Gex: Enter the Gecko

Story

Since his retirement from the public eye in 1996 after having been swamped with celebrity publicity following Rez' defeat in the first game, Gex has resigned himself to a life of solitude; for two years Gex started his day watching Kung-Fu Theater (Supermarket Sweep in the European release), eventually the days, then weeks started to feel like a telethon/chat show.

One day, Gex was watching his TV when it suddenly went blank. The screen then began to flash a familiar face, over and over again; the face was that of Rez. The next thing Gex knows, two government agents show up at his side, requesting Gex's help; they explain that Rez has again risen to power in the Media Dimension and they believed Gex was crazy enough to go back in after him. Gex denies, saying he has already saved the universe once. One of the agents then hits Gex in the head using a wrecking bar, knocking him unconscious.

When Gex wakes up, he realizes he is in an interrogation room. The two agents ask him what he knows about Rez, Gex tells them everything. Once again they ask for his help, one of the agents reaches under the table, pulls out a briefcase and slides it over to Gex. Gex opens it and sees that it is full of cash, to cover his expenses. Just when Gex thinks it couldn't get any better, the other agent tosses him a secret agent suit and Gex agrees to help them. The two agents give him a map, and say they want Rez to "disappear", instructing him to hide the body between Jimmy Hoffa's and Spuds MacKenzie's.

As Gex leaves the building, a beautiful female agent walks up to him, and introduces herself as "Agent Xtra", she wishes him good luck and leaves. Gex then leaves to the Media Dimension.

Once Gex is in the Media Dimension, he navigates through several channels. Cartoon (Toon TV); horror (Scream TV); sci-fi (The Rocket Channel); futuristic (Circuit Central); Kung-Fu (Kung-Fu Theater); Pre-history (The Pre-History Channel); Rezopolis; and Channel Z. Once Gex navigates through Rezopolis and Channel Z, he fights the overlord again. By dropping a large TV on top of him, Gex defeats Rez. Rez once again transforms into a ball of energy, and is then trapped in the exact TV Gex dropped on him.

Rez tells Gex that he is his father, and Gex asks how that could be possible. Rez says that he did not always look like he does now, claiming he fell into a scrap heap while trying to get free cable. Regardless, Gex picks up the remote and is about to turn off the TV when Rez begs him not to, saying he will do anything (claiming he could get Gex a meeting with an actor's fiancée he knows). Gex then shuts off the TV and makes a snide remark: "Okay then, 'Dad'. Hows about we forget all this and go play catch in the yard/footy in the garden?". It is not known whether Rez truly is Gex's father, possibly meaning a retcon, or whether this was merely a reference to Star Wars.

Gex is last seen in a hotel room with (in a cameo appearance) Nikki, from the Pandemonium! video games (as she appeared in Pandemonium 2).

Gameplay

Enter the Gecko is the first 3D game in the franchise. His main move set involves a tail whip attack, bouncing on his tail, using his tongue to eat flies, and performing a flying karate kick. He can also climb up on certain surfaces, and use machines.

The game takes place in a large hub filled with several TV screens based on various genres, parodying various genres from Looney Tunes to Star Wars. Each level has a certain number of remotes to collect, as well as an additional remote collecting 120 collectibles within the level. Collecting enough remotes unlock new areas, bonus levels, and boss levels. Collecting all of the possible remotes unlocks a special ending showcasing concept art for the game.

The game uses a camera system in which the player can choose from three camera control options.

Some enemies in the game can only be defeated by doing certain puzzles. Gex can also use object or machines to aid him in his quest. Gex constantly shouts out puns referencing popular culture from the late 1980s and 1990s when he dies, enters a level, attacks, beats an enemy, or collects items.

The Nintendo 64 version of Gex: Enter the Gecko was entitled Gex 64: Enter the Gecko. This version features a new level, which replaced the three secret levels. It is titled "Gecques Cousteau", a play on the French diver Jacques Cousteau, and is centered on the RMS Titanic, and played almost entirely underwater. Other changes include fewer bonus levels, fewer quotes (due to the Nintendo 64's cartridges storage limitations), and some altered sound effects. The only normal level that was removed was Scream TV's "Poltergex". The three secret levels that were removed were The Pre-History Channel's "Lava Daba Doo", Scream TV's "Texas Chainsaw Manicure", and Rezopolis' "Mazed and Confused". Two bonus levels titled "I Got the Reruns" and "Trouble in Uranus" were also removed.

Development

Gex: Enter The Gecko was built upon the same engine that was originally used for the first Tomb Raider game, Crystal Dynamics originally wanted to relaunch the character with the technology they had to work with at the time, and impress the entire world. The developers of the game were huge fans of The Simpsons and built a lot of comedy set-ups based upon that style of humor. Dana Gould, one of the writers from The Simpsons, worked on the script for Gex: Enter the Gecko, and advised the Gex team on different directions for the character. The end result of the idea gave Dana Gould over 700 voice-overs for Gex, while giving the character different costumes in order to suit the mood of the levels. When the game was released for the Nintendo 64, over 500 voice-overs from the PC and PlayStation versions were cut out from the original version, giving the Nintendo 64 version roughly over 100 samples to work with for the purpose of the hardware's limitations at the time of development. When Gould was being interviewed for the game, he explained how Gex in the third dimension differed from other platform games at the time. Gould said "The character's natural God-given abilities lend themselves extremely well to designing 3D gameplay."

Gould reprised the role of Gex in the game for the American market, although the British version featured the voice of Leslie Phillips instead.

Reception

Gex: Enter the Gecko received mostly positive reviews. Aggregating review website GameRankings gave the PlayStation version 81.70%; however the Game Boy Color version 57.00%. The Nintendo 64 version received mostly mixed reviews. Aggregating review website GameRankings gave the game 60.50%. Upon the PC version's initial release, USA Today gave the game "4 out of 5 stars!" GamePro acclaimed the game to be "A must-own for platform fans!"