Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores, but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, all whilst including some lengthy gameplay, to give you, the reader, the chance to form your own impressions and views while reading and watching. In this explanatory review, we’re covering GEX Trilogy by developer, Limited Run Games:
GEX Trilogy (Nintendo Switch)
The Gex series first started out on the 3DO back in 1995, and was later ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was developed by Crystal Dynamics and was a 2D side-scrolling platformer with the titular hero Gex, a gecko with a deep love for TV (and voiced by comedian Dana Gould), who can use a myriad of abilities like using his tongue, swinging his tail and climbing on certain surfaces to traverse the wild and wacky world of the Media Dimension. The Gex series went on to spawn two sequels; Gex: Enter the Gecko and Gex: Deep Cover Gecko, which made the jump from 2D to 3D and were released on the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation.Â
The games were quite well recieved back in the day but the Gex series seemed to go on hiatus after the third title. There has not been another entry in the series since 1999, and roll in 2025, and still nothing. Well, I suppose not “nothing” per se, as Limited Run Games has managed to secure the license to publish GEX Trilogy, which all three games for modern platforms with the help of their in-house Carbon engine.
So, with the brief history lesson out of the way, its time to talk about the game’s story. In each game, Gex travels to the Media Dimension to tackle the Nefarious Rez and his minions through multiple worlds themed on popular Television and Film genres. There are your Horror themed levels, murder mystery, sci-fi, and even cartoons, each with their respective level design and characters. The Cartoon level, for example, has a Looney Tunes theme to it while the murder mystery levels give off Sherlock Holmes vibes.
In GEX, our hero mistakingly swallows a fly that turns out to be a Drone that transports him to the Media Dimension and he has to make his way through each world to eventually escape. In Gex: Enter the Gecko, Gex is coerced by the goverment to return to the Media Dimension once again to stop the evil Rez and his dastardly plans. As for Gex: Deep Cover Gecko, Gex is now an international gecko of mystery (yeah, baby! Oh, behave!) and his partner Agent Xtra (portrayed by baywatch star Marliece Andrada) is kidnapped by Rez, forcing him to once again return to the media dimension in the hopes to rescue his fair maiden.
To be fair, the stories might not be the most compelling but then again, no one in the 90’s really played games for the plot. It is more about the journey and the fun that was had along the way and the Gex games are a lot like that. Dana Gould’s one liners were exceptionally funny… if you got the reference that is. Many of the jokes and puns were heavily influenced by pop culture of the time and while some would have landed with you, others may have flown right over your head (at least, some did with me). With that said, I do wonder if the game’s humour will resonate with new players, especially those who were born on this side of 2000 as a lot of the references may be far to obscure for them. Forget dad jokes, these are grandpa jokes that will make a lot of 30+ gamers chortle, but anyone under 20 will be like “What?” (Man, do I feel old).
On to the gameplay side of things, the games in the GEX Trilogy generally play very similar to one another. You have to explore the many levels in each themed world and find remotes that will help you move onto the next level. The first game is presented in a 2D side-scrolling format while the other two are 3D immersive worlds with a 360º camera. Gex can run, jump, eat items with his tongue and swing at enemies with his tail. In the first game, he has a lot more freedom of movement and can climb walls and background surfaces. In Enter the Gecko and Deep Cover Gecko, Gex has more freedom on the horizontal plane but is much more restricted when it comes to climbing vertical surfaces. There are only certain surfaces that Gex can climb on which are normally indicated with foot prints.
All three games in GEX Trilogy have power-ups of some kind like breathing fire or spitting ice shards, invincibility, and even super speed. Some of these are temporary while others will last until you exit a level or get hit by an enemy or hazard. In the first game, they can be found inside orbs whereas in the second and third game, they are found in flies hidden in small TV sets. I do quite like their addition to the game as it spices up the gameplay and gives you more options to overcome obstacles or dispatch enemies.
I do quite like that in the 3D games, there are multiple objectives for each of their stages, much like Super Mario 64. You have to re-enter several times in order to collect all the red remotes, and there are a number of hidden remotes to find as well that don’t force you to leave the game once collected, unlike the red remotes that do.Â
The GEX Trilogy boasts a lot of additional features like video interviews with Dana Gould, TV spots and ads, an art gallery, digital instruction manual, music player and a rewind feature. There is also a CRT filter and a selection of borders and screen ratios to choose from. One thing that I should note is that saving in the game is done manually and to do so, you have to access the overlay menu by pressing in the right joystick and select Save. The overlay menu is where you can also load your save state, change border, filter, and screen size. As for the interviews and other stuff, you can find them in the appropiately named Gextras and tailtunes.
For the most part, I am overjoyed that the Gex games are playable on a modern consoles but it is a bit of a monkey paw kind of situation. The games are not remastered in anyway and due to being emulated through the Carbon engine and their age shows. Yeah the gameplay can be a bit clunky and the camera is, well, the camera, and they will do what cameras do at times, but the visuals, while not the best and certainly a product of its time, is not pretty to look at, at all. The character models and the environments are pixelated and the edges are very rough. I know that these games are straight up ports and not remasters, but when I look at Final Fantasy VII on Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 64 classics on the NSO, they still look miles better than those in the GEX Trilogy.
Some say that it is due to anti-aliasing and using the PlayStation versions of the game as opposed to the N64 versions. I’m not an expert so I am not sure what difference that would make but even though I respect the developers’ decision for sticking close to the original representation of the game, I would have appreciated a slight visual overhaul to make the games look cleaner at least. It kinda says something when the environments and models in the first game are much easier on the eye than its “technically superior” sequels.
Now before all the haters start banging at my door, I do want to say that I thoroughly enjoy playing these games and have been a fan of Gex since I played GEX: Deep Cover Gecko on the N64. Is it wrong of me to want the games to look presentable on modern platforms? I’m not talking full HD remasters but at least a reskin to make it a little visually pleasing to the visual palette.
On the plus side, GEX Trilogy is fully compatible on Nintendo Switch 2, which it wasn’t at launch but has since recieved an update that allows it to be playable on the Switch 2. Although I have played this game on the Switch, I have also spent plenty of time playing it on the Switch 2 as well and can confirm that I didn’t have any issues personally while playing the game on the system.
Well, with all that out of the way, its actually time to wrap up this Explain & Play review. The GEX Trilogy is quite a mixed bag and is not without its faults. It will certainly appeal to fans looking for that nostalgia hit but new players, especially younger players, will probably not enjoy this, with the controls being quite clunky at times along with a janky camera and pop culture references that are probably more likely to offend than humor players. I will say again (and perhaps for the third or fourth time for this review), the Gex games are a product of their time. It is not going to appeal to everyone and you will either “love it or hate it” depending on your personal tastes and humor.Â
Game Specifications:
Developer: Limited Run Games
Publisher: Limited Run Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch (Digital)
Genre: Action
No. of Players:Â 1 (Single System)
Release Date:Â June 16, 2025
Price:Â $29.99
File Size: 2.3 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
