Jet Force Gemini

"This game has it all...Action, Adventure and a Dog with a Machinegun"

Rare has been known to bring us great games: Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye, Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie, etc. Jet Force Gemini can now join that list of Rare Classics. It has Action, Graphics, and most of all, Challenge.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

Graphics rival Zelda 64. The worlds are nicely done. Characters have good animation. Some of the textures could have been better, like the Goldwood levels. There is slowdown, but only in two or three places This game is a stunner.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

The control is great, but hard to master. Walking is done with the control stick, A and B scrolls though weapons, Z fires, C up jumps, C right and C left moves from side to side....It all works well. Here's were it get confusing. If you hold R, the view changes to first person. Now, the control stick aims, the C buttons move, Z still fires, and jumping is gone. It feels like Turok, really. I personally found it easy, but others might not. Aiming is difficult sometimes.

There is a wide range of weapons, also. You start out with a standard pistol, then a machine gun, then a tri rocket launcher. Those are the basics, but then you have the flame thrower, homing missiles, grenades, throwing stars, and about three types of mines. Weapons can be set to the D-pad, which is a time saver.

Enemies are smart. They hide behind stuff and fire only when its safe. There's never a dull moment in this game. The action is non-stop.

SOUND: 10/10

This music ROCKS! Every level has a awesome soundtrack (Sekhmet and Water Ruin come to mind right away) The music suits the mood of the level. Goldwood the forest world has a nice little drum beat, while levels like The Battlecrusier Sekhmet and the Swanship have dramatic, upbeat music. I play though the levels just to hear the music. Sounds are crisp and loud.

STORY: 8/10

It isn't Zelda, but it's good. Basically, the Tyrant Mizar took over a bunch of planets and enslaved the Tribals, a bearlike race. And it's up to the Jet Force Team to stop him *hero music starts playing* It goes a little deeper, but, the story is not the main focus of the game.

REPLAY VALUE: 9/10

Players will spend hours upon hours beating this game. Hunting Traibals (needed to beat the game) isn't boring, but fun. Though in a few worlds, Tribals can become a hassle. But it's no big deal, it's a challenge! Multiplayer is excellent....but I only played the two player one. I'm sure when you get four players on there it gets hard to play. As for replaying the game, it never gets old.

GRIPES

There's nothing to do once you beat the game. In DKC 1-3 and DK 64, once you beat the game, you can look for bonus and such. Not here. You must find EVERYTHING to beat this game....But playing the levels over and over is good enough. Correction, there is one thing you can do: earn the "cheats" by collecting Ant Heads. As I said, play the levels again.

OVERALL 9/10

Rent or Buy? If you want to try it out, to see if you like it, then rent. Then you'll get addicted and be forced to return it a few days later. You'll go insane thinking about blasting bugs into a million pieces. If you buy it right away, you'll never have to go though that time were you don't have it to play. Life is good. Ahhhhhh.....

Jet Force Gemini is one of the best action games on the N64....to pass it up would be a sin. Look past the sometimes odd controls, occasional slowdown and enjoy the game.

Great job, Rare!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/99, Updated 11/09/02