The Birthday Gig

Gex: Enter the Gecko

1998, Playstation

Crystal Dynamics

"Oh no, I'm too YOUNG to have a second childhood..."

    Back in 1998, while I was attending an after-school daycare, there were a few options for extra-curricular activities: an art-room, an outside area to play street hockey, and a main room to play with everything from blocks and stuffed animals to gnawing on GoldFish crackers.  But the best room in the place was the designated game-room, featuring a Sega Genesis, a Super Nintendo...and a Nintendo 64.  But since this was a daycare center filled with children grading from Kindergarden to 5th grade, no Teen or Mature games were allowed.  On top of that, the Nintendo 64 was donated, and unfortunately, there was also no Mario 64. So we got this game called Gex: Enter the Gecko....and that's all we played.   

    Gex: Enter the Gecko, is the sequel to the sleeper hit, Gex--which premiered on the ill-fated 3DO system, then the ill-fated Sega Saturn, and finally, the successful Sony Playstation.  This time around, the wise-cracking little lizard returns to the Playstation in full 3-D, with over 500 one-liners, great platforming gameplay, and over 20 hilarious TV and movie-themed levels to run around in.  This is a great, old-school platformer Playstation owners will love, and should not miss. 

    The beautifully rendered cinematic reveals that our hero has retired to a life of solitude and zoning out before the TV full-time, until he's interrupted by some Secret Agent goons and "persuaded" to return to the Media Dimension to stop the diabolical Rez.  Leaving the building in a Secret Agent Suit and as a new millionaire, the little lizard begins his adventure.  

Protip: "You don't match the carpet...so you have to go..." To dispose of the shuriken-chucking ninja, crouch beneath their attacks until they're stagnant...then tail-kick em'.

    Gex: Enter the Gecko is a simple platform-jumper where the objective is to obtain enough Remotes to move on to the next set of worlds.  The idea is identical to the majority of 2-D side-scrollers(like Enter the Gecko's predecessor), but the world is fully rendered in 3-D and a blast to explore.  There are 3 different types of remotes to obtain: Red, Silver and Gold.  Red remotes are obtained by completing a level goal, such as "Smash the Five Blood Coolers" or "Ride the Rocket."  Silver remotes are awarded in two ways--finding a "Hidden Remote", usually uncovered in a tough-to-reach area, or collecting all three tiers of Collectibles, and when enough Silver Remotes are collected, Bonus Levels are dropped from the sky for your playable pleasure.  And finally, the last obtainable type of remote is Gold, which is awarded upon the defeat of Bosses or Bonus Levels.  Replaying each normal level is a must, as there are normally three goals per level, and only one Red Remote can be obtained at a time.  As an added bonus and incentive for players to continue to collect Sardine Cans or Jason Mask collectibles, an extra life is also obtained when you collect through a tier of 30, 40 or 50 items.  The bosses are never a straightforward, "Tail-whip until dead," there's always a twist--such as "whip the fireballs back in their face," or "flip this switch to zap the boss," or even "make this bad guy hit this button so a TV drops on his head," providing fun, extra challenges to a platform-heavy game.      

"What's harder?  Getting through this level or dividing up the check?"

"Aah, to see the world as Keith Richards does..."

    As I mentioned before, the cinematics--however few of them exist in this game, are beautiful.  The graphics are also breathtaking for a Playstation game--they truly push the system's 32-bit processor to the extreme.  The Media Dimension itself is a joy to explore--brightly lit, Roman-themed and well-mapped with various routes to new areas, you'll spend hours exploring the world that leads to all worlds--eager to discover what's on the other side of those colored gates.  Inside the TV and movie-themed levels, the graphics are also a technical stroke of genius.  The lighting inside the haunted houses perfectly fits the atmosphere, the vivid, cartoony colors in the Bugs-Bunny themed worlds perfectly emulate a Looney Tunes cartoon, and the CaveGex levels amusingly replicate a 10, 000 BC-type movie with lava and rocks all over the place.  Furthermore, in comparison to other level-based platformers such as Mario 64...each world is huge!  Unless you know EXACTLY how to get a single remote the quickest way, you'll spend at least 10-20 minutes per level...EASY.  Later in the game, to reach certain areas  in order to obtain more remotes, you'll spend an extra few minutes just exploring the vast expanse of the Media Dimension. 

Saturday Gex Fever...just one of Gex's many costumes.

    Even Gex himself is wonderfully animated in his 32-bit glory--little nuances bring the wise-cracking Gecko to life, such as stretching his neck, arms and even spinning his head a la Poltergeist.  Even when zoomed-in on the lizard, there is no trace of blockiness or breakup, and the actions, such as running, jumping, tail whipping, and Dragon-kicking, all look great as well.  Gex's deaths are just as hilarious-- you can face-plant, flip like a flipsy-dog toy and land prostrate clutching a flower in hand, or zoom to black when falling off cliffs.  Which brings me to the graphical issues...

"CUT! STUNT GECKO!"

"Looks like Beetlejuice threw up..." 

    However beautiful the graphics are in working condition, they DO have a variety of technical flaws.  Although great for a mid-generation Playstation title, there is a vast amount of break-up--especially when running near the walls of a level.  For instance, in the Toon TV levels, you can easily see cracks in the sides of the walls as you jog by--peering through to the open blue sky of the level.  Sometimes, its easy to overlook, as it only appears for milliseconds at a time--but occasionally, it accidentally uncovers hidden areas.  Slowdown is also rather common when there is a lot of action on the screen, most apparent in some of the Scream TV levels.   All the simultaneous axe-chopping, glow-in-the-dark ghosts, and bouncing pumpkins moving about are usually the culprits for such lag. 

"No no no!  I wanted the PIT there and the PENDULUM THERE!"

"Hey!  I feel like I'm trapped in Boy George's pants!"

    The highlight of the game, next to great graphics for the time, is Gex's 500 or so one-liners.  HBO Comedian Dana Gould gives voice to the little lizard and does a superb job.  Each line is appropriate to the level or scenario, and even the way Gex takes damage or brings the pain with his tail is accompanied by something like "This is for all the angels in heaven..."   Some lines are corny like "It's TAIL time," and "Gecko Chop!"   Then you get some hilarious impersonations such as, "I've got 10 seconds to save the world," in a Sean Connery voice or, "I built this level...with...you in mind," in William Shatner voice, and one-liners such as "Looks like Bugs Bunny after the trots..."  The delivery and timing in this game really give it a fun and light-hearted feel, never taking itself too seriously. 

    Aside from Gex's motormouth, the game has superb sound direction.  The haunted house is fraught with screams and hisses from ghosts, the toon levels are filled with bouncy noises and happy-go-lucky music cues, while the space levels are filled with Star Wars sound effects and a cheesy-Star Trek-like score.  The soundtrack itself is quite versatile,  appropriately matching the scenes and levels--and even for being little more than rip-offs of famous scores and TV shows...it's a joy to listen to, as many of the tracks are on my iPod and a CD. 

Protip: Enemies can be disposed of in a variety of ways...dragon kick, tail bounce, or just a good ol' tail-whippin'.

The only hiccups in sounds are hardware based--and can be found on a 2nd Generation Slim PS2.  I accidentally discovered that if the disc is damaged AT ALL, the music will go to static, and the sound effects will be switched around.  For instance, when Tail-Bouncing...instead of getting a typical "boing" sound...I heard a door opening noise.  However, on a regular Playstation and First Generation Playstation 2's, the disc and accompanying sounds worked perfectly fine.

Protip: Looks like he's gonna be a Gex sandwich...in this sort of situation it's best to get to a safe spot, and carefully deal with one enemy at a time until you can locate a green health fly.

 

"Must...regain...balance..."

    Another downfall of being an old platformer is the notorious camera problems.  Both Playstation and N64 platformer games were plagued with camera issues, and Enter the Gecko is no exception.  While the idea of using the shoulder buttons to rotate the camera angle is brilliant and was used in numerous other titles(i.e Mario 64), the camera itself tends to be fussy.  When in an open world, generally, the camera works fine.  But go into an area where the camera is fixed at a wonky angle, or try adjusting it to your liking to make a perfect jump...and things can get complicated.  One example of where the poor camera angles ruined the gameplay is on the first Toon TV level, where there are various rocks to traverse...all at different angles of the confined area.  Because certain camera angles could not be obtained and the entire area is a palette of brown, the jumps were much more difficult than they should have been.  The scary thing to contemplate is this:  did the designers just overlook an area of bad camera-play?  Or...did they design that area to make the camera limited and fussy to work with just to up the difficulty of that particular section? 

"Um...that's not in the script..."

    Other than the lousy camera controls from time-to-time, Gex responds perfectly to every controller input. Each attack is well-placed on the controller, and the button response is immaculate.  The only time the controls are not responsive is in the save menu, which lags when making a selection.  However, lest we forget...this is a Playstation title, and there WAS much to load and save for that time. 

"Now that's what I call gettin' some tail..." 

    If you can stomach the instances of poor camera controls from days of old, and graphics that notably break up from time-to-time, Gex: Enter the Gecko is a delightful retro game that both kids and adults can enjoy.  Everything from the fun and colorful graphics, to the appeal of exploring a vast world, to listening to all the hilarious sound effects and Dana Gould one-liners, all make this a great game that shouldn't be missed by anyone who once owned, or still owns, a Playstation.  The replay value is extremely high, as there are remotes that even I still can't find to this day...and there is always a fun level to relive again and again.  Enter the Gecko is a game that was great then, and is STILL great today!  

"They throw in one o' those Secret Agent suits, and I tell them they got a deal.  It's gonna be Deja OUCH...all over again."

Common bugs or errors:  "You mean I'm NOT 99.99% clean?!"

• Sometimes tail-whipping while crouching simply goes through your enemies. 
• Occasionally, walls will break up and distort when you climb near the ceiling, or when you jog by. 
• Low ceilings tend to disappear...but in the programmer's defense, how else would you be able to see in a low-ceilinged room?
• You can play Peek-A-Boo with certain objects, like gongs, when you stand directly behind them and the camera doesn't adjust. 
• In the Kung-Fu Theater level, Mao Tse Tongue, if you tail-whip a neon sign...the nearby glass occasionally shatters. 
• Ninjas often fall to their death....through the floor.  This robs you of valuable collectibles.  

Gex has impressive graphics...but it has its technical flaws.  Like...is that fire barrel supposed to be transparent?

Graphics: 4.0:  Although they're bright, colorful, well-rendered and entertaining--there is a LOT of break-up, and the camera angles can be evil and path-blocking.  Gex's animations, however, are a delight to behold, as are the movements of his various enemies and environments. 

Sound: 5.0:  Dana Gould as Gex and his 500 one-liners will keep you amused, as does the music that perfectly fits the mood of each level.  The sound effects are all very cartoony and fun. 

Control: 4.0:  All the controls are responsive as well as intuitive, and theoretically, the camera is set up well.  However, horrid camera angles and some areas that refuse to let you look around hurt the overall score.  Plus, some in-game menus are oddly sluggish. 

Fun Factor:  5.0:  Even 12 years after its release, Gex: Enter the Gecko is still a great game to play.  Old-school platforming at its very best.