Gex: Enter the Gecko

Leapin' lizards!

Dammit! If I have to listen to comedian Dana Gould's Gex voice one more time, I'll?I'll?turn the voice off. And keep playing.

After all, there's no reason to let annoying, overly repeated dialogue ("I'm trapped in Boy George's pants"; "Slip of the tongue, baby"-sheesh) spoil this enjoyable update to 1995's awesome Gex. No more 2D sidescrolling: This platformer's third-person 3D, ? la Croc and the upcoming Tonic Trouble.

Once again, you're stuck in the bizarre Media Dimension, trying to stop bad-guy Rez from wrecking the world's TV. While looking for him, you'll run around one of seven twisted "channels" (game worlds)-Scream TV, Rocket Channel, Circuit Central-grabbing power-ups and fighting zombies, ninjas, giant flowers, and other nasties. This means whipping your tail, doing a flying karate-kick, or eating power-ups that let you freeze or flame your opponents.

The 3Dfx-only game has some good-looking levels, though Tomb Raider-ish clipping problems abound and Gex tends to look much better than his blocky enemies. Camera control is well done, giving you three ways (fixed camera, tracking camera, and a combination) to view the action. It's a helpful option, useful for tackling tricky jumps or just getting a good sense of where you're at in larger worlds.

Don't spend too much time looking, though. Worlds like Kung-Fu Theater and Toon TV sport creative design and nifty sights, but Gecko's quick controls-great with a gamepad-make fast action the way to play.

I wish Crystal Dynamics had ditched Gould for the sequel: his quips have little tie to gameplay and seem a weak way of trying to make this a sly, Duke-ish, "adult" game. Forget frills: I'd rather run, jump, smack, and kick. Fortunately, there's enough of that here to go around.

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