Dino Hazard: Chronos Blackout

In an indie scene flooded with pixel-art RPGs, Dino Hazard: Chronos Blackout roars louder than most. Developed by the Brazilian studio BoneCollectors, this game is more than a nostalgic nod to 16-bit classics—it's a unique blend of science fiction, survival, and prehistoric chaos, wrapped in a lovingly-crafted retro aesthetic. Set in the year 2147, the game drops you into Chronos Island, a cutting-edge science facility turned nightmare zone after a power blackout releases rogue dinosaurs and unhinged AI systems. You play as a diverse team of scientists, engineers, and survivalists racing against time to uncover what went wrong—and to make it out alive. The writing is surprisingly thoughtful. It touches on themes like corporate ethics, ecological conservation, and the dangers of unchecked technology without becoming preachy. The character banter is charming, and each party member feels like more than a combat unit—they're personalities with history and purpose. The game borrows classic turn-based JRPG mechanics but spices them up with modern twists. Each character has unique skills and scientific "disciplines" that affect how they interact with the world. Instead of just grinding…

Dino Hazard: Chronos Blackout has a story that is cliche' and is poorly done. There are a lot of glitches, one being you lose the light of your flashlight after leaving the command center and can't turn it back on. Not fun having to go through a confusing black maze trying to complete your objective. You have to have a hacker to hack the laser fence. So you think you're good to go hack the rest of the laser fences? Think again! Then you have to have a cyber helmet to hack the next laser fence. How moronic can this be? I'm just like wow, in a very bad way. The combat is just clunky, not easy to use or figure out. Not recommended

https://youtu.be/FHXP5UykpVM Tossing a few too many elements into the thematic blender results in a mix that doesn't land a strong core identity.

good

If this had more polish it would be one of the best console RPGs of 1993.

"Dino Hazard" has some really nice vibes that make it worth a try, and some issues that slightly reduce the gameplay experience & fun. + nice retro graphics that do the job fine + a great setting which combines scifi with that jurassic atmosphere you know from certain movies + as it seems: A big range of abilities and possibilities to handle the danger, like feeding dinosaurs to make them friends - unfortunately these abilities are not explained very good, and they are too much, especially at the beginning. You find yourself using the abilities and don't really know what you are doing. A slower approach would have helped - I experienced some decreases in FPS, making some parts nearly unplayable, like the first boss fight when using items - there are tons of items stuffed in the inventory, and it's hard to keep an overview - my mein con is with the battle system, which has some overview-difficulties, too. It's hard to track what's happening, and that's not because of missing animations or something like that. Sometimes I find myself wondering, why my health is so low, because I didn't recognize an attack from an enemy that was feeded to stay peaceful, for example. I love the setti…