close the Dinosaur's Technique stat is to a given number: below means poor usage, above is decent usage, but right on is recommended for best results. Depending on their effect, some Moves instead activate upon a loss, tie, or after a given sequence of events, the more complex setups typically belonging to the stronger Moves. Some particularly "overpowered" Moves (such as Life-Force Swap) are typically banned from being used in official tournaments, else every player would likely only use those. (However, from tournament videos, it seems that Dino Stuffer is often used.)
Especially in story mode campaigns, there exist 2v2 battles. They operate exactly like 1v1, with the second dinosaur staying off on the sidelines when unused, with only two differences. One: each turn during attack selection, the player is given the option to switch the battling dinosaur (the icon at right shows they have chosen to do so), but the switch is only successful if they win that turn, the standby dinosaur also taking a small hit if they fail to switch. Even if a switch attempt fails, the standby dinosaur will always switch in if the battling dinosaur runs out of health. And two: standby dinosaurs will automatically activate their Element's initial After-effect Move upon random wins by the fighting dinosaur, the effect benefiting the fighter, even if that Move isn't equipped to it.
Arcade Cards[]
Special Cards[]
- Main article: Special Arcade Cards
Some cards in the arcade, usually extremely rare dinosaurs and character cards, could be received by trading with official Japanese offices. This process required stamps for approval. Character cards are used by players to play as characters other than Max and Rex in Two-Player battles; however, these cards have another purpose.
In Single Player mode, swiping a D-Team character card unlocks a challenge mode where players battle against Dinoman's (Dr. Taylor's) powerful dinosaurs, or will make you play the basic story mode with the character on the card instead of Max by default (for the original arcade version and Operation: Dinosaur Rescue).
Swiping an Alpha Gang character card unlocks the "Alpha Exam" mode. This puts players against fellow Alpha Gang members.
Both of these secret modes feature A.I. that are much more difficult than those found in the typically playable Arcade story since fewer hints are provided.
In the arcade, Types are provided to each dinosaur starting with an early edition. They are typically passive perks in a battle; more details are provided on the Types page. New Types are distributed to each Dinosaur card every time an update is made to the story and Dinosaur and Move Cards are added to the machine itself.
All items (511)
- Abelisaurus
- Ace
- Ace/Armor
- Ace/Super
- Achelousaurus
- Acrocanthosaurus
- Acrocanthosaurus/Alpha
- ACT Missile
- Afrovenator
- Agustinia
- Air Raid Storm
- Albertaceratops
- Albertosaurus
- Alioramus
- Alioramus/Super
- Allosaurus/Alpha
- Allosaurus/atrox
- Allosaurus/fragilis
- Alpha Dice
- Alpha Droids
- Alpha Gang
- Alpha Gang Vehicles
- Alpha Trio
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- Altirhinus
- Altirhinus/Super
- Amargasaurus
- Ampelosaurus
- Anatotitan
- Anchiceratops
- Anchiceratops/Super
- Anhanguera
- Anhanguera Dive
- Ankylosaurus
- Apatosaurus
- Aqua Javelin
- Aqua Vortex
- Aqua Whip
- Arc Discharge
- Arcade Card Versions
- Arcade Versions
- Archaeopteryx
- Archaeopteryx Charm
- Armatus
- Armatus/Armor
- Arrhinoceratops
- Atomic Bomb
- Attack
- Attack Boost
- Attack Burst
- Attribute
- Camarasaurus
- Camarasaurus/Super
- Camptosaurus
- Carcharodontosaurus
- Carnotaurus
- Carnotaurus/Armor
- Carnotaurus/Super
- Centrosaurus
- Ceratosaurus
- Ceratosaurus/Super
- Cetiosaurus
- Charonosaurus
- Chasmosaurus
- Chasmosaurus/Alpha
- Chibi Dinosaurs
- Chomp
- Chomp/Armor
- Chomp/Super
- Claw Blade
- Corythosaurus
- Corythosaurus/Super
- Counter Blitz
- Counterattack Recovery
- Crimson Flame
- Critical Block
- Crossing Attack
- Cryolophosaurus
- Crystal Crusher
- Cyclone
- D-Kids Times
- D-Team
- Dacentrurus
- Dangerous Claw
- Daspletosaurus
- Daspletosaurus/Super
- Death Grind
- Defense Boost
- Defense Burst
- Deinonychus
- Deltadromeus
- Diceratops
- Diceratops/Super
- Dicraeosaurus
- Dicraeosaurus/Super
- Dilophosaurus
- Dilophosaurus/Alpha
- Dino Force
- Dino Illusion
- Dino Stuffer
- Dino Swing
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 1 & 2: 1st Edition V1 & V2: Card Gallery
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- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 10: Series 2 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 11: Series 2 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 11: Series 2 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
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- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 12: Series 2 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 1: 1st Edition Version 1
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 2: 1st Edition Version 2
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 3: 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 3: 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 4: 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 4: 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 5: 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 5: 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 6: 5th Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 6: 5th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 7: 2008 Special Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 7: 2008 Special Edition: Card Gallery
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- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 9: Series 2 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King English Arcade - Wave 9: Series 2 1st Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 10: 2007 1st Edition+
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 10: 2007 1st Edition+: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 11: 2007 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 11: 2007 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 12: 2007 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 12: 2007 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 13: 2007 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 13: 2007 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 14: 2007 4th Edition+
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 14: 2007 4th Edition+: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 15: Gekizan 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 15: Gekizan 1st Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 16: Gekizan 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 16: Gekizan 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 17: Gekizan 2nd Edition+
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 17: Gekizan 2nd Edition+: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 18: Gekizan 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 18: Gekizan 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 19: Kakushin 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 19: Kakushin 1st Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 1: 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 1: 1st Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 20: Kakushin 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 20: Kakushin 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 21: Kakushin 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 21: Kakushin 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 22: Kakushin 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 22: Kakushin 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 23: Kakushin 5th Edition Super Ω
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 23: Kakushin 5th Edition Super Ω: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 24: Kakushin 6th Edition Hyper Battle Museum
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 24: Kakushin 6th Edition Hyper Battle Museum: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 2: 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 2: 2nd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 3: 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 3: 3rd Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 4: 2006 Rainy Season Limited Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 4: 2006 Rainy Season Limited Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 5: 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 5: 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 6: 5th Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 6: 5th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 7: 2006 Winter Season Limited Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 7: 2006 Winter Season Limited Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 8: 6th Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 8: 6th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 9: 2007 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King Japanese Arcade - Wave 9: 2007 1st Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 10: New 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 10: New 4th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 11: New 5th Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 3: 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 4: 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 5: 4th Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 6: 2008 Limited Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 6: 2008 Limited Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 7: New 1st Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 8: New 2nd Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade - Wave 9: New 3rd Edition
- Dinosaur King Taiwanese Arcade Wave 11: New 5th Edition: Card Gallery
- Dinosaur King Trivia
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- Diving Press
- Dr. Z
- Dromiceio Rush