I don't have much of a story with Jet Force Gemini. It escaped my radar completely when I was young, so I didn't hear about it until years later. Specifically in a video game about annoying video game characters, where the host lambasted the Tribals from this game. That impression stuck with me all that time. Even now I went into Jet Force Gemini expecting it to be mediocre at best.
So did I get proven wrong? Not exactly...
Juno and Vela are two young elites of the legendary Jet Force, employed by the Galactic Federation. They travel through space to uphold the law and beat up bad up guys. At least so long as the bureaucrats back home don't interfere.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens here. The Federation has been ignoring the rising threat of the Tyrant Mizar, who commands his vast army of insect drones. Many stars have already fallen to him and now Mizar has invaded the lands of the Tribal people. A long time ally of The Federation, who have now been slaughtered and enslaved without us lifting so much as a finger. Juno and Vela are not about to let this slide. Not that they have much of a choice, as Mizar's drones soon descend upon their spaceship as well. Together with their combat dog Lupus, the team descends to the planet surface to begin beating back Mizar's invasion.
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter with platforming elements. In each level you have to find your way to the end by way of unlocking doors that lead to new zones. Some of these require finding color-coded keys, while others may require shooting a target or that you defeat a minimum number of enemies in the current zone. Along the way you'll frequently have to use your jumping skills to get past obstacles and even solve the occasional puzzle.
The actual shooter gameplay is satisfying, but as janky as you'd expect given the circumstances. Jet Force Gemini allows you very little camera control. The C-buttons are used for strafing, jumping, and crawling instead, while the camera loosely tries to follow where you're looking. You can somewhat snap it behind you by entering aiming mode, but this restricts other movement options. While aiming, it also does that annoying thing where the reticle snaps back while you try to move it. This was manageable in games like Goldeneye or Time Splitters, but Jet Force Gemini demands a lot more precision. Making it very annoying when it takes so much effort to land precise shots.
As a result, a lot of the action devolved into me carelessly running around, blind-firing at enemies and hoping the auto-aim would do its work. This frequently left me disoriented as the camera failed to keep up and it just doesn't feel right to play the game like that. Especially when enemies with shields start becoming commonplace, who you have to run circles around to get hits in. But what's the alternative? There are so many enemies and your health bar depletes FAST.
Where the action redeems itself is in the gore. Any parent who bought Jet Force Gemini expecting another colorful, cartoon adventure may have been in for a shock. Mizar's drones are all insect people, who you gun down by the dozens. Their gooey insect blood splashes freely across the screen while body parts fly off in every direction. There's even an entire collectible mechanic where you gather their decapitated heads as trophies. Then there are little details, like the battlefield filling up with flies to feed on the corpses or wounded enemies writhing around on the ground until they bleed out. It's morbid. Combined with some of the cruder comedy, you can see some of the early DNA for Conker's Bad Fur Day on display here.
I also have to commend the game for its visuals in general. Levels are set aboard spaceships and different planets, each with an entirely different feel to them. Some of the planets achieve a truly impressive atmosphere and push the system's rendering distance in ways its contemporaries could only dream of. Other levels are just incredibly creative in general. Like one where you have to navigate through an oversized worm's digestive system.
The game's campaign is actually divided up between its 3 characters. They all split up at the start of the story and—barring a few encounters—tackle their own missions individually. Each member of the team has a special power of their own. Lupus' boots let him hover in the air when jumping, Vela can swim, and Juno is immune to lava. This allows them to overcome unique challenges, but also means you eventually have to revisit other characters' levels to access areas you couldn't reach before. A prospect that wasn't too tantalizing, I have to admit.
This also plays into the game's main collectible: The Tribals. These Wookie lookalikes are the natives of the planet that Mizar has invaded so it's now up to you to save them. In each level you'll find them hidden away in odd corners or hard-to-reach places. It's a typical Rareware setup akin to the Jinjos in Banjo-Kazooie, but five factors serve to make them more annoying:
- The Tribals are mandatory. You need to find every single one to access the final stage, just like with the balloons in Diddy Kong Racing.
- There's no in-between award for getting all of them in a level. Getting all Jinjos in a world would give you a Jiggy, but Tribals give you nothing and do nothing. So it's not immediately fun or rewarding to find them—it's just a chore.
- Tribals can and will die. They will frequently run into the crossfire while you battle Mizar's forces or hide next to explosive barrels. In some rooms you'll even find ants that specifically go for the Tribals first, guaranteeing that some will die unless you immediately rush to stop them. When Tribals die, you need to replay the entire level for a second chance.
- As mentioned before, you can not access every area with every character. Meaning you're never sure going into a level if you'll be able to get all the Tribals now or if this is one you need to come back to. If you guess wrong, you waste a bunch of time for nothing.
- You can't do this in segmented visits to a level. Can't save 7/9 and then come back for the last 2 later, because all 9 will respawn every time you enter the level. The game doesn't track which ones you have saved, just the "highest record" of Tribals saved in any level. Meaning that the only way to get all of them is to do so in a single, perfect run through the level—keeping all of the above in mind.
All this serves to make Jet Force Gemini a game that is amusing to try, but not one I wouldn't recommend to finish. The gameplay is simply too underwhelming and while it can look pretty, Jet Force Gemini lacks the charm of other Rareware greats. The story and characters just aren't that interesting and what few jokes it offered failed to land for me.
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