Jet Force Gemini

"It seems all cute and friendly until the first of the guts gets on your armor"

Since the beginning of time, mankind's simplest questions have been unable to produce even logical answers. Why are we here? What is the ultimate question? Where is the Triforce in Ocarina of Time (answer: it ain't there)? But the biggest question of all, the one no one has ever been able to answer, is, “What kind of sick, twisted person would track pleasure out of squirting blood and guts all over the wall?” Since the times of Resident Evil, that question has popped up in parental households everywhere. And while I'm not comparing this game to Resident Evil, I must say that by playing it, you will get the exact same satisfactory feeling that you get every time when you blast a zombie's head off. And in case you don't play Resident Evil, there is, until now, no other feeling in video gaming like it.

Jet Force Gemini is a game meant for the “wow” factor. The levels are massive, the environments are spectacular, the music is undeniably epic, and the bosses are mean, ugly, and big. But while the game is a visual gem, the real excitement comes in the entertainment. Jet Force Gemini has few moments where you get a sense of “accomplishment.” Granted, the moments that it does have are massive, as the objectives in this game stretch out over a literal period of hours. But there's nothing better to do than to come home after a hard day's work, fire up your Nintendo 64, and separate an ant's head from its body by means of a rocket. Three rockets, actually.

To explain the game's story would be pointless. The story is not the focus of Jet Force Gemini. The game is a third-person adventure/shooter game coupled with the classic Rare formula of “collect 250 items in the game in order to complete it.” Jet Force Gemini requires you to run around, use a wide arsenal of weapons to kill bugs, and collect bear-like critters known as “Tribals.” These Tribals are spread out over 15 massive worlds. And when I say massive, I mean massive. The game's areas are so huge, they are split up into multiple segments, or “stages.” But even then, running through them can take upwards of twenty minutes on your first try. There is a mix of bug-blasting, puzzle solving, and item hunting in every world.

Each stage has many different branching paths that can be accessed using the game's three playable characters (The twins Juno and Vela, and the most badass dog to enter a videogame, Lupus). Levels must be returned to two or three times, and each time an entirely new path is to be explored. It's moves like this that give Rare's games such consistent replay value – you may have blasted your way through a level, but on the way, you passed a locked door, an underwater passage, a gaping chasm, and a tunnel in lava. If you return later to cross the gaping chasm, an entire second portion of the level is unlocked, and then where does it lead to? Yet another stage.

The game takes places in two separate parts. Unlike other Rareware titles such as Banjo-Kazooie, DK64, and Conker, the first part of Jet Force Gemini requires almost no collecting. In fact, the first part is incredibly linear, and is only there for you to master the controls, get a sense of the epic size of the world, and introduce all the primary characters. About twenty percent into the game, the real quest begins. Before you know it, you have a jetpack strapped on your back and are traveling from stage to stage to collect every damn Tribal in the game. All 257 of ‘em.

This is where Jet Force Gemini shines. This is a massive quest, and there is absolutely no starting point. The game becomes completely non-linear, with players being able to do things at your own will. And there's plenty of secrets to uncover in Jet Force Gemini, along with completing the main quest. There are many weapons in the game that are concealed from players, only to be found by the best of the best. There are multiplayer totems scattered throughout the worlds to unlock an additional multiplayer feature in the game's already massive multiplayer library. And of course, there's the usual upgrades – extra health hidden throughout levels, ammo increases, secret keys leading to secret rooms leading to secrets.

If that's not enough, the single-player quest can be played with two people. That's right. Early on into the game, you will come across a drone named “Floyd” who wants you to reassemble him. Do so, and he joins your quest. At this point, a second player can boot up a controller, and act as a second gunman while the main player runs around and calls the shoots. It's cooperative gaming at its best, and while I wish Rare might have thrown a few more options in there (Floyd's movement is determined only by the first player, and he only has one gun), the option still remains one of the best in the game.

The controls in this game are fantastic. The Nintendo 64 controller isn't the greatest thing around, with it's lone analog stick and awkward button positions. But Rare takes what's given to them, and makes it into one of the most comfortable control schemes I've ever seen in a video game. The downside is that the learning curve is quite steep – the controls are definitely something you may not have seen before. Using the analog stick to move and the Z button to shoot, the characters are able to fire directly in front of them. However, at any point, the character is allowed to enter an over-the-shoulder view and has complete freedom over the target. Combined with the C-buttons, players can strafe around bugs as they target their heads, legs, and arms.

This gives the player the complete freedom that any first-person shooter would grant. Yes, you'll screw it up the first few times, but the game features a bunch of different pre-set control options if you want to try something different, and possibly easier (the default setting is “Expert” and “Normal” is more similar to a regular Nintendo 64 game).

One of the biggest highlights of this game are its absolutely gorgeous graphics. Immense amounts of detail are thrown into every environment. The first level is a rich, luscious forest with vines growing all over the trees, twigs snapped on the ground, cracks in the earth, and terrific sunset in the sky. Immediately after, you're thrown into an old, heavily guarded starship. There are control panels all over the wall, waste spilled on the floor, flashing lights, and electric generators. It's little details like these that truly make Jet Force Gemini the extreme epic that it is. Character models look fantastic – early versions of the game suggested a more kiddish, friendlier feel to the protagonists, but Rare quickly cleaned it up. Looking at the character's in their final form, it's safe to say that Rare knew exactly what they were doing when they designed the character models – some of the best (and the coolest) in any video game.

If there's one complaint I have with Jet Force Gemini's graphical capabilities, it's the framerate. Rare knew this, but chose to sacrifice the framerate at certain points when they decided to add a room with twenty different drones, grenades and rockets flying everywhere, and exploding propane tanks (all simultaneously, of course). If you have the Expansion Pak, the slowdown pretty much disappears from the game completely. However, if you're using the standard Jumper Pak, expect quite a few spots with slowdown.

The music in this game is quite on par with the graphics – I'll even go as far as to say that it's the greatest music for a Nintendo 64 game ever. The opening theme, reflecting off of Star Wars immediately sets the tone for the game. The creepy, eerie sounds of Tawfret reflect on how depressing and miserable the planet has become. The hopeless, lonely music of the mines gives you an idea that this is an area that has lost all hope. And the 70s beat-down style disco that you'll find in the Nightclub (I kid you not) makes you want to bust out a few moves of your own. Yes, the music is nothing short of staggering, but I do wish they came up with some more boss themes, or at least a final boss. But it's the only complaint of this spectacular soundtrack, happily presented in Dolby Surround Sound so you can get the most out of it.

The sound effects are another great part of the game. Without the sound effects, the game actually loses a large portion of its fun. Blasting a bunch of bugs with a machine gun is not the same if you can't here the bullets whizzing and the guts splattering on the wall. There is a different sound effect for every weapon, and the game also features some high-tech, futuristic sounds for item collecting that define the word “appropriate.” A lot of thought went into the sound effects, and the results are great.

If there's one massive drawback to this game, it's the inclusion of a mainly-lackluster multiplayer mode. Rare has been able to come up with some terrific multiplayer experiences (Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, even freakin' Conker's Bad Fur Day), but this is, without a doubt, the weakest of the bunch (Banjo-Tooie multiplayer is better than this). The levels are incredibly small, and there are only a few weapons. The option to customize isn't as near advanced as Rare's other games, and you can't throw in any bots to mix things up. All multiplayer modes must be unlocked by playing the game; the game opens up with very few options.

To be fair, by getting 100% completion, you'll have a massive amount of multiplayer options available to you. And there's a lot of different options – deathmatch, king of the hill, target practice, and even a hovercraft race. The target practice really stands out – you automatically progress through a level in first-person mode and have to shoot the drones that pop up while avoiding the Tribals. It's great fun, but each level is a bit too short, and doesn't offer enough variety. The racing game is enjoyable, but there are very few tracks, and they're all pretty much the same. Deathmatch is a chore – the game just and drags, and it just comes out as not enjoyable. Don't buy Jet Force Gemini for the multiplayer mode, or you'll be severely disappointed.

Jet Force Gemini has something for everyone. With a science-fiction feel, a massive adventure, lots of guns, and even the smart humor that is hilarious if you're paying attention, there is something everybody can enjoy. I'll even go as far as to say that it's the best Rare game out there. That's right, it's better than Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Kazooie. The quest is enormous, the replay value is immensely high, and the challenge is smart. The games biggest cons are the slow framerate and lackluster multiplayer experience, but the single-player and two-player corporative modes more than make up for it. This game is a definite must-have; a one-of-a-kind gem.

FINAL SCORE: 9.1/10

Over and out.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/06, Updated 07/28/06