You wouldn't believe how often I've gotten Jet Force Gemini's title wrong because of a certain other Jet Something Something game from the past. It's safe to say that I'm much more familiar with that than I am with this Rare title for the Nintendo 64, and I've barely skated and spraypainted at the same time in video gaming as a whole, so we're talking next to zero knowledge - just the way I like it.
Jet Force Gemini follows the story of some space police or something as they attempt to thwart the galactic spread of insects. Giant, weapon-wielding insects. Insects as big as bears. Bigger, even. This is serious business.
Frustrations
I was going to start with 'Fun Times', just for the fact that Jet Force Gemini has a widescreen display option, but it turns out that a minute or so into the intro movie I've got more first world problems than the shape of my screen - that of emulation that is stopped dead in its tracks by an unknown issue.
But this was the first I'd ever seen of Jet Force Gemini, and I'm now aware that it's set in space, which is fine by me. It also has a cast of what appear to be unlikely heroes, including a dog with what I hope is a gun sticking out of his back. Can't wait to see that in action, especially when attached to a dog as dopey looking as that one. Change dopey for adorable if you're a dog person.
There's an alert from someone, somewhere, in relation to something. But I don't know what until I try another ROM.
Fun Times
I sadly skipped the cutscene entirely this time, jumping straight into a character select screen of just one character, Captain (I presume) Juno. It's a tad more... invasive a character select screen as I'm familiar with, but it'll do. Time to answer this distress signal.
"Holy shit, this is old school Ratchet & Clank, isn't it?" I thought, as my ship gracefully floated into view, landing in one of the more unusual docks I've seen in some time.
If Jet Force Gemini is anything like Ratchet & Clank - even slightly - I think I'm going to be in for a good time. Third-person planet-hopping action-adventures? Sign me up. What are we doing here then?
Nice to meet you, Magnus. It appears you've been fully briefed on the mission, and indeed the gameplay mechanics. It's a bit of a wordy start, but I get it - my crewmates are further ahead (so clearly I'm not the Captain or not a respected one at any rate), green lights are forward progress, the King wants to see me. Smashing, let's get on with it.
Through the door and into a rather empty but pretty nice looking environment on whatever planet this is, the first thing to do is to follow the path to the King's hut. Not the kind of digs you'd expect from a King, but they've got to start somewhere.
The King appears to be Koala Bear, but we're professionals and we'll help out whoever is in need. He says that he can show us what happened to this planet if we want. Given that I missed the introduction, I will gladly accept his offer and get in a bit of backstory.
Jesus, that's horrific! I love it! It's another third-person adventure from the brains behind Banjo-Kazooie, how can you not love it? It's going to be a technical masterpiece, written in a stand-out style, and so far it's living up to that.
It's bright, like Banjo, but it's more serious and relatable - human-looking characters, laser guns, etc - and then a drop pod full of giant ants smashes onto a Koala Bear standing around the campfire. Where are the Game of the Year awards for this thing?
After witnessing those horrors, I do the video-gamey thing of acting out of place, bouncing up the stairs and stealing whatever isn't nailed down in the King's hut, and that's where I find out that Jet Force Gemini has ledge hanging and lying prone mechanics. Is running around not enough for these developers?
Further Frustrations
Ooooh, that's gonna leave a mark. Your pistol has the option of manual targeting, and it is... well it's manual targeting with an N64 control stick. It does and doesn't have snapping at the same time. It is both useful and troublesome. The only way to really use it is to stand still and aim through your head, very delicately, until the reticle is close enough to pop off a shot.
Against static targets that don't shoot back, that's fine, but this game is about to get going. How will it hold up?
Further Fun Times
A short cinematic explains all the pick-ups you ought to look out for, including and seemingly limited to health and ammo, as well as tips for encountering and dealing with snipers and the locals - shoot the snipers, save the locals. Got it? Go!
I'm not saying Jet Force Gemini is chaotic, but it is some kind of clunky. But it's not. It's really fluid, like Ratchet & Clank, but obviously more limited, mostly because of the lack of camera control (or I couldn't find anything that worked for me at least).
Ants appear from around corners and behind boxes, and spamming the fire button in their vague direction seemed to work. It wasn't a satisfying feeling, but the threat has gone and we can move on. A local in the distance needs a pat on the back in order to feel like they've been rescued, but I'll have to deal with the sniper first.
It's fiddly, but interaction with the environment is generally conducted by just running into things. There's no separate button to rescue anybody, nor is there one to talk to them, if they've got something to say. You just run into them and let the game figure it out. You there, you're saved, congratulations. Six to go.
The village up ahead, if you could call it that, should have some more action. It's got more open space too so I can put my moves to the test. As it happens, I mostly just ran around blindly firing at the biggest, bluest, beastly looking thing on screen, before stopping to find the sniper shooting at me from the distant treetops. I appear to have taken quite a few hits in that encounter, but a few gems should see to that if there are any kicking around.
Oh, and you can do a combat roll kind of thing when you're prone. I haven't seen that since I played Metal Gear Solid 4. Why have I got no idea what this game is until now?
That's a disappointing first level. How did I miss four bears? I only ran through a corridor for a few minutes...
Still, onwards we go, into new environments, stumbling upon familiar roadblocks.
Can't advance all this technology too much, I suppose. Gotta rely and build upon what has come before. I wonder where the red key can be found around these parts.
Around the corner, of course. Thanks, Magnus.
Final Word
Gah! More emulation woes. What's behind the door, damn it?! I may never know - until I find the root cause of the problem, I suppose.
What is Jet Force Gemini if not a hidden, albeit flawed, gem? If it reminds me of games from the last decade, it must have made an impression back in the day. Was it a good impression? If it was, why no sequels? Too much on Rare's development plate?
I can only imagine it was too ambitious for the time, or for the N64. The controls work and feel alright until you get to the shooting part of the shooter, or the exploration part of the adventure, where you need camera control that just isn't there.
Were the characters too bland in comparison to what was on the system at the time? Did the story fizzle out? Was the difficulty absurd?
I feel like I'll only find out if I fix some problems or watch some videos, but I do intend to do at least one of those things because Jet Force Gemini is worth further exploration, and you should check it out yourselves.
Wait, is it in the Rare Replay release? It is? Hmmm... might just have to get an Xbox One...
Fun Facts
The list of inspirations has been summed up by lead engineer Paul Mountain as 'all the good stuff we'd played, and enjoyed playing', which included Super Mario 64, Super Metroid and Quake.
Jet Force Gemini, developed by Rare, first released in 1999.
Version played: Nintendo 64, 1999, via emulation.