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DEVELOPER
Crystal
Dynamics
PUBLISHER
Midway
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
Cartridge
PLAYERS
One
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 t seems as if all of the gaming companies' mascots are moving from the 2D realm to 3D worlds. Gex 64 is the latest game to try and dethrone Mario and Banjo-Kazooie as the definitive 3D masterpiece. Unfortunately there's one big obstacle standing in Gex's way of becoming the next big thing. He's a lizard. And judging from this year's big budget movie flop Godzilla, the American public just doesn't have an affinity for lizards like they do for fat plumbers or a lazy honey bear.
Gex, the wise cracking lizard with an attitude was first spotted on the 3DO. He has since moved over to the PlayStation in both 2D and 3D incarnations. The developers at Crystal Dynamics wanted to test out the Nintendo 64 and Gex took the honor. Upon playing Gex 64 you may feel a bit of déjà vu. The game is essentially the same one that appeared earlier on the PlayStation. A few new levels have been added to the N64 version, but the lizard's moves and objectives are the same.  You begin the game in the overworld where you can run around and find entrances to the levels. You jump through television sets to gain access to highly original levels like Smellraiser (a spooky haunted house level) and many others. In certain instances Gex will change into a different costume to fit into that level's motif. For example, on the Gilligan's Isle stage he'll sport that famous white hat. One of my favorite stages is the bonus level that looks like it was taken right out of an Indiana Jones movie. From the graphics to the music this level is a perfect example of how Crystal Dynamics can spoof any movie with success.
In order to gain access to other stages you will have to search out the red remote controls hidden in the various levels. Upon entering a new stage you'll usually be able to pick from 2 or 3 different objectives. Each of these different objectives will yield a remote control if you're successful. This is similar to Mario 64 since you'll find yourself going through the same levels 2 or 3 times just to find all of the remotes. This can become tedious very quickly and it would have been better to have the option to stay in the level and collect all of the remotes instead of always having to start over at the beginning. Other items are scattered throughout the levels as well. Similar to Mario's coins there are items Gex can collect to earn extra lives. These items are level specific and are just thrown in the game to give the player something to do. There are also various colored television sets that yield extra energy, lives, and power-ups for the lizard to use.
 As in most 3D adventures of this type, Gex has a variety of moves at his disposal. He has the usual jump to gain access to platforms floating above. To gain an extra boost he can bounce on his tail as well. Since he has sticky feet, Gex is able to climb certain walls and ceilings. This is actually pretty cool and adds some variety to the various stages. His main form of attack is his tail whipping. Since his tail isn't very long you'll have to move him in to close proximity of the enemies to kill them. The other move he has is the karate kick. While this attack is effective, it can be difficult to do at times since it requires you to hold the Z button in while running and then hit the attack button. As a matter of fact, the entire game suffers from control problems. Moving Gex around just doesn't feel right since the controls are so loose. Jumping around proves to be very difficult at times due to the inconsistencies that abound in the speed of the game. I swear that this game slows down and speeds up on its own. At times you can push all the way up on the control stick and Gex will still be walking and at other times he'll be running full speed ahead. I never did feel totally comfortable with the controls in this game, which is too bad since these types of games require precision and when that's non-existent frustration tends to set in.
 No doubt we've all been spoiled by Rare's ability to dazzle us with its graphical prowess. When I first saw Gex 64 I was instantly shocked at how bad the graphics looked. Many parts of the levels are comprised of solid colors and very little textures used. Even the title screen looked like it could have come from the NES. Upon playing Gex 64 more I found that some of the levels looked really great while others lacked the detail we've all become accustomed to on the N64. The animation of Gex is fluid, but some of the enemies could use a lot of work. Don't expect any huge characters with lots of detail like in Banjo-Kazooie. For the most part the enemy characters were small and easy to defeat. A problem that has existed with many 3D games is the overall lack of enemies on the stages. Gex 64 is no different and in fact I couldn't believe how many areas of the game were wide open with no enemies in sight. Another inherent problem with 3D games has been the camera angle. While I do give the game credit for attempting to have the camera follow Gex around on the screen, it just doesn't keep up with the action. Even more annoying is when you try to rotate the camera to a position that's not allowed by the game a loud sound blasts out signaling you can't move it. One other problem with the graphics is the fog. It's not as bad inside the individual levels, but the overworld has quite a bit of fog in the background. Here I thought that graphical problem was a thing of the past.
The music in the game varies from annoying to fairly good. The different music tracks do effectively set the mood for the various stages, but I've heard better from the N64. One of Gex's trademarks has always been his snappy one-liners and they're present in this game as well. I admit that I laughed quite a few times while playing, but some of the speech becomes so repetitive that I almost turned the volume down. The voice did add some much-needed humor to the game so even though it did become annoying after awhile I'm glad they kept the voice for the N64 version. I still chuckle when he says, "Red rum! Red rum!" in the haunted house level.
By now you're probably asking yourself if you should lay down your hard-earned cash and buy the latest 3D adventure for the N64. I would strongly urge you to buy Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie before even considering this game. If you already own both of the aforementioned titles and still want to have some more of the same (albeit with watered down graphics and control problems) then Gex 64 might be a worthy purchase. However, if you already own Gex: Enter the Gecko for the PlayStation then there's no need to buy this version.
-- Craig Majaski
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