Patreon button  Steam curated reviews  Discord button  Facebook button  Twitter button 
3DS | PC | PS4 | PS5 | SWITCH | VITA | XB1 | XSX | All

Jet Force Gemini (Nintendo 64) artwork

Jet Force Gemini (Nintendo 64) review


"Some games get alot of fame in the press, but not in the sales, and Jet Force Gemini is the perfect game. It had quickly gained it's own cult fans, and was getting absurdly high reviews by professionals and minors alike. Did it deserve these high grades? Not one bit. There is nothing really memorable from Jet Force Gemini, not in gameplay, story, or graphical mode. Sure, it is mediocre in all those categories, but it follows the same formula that every Rare game takes. Exploring each and every a..."

Some games get alot of fame in the press, but not in the sales, and Jet Force Gemini is the perfect game. It had quickly gained it's own cult fans, and was getting absurdly high reviews by professionals and minors alike. Did it deserve these high grades? Not one bit. There is nothing really memorable from Jet Force Gemini, not in gameplay, story, or graphical mode. Sure, it is mediocre in all those categories, but it follows the same formula that every Rare game takes. Exploring each and every area, in which boredom is more of an opponent then are the enemies that are few and far in between. Sure, there is a fairly high enemy count, but that does not save this ship from sinking under the water.

STORY (4/10): Your name is Jonas, I believe (I am doing all of this off the top of my head, as in a story should be memorable) and a space journeyer. You need to save this creatures from something like Midus who is causing trouble to little Ferby-like creatures named Tribals. Your sister was kidnapped and so was your dog. This game has long cutscenes at points, but ones of little value. The story is there, just not a great one.

GRAPHICS (11/15): I really cannot punish Jet Force Gemini for it's graphics (as much as I'd like too). The lands are vast and varied. In some you will be within a ship trying to save the next tribal, others you will journey through forests where the tribals hide amongst the trees with your enemies. The character look way too childish too my liking, as no 13 year old, would be set on a mission to save the world. Really, that is choice however, and not a graphical problem. There is somewhat of a severe slowdown, when many enemies come on a screen, so be wary of that. However that is not too noticable and should not affect your game.

SOUND (5/10): Rare has created some great games, with memorable soundtracks. Now Jet Force Gemini's soundtrack is an easy to listen too one, but nothing that puts it with the Donkey Kong franchise. There are voices in the game which are nice, but only somewhat represent their characters. It does the job, but it really does not exceed and reach typical Rare caliber.

GAMEPLAY (14/40): It's just another explorer game. Some find it revolutionary because of the fact it is a 3rd person shooter explorer type game. Personally, I do not find this so as it is more of a hassle, and the guns are boring in fact. While the levels look different, they play very similiar to eachother. At times you will have no clue where to go, as they leave you no real control. You will flip through multiple characters, but the reasoning to do this is not sound, but you will be forced to do so anyway. There are hundreds of those dumb tribals to find hiding anywhere, and when one dies, you are screwed. So you go around saving a bunch of Ferby's (tm) while shooting up these bugs with a 3rd person gun. It is rediculous and more of a hassle than it is entertainment.

Of course, it is a 3rd person shooter so they throw in the multiplayer mode. One thing Rare can't do that well is make non-1st person shooter, multiplayer games. It is outright rotten, and no fun. You can just hide from you opponent for hours, and no one would be the wiser. This was a last minute add on, I hope, for if they spent real time on this, I can see why the rest of the game is so below average.

CONTROLS (2/10): The controls are weak. The aim on the guns is more luck then actually skill, and the jumping is very uncontrolled. You may jump long or short, but after that it is all shaky. You will be able to pull through the bad controls, but it will be a nuissance. At least it was for me.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): Honestly how could anyone play through this game more than once? This game is long, and if you want to find all the Tribals, who knows how long you will be playing this game. Once you beat it once, I can tell you I will never desire to play the game again, but who knows about others... It depends if you enjoyed it the first time around or not.

DIFFICULTY (3/5): Quite frankly the game is annoying difficult as you pull your way through the long levels of enemies you are not sure how to kill, and jumps that require perfect timing to make. However once you get too certain areas, even late in the game, you can put on a blindfold and walk right through it. Not a consistant game really.

OVERALL (43/100): This is my second most disapointing game on the Nintendo 64. I had fairly high hopes that Jet Force Gemini would be another class explorer created by Rare (like Banzo-Kazooie that came before it). After seeing the high reviews I could not wait to get my hands on it. I finally did, and well my hands could not handle the boredom. I mean, I do not really enjoy many explorers, as they basically force you to search every nook for little reason, but JetForce Gemini does not have that one thing that makes it great, like most explorer. No, everything is below average but vastness, length, and graphics, and personally 2 hours would be too long of this game for me. Not worth it's high reviews, and it should be happy I didn't eject more points for my displeasure. Do not believe other, Jet Force Gemini is just not a good game, period!



ratking's avatar
Community review by ratking (November 18, 2002)

A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.

More Reviews by ratking [+]
Star Fox Assault (GameCube) artwork
Star Fox Assault (GameCube)

The Star Fox team first appeared on the Gamecube in a platform game, called Star Fox Adventures. While, many considered it a quality game (and others a subpar game) it never really felt like a true Star Fox game, despite the occasional flying (simple stages). Namco, however, introduced the true sequel to the classic St...
Jak 3 (PlayStation 2) artwork
Jak 3 (PlayStation 2)

Jak II was one of those experience that every gamer either absolutely loved or completely loathed. The game strayed from everything the first Jak game stood for, in that it took a much serious outlook, and it based itself more on the GTA series, that it's own original concept. Jak III does not change any of that, as it...
Jak II (PlayStation 2) artwork
Jak II (PlayStation 2)

Jak and Daxter was a platforming game based on exploration, simple fight patterns, cool minigames, and lush colorful scenery. All that has changed in Jak II, for no longer is the Jak series perfect for kids of all ages and instead this game is only a little less intense version of Grand Theft Auto.

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Jet Force Gemini review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one in a snap. Thank you for reading!

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998 - 2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Jet Force Gemini is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Jet Force Gemini, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.