The game centers on two friends, Timmy and Jamie, young children who are accidentally transported to a world resembling prehistoric Earth populated by anthropomorphic dinosaurs.

While a device which will allow them to return home exists in this environment, a critical component has been stolen by Mr. Big, leader of a gang of Neanderthals known as The Rockeys, leaving the player to guide Timmy or Jamie to his castle to retrieve it.

DinoCity is a traditional platformer-style action game where the player must move their character from left to right across the screen while avoiding obstacles, jumping on platforms, and defeating enemies.

[5] While many of the game's characters including the heroes Rex, Tops, Timmy, Jamie and villains Mr. Big and The Rockeys were taken directly from the film, they were largely re-designed into a more anime-based style by staff artists using the pseudonyms "Munou no Hito" and "SDR 200".

[4] Much of the game's art direction utilizes a colorful, cartoon-like approach to environments and enemies as opposed to the darker presentation of the original film.

"[13] However, the magazine ultimately declared that "although [the game] enjoys some of the nicest SNES wallpaper yet, the theme is less than exhilerating [sic] while the pace remains stuck in molasses ... the overall execution of this title was cooler than it should be.

"[13] GamePro magazine similarly declared that "the colorful cartoon-style graphics create an ancient, humorous atmosphere ... thematically the game seems aimed at the younger set.

"[15] Nintendo Power praised the game's "colorful and very detailed" graphics and "very good" music, but found the overall experience to be "a little too difficult for beginning players.

"[6] A more contemporary review of DinoCity from the website Allgame was largely in agreement with earlier editors, referring to it as "a (relatively) challenging and interesting game featuring a mind-boggling variety of levels.