one immutable thing about gex is that, whether you love him or hate him, if you grew up in the 90s and played video games, you probably know him. this was back during the mystical bygone era of the midbudget title, back when games were allowed to be shamelessly inspired by other groundbreaking ones (in this case, super mario 64) and they were allowed to just try to ape the design as best they could. and as much of a meme as the "15 million sales" claim is, gex was still a memorable entity, even in the peripheral. it's '98-'00, you go to blockbuster, look at all the games available for rent, and even if you didn't rent gex: enter the gecko, the box art with gex in a dynamic and memorable pose stuck with you. i think something like this is one of the largest reasons gex has endured as a recognizable mascot, even if it is almost entirely ironically. but, irony can only get you so far, and there is genuinely goodwill for these games that has also endured for a lot of people, myself included.
it's fun coming back to these games i played disposably as a child and actually trying to assess the game design and development/production aspects that i would've otherwise never contemplated. in particular, i'm able to say that gex: enter the gecko actually has some fairly solid level design. the levels are engaging, they have loads of landmarks that help the player not only mentally map out a level, but also create memorable platforming segments. these don't always pan out, and i'm not going to sit here and tell you that every single level is a homerun, but there's definitely more interesting and memorable levels than there aren't. in particular, i think some of my favorites are poltergext, mazed and confused, samurai night fever, frankensteinfeld, and fine tooning. each of them has either some genuinely creative design or otherwise memorable platforming sequences that help put this game ever so slightly above the other contemporaries trying to replicate grab the super mario 64 crowd. tell me, does anyone still feel this passionately about croc or, god forbid, bubsy?
it's not all roses down memory lane. anyone who's played this knows and will tell you the camera is angry video game nerd voice like piss soup seasoned with wet diarrhea. the best you can hope for is to set it to manual and just babysit the damn fucking thing as much as you can, and even then, the game still fights you tooth and nail whenever you try to adjust it with a wall anywhere near it. it's not only made the game aged incredibly poorly, but it was something that, on launch, made the game stumble out of the gate. gex: enter the gecko is actually enjoyable in those moments you can escape the burden of camera control and just mock the stupid shitty and sometimes vaguely racist things gex says. there's probably a good argument to make that this game is one of the better mascot platformers of the time because there was at least a solid design foundation here. i don't adore gex in the way that i could really defend his games to anyone who didn't grow up with a playstation/N64, but there is value in them.
if nothing else, this game takes a lot of swings and most of them hit in some capacity. again, we're not dealing with high water mark platformer territory here, but this is fun in a very approachable and simple way. just remember to forget about the camera as much as you can.
it's fun coming back to these games i played disposably as a child and actually trying to assess the game design and development/production aspects that i would've otherwise never contemplated. in particular, i'm able to say that gex: enter the gecko actually has some fairly solid level design. the levels are engaging, they have loads of landmarks that help the player not only mentally map out a level, but also create memorable platforming segments. these don't always pan out, and i'm not going to sit here and tell you that every single level is a homerun, but there's definitely more interesting and memorable levels than there aren't. in particular, i think some of my favorites are poltergext, mazed and confused, samurai night fever, frankensteinfeld, and fine tooning. each of them has either some genuinely creative design or otherwise memorable platforming sequences that help put this game ever so slightly above the other contemporaries trying to replicate grab the super mario 64 crowd. tell me, does anyone still feel this passionately about croc or, god forbid, bubsy?
it's not all roses down memory lane. anyone who's played this knows and will tell you the camera is angry video game nerd voice like piss soup seasoned with wet diarrhea. the best you can hope for is to set it to manual and just babysit the damn fucking thing as much as you can, and even then, the game still fights you tooth and nail whenever you try to adjust it with a wall anywhere near it. it's not only made the game aged incredibly poorly, but it was something that, on launch, made the game stumble out of the gate. gex: enter the gecko is actually enjoyable in those moments you can escape the burden of camera control and just mock the stupid shitty and sometimes vaguely racist things gex says. there's probably a good argument to make that this game is one of the better mascot platformers of the time because there was at least a solid design foundation here. i don't adore gex in the way that i could really defend his games to anyone who didn't grow up with a playstation/N64, but there is value in them.
if nothing else, this game takes a lot of swings and most of them hit in some capacity. again, we're not dealing with high water mark platformer territory here, but this is fun in a very approachable and simple way. just remember to forget about the camera as much as you can.