

Gex, by Crystal Dynamics
1 player
3DO gamers who are lovers of the hop 'n bop, platformer game haven't had much to be happy about. With games like Donkey Kong Country, various Sonic games, Earthworm Jim and other great titles for 16 bit systems, Soccer Kid on the 3DO just didn't send the gaming world aflame. But now, that drought of a quality game to show off to your monkey addicted friends just ended with Crystal Dynamics' release of Gex.
	Believe the Hype, because Crystal Dynamics has made a game that is nothing short of a masterpiece in it's genre. Gex is original, enthrallingly addictive and plays wonderfully. The SGI 3D rendered graphics are excellent- especially the gecko himself. I've had geckoes as pets and, with the exception of the eyes, Gex looks and moves exactly right. He even bites like one.
	The plot is threadbare at best. Gex is an anti-social gecko who spends his whole life cooped up in a room watching tv- period. Then, one day the evil Rez sucks him into a strange parallel universe that is fueled by bad tv. Apparently, Rez wants to stuff poor Gex and use him as RezTV's mascot. The story doesn't really come into play at all during the game- except that you end up destroying an awful lot of exploding television sets.
	The game has four apparent worlds, plus Rezopolis where you finally meet Rez and at least one secret world as well. In order to gain access to new locations and worlds, you must search through the many lands for remote controls. The remotes turn on the tv sets in the world maps, which allows access to new zones. 
	There is the Graveyard World, Cartoon World, Kung Fu World and Jungle World to traverse through- each world having around four or five different zones to conquer. Rezopolis is only available after defeating the bosses of the first 4 worlds. Sci Fi World is hidden somewhere, as are secret levels within the other worlds. Indeed, secrets abound through the whole game.
	Gex is a joy to play as well. The diversity of things to do and see in the game is startling. The game doesn't have as many levels as Donkey Kong Country, which is kind of unfortunate, but it makes up for the lack of bulk with consistently original, entertaining and downright huge levels to explore. There are about 25+ levels overall and they are chock full of hidden goodies, disappearing walls and floors and all sorts of enemies to swat and surfaces to scale. 
	The main hype surrounding Gex, however, wasn't it's state of the art graphics or cool levels, but it's main character and his amazing abilities. Gex, being a gecko, can climb virtually any surface in the game. He can scale sheer walls and scurry across the ceiling. Gex can even climb onto the back walls, when there is one. He automatically sticks where you want him to and, on top of that, he still has full mobility. It takes a little while to get used to controlling the quirky little guy, but once you do, the fun and playability of Gex shoots through the roof.
	Gex's main attack is with his tail, but he can also find( and eat) power up icons( bugs) that allow him to spit fire, ice, even electricity bolts. Like all hop 'n bop games, he can also jump on opponents if you press down when jumping. And all the while that you're playing, Gex makes humorous comments about his surroundings. The voice was done by HBO comedian Dana Gould and, much to my surprise, is actually quite entertaining at times. There are some great one liners in the game. Unfortunately, sometimes the voice is used too often and too redundantly.
	There are few other problems with Gex, as well, but nothing major. For one thing, despite what the manual says, Gex does not save your game after defeating a boss. You can only save your game in levels where there is video tape icon to be found. Gex also does not save your accumulated lives- you always start with 3. Fortunately, extra lives are easy to gain, which makes the game even more enjoyable to play. 
	None of the bosses were quite as stunning as the rest of the game, unfortunately, except the cool Jungle Serpent. For the most part, the bosses seemed a little small and just didn't seem as cool or impressive as the rest of the game was. The bosses( Rez, especially) also don't display much in the way of artificial intelligence and most are pure pattern. The final boss, Rez, in particular, acts one way and one way only- he doesn't show any signs of intelligence at all. His pattern is a little tricky, though.
	I also found some glitches and slowdown in the game. There was slowdown in the final battle with Rez. And, you may find a glitch in Congo Chaos where you can actually fall through the walls and die if you walk on the right most wall near the exit tv( and also in one of the secret rooms on that level). The glitch is easily avoidable, however, and I didn't encounter noticeable slowdown anywhere else in the game. Gex can't move easily from a backwall to a ceiling or sidewall, which proved to be rather awkward at times. He has to actually jump from the back wall to a side wall, instead of just being able to scurry freely between the two surfaces. Gex also has trouble walking over holes in the walls as well.
	It's no wonder that rumors are circulating about how Sega and Sony are interested in getting Gex for their next generation systems. Gex is a great character and a fantastic game- he's definitely the perfect mascot for the 3DO. New owners of Panasonic's slim lined unit get this game as part of their pack-in and there's no doubt that they'll get their money's worth.
	Crystal Dynamics took their time with Gex and it shows. Gone is Crystal Dynamic's usual lack of controller configuration- you can completely customize the buttons to suit your tastes. The animation is incredibly smooth, the diverse levels look fantastic and the play value of the game is unbelievable. The sound, voice and musical score are equally as amusing and expertly done. Minor complaints aside, Gex is a must have title for the 3DO system. Gex is easily one of the best platformers available for any system and will be for some time to come, as well. I only hope that Crystal Dynamics has started work on the sequel. 
