Gex: Enter the Gecko Review

    Back in the late 1990's the console wars were more than on between Sony and Nintendo. Both companies had their state of the art systems, the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation, fighting for pixelated supremacy. Popular Sony characters such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro opposed Nintendo's power in Mario, Link, and well... Rareware as a whole. Stuck in the middle of this war were a few lesser known characters such as Rayman (at the time he was lesser known) and eventually Gex the Gecko. Gex had originally debuted on the 3DO, PC, and Playstation, but with the release of Gex Enter the Gecko and Gex 64, he was thrown into the middle of raging console war.

***As always these reviews made contain SPOILERS. Read on with that knowledge***

 

    Gex Enter the Gecko was developed by Crystal Dynamics and released on the Sony Playstation in North America on February 24, 1998. The game would also see releases on the Nintendo 64 as Gex 64: Enter the Gecko as well as on PC and Game Boy Color. It is the second game in a series of three that began with Gex and ended with Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. The game was met with varying reviews depending on the platform it was being played on. Both the Playstation and PC versions received mostly positive reviews while the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color games were met with mixed reviews. Personally, I think the Playstation is the better between the two console versions of the game. 

    The plot of the game is actually pretty entertaining. Gex, after having defeated Rez at the end of the first game decides to head off into the sunset and retire to take up a life of relaxation watching T.V.. One day the T.V. went black and suddenly an all too familiar face simply starting flashing on the screen over and over and over again. It was the face of Rez. Shortly thereafter two government officials showed up on Gex's doorstep requesting his help to take down Rez who had taken over the Media Dimension. At first Gex declines stating that he is retired, but he is knocked out by one of the officials. Upon awakening he is interrogated by the government. Gex complies and tells them what he knows about Rez. Again, the agents ask him for help, but again he denies until a large briefcase full of cash is opened for him. In addition to the cash a fancy secret agent suit was also promised to the lizard. The agents tell Gex that they want to see Rez "disappear" and his body hidden. With that Gex sets out to save the Media Dimension.

    With the plot now out of the way. let's take a look at some of the key things that make up this game. Gameplay wise it is very similar to most 3D platformers of the era. So if you have played Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie, then you probably have an idea about the gameplay I am referring to here. As is also the case with these types of games, the camera tends to be a bit of an issue at times, but Gex seems to have a better camera than Mario, which is good. The biggest issue I faced gameplay wise was that when it comes to platforming, Gex feels slippery. His jumps and landings just feel kind of awkward and not as crisp as say Mario or Banjo's in their respective games. Ironically, the slippery lizard has slippery controls. I mean in a way I guess it kind of makes sense. Despite being slippery, the controls never really got to a point where I got frustrated with them.

    Gex does have a nice little array of lizard based moves he can use. One is simply being a gecko and climbing up walls on all fours. Another is that he can use his tongue to eat up yummy insects. Lastly Gex can whip his tail at enemies or pull a Scrooge Mc.Duck and bounce on it like a pogo stick. He will use these abilities as he traverses through zones that spoof various hit T.V. and movie genres such as horror movies, cartoons, history, the future, and Kung-Fu. He will also need to get through two Rez channels to defeat his nemesis once again. Along the way Gex will be collecting remote controls. In a similar fashion to Super Mario 64's stars, each level will contain multiple remotes as well as a hidden remote for collecting all of the 120 collectibles in a level. The remotes all do different things from opening levels, to gates, to unlocking secret levels, so the incentive is certainly there to find them all.

    So the gameplay, while a bit slippery is certainly not a deterrent in this game. Graphically, this game is crazy. It's dark, it's bright, it's creepy, it's funny, it's for a Playstation game, really cool looking. Not only that, but the levels themselves are massive and beautiful at the same time. Certain levels will even contain different areas to explore which adds that much more depth to the game. 

In kind of a bizarre, yet almost fitting graphical issue, the game's levels are so big that the developers had to make use of a lot of fog. The system could only handle so much on screen so when Gex is further away from something it vanishes into a fog. As Gex approaches that fog lifts. On certain levels like Toon T.V., the fog virtually plays right into the level. It's a pretty neat touch and it works in this game quite well. In addition to the levels, Gex himself looks pretty good and will undergo some costume changes as the game goes on. The first time I played through this game I thought it was so cool to see Gex dressed as a rabbit or James Bond as I made my way through. It was just something that at the time I had never seen before in a game like this. 

    As far as sound goes, the game isn't bad, but it's not amazing either. The music is alright, but the real winner is the sound effects and Gex himself. Some notable sound effects is when Gex delivers a tail whip, it literally sounds like Gex just whipped something. It's got a real snap to it I guess is what I'm trying to say. The sounds of Gex climbing on the walls and eating insects is cartoon-esque and funny. Now that I think about it, most of the sound effects in the game are like that, and it works. The best sounds though are the ones coming out of Gex's mouth. Throughout the game he will be cracking one liners and mocking certain movies and quotes as well. Right up to the end of the final battle, the game's humor stays in tack and keeps things nice and fresh.

    If I had to rate Gex: Enter the Gecko on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd agree with a good number of people and throw the game an 8 out of 10. Gex, in my opinion does not get the recognition he deserves here. Is the game as groundbreaking as Super Mario 64? No. Is it as collectible heavy as Banjo Kazooie? No. Despite that though, the game does have plenty to collect and has a bunch of really fun and interesting levels. As the years go by I've come to appreciate this game more, not only for the game itself, but all the references to things that were big as I was growing up. Looney Tunes, Scream, Indiana Jones, all of those and more were always such a big deal and to see a game kind of poking fun at them all with a lizard at the helm is just all kinds of fun for me. While it may be logged in the books of history as just another 3D platform game, Gex; Enter the Gecko in my estimation remains an underrated gem on the Sony Playstation that boasts comedy, fun gameplay, and a host of large levels. If you have never given this game a try and you are a fan of 3D platformers, then do yourself a favor and check it out! Heck, if you grew up in the eighties or nineties check the game out for some laughs.

    Thank you all once again for reading. You may have noticed some things starting to change a bit around here. For one the banner has been removed as we are under construction. The about us page is also under construction now and I'll be looking to add some videos to future blogs as well. Right now that is a work in progress as I've figured out how to do it with the Super Nintendo only so far. I'm sure it's not that different from system to system, but I've gotta work with the time I have. The next blog will be the reviving of the Kirby series as I take a look at Kirby's Dreamland 2 on Game Boy!