Gex 2: Enter the Gecko
This one is a little oddball, a game that I never did purchase but rented instead. Though I had considered buying it at one point or another since I did really enjoy it. Gex 2 was a 3D sequel to a PlayStation 1 side-scrolling platformer where you control a secret agent Gecko who travels into the mysterious media=dimention to defeat the evil Rez.
The whole thing didn't quite catch on as nicely as Crash Bandicoot or even Spyro, two other new 3D properties that began on the Sony system. But it was not without it's charm. Developed by Crystal Dynamics around the same time as Tomb Raider was released, their ties with Eidios meant they actually used the same engine. Crystal Dynamics would then go on to develop future Tomb Raider games years later.
Gex 2 was your typical 3D platformer, you entered various levels through a main hall and collected items, fought bosses and unlocked more levels until you eventually defeat the final boss, etc, etc. Gex 2 was unfortunate enough to feature a similarly locked 3D camera as you found in Super Mario 64. Not terrible, but it was certainly frustrating at times when you just can't get a proper look at where you need to jump.
The big draw for me with Gex was the game's main focus. Since you're jumping from tv channel to channel, each set of levels has a different theme; from horror to cartoons, sci-fi and martial arts flicks. Each of the levels was full of comical references to various movies, a ton of them way over my head, but more than enough of them that I recognized. Gex himself was full of one-liners and quotes from cinema that made the whole thing one big homage to the movies and at the time I absolutely loved it.
Apparently, Crystal Dynamics' staff at the time were big Simpsons fans, which is where all the referential humor originated. For Gex 2 they actually brought in Dana Gould, a Simpsons writer and stand-up comedian who helped the game's focus and supplied them with Gex's over 700 one-liners.
It was a solid title and it really sat well with me at the time. There was nothing else quite like it and it seems to me there has yet to be.
This one is a little oddball, a game that I never did purchase but rented instead. Though I had considered buying it at one point or another since I did really enjoy it. Gex 2 was a 3D sequel to a PlayStation 1 side-scrolling platformer where you control a secret agent Gecko who travels into the mysterious media=dimention to defeat the evil Rez. The whole thing didn't quite catch on as nicely as Crash Bandicoot or even Spyro, two other new 3D properties that began on the Sony system. But it was not without it's charm. Developed by Crystal Dynamics around the same time as Tomb Raider was released, their ties with Eidios meant they actually used the same engine. Crystal Dynamics would then go on to develop future Tomb Raider games years later.
Gex 2 was your typical 3D platformer, you entered various levels through a main hall and collected items, fought bosses and unlocked more levels until you eventually defeat the final boss, etc, etc. Gex 2 was unfortunate enough to feature a similarly locked 3D camera as you found in Super Mario 64. Not terrible, but it was certainly frustrating at times when you just can't get a proper look at where you need to jump.
The big draw for me with Gex was the game's main focus. Since you're jumping from tv channel to channel, each set of levels has a different theme; from horror to cartoons, sci-fi and martial arts flicks. Each of the levels was full of comical references to various movies, a ton of them way over my head, but more than enough of them that I recognized. Gex himself was full of one-liners and quotes from cinema that made the whole thing one big homage to the movies and at the time I absolutely loved it.
Apparently, Crystal Dynamics' staff at the time were big Simpsons fans, which is where all the referential humor originated. For Gex 2 they actually brought in Dana Gould, a Simpsons writer and stand-up comedian who helped the game's focus and supplied them with Gex's over 700 one-liners.
It was a solid title and it really sat well with me at the time. There was nothing else quite like it and it seems to me there has yet to be.
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