Gex:  Enter the Gecko
Game by Crave Entertainment
Reviewed by Rob Beier
rbeier@engin.umich.edu
Save: Password
Released: 1998
Works with: All GameBoys


Opening Snide Remarks: Hmmm...a game for the GameBoy that was originally for
the Sony Playstation.  This ought to be interesting. The box looks good and
the screen shots are nice.  Hopefully the game will live up to my
expectations.


Gameplay: After playing this game a while, I am still a bit undecided on how
much fun this game really is.  As my collection of games grows, I find myself
playing this one a bit less and less but I still find myself going back to it
and trying to beat one more level.  The game itself is fairly linear and it
fits the side-scroller categorey really well. Over all, this game is pretty
fun though there are some issues with this game that I definitely don't like.

One major draw back of the game is the fact that you have to play levels more
than once to complete them.  This is quite frustrating since not all levels
are playable at the beginning of the game, you have to beat the first two to
get more levels.  The game can become very redundant if one has trouble
beating a certain level (like the trouble I am having now).


Graphics: The graphics are, in my opinion, really good for a GameBoy. With
the GameBoy Color, the graphics are super mostly because the color adds so
much!  The settings aren't all that great, though there are some cool levels
that I really enjoyed playing..."Scream" in particular. The animation of Gex
is also pretty nice too.  He is pretty fluid and when he runs, it looks as
good as a running animated Gecko can look.  Pretty nice and sharp!


Sound:   The sound fx are okay and nothing special.  All of the sounds are
pretty much what can be expected - Nothing super cool orground-breaking.


Music:  The music is fairly lame in this game.  The music sounds quite rough
and "gurguly" and the songs are sometimes hard to distinguish.  Not much
really to say as far as the music goes except that more could have been done
with it - shame on Crave.


Play Control:  Another small problem I have with this game involves Play
Control. To me, it seems that the buttons are reversed.  In my opinion,
attack should be B and jump should be A.  In the case of Gex, it is just the
opposite.  A bit awkward at first but one can get used to it. After thinking
about it, Crave may have decided to do this because the Start button is used
a bit more than usual (to catch flies) so it gives the thumb less distance to
travel in order to hit the Start button.  Also, it seems that when I hit the
Jump Button (B) Gex doesn't always respond.  I definitely don't like that but
it only happens about once in a hundred times.


Final Analysis: This game is pretty good and it is especially nice to look at
on the GameBoy Color (I can't speak for it on other GBs since I haven't seen
it played on them).  But, I would recommend this game to side scroller fans
who have purchased the GameBoy Color and are looking for a good looking,
pretty fun game for their new(er) system.  Now, if only I could beat this one
level...


Score
Gameplay: ****
Graphics: *****
Sound: ***
Music: ***
Play Control: ****
Total: 19 out of 25

Final Score: 76%

Currently Known Codes:

The Ultamite Gex password (Opens up EVERYTHING.)
First row: All white arrows pointing down.
Second row: Same as above.
Third Row: Same as above.
Fourth Row, three white arrows going down, one going up, One black arrow
going right, One black arrow going left. (This is of course from left to
right in that order.)
Fifth row: One black arrow going left, two white arrows going down, one
white arrow going right, one black arrow going right.