Dino Rex (Japan)

Dino Rex uses a standard 8-way arcade joystick paired with three strike buttons (light, medium, heavy) for controls, making it easy to pick up but challenging to master for new players. First, familiarize yourself with your chosen dinosaur’s strengths and weaknesses: heavy hitters like the T-Rex deal massive damage per strike but have slow movement speed, so use their charge attack (hold forward for 2 seconds, then press back + heavy strike) to close gaps between you and faster opponents quickly. Faster characters like the Pteranodon have lower damage output but unmatched mobility, so use their aerial dive attacks to keep opponents off-balance and avoid heavy blows. Always remember to block: holding back on the joystick blocks all high and mid attacks, while holding down + back blocks low sweeps and tail strikes. Each character also has a unique super move that charges as you deal or take damage, visible via the glowing bar at the bottom of your screen. Save your super moves for moments when your opponent is stunned after a blocked heavy attack, as this guarantees you will land the full damage of the special without interruption. For single-player campaign runs, the first three AI opponents are relatively low difficulty, so avoid wasting your super moves on them: save at least one super for the high-defense Stegosaurus opponent at stage 4, and two supers for the final boss Dino Rex, who has a devastating one-shot tail swipe attack you can dodge only by jumping straight up before counterattacking. If you want to unlock the hidden playable Velociraptor character, hold down all three strike buttons while confirming your character selection on the roster screen.