Gex: Enter the Gecko

A fast-talking gecko returns to the Television Realm for a brightly colored 3D platforming adventure built around channel-surfing parody and late-’90s attitude. Gex: Enter the Gecko casts its wisecracking hero as an unwilling secret agent after the villainous Rez resurfaces with another plan to seize control of the airwaves. Every stage treats television as a physical place, moving from haunted-house spoofs and cartoon landscapes to spy thrillers, prehistoric sets, and other exaggerated genre pastiches. The tone is goofy, deliberately corny, and packed with constant pop-culture-flavored quips.

Gex spends most of his time running, jumping, climbing walls, and tail-whipping enemies across large obstacle courses. Levels hide remote controls that unlock new worlds, while scattered collectibles, bonus areas, switches, moving platforms, and environmental hazards give players reasons to revisit stages after reaching the exit. Power-ups can let Gex breathe fire, throw projectiles, or briefly shrug off damage, and boss encounters break up the hunt for remotes with more direct fights. Platforming is approachable at first, though later stages demand careful jumps and patience with the era’s occasionally awkward camera, especially around narrow ledges and elevated routes.

What makes the game memorable is its commitment to television-themed level design rather than its raw precision: each world has a distinct visual joke, soundtrack, and set of hazards to match its broadcast genre. Gex’s nonstop commentary gives the adventure personality, even if the humor lands differently depending on a player’s tolerance for one-liners and references. Its controls and camera show their age beside modern 3D platformers, but the broad stages and collectible structure still offer a satisfying retro challenge. Fans of Banjo-Kazooie, Croc, and the exploratory side of Super Mario 64 will find a charming, stranger alternative here, while newcomers should arrive ready to accommodate classic platforming quirks.