Gex: Enter the Gecko
PlayStation
Back in the late 90’s my favorite genre of game was far and away the 3D platformer. You know the type – Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, Croc, Jersey Devil, Crash Bandicoot, the list goes on and on. It was a fun time to be a gamer, especially if you loved those types of games as much as I did.
When I was at Blockbuster Video looking to rent a game for the weekend, I saw Gex 64 sitting on the shelf. I picked it up and gave the back of the box a good look. It looked like it would be a lot of fun and something I would enjoy. I had always had an interest in the original 2D Gex title for the Sega Saturn, but for some reason, I had never gotten around to playing it. Why not check out Gex 64 and see if the series was worth my time?
I ended up renting the game and bringing it home. Right away, I remember being completely awed by the game. Having never played a Gex title, I didn’t really expect much of it. But the game was terrific! At least it was to me, back then. I remember wandering around and checking out that first stage of the game. The open space, the green grass, the trees, the rainbow bridge thingies on the waterfall, all the stuff there was to collect. I was very impressed. I distinctly recall thinking: “Wow! Video games can’t get much better than this!”
I played that game a bunch that weekend, and a bunch may be an understatement. I probably only powered off my Nintendo 64 when it was time to go to bed. I am trying to use every ounce of brainpower I can, but I cannot for the life of me remember if I actually beat the game or not. I don’t think I did, but I can’t say that with any degree of certainty.
Needless to say, the game left a very positive impression on me. I also remember renting the game’s sequel Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, but I recall very little of that game. Years and years passed before I saw Gex: Enter the Gecko (the original PlayStation version of Gex 64) on sale on the PlayStation store. Immediately I was all like “oh hey that game! I loved that game.” So I bought it. This was about two years ago.
I finally got around to playing it in 2018. Since the game is nearly twenty years old and I hadn’t played it since it first came out, I didn’t expect that it had aged very gracefully. But aside from a few camera and control issues, I actually had a pretty good time with this game.
The concept of the title is that you are playing as Gex, a TV addicted gecko (and hero of the previous game in the series). Gex is called into action when the villain from the last game resurfaces and interrupts television airwaves all over the world. Being the TV addict that he is, Gex will not stand for this. He jumps into TV world and heads off to take out his nemesis once and for all.
If you have played games like Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie, you will instantly become familiar with the format of the game. There is a main hub world that you can explore. This hub world contains portals to all the different stages of the game. In each stage are a certain number of hidden remotes. The more remotes you find, the more of the hub world you unlock and the more additional stages open up to you. In Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie terms, these remotes act like stars or puzzle pieces.
The stages of the game take on the form of different forms of television entertainment. There’s cartoon stages that seem to be a parody of Bugs Bunny and other Loony Tunes cartoons. There are horror themed stages that take place in haunted houses, prehistoric stages where Gex is dressed like a caveman, outer space science fiction themed stages, kung-fu inspired stages, and more. Gex is clearly trying to be different from other similar video games where they have the same types of water/jungle/ice/lava themed stages over and over again.
The graphics of the game are really nice. Like I said earlier, I expected them to have aged poorly. But it is actually quite the opposite. No, the graphics aren’t perfect. Some stages are pretty basic looking, and background draw distances can be painfully short. But the game just oozes classic 90’s charm in its look. The sci-fi stages and the “inside the computer” stages are freakin’ brilliant looking with those dark backgrounds with the popping neon colored ledges and platforms. I just think they look super cool. Gex and his enemies are animated well too. Things can look a bit pixelated at times if you look too closely at them. But this will only be a major problem for you if you like to nitpick.
As far as the game’s audio, this is where I have read quite a few complaints online. The music and sound effects of the game are fine, if nothing memorable. They do their job. They work. The main issue seems to be with Gex himself and his constant need to spout off one-liners every minute or two. The complaints are valid. I had to hear some kind of variation of “It’s tail time!” more times than I could count. Luckily I am good at drowning stuff like that out. Gex’s other one-liners I actually thought were pretty funny. I had a good chuckle over some of them. “Ahh, to see life as Keith Richards does” was a good one. So was “Don’t take career advice from Joe Piscopo.” How about: “In a land before time, when Saturday Night Live was funny." Or “Boys, Tron didn't work once...it's not going to work twice!" Irony, I know. This game was released twelve years before Tron Legacy saw the light of day. Also, can’t forget the X-Files shout out: “Has anyone seen Fox Mulder's sister?" But for every funny or amusing one-liner shouted out, Gex would launch into an equally obnoxious Austin Powers impersonation or some different rendition of “It’s tail time!” As I said, I am good at drowning that stuff out. But I can understand why this is a legitimate complaint for some people.
My number one complaint came from the game’s camera system. I have played a countless number of games like this before and I always see people harping on the camera system. But honestly, I am not a huge camera complainer. I adjust as need be and I make it work. But this game…. this game (I shook my head back and forth as I wrote the italicized this. Could you tell?). The camera is bad. There is just no way around it. Bad. I tinkered with the options and all the different camera settings, but I just couldn’t find anything that worked for me. The camera is very difficult to align behind Gex’s back, especially if you are standing on a moving platform. If you are in a cramped space, it is very hard to realign the camera behind you. A lot of times when you are trying to line up a jump, the camera will have a mind of its own and wander off to look in a direction that does not help you one tiny bit. Oftentimes when you are trying to jump to something off-screen, the camera will suddenly twist as you are in midair, and all of a sudden you will be holding down the wrong direction and you will badly miss your intended landing spot. It is frustrating on every level. In fact, when I first started replaying this game, I thought it would make the game unplayable for me. Luckily I pushed on.
Camera hiccups aside, I had a ton of fun with this game. It is not an all time classic like Banjo-Kazooie or Mario 64, but it is close. The levels are all cleverly designed and very diverse in theme. There are secret items and secret areas galore; this game always keep you looking for something. I didn't unlock every single remote on my play through, but I did my best to snag as many as I could. The game is challenging in spots, but never too overly difficult. I racked up fifty some lives while mining the earlier stages in the game for all their hidden items and remotes. Graphically, Gex withstands the test of time. The music and sound effects do their job, but are nothing spectacular.
This game feels a lot like (although it's not as good as) Super Mario 64. It has got the action, the exploration, the hidden items, and the bright and colorful graphics. To top it off, the game is super funny too. Gex is definitely not lacking in personality. I wish that more games would come out in the series, but alas, I think Gex’s ship has sailed. If you are like me and you enjoy this genre of late 90’s 3D platform games, you will probably like Gex a lot. It starts out a little rough, but grows on you the more you play. If you don’t like this type of game and you are frustrated by hard to control camera systems, you may want to avoid this. I like it though. And this is my review, so my opinion is the only one that matters!
Overall:
B
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