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Hello and welcome to the Long and Short of It, the podcast where we discuss each of the games on the Open Critic Top 100 list.

My name is Lawrence and I'm joined by.

This is Dan, welcome to the podcast.

Welcome back.

We we almost had a disaster before we even started.

Then as the start of every episode we we do a little clap to make sure that our audio is In Sync.

We did the clap, said OK, yeah, we're all In Sync.

And then we both realised that neither of us was actually recording, so we're off a flying.

Start for us.

Yeah, we're off to a flying start on this Bank Holiday Monday.

But yes, how are you?

Are you well?

I'm OK, yeah, yeah.

Just driven back from Whitby and encountered the lovely bank holiday traffic.

Oh yes, that's my favourite.

Added sort of an hour and a half to the journey, which is brilliant.

So yes, I'm weary, but I've just had a little nap and I'm ready to go.

How are you A?

Little catnap.

Yes, quite well indeed.

I don't know what I've done over the last couple of days, but it's it's been nice you know, I've got a few days off this week so yes indeed.

And what?

Days have you got off?

Wednesday and Thursday and.

What are you doing with said days?

I don't know, I was originally going to be seeing Coldplay, but we sold the tickets so I'm not going to see Coldplay anymore.

So I just kept the days off.

So I'm just going to probably go for a long run and fair enough, go to the gym and all of the fun adult things.

And I'll also maybe start on the next game that we're going to be covering.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves because we've got another game to talk about before next time, haven't we?

Or.

We could just end the episode there.

There we go and that's everything.

Thank you very much and we'll.

See you next time.

Yes, we do have another game to talk about in the meantime, do we not?

We're going to be talking about APS 1 and N64 game today.

So this week we are covering Gex 3D and To the Gecko, which is the second game in the Gex the Gecko trilogy.

It was released originally in 1998 on the PS1 and M64, developed by Crystal Dynamics, and there's no meta or open critics score for Gex Enter the Gecko because of the time that it was released, I suppose.

However, they've just released a new kind of remastered trilogy across like all the modern consoles and that does have a score.

So on Opencritic, it has a an average score of 1.

No, it has an open critics score of 72.

And I had a look on Metacritics as well, just out of interest in it has a 70.

So very, very, very middling.

Well, just above middling, but yeah.

So is this the first time you've played this game?

What's your history with Gex?

What's the what?

What's the?

What's the I'm going?

To fire a question at you to begin with for the for the listener, what what prompted us to play this game?

So this was was your choice.

So yeah, what what prompted us to play this game this week?

And we'll kind of start with that and then jump into histories and stuff.

Yeah, I didn't realise that this had been re released and I think I may be meant.

I think I've probably mentioned my cousin a couple of times on this podcast because when I was growing up I spent a lot of time with her and she was my introduction to the Tomb Raider games and it was her that originally got me into Final Fantasy 7.

I think there's a story on the Final Fantasy 7 episode of how I got that game and well, she got it.

I got Breath of Fire 3 and then we swapped.

So Gex was a game that she had on the PS1, and I remember playing it with her a lot when I was but a young boy.

And anyone that's listened to this podcast for more than a few episodes, particularly for older games, knows that a lot of my game selection choices when it comes to choosing games on here is primarily fueled by nostalgia.

And Gex Into the Gecko is a game that I remember really enjoying a lot as a kid, and I hadn't played it since.

So yeah, when you mentioned that there had been a remaster, I think a couple of episodes ago, I think it might have been the Bayonetta episode.

Yeah, I got very excited, immediately purchased it from the Nintendo E shop while we were recording.

And then you made a joke saying I will do that next time.

And then I said, no, no, shall we?

And he said, oh, we can't do.

No, here we are.

Yeah.

And the other, the other bit to this is at the moment we're both playing our Switch to.

So we're kind of looking for things to play that we can play on there.

Next game won't be, won't be there.

But yeah.

So this was another opportunity to get that fired up.

And obviously if you're going away, then you can play this on the Switch to which I have just been away.

So yes, I was able to play this on my travels.

So yeah, it was.

Convenient really, wasn't it?

It was, I also suppose before we get onto your history with this game, the back of the box, I'm going to go with the back of the box from the PS1 version because like I say, this game did come.

Out do you own the PS1 version?

No, I don't.

I mean, I've sold a lot of my PS1 games about 6-7, eight months ago, but I've I've never owned this game.

So this is a reading off the offer the screenshots of the Internet so.

You've never, you've never owned this game.

No, I played it a lot.

I think I.

Borrowed it, yeah, I think I.

Borrowed it a lot from my cousin and I probably also borrowed it from my Blockbuster.

OK, but I played it a lot.

So the back of the box.

The ultimate free roaming 3D experience.

And this is primarily bullet points, so huge media dimension levels, all designed as sarcastic parodies of popular TV and movies.

Innovative camera control.

I'm sure we'll come on to that shortly.

Explore and look anywhere in beautifully textured 3D worlds.

Talking trash comedian Dana Gould delivers over 500 sarcastic, sarcastic lip synced impressions and one liners.

Or in the EU version, Leslie Phillips over 125 slick gecko moves, whip cracking, tail attacks, flying karate kicks, tongue grabbing and climbing up walls.

125.

Yeah, I don't think that's correct.

That's got to be rubbish a bit.

Baloney master of disguise get sports, a secret agent suit, Kung Fu uniform, space suit and other costumes.

Early candidate for Game of the Year by PCPS Extreme magazine and the The rating for this game is kids to adults.

And I would say that maybe this would probably be more of a teen to adults game, to be perfectly honest.

Yeah, but.

Some of the problem with this, this game is it's going to appeal to kids, isn't it?

If you look at at the back of the box, you look at the the graphics, this is going to appeal to the kids that like mascot platformers, who like Mario 64 and so on.

Yeah.

And I think the word mascot here is important because we we've played Mario, we've played Sonic, we've played that's it, that's.

What we've we've ever played, isn't it?

Are those the only We've played Crash Bandicoot as well, and obviously Mario was was Nintendo, Sonic is Saga.

Crash was kind of the unofficial mascot for the PS1 and Gex at this point made a bit of a bid to be that, But originally Gex, the first Gex because this is the second in the trilogy.

The first Gex game was actually.

It came out on the Panasonic 3D O which was a very short lived console in the early 90s and was kind of blown out the water by the fact that it was ACD ROM based game very similar to the PlayStation.

However, I think Panasonic massively misjudged how popular this game, well how popular a console would like that would be without much of A game backing.

And they released the 3D O for £600 whereas the PS1 was released for I think 299.

But yeah, the 3D O very short lived, but a lot of games got their their start and that like that was originally where now I'm thinking the Sega Assassin are Knifer, Tomb Raider, but a few games had their their start in the 3D O before it just fizzled out.

And then it kind of came over to the PlayStation and then N64.

So yeah, Gex was originally the mascot for the 3D O, but that didn't last very long because the console didn't last very long.

So yeah, what what's your history with Gex?

Do you know anything about it?

Because I don't think you played it before, had you?

No.

So I'd seen, I'd seen Gex.

I'd seen Gex probably back in the 90s and I was, I was always aware of Gex.

And obviously I knew it was a Nintendo 64 game as well.

And I kind of, I'd forgotten that over the years.

And looking into this game, I was like, oh, OK, yeah, it's an N64 game as well.

And the N64 version is supposed to be inferior.

It was a port of the PS1 version, but it did also have some extra content.

But obviously you've got some really heavy hitting platform games on the N64, so I think it probably got a bit drowned out due to those games.

Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64 off the top of my head, but many, many more as well.

So, yeah, I can't say I've ever been chomping at the bit to get my teeth into this one, but here we are.

Yeah, that's that's probably the extent of my history now.

What do you remember about playing this game as a young whippersnapper?

I remember I remember the collectathon levels quite quite vividly as well as I must have been pretty young so I remember being quite freaks.

I didn't like the horror levels, even though they had the least scary thing ever and, and I remember not really ever getting much further than the second boss, the pig, Mr Mushu, and I found him to be quite disconcerting and freaky.

But yeah, I just remember not being particularly good at the game.

And I remember, as I did with a lot of games at the time, if I wanted to play something but didn't feel like I had the skill level to do something, I just mess around on easier levels.

And I remember in this game I just messed around a lot in in the hub world, even though there's nothing to do there really.

That that must have been a thrilling.

Absolutely, Absolutely.

If you could even say 20 minutes.

20 seconds.

But you know, I, I remember really liking all of the quips from.

Did you understand them?

Some of them, yeah.

I mean, some of them are very.

It's a lot of pop culture references from the 90s, isn't it?

This game, like Sonic the Hedgehog is very 90s.

This is more so.

Yeah, because it hasn't aged well because of the references.

Yeah, massively.

And you know, it's got references in there like Obi Wan taught you well or that kind of thing.

But then there are also why I say teen earlier because like, there are some really weird references in here, like Geck saying I feel like I'm in Boy George's pants or going into 11 and saying a little tongue now and a lot of tail later.

And it's very obvious what like the euphemism is of that.

But it's like this is a children's game.

Yeah, and also things that have aged terribly, such as in the Kung Fu level.

Wear a short round when you need him.

Yeah, and I mean, this, this was going to be a section where we're going to come on to later, but we'll do it now because we're kind of already on it.

This is a game that you couldn't make today.

It's I mean, I, I hate using the term woke.

I think that it gets used too much.

And you and me are quite liberal people anyway, aren't we?

We're we're relatively left wing and I don't have an issue with a lot of the stuff in this game, but I could understand that a lot of people if a game like this came out today or they bought this game out today as it was, I don't think I think that there would be a little bit of controversy around it.

I mean like you say I.

Don't think it's wildly no over the top.

It's 90 stereotypes isn't it?

And I mean the Kung Fu level, like you say, wears short round when you need him.

And also like some of the buildings that you go into, very stereotypical of this is a Chinese laundromat shop.

Because that's the stereotype of like, that was the stereotype of Asian people in the 90s, wasn't it?

Oh, they, they own laundromats or something, which is obviously incorrect.

But that was the stuff that you'd see in television or film, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I also don't think it was probably doing anything that other platformers at the time weren't doing.

The 90s were very different.

I think the big reason that the quips wouldn't work today is very simple, because they're not that funny.

And they, they, they kind of border on the annoying at times in that you constantly like every, I don't know.

15 tail time.

Yeah, the same thing as being repeated verbatim.

And it's, yeah, just a bit annoying.

It does get tiring, but do you know what I mean when I say that I don't think that you could make this game as it is now, I feel.

I mean, you could, but I feel that there would be pushback against it, you know?

Yeah, it might get a bit of controversy, but I mean, they still managed to make GTA games that are quite openly offensive.

You still got all these cartoons that jab lightly or heavily at pop culture Family Guy, South Park.

So I don't know.

I think I think there's there's probably still space for it.

I think they'd have to sharp sharpen up their wit game.

It's things like Conquest Bad Fur day that.

Yeah, Conquest Bad Fur Day is a good a good one to compare it to, I think, actually.

And that is a game that I think does the theme of Gex better than Gex.

And you have levels where you go into films and it's very sharp.

It's quite witty.

It'd be great to play.

That's for the for the podcast at some point.

I think in terms of being controversial, that would, yeah, that would kind of blow Gex out of the water, some of the stuff in that game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree.

I've never played it, but I know I know the stuff in that game.

And obviously the the very famous boss fighter, the great mighty Poo.

Yes, yeah, it's this is very much a product of its time.

And I like it for that.

I think that makes it very charming.

But that's because that was the era that I grew up in.

And I think anyone younger would probably play this and be like, I don't get it.

What's wrong with people?

Yeah, what from the?

So yeah, what what, what is this game?

What do you do?

What's the plot?

What's the, what is Gex?

And to the gecko, so.

It's basically in the same vein as Super Mario 64.

You've got a hub world where you can access levels and you go and you collect TV remote controls for carrying out quite varied tasks within the world's.

Now, when it says, Oh, world's based off of TV shows, what what I actually the way I describe it is there are themed areas or themed kind of set dressing for levels and they all kind of fit this set dressing.

Now the set dressing is pretty generic in the Oh, you've got the horror set dressing and that can kind of be fit to any horror film.

And then you've got the sci-fi set dressing, and then you've got the Kung Fu set dressing, the cartoon set dressing.

And I think as well, because you get multiple levels with the same set dressing, it kind of takes the novelty out of that a little bit.

So you collect your red remote controls and once you've got a certain number, you can do a boss fight.

And then once you collect a few more, you can unlock the next sort of part of the hub world until you finally battle the final boss who is Rez.

And that's, that's pretty much it.

There's no story along the way, really.

And.

No, there is.

There are two cutscenes in the game and they set the game up for what it is in that the game picks up straight after the end of the first game, where Gex has come back from the media dimension and he's defeated Rez and the game starts.

Gex is now retired, but Rez returns.

Who is like this big like robot thing he's returned.

So like the Secret Service asked Gex to go back into the media dimension to defeat RES.

And Gex is kind of like a millionaire secret agent type thing.

And like you say, you go into the different themed worlds in the media dimension.

So tune.

Tune lands, horror, Kung Fu, futuristic space.

And then there are like a few other different kind of ones here and there, aren't there?

Yeah.

And then at the end of the game, Gex defeats Rez.

Rez reveals that he's Gex's father, which Gex doesn't believe him and turns the telly off and therefore getting rid of Rez.

And then Gex just goes back to how he was before.

But there is there is like a very strange, not strange because it's the same developer, but there's like a bond esque theme through this game, isn't there?

To some extent it's there's an element of that.

And at the end, like Gex is always kind of shown to be somewhat of a womaniser and he's in a hotel room with.

Did you ever play the Pandemonium games?

No.

So Crystal Dynamics developed two games.

Pandemonium.

Pandemonium 2.

Really good.

I've not played them for a very long time, but brilliant.

And the woman on the beds in the hotel room with Gex is the character Nikki from Pandemonium.

I've totally forgotten that until.

Until playing again this song.

So bloody hell, I'd totally forgotten that that was a thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But yeah, it's simple, isn't it?

And it's primarily it's it's a it's a platformer with minimal story.

Yeah.

And like you say, each level it's like Mario 64, collect the collect the stars or in this instance collect the the remote controls.

And the more you unlock, the more areas you can go into to therefore progress in the game.

Correct.

So gameplay is king.

Do you think that this game is fun to play?

It's all right.

In short doses, it's all right.

There are certain bits that will really start to bug you.

The camera primarily.

Some of the platforming sections can be a bit torturous.

Yeah, I couldn't sit there and play it for hours on end, but what I did was kind of a few bits a night and got to the end that way.

So I did get to the end of this game and yeah, it's, it's all right.

And I think, I mean, the listener can probably get from the tone of my voice.

I wasn't bowled over by this game.

And and I think my big thing with this game is that I just think there are so, so many better platformers out there.

And one of the things that we talked about whilst playing this game is that we might kind of throw some other platformers in that we can do for the podcasters.

Bonus episodes because there's just so many and so many good ones.

And I, I quite like platformers.

They're easy to play.

They're kind of non demanding.

And yeah, I just think it'd be fun to do a few more platforms this year.

So yeah, we're going to look at doing that.

But yeah, I was just constantly reminded.

And I think one of the problems that I had, and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, is with with the levels, I was kind of expecting them to be a bit more specific, like specifically parodying specific things, but.

I mean the level names are but the.

The.

Themes aren't, are they?

No, it's just like a general wash of that thing.

So oh, general wash of horror.

And it just reminds me of like the creator level in the Time Splitters games where you've got like the horror theme and you've got the industrial theme and the sci-fi theme, and it's just, it never really quite goes beyond that.

So it doesn't really make itself feel unique.

I think the one thing that makes this game feel unique is, is is the voice work from Leslie Phillips in the European version.

It's the best game.

But if you take that away, I think this would just get lost in the ether, sort of.

Yeah, I think it would be an average platformer.

Yeah, Leslie Phillips wasn't involved, which, you know, is a testament to how well he suited the character and how well he did in that role.

So, I mean, this game came out in 1998.

And I mean, Leslie Phillips, he sounds old in that.

I mean, I don't know.

Lived in 98.

He did.

He died in 22.

Oh, he died in 2022.

Yeah.

Oh, Blimey, Yeah, you're quite right.

He was 98 years old.

Oh, impressive.

Yeah.

I mean, he, that he, he made this game for me.

I think, yeah, you know, and I, I think that this game can be fun in short doses, but there are a lot of like complaints in terms of the camera, in terms of the controls.

But I don't know if we can complain that much because we're comparing a game from 1998 with how we play games now.

And I think we've said that along the way, haven't we?

With, you know, yeah, 90s platform as we've played.

Yeah.

And I think it's worth mentioning the version that we played, which is the trilogy version, which is it's not a remaster, it's not a remake.

Port really isn't.

It, yeah, it's basically an emulation and I think they're probably charging a bit too much for it.

So it looks basically how it did look and there there is nothing that has been done to these graphics to make them look a bit a bit more tolerable in the year 2025.

And I think when you've got other series like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro doing full on remakes, I I get there's probably not as much budget behind this, but.

No, because this game isn't Crush and this game isn't Spyro.

No, but I think when you're charging 25 lbs in the UK for three games, I think you either drop the price or you kind of offer a bit more.

So that that was one of my bug bears.

When I first saw this, I was like, oh, OK, they've literally done nothing here.

This is this is is what it was.

Yeah.

It's a tough one to swallow sometimes.

No, I I get that.

And for anyone listening that hasn't played this game, if you're wondering what Leslie Phillips sounds like, I'm just reading his wiki here and I'd totally forgotten, but he is the voice of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films he's done a lot over.

The years.

Yeah, he was in the some of the Carry On, Carry On films, wasn't he?

Yeah, it's his.

Yeah, he's got the very famous Ding Dong.

Hello.

Hello.

Yeah, it's he's got such a good voice.

But yeah, the camera is the big the big sticking point with this game.

Were there any?

Sorry.

He's a cockney.

Yeah, he was.

He's from Tottenham.

Yeah, very working class.

And he went to, I think he went to Italia concierge drama, scored in London and lost his accent.

But yeah.

It's a bit like, what's her name from Absolutely Fabulous.

Bloody hell, she's in the Wolf of Wall Street as well.

Oh, that's going to really annoy me.

I'm going to have to look at it.

Not Jennifer Saunders.

No, the other.

The other.

Actress I just.

No, it's wait for it Dawn.

French brilliant.

Joanna Lumley.

Oh, of course.

Yeah, Joanna Lumley also comes across as very posh, but I think she has a very, very working class background.

Yeah, same as Ian McCallum.

Patrick Stewart from the North.

Indeed so yeah.

Were there any like particular themed levels that you like stood out to you or what?

What were your favourites?

Because I mean the the move set in this game is quite basic, so were there 150 of.

Those moves though A.

150.

Or is it 100 and 25125?

I think OK.

I think playing the tune level after playing I was I was really a bit disappointed with the horror level.

I was like this is.

Yeah, the horror levels aren't that great.

Yeah.

And every time I came to them, I was like, oh, and, and there were a few themes where I was like that.

But I think the first time you jump into the tune level and you see the references to to loony tunes.

Yeah, exactly.

And yeah, that's when it it kind of makes a bit more sense and you've got the bits where you're, I can't remember what the hunt is called, but the hunter that goes after.

Almafud.

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

So yeah, I quite like those.

And there's there's a bit of interesting stuff they do in them.

But yeah, I don't really have much more to say than that really, because it's because, because the levels all melt into one another.

So say all the all the tune levels, they all kind of feel the same.

And it's not like, oh, I can pick out this bit of this level because I can't.

The the levels really are set dressing to what's going on.

And it is a platformer with different set dressing for each level.

So it's not like I can say, oh, I remember the castle in the tune world because I can't or or remember the Roadrunner bit in the tune world.

I can't Bugs Bunny bit.

Well, yeah, actually I can.

There is there is a bit in that.

But yeah.

So I think probably the tune level and I think probably my least favourite is the like the cyber.

Do you know what the one I mean?

Like the electrics one.

Yeah, I hated that.

Yeah, those ones are a bit too versatile.

I don't think the camera works particularly well with those.

I mean the Prehistoric 1 is up there as well for me is like being a bit too.

I mean, yeah, I mean both struggled on the prehistoric levels.

I think I really like the Kung Fu ones.

I don't know why.

And there's also one of the collectathon levels where you're like a cop in like this crime riddled St collecting badges, but you only go there once.

And you mentioned earlier as well that obviously there are differences between the N64 and the PlayStation version.

Yeah, the Titanic level.

Yeah, so the N64 has a lot less content than the PlayStation version because of the size of the the data that needs gone the car.

So they, so they take away the bonus levels they've got.

Yeah, they take away the bonus levels they've got, they've got, they've got all the the normal levels, the standard levels, but they take away the bonus levels, but they replace them with what is a very large Titanic level.

So yeah, there are a few people I read, I read, I kind of dipped into a few of the reviews of the trilogy and quite a few reviewers bemoaning the fact that that the extra content from the N64 given you can actually see it in the the bonus videos, like they show it, but they you can't play it.

It's a bit of a kick in their teeth really.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

It's I've never played.

I mean, I've not played the N64 version.

So I'd I'd be interested to see what the Titanic level looks like.

Yeah, I did have a look at.

Particularly great.

But yeah, so it's it's certainly a it's a different kind of platformer and the question of the week that I have for you today.

Is will you ever play it again?

And I'll give you an answer to that very quickly.

Succeed.

You're moving on to the next game, aren't you?

Deep cover Gecko.

Yes.

So I actually, I actually started it out of curiosity.

I've never played it, I don't know about it.

I've never tried it though.

So Leslie Phillips, I don't think it's, I don't think it was a replacement even.

I don't even know.

They just never went with him again.

And so they had a Red Dwarf actor, Danny Jung Jewels, which again, many of the European British fans were clamouring to have that voice work for the trilogy.

So yeah, the third one many people say is the best one because they kind of refine what's there in 2.

But yeah, I, I started playing and I thought, no.

And that was it.

No, that that was it.

That was your experience with Deep Cover Gecko.

The question of the week is, could you see this game having like a reboot now?

I mean, obviously Dana Gould's still around and kicking.

I don't think they would have separate voices dependent on region anymore.

But could you see a world in where they say, you know what, we're going to bring X back and we're going to reboot it.

Do you think that would happen?

And if it did, what do you think that would look like?

Because obviously it's very risky doing that with platformers.

We've talked a few times about Banjo Kazooie when they did Nuts and Bolts.

Obviously very different from the originals, but I know you said that you think that game's all right.

Yeah.

What do you think they'd do with something like Gex?

Well, I think it's interesting that come the PS2, GameCube, Xbox era that there doesn't even seem to have been discussion about bringing Gex back.

It was sort of like he lived and died in the 90s.

And yeah, the fact that we never got a Gex for then when we got continuations of so many other platformers because platforming games were still quite popular in the early 2000s, I think that that was quite telling.

I don't think there was much of an audience for Gex and I think the audience they has now is built on nostalgia and.

Yeah, massively.

So I think if if you play these games, then you're probably going to have a lot more bandwidth or something like this than if you didn't.

I think there are certain really good platformers from back in the day that you can jump into and you can see what they're offering.

But this one's a hard one because I don't think it does nothing groundbreaking and it very much is in this in the mould of the the mascot platformer.

Now I can see this these games with a new look of paint.

I don't think it would necessarily fix the issues with the games, In fact I think the themed levels.

Would.

Be even more jarringly obvious that they were non specific.

It would have to be things like superhero levels and stuff like that these days wouldn't it?

Like Marvel esque.

Yeah, and it's a tough one because even things like Conker's Bad Fur Day, which is a very good game, it's.

Got like a Saving Private Ryan level, hasn't it?

It's.

Got amazing.

Yeah, it's got, it's got all sorts of stuff and it's got Clockwork Orange and yeah, all sorts of things.

And that's dated.

That became dated very quickly.

You can't really, it's tough.

You can do, you can do those things, but you kind of got to go be a bit more varied with your your references and you've got to go back further in time and maybe draw things from different decades.

Because if you do it all in 2025, within a couple of years it'll be dated.

Whereas if you play on the 90s, if you play on the 80s.

And I think that's that's probably a bit of an idea really for what they could do play on.

I think playing on films from over the decades, I think you start doing TV show, it becomes even more dated.

So yeah, I I don't see gets coming back even on me even Crash Bandicoot that the 4th 1 was what is it back in?

Was it back in time in?

Time.

Yeah, I can't remember.

Yeah.

So.

So they released the trilogy.

The trilogy sold gangbusters and then they released the 4th 1 and it didn't sell as well.

I think it's still sold decently, but it didn't by any means kind of break new ground or anything like that.

And it's also supposed to be quite a decent game, but people didn't buy it.

So I think the time of the mascot platformer is sort of done.

There are some, there are some caveats to that, as usual.

So obviously Mario, Sonic, those things are Evergreen and they always will be.

Things like Ukulele have have kind of broken ground as independent platformers in the vein of Banjo Kazooie, and they found themselves a nice little following for people that are fans of those games.

But they're not going to find sort of mainstream attention because I just don't believe they will.

So I just think, let's be real, if a platform, a mascot platform is targeted at children, I just don't think children in 2025 like the same things that we did.

No, this is no.

It's a completely different environment, isn't it?

And yeah, so the way that children consume games is different.

And gaming used to be this thing where obviously we didn't have Internet based things.

So you'd end up going home playing on your CRTTV of an evening and your way of discussing games was in the playground.

You couldn't go onto your phone and then search things on the Internet and search what other people were playing.

That's not what you you could do.

And if you were stuck, you were stuck unless someone happened to know in in the schoolyard.

So the way that people consume games is different and I just don't see it catching on.

I don't think it would have the budget to do it anyway.

But it's it's an interesting question.

Can you think of any ways that it would make a splash?

And also, what would it look like to you?

No, I thought about this when I was kind of coming up with a question.

It's a good question.

Yeah, my answer is the same as you.

I think that quite a few things are best left in the past.

And I mean, you only have to look at Sonic really to kind of come to the conclusion of, Oh yeah, you can do things, you can keep things going, but Sonic's had more kind of losses than it's had wins.

Starting to find its feet again, which is nice.

Slowly, but I mean if you think back to, I don't know, after Sonic Adventure 2.

So if you go like 2002 up to 2012, you had like Sonic 06.

Oh, you had some terrible entries.

Yeah, Sonic Heroes.

Yeah, Sonic the Sonic Heroes was.

Big the cat.

Your friend Big the Cat and really the the best Sonic games that came out of that period were kind of like towards the back end like 2012 Sonic Generations.

Yeah, Sonic Colours good as well.

Yeah, I'm not sure.

Not sure what year Sonic Colours came out but it's around that time wasn't it?

Sonic Mania, that's good, Yeah.

The recent Sonic and Shadow X Generations, I think it's what it's called.

So I actually completed that and it is.

It's a good Sonic game, really quite enjoyable.

So.

And you've got Sonic Cross World, which is the new Kart racing game from Sonic coming out this year, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

Cautiously optimistic.

So I think they found a way to make Sonic work again.

And I think part of that is I think they were looking for what modern Sonic needed to be for a very long time, but actually in leaning into the past, they kind of found what people wanted.

And I'm happy about that.

I like Sonic and yeah, we played obviously Sonic 2, which wasn't my favourite game ever, but yeah, some of the modern sonics I'm quite a fan of.

Yeah, I think that Gex would probably have had a similar lifespan to Sonic.

Maybe there would have been a couple of good things in there, but mostly I think it would have been misses.

But yeah, I mean, who knows, maybe something one day, but I doubt it.

And I think that's probably for the best it's.

There's so many other dead mascot platformers that I can see happening before Gex.

We've got a new Bubsy game coming out, so I know that you have we.

Yeah.

And apparently it's supposed to look.

It's supposed to be looking pretty good.

That's outrageous.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Bubsy's alive and kicking.

I would love a new Sly Raccoon game.

And because it's, I think it's a Sony Sucker Punch property, so I could see that happening at some point.

Maybe not a huge budget one, but yeah, there's a lot of good platformers that I can see coming back before.

I'm so I'm in.

I'm in shock that Bubsy is coming back.

That's outrageous.

Did you ever play Bubsy 3D?

No, but I know of Bubsy 3.

DI played Bubsy 3D, it came out around the same time as Gex and it is.

He's unfinished.

Like we should do it at some point just to.

Yeah, we can.

We do our our platformer A thon.

Yeah, platformer a thon.

Awful, but yeah, so let's move so.

When we, when we come to do our next platformer and I haven't decided which one it will be, but I will, I will pick one for our next one.

And yeah, we'll, we'll do that in, in sort of the next few months, I'd say.

You're quite keen to do Spyro, aren't you?

Yeah, I would like to do Spyro, and that's one that I've not played.

But yeah, there's there's other ones up there as well that I think genuinely deserve to be in the running for best games.

I mean, Banjo Kazooie is one that I think absolutely we need to play.

Can you do your impression of Grand Tilda there?

You go.

So I did do the voice, in case you're wondering.

Listener for Grand Tilda.

Yeah.

So that's something that you didn't know.

That was a did you know?

That is correct.

Before we kind of finish up, I just want to touch Very Blobby.

We talked about.

We have Blobby as well.

Obviously Blobby's twin, Mr Mushu is one of the boss battles in this game.

Anyone that hasn't played it, just Google Mr Mushu Gex and To the Gecko and you'll see Very.

Looks very similar to Mr Blobby I'd say, wouldn't you?

Yeah, I agree.

We've had, we've had some hot blobby topics in recent episodes, so go and check those out.

Blobics.

Yeah, some blobics Blobby land that made an appearance.

So if you're looking for the Blobby news, just check out previous episodes because there's a lot going on in there and I know that that is what our listeners listen for so.

I think we're talking absolute drivel.

I just want to, you know, standard.

I just want to very briefly before we conclude, touch on the music.

We've talked about the the voice acting, etcetera.

Is there like, what do you think of the music in this game?

Anything stand out?

I mean, the the graphics, not too much to write home about.

It's a 90s platformer from 1998.

Yeah.

It looks very much the same as it did in 98.

Yeah, and to be fair, the graphics aren't the, although they are of the time, they're not offensive for the time and at the time they probably were OK, but I also think PS1 N 64 graphics haven't aged all that well.

So that's one of those things.

Audio, there's obviously the main title theme, which is all right.

The rest of it I couldn't really pick out.

It just sounds like sort of platforming fair to me, but I'm guessing you might have something a bit more specific to say.

Yeah, I think, I think the music in each of the levels really suits the theme.

Like the the music in the horror levels I think stands out quite a lot, as does the music in the tune levels.

There's nothing crazy like in these games, but I think that some of the music is quite good, particularly for its time.

So I wanted to give that a mention.

So fair enough.

To wrap up then, Gex into the Gecko.

Metacritic score of 70, Open critic score of 72.

Do you think that this game deserves to be on the top 100 list?

In a surprise to to no one, no I.

Thought you were going to say in a surprise turn of events, Yes, and I was going to be really surprised by that, hence it being a surprise turn of events.

Yeah, No, I don't.

It'd be interesting once we have done a few more platformers because I think we've been a bit due to the Metacritic list and the open critic list.

So far we've we've not played many platformers from 90s and even the 2000s and sometimes even later than that.

So it would be interesting to do maybe like a bit of a ranking episode once we've played a few more for those platformers and see where Gex comes.

May not be the worst that may go to Bubsy, but yeah, I just, I just think there are other ones that were doing a lot more.

Whereas I think the the the point of Gex was to sort of, dare I say cash in on the mascot platformer and it and it does an OK job of it.

It's a solid platformer.

I would say probably for me, sevens are a bit too high.

I'd probably give it around a six out of 10, which by no means is not, you know.

It's above average.

Yeah, and, and I was thinking about this.

So I was thinking about Crash Bandicoot and Gex and I I played.

I completed all three Crash Bandicoot games when we did Crash Bandicoot 2 for the podcast.

Yeah.

I think overall I actually prefer the Crash Bandicoot games.

However, I probably found the Gex games to be less frustrating, so there's that going for it.

Yeah, I get that.

Yeah, the the the Crash games are very frustrating.

I think they added a difficulty curb to them as well on the Internet trilogy, because I don't remember them being as hard as that when I was a kid.

But no, I agree, I don't think the Gex games deserve to be in the top 100 list, but I think they're worth a look just if you just want like a time capsule feeling what games were like in the 1990s and what pop culture was like in the 90s, Because I think it does that very well, but to the point where it hasn't aged particularly well either.

But it's worth a look.

It's fun, and I mean.

I would caveat that by saying if you are a modern gamer, do not play this because you're going to wonder what on earth the recommendation was if you.

Drugs were on back then.

Yeah, and if you're into platformers and you've played a lot of 90s platformers, give it a go.

If you've played it before and you want to replay it, give it a go.

Everyone else, honestly, I think you're not going to understand.

And even the 90s stuff, there are probably games that do it better and it's not so pointed in its jabs at 90s things as I'd have liked it to have been.

So I think unless you fall into those two camps, steer clear of it because I just, I just feel like you've got to be open to disappointment.

Yeah, I, I, I do get that.

So yeah, it's, it's a no from both of us, but I'm glad that we played it.

It's it's been nice to.

It was inoffensive.

Yeah, it's been, well, unless, unless you take offence at some of the the stereotypes, of course.

Yeah.

So we we've got a we've chosen our game for next time, which might take us a couple of weeks.

I think my copy of it is being dispatched tomorrow or something.

According to the man.

I'm vinted.

But what game are we doing next please?

We are playing one actually from the open critic list at this time, so a few more from Yeah, we're going to do a few.

I mean, this the way we've been doing things recently, it's been working better for us where we do a few from the list and then we throw in a bonus game.

It just makes it more sustainable because we can kind of whatever we're playing at the at the time or whatever platform we're playing on, we can pick something that we think will be fun.

And I think maybe over the last couple of years we could have done a bit more of that.

So yeah, it's working better for us doing it this way.

So we'll probably do a few more from the list and then we'll Chuck in another bonus, maybe a platform and maybe something else.

But the game that we've got coming up this time is is from the list and it's Resident Evil 2, the remake that came out in recent years.

I can't remember it the exact year, but very well received.

Obviously Resident Evil 2 is just in a way gaming royalty amongst the Resident Evil series.

So yes, horror game.

I know you love those so.

I don't mind the horror game, I just don't like the Resident Evil games.

I don't like the way they control.

So it'll be interesting to see how I get on.

But I mean I'm playing the the remastered version yeah.

So I'm I'm going into it with a semi open mind but.

Yeah, I think you're probably keen as play this one than some of the other ones, weren't you?

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, as well as that, I mean, like, like I say, we're recording this on Bank Holiday Monday if we're in the UK, If you're in the US, then it's any other day but another game that I'm probably going to be playing alongside this because it comes out at the end of this week.

Guesses.

MGS.

Yes, Metal Gear Solid Delta.

I've also pre-ordered that.

I've I've pre-ordered the very expensive collector's edition.

I haven't pre-ordered it, but I'm going to pick, I'll pick it up when it comes out because on the 28th doesn't it say yeah, three days?

So yeah, I'm going to be playing that alongside it, which I'm looking.

Yeah, we will do an episode on that within the coming time.

I want to properly digest it before we do an episode.

We both want to enjoy it.

Yeah.

And I'll probably do a couple of run throughs to be quite honest.

So it'll be good to do that game as well because I remember when we when we came in GS3 on the podcast, we were both really disappointed by how that episode came out.

I don't think we did a very good job on it.

So it'd be good to read.

Yeah, yeah.

Whereas some of our other MGS episodes that maybe for games we're less fond of turned out to be better.

Funnily enough so.

Yeah, and my infamous use of the term United Snakes of America in our MGS 2 episode, which I think was like our third episode maybe.

Yeah, something along those lines.

And that's how far we've come.

It is.

We're still.

Talking gobbledygook and.

Still talking out of our asses.

So yes, Resident Evil 2 will be next, in the next few weeks, I imagine.

Yeah.

In the meantime, we're on social media.

You can e-mail us at the long and short fit at longandshortfitpodcast@hotmail.com.

And yeah, if you enjoyed the episode, give it a share, give it a rating, give it a whatever you want to do.

You know, we're just happy to be here.

But yeah, indeed.

Yeah.

Anything else from you for today?

No, that's it.

Extended Well, we'll we'll see you later.

And in the in the immortal words of Gex, it's tail time.

Cheerio.

Yep, I don't know what that.

Means.

Boy Georges pants so.

Yeah, wow, I feel.

Like a bit of that as well.

That's right.

Have you ever been in Mr Blobbies pants?

I wouldn't want to.

I wouldn't want.

To, or worse still, Noel Edmonds.

I think we should cut the upset there.

See you on the.

Next one, See you next time Cheerio.

Bye bye.