Review: Gex Trilogy for PS5

Alright, here it goes. So, Gex. Remember this guy? Not the lizard hawking car insurance — the other one. Gex was a big deal, trust me, back in the day, before everything became about waving your arms around with a Wiimote. They’re bringing him back with the Gex Trilogy. Three games. A trilogy. Makes sense, right? But here’s the kicker — do these titles still rock, or should they stay where they were, collecting dust with our cassette tapes? Let me try to make sense of it all.

Picture this: The OG Gex, our 2D friend, started on 3DO — yeah, they tried. Then he hopped over to Sega Saturn and PlayStation like a gecko on a hot surface. Gex finds himself, no joke, sucked into his TV. Feels like a metaphor for something, doesn’t it? He faces off with Rez, who’s got dreams of making Gex the grand mascot of his media universe. There’s a whole LOT of channels — Cemetery, New Toonland, Kung Fuville. These wacky worlds where Gex has to grab remotes because, sure, why not?

Running around in there, Gex can gobble up power-ups like a flame shot or speed boots. Oh, and checkpoints are cameras because why not keep it camera-themed? The first game’s got this whole quirky vibe, but honestly, I felt lost half the time. Loki might agree, sometimes it’s hard to see which way is up or down. Weird hitboxes, trust me. Hit ‘em, miss ‘em. Repeat one-liners till they worm into your brain. I don’t know if it’s charming or frustrating. Maybe both? Yeah, probably both.

Then there was Enter the Gecko — Gex’s leap into 3D. Let’s see if it was a stumble or a graceful jump. Rez is back cuz villains hardly ever take a break, right? Gex dives into it all, enticed by, get this, actual money from the government. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Gex moves better this time, but I kept wishing for Mario’s smooth jumps because, well, nostalgia plays tricks like that. They tried improving his one-liners, but “It’s Tail Time!” echoes at least a hundred-fold, believe me. The camera — ugh — like a nosy neighbor standing in the way. Switch to manual, pronto. Trust me on this one.

Hub worlds of TV screens, stage costumes, and collectible bits that shift forms. It’s inventive, all right. Rabbit suit, space gear, disco duds. The fun’s on point if navigating the interlinked areas doesn’t drive you bonkers, though it’s slightly easier to stomach with practice. I had a blast sometimes, even if my brain couldn’t keep up.

Then we’ve got Gex 3. Deep Cover Gecko. Gex and the Baywatch lady. Not lying — they really went there. More standard coins, boring collectibles (come on, where’s the creativity?). They lost me there, honestly. Even with Gex snowboarding or tank-busting (no joke), I felt like it just couldn’t top his previous shenanigans. Not much, anyway. But hey, the bosses at least weren’t snooze-worthy this time.

So, as a whole, the Gex Trilogy is… well, it’s a lot like playing nostalgic mad libs. Limited Run slapped on the Carbon Engine, added save states and rewinds, cuz, trust me, these older games do show their age. The extras are cool: Dana Gould’s inside scoop, 90s ads, all that jazz. Would I compare them to the legends like Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie? Lemme think… nah, those are in their own league. But even so, games are like fine wine — or maybe hot dogs, take your pick. Each deserves some love, especially the ones bringing back that sick prop of 90s vibes, whether you dig ‘em or not.

So there you have it — my scrambled, messy take. Gex’s back in a big way, and whether that tickles your nostalgia bone or not, well, that’s up to you. Now where was I going with this…? Ah, who knows.