Development began in 2011, lasted more than three years, and cost $4 million. The development team studied
previous Jurassic Park games and various iconic scenes from the first three films in the series. The developers received an original
Jurassic Park arcade cabinet based on the first film, which inspired them to implement that game's fast-moving action into
Jurassic Park Arcade. The developers chose to set the game on Isla Nublar, the location of the first film, rather than Isla Sorna, to include iconic locations from the first film. Unlike the films, which primarily involve dinosaurs escaping, the developers wanted to present a story in which the player must capture the free-roaming dinosaurs. John Scott served as the game's lead programmer. Nate Vanderkamp, the game's lead artist and one of the primary game designers, said that many planned locations and creatures did not make it into the game during development: "I'm pretty sure that by the end we had cut more ideas than actually made it into the game". Initially, the developers had hoped to include an aquatic reptile, as well as a potential level set in a city. Originally, the developers also planned to include nine dinosaur boss enemies, consisting of the largest and most threatening dinosaurs possible. The developers settled for three dinosaurs instead: the
Spinosaurus,
Triceratops, and
Tyrannosaurus. These animals "worked out the best" for the combat style used in the game while providing variety for the player. ==Release==