''The Land Before Time'' is a 2001

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

developed by Eclipse Entertainment Ltd and published by Swing Entertainment Media, based upon the 1988 film of the same name. A non-ported title of the same name for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

was released by

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in 2002.

Gameplay

''The Land Before Time'' is a 2D platformer where players alternate between a range of selectable characters: Ducky, Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike, from the

original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal H ...

, as they find themselves separated from a rock fall and need to reunite with their friends. Each character performs specific functions, such as squeezing into small spaces, crushing rocks, or defeating enemies, requiring the player to alternate between them as they navigate the levels of the game. The game uses a password system instead of a battery save system to return the player to levels of the game. The game features 20 levels across five environments, ranging from volcanoes, deserts, and swamps.

Reception

''The Land Before Time'' received mixed reviews. Writing for ''Game Boy Xtreme'', John Hagerty stated the game was "above average" with "decent gameplay", but found frustration with the lack of a restart position and the "complicated attack movements", noting "there's nothing to collect or bad guys to beat in the areas you've already explored". TJ Deci for ''

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'' stated that whilst the concept of switching playable characters was "(executed) fairly well", the "gameplay alone isn't enough to overcome the numerous frustrations with the title", including "not being able to save during levels", "the unwieldy password system". ''Total Game Boy'' found the game to be "tricky" with "poor collision", making it inappropriate for its target audience of younger players, stating the gameplay was "dull and uninteresting, with no background story".

References

External links

* {{The Land Before Time 2001 video games Game Boy Color games Game Boy Color-only games The Land Before Time Platform games Single-player video games Swing! Entertainment games Video games about dinosaurs Video games based on animated films Video games set in the Mesozoic