One of the few platform titles from the mid 90’s that many people may have forgotten about is Gex from 1995. For those who do not know Gex was a 2D platformer developed by Crystal Dynamics with BMG Interactive being the publisher for the 3DO version of the game. For those who purchased the PS1 or Microsoft Windows versions of Gex you either had Crystal Dynamics or Microsoft as the publisher. Gex was a platformer which impressed many critics following its release because it felt like it had the potential to compete with the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario within the platform he of gaming. The character sprites for Gex looked somewhat similar to what the Donkey Kong games for the SNES had to offer. Also, the voice work for the Gex character in his first game was also something that stood out more than anything; especially since voice overs were not too common in platform games during the mid 90’s. The plot for Gex was pretty basic yet creative and saw players trying to stop the main antagonist of the game known as Rez. After accidentally consuming one of Rez’s undercover drones which Gex believed was a fly the gecko gets pulled into his TV set into the Media Dimension.
Within the game players have to compete at least 24 levels within five different channels after discovering that Rez intends on using Gex as a new mascot for a television network. Throughout, various levels players were expected to find remote controls which would help Gex defeat Rez; in order to return to his home Maui, Hawaii in the the real world. Similar to that of the Sonic The Hedgehog trilogy players could access a bonus level in Gex through a hidden portal which was a nice touch in terms of gameplay. Also, for those who owned the 3DO version of the game players could utilize passwords to pick up where they left off when restarting; which was something that was very convenient since the game was longer than most people expected to be. Gex ended up becoming the best selling game for the 3DO console by reaching over one million units following its ’95 release. There were many people in America who never got to play the 3DO version of Gex especially since the console was initially priced at $699 without tax. Also, the 3DO console itself became defunct in ’97 after being available in retail since ’93. Even though, there was a PS1, Sega Saturn and Microsoft Windows versions of the game the 3DO port of Gex seemingly stood out the most. While Gex from ’95 was considered to be a successful on 3DO the game spawned two sequels that appeared on PS1, N64 and Game Boy Color. The final entry in the Gex series was released back in ’99 and since then the world never got to see a Gex 4. Its possible that the Gex series had reached its peak during the mid to late 90s; but the series is one that certain people will never forget about.
Gaming Hearts Collection 