Gex, the first game in a series of three that was originally released in 1994 for the 3DO and re-released shortly after for the Playstation (Moby Games), is a 2D platformer about a gecko named Gex who simply wishes to watch television, but is sucked into the TV by the evil cyborg “Rez” who wishes to rule the "Media Dimension" and keep bad television on the air. (Gex Wiki) The mechanics in this game include tail whipping to defeat enemies, licking to collect power ups and additional lives, bouncing on his tail to evade harm and break blocks, and crawling on the sides of select platforms. These abilities are able to effectively integrate the special and specific skills of Gex as a gecko into the mechanics of the game. There is a scorekeeping/point system component to the game, but there is no incentive to achieve a high score apart from possible replay value in attempting to beat a previous score. The ultimate goal of the game is for Gex to find a way to beat Rez and return home to sit in front of his massive TV.
Stylistically, one of the most interesting elements of the game is the fact that it inherently dates itself due to its choices of imagery and theme throughout the game. The use of film projectors, polaroid cameras, DvDs, and old fashioned, massive, cubic, static-producing TVs are key to both the story and progression of the game. Gex uses TV static as portals and polaroids as checkpoints and must search for clunky remotes in order to proceed to the next level. This imagery is very indicative of the time in which the game was made, but fortunately, these images are still easily recognizable in today’s era, and the use of these items is still a plausible stylistic choice for current or future games due to the recognizability and therefore, potential relevancy of this type of imagery. This would be the same as if a game today were to utilize rotary phones or TVs with antennas and dials that most people of the Millennial/Gen Z generations have never had the opportunity to use in person, but are still be able to recognize them and interact with them in a game setting. However, this particular game has aged poorly because of the stylistic choices that were made and the fact that Gex is even further able to define itself as a strictly 90s game because the entire narrative, structure, dialogue, and overall content of the game are almost exclusively indicative of the pop culture and media knowledge of its time. Gex is sucked into the “Media Dimension” and therefore becomes literally immersed in what would have been the recognizable television programming of the 90s that he spends so much time watching on a daily basis. We then have the opportunity to watch as well as lead him through this dimension as we are berated by constant pop culture references. Gex uses his lizard identity as well as his knowledge of television to make funny and silly comments, many of them being either a direct quote or direct reference to a movie. After eating a golden cricket, (which serves as the “coins” of the game because he is a cricket-loving lizard) he can be heard saying things such as “Soylent Green is good!” and after being attacked by an enemy, one of his speech options is “Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” He is constantly speaking, and will sometimes respond to events or simply the beginning of a level by quoting another movie without reason. “You’ve moved the headstones, but you didn’t move the bodies.” or “Throw me the idol, I’ll throw you the whip.” He also makes comments relating to his identity as a lizard such as "Now that's what I call getting some tail", and makes other references that I am too far removed from to understand, such as "This place is weirder than the Fourth of July at Rick James' place." (I tried Googling what Rick James does during the Fourth of July, but I am at a loss.) He also combines his lizard elements with media in a few quotes such as "My name is Forest Gex." All of his constant commentating adds to the idea that he is in the "Media Dimension" and has various “scripted” lines that he is performing. It also makes him appear detached from his surroundings and the danger he is in despite the tension the player feels in trying to succeed in what can be considered a very difficult platformer. He is acting and performing for his audience (whoever that may be. The player? Rez?) relentlessly and reminding the players that the game they are playing is simply a display of media and television. There are various worlds that Gex travels through while continuing to comment mindlessly on his surroundings, starting with a graveyard littered with both general and specific horror movie references such as coffins and skulls and lizards designed to look like Frankenstein’s monster. After defeating the graveyard world, there are various other worlds including one dedicated to Saturday morning cartoon imagery as well as one strictly focused on Kung Fu movies featuring enemy Samurai geckos.
The overwhelming television and movie culture experience of this game made Gex an icon of the 90s as indicated by the fact that it was developed into a three game series ending in 1999, as well as the fact that Gex was the mascot of Crystal Dynamics, the company that developed the game, and appeared on their logo for several years until the year 2000 (Miller), which is clearly the year Gex’s 90s figure status was due to expire considering the inability of the game to stay modern and translate into anything beyond the time in which it was created.
While Gex was successful in its ability to create an exceptionally modern, relevant, popular game for its time, it was not able to overcome the timeline it created for itself and did not translate into the 21st century the way many games such as Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog were able to. Even though the game and character of Gex died as fast as it rose, it is a game loved by many and was able to leave its mark on the gaming industry as well as demonstrate the fleeting abilities of popularity and popular culture.
Works Cited
“Gex (1995) 3DO Release Dates.” MobyGames, www.mobygames.com/game/gex/release-info.
“Gex (Video Game).” TV Tropes, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Gex.
Miller, Matt. “The History Of Crystal Dynamics.” Game Informer, www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/12/14/the-history-of-crystal-dynamics.aspx.
“New Toonland.” Gex Wiki, gex.fandom.com/wiki/NewToonland.
“Rez.” Gex Wiki, gex.fandom.com/wiki/Rez.