Gex



Gex was a platformer franchise featuring a gecko who entered TV and movie themed worlds. The first entry, the simply titled Gex, was a 2D platformer for the 3DO, and later the Playstation 1 and Sega Saturn. The next installment switched to 3D platforming, with Gex: Enter the Gecko. It was released for the PS 1 and N64. The N64 port is noted for cutting out several levels due to space constraints and lacking cutscenes the game previously had (though to be fair, it featured one level that the PS 1 version lacked). The final entry, Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, was again released on the PS 1 and N64 (which did not have any of the FMVs).

Despite being fairly successful and its developer continuing most of its other franchises from the era into the next (and expectations that it would make the leap), the franchise ended with the release of the last game in 1999 and has not resurfaced. It is also not remembered widely, unlike many other PS 1-specific franchises; the creators of Official Playstation Magazine even expressed shock and embarrassment that they had put the third game on their cover!

"Gex: "What is it with cartoons and anvils?""
 * All There in the Manual: There's a LOT in the manual of the first game that isn't in the short intro before it.
 * Aloha Hawaii: Gex lives in Maui.
 * Anvil on Head: A stage hazard for the Toon TV stages in Gex: Enter The Gecko and the New Toon Land stage in the original Gex. Hazards include anvils, safes, weights, fat ladies, and kitchen sinks. Also lampshaded by Gex:

""Commander. They are of a strange species that find Adam Sandler funny.""
 * Auto-Scrolling Level: The "Congo Chaos" level. Stepping on a switch early in the level activates the autoscrolling. It stops at the end of the level (and you can backtrack if you want to).
 * Big Bad: Rez
 * Big Boo's Haunt: The Cemetery world (Gex) and Scream TV (Gex: Enter the Gecko)
 * Big Fancy House: Gex's mansion.
 * Bonus Level: A staple of the series.
 * Cameo: Nikki from Pandemonium.
 * Catch Phrase: "It's tail time!"
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Gex can be thought of as one, seeing as how his references are usually irrelevant to the situation at hand. One of his quotes even involve random barking.
 * Collection Sidequest: One in each game. It's a platformer released in the nineties so this is a given.
 * Conveyor Belt of Doom: Appears in Rez's stages in the original game and Enter The Gecko.
 * Crosshair Aware: Done beautifully on Gex: Enter the Gecko with the final boss, Rez. After a while, the perspective switches to Rez's eyes (while you still control Gex) with Rez firing rockets after he locks on to you.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Gex has his moments.
 * Egopolis: Rezopolis
 * Evil Laugh
 * Far East: Kung Fuville and Kung Fu Theatre.
 * Gotta Catch Them All: The collectible remotes in each game are necessary to unlock new levels.
 * Goomba Stomp: Only works when Gex is preparing a Spring Jump. Otherwise you get hurt.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Happens a surprising amount, particularly in the third game.
 * Lake Flaccid. Ummm...
 * A sign in that area prohibits "premarital Gex."
 * "I'm flaming! In the... Manly way." Okay...
 * "I feel like Lester the Mo-Gexter." ... No comment.
 * And let's not forget the Caligula references in the desert level.
 * Imaginary Friend: "The Mayor"
 * Incendiary Exponent: Each game as a fire power-up.
 * Interspecies Romance: Gex gets the girl in Gex: Enter The Gecko and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. Both women are human, while Gex is a gecko.
 * Just for Pun: Probably one of the worst offenders.
 * The Jeeves: Alfred
 * Lovable Rogue: Gex
 * Mad Scientist: Mooshoo Pork
 * Mascot with Attitude: Gex, of course.
 * Momma's Boy: "How could he use that mouth to kiss her mother?"
 * Mommy Issues: Gex's mother sold the TV to gypsies because Gex has been watching too much TV. He was so upset he ran away.
 * Multipurpose Tongue: Gex can use it to vomit fire, ice and slime with the right powerups, but he more commonly uses it to grab ledges instead of using his hands.
 * NASA: Gex's father worked there as a researcher. Now, Gex's mother owns it.
 * Ninja
 * Non Sequitur: Gex's various quotes are very rarely directly relevant to the situation at hand. Notable because he says them a LOT.
 * Oh God, with the Verbing!: One of Gex's impressions is of Jerry Lewis, "flavin" and all.
 * Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: Used in one of the games: "Is that a lightsaber, or are you just happy to see me?"
 * Part-Time Hero
 * Piranha Problem: Piranhas appear as enemies in the first two games.
 * Power-Up: The original game had a large variety. This was toned down in the sequels, but each game still has a fire and ice power up.
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Gex's family became rich after great-uncle Charlie (the original model for Izod) died and left them over $20 billion. The family bought houses, cars, judges, politicians, 51% ownership of NASA, and Australia (since the kids wanted to go there).
 * Shallow Parody
 * Shout-Out: Has its own page.
 * The Slacker: Gex
 * Spin Attack: Gex's tail whip technically.
 * Spring Jump: Gex's trademark vertical mobility option. There are also jump pads in quite a few levels.
 * Suck E. Cheese's: Gex's mother converted Mission Control into a theme restaurant, Space Monkeys, featuring robotic dancing space chimps.
 * Super Not-Drowning Skills: Played straight in the first game, where Gex swims Mario-style, pressing the jump button to float upwards and not needing any oxygen. In Enter The Gecko, he doesn't need oxygen in the N64 version's titanic level. Averted in Deep Cover Gecko, where Gex has an Oxygen Meter.
 * Take That: Several in Gex's quips. For example:


 * Talkative Loon: Seriously. He does not shut up and the references he makes are so misplaced it goes straight from Shallow Parody into pure randomness.
 * The second game has a button specifically to make him say things.
 * Talking Animal
 * Third Is 3D: Actually, second is.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Flies.
 * Trapped in TV Land: Gex
 * Uncle Pennybags: Great-uncle Charlie
 * Wall Crawl: Gex, naturally.
 * Wuxia: Kung Fuville (Gex) and Kung Fu Theatre levels (Gex: Enter the Gecko)

The original Gex

 * Anticlimax: After beating Rez,  Riveting.
 * Anvil on Head: How you defeat the Flatulator, the boss of the New Toonland level.
 * Auto-Scrolling Level: The "Congo Chaos" level. Stepping on a switch early in the level activates the autoscrolling. It stops at the end of the level (and you can backtrack if you want to).
 * Big Boo's Haunt: The cemetary level.
 * Bonus Level: There is a "Break the barrels" bonus level.
 * Book Ends: The game begins and end with Gex lying around on the couch, surfing the tube.
 * Collection Sidequest: Fly coins.
 * Cute Ghost Girl: Spit N' Puke, the boss of the cemetary level...until you start damaging her.
 * Everything's Deader with Zombies: In the cemetary level, you can fight zombie geckos.
 * Fartillery: How the Flatulator propels himself.
 * Fireballs: Gex can spit them out after getting a fire Power-Up.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: A part in the Planet X level music sounds like "Swing Town" by the Steve Miller Band.
 * The Rezopolis level music carries a similar beat to the theme of MTV's Liquid Television.
 * The Flatulator boss level music has a bit that sounds like the Merry Melodies theme.
 * Password Save
 * Place Worse Than Death: In the horror movie-themed levels, Gex will compare his surroundings to Detroit.
 * Power-Up: The game includes:
 * Super Speed and Super Jump
 * An invincible shield of wind
 * Ice spit
 * Thunder spit
 * Fire spit
 * Heart Container (lasting for the current life/level only)

Gex: Enter The Gecko
"Gex: "I'm the ultimate weapon, baby. Yeah!""
 * Aside Glance: Pulls one off at the end when Rex reveals that
 * Badass Boast:

"Gex: "Is it just me or am I ENGULFED IN FLAMES?!"
 * Bear Trap: A stage hazard for the Toon TV stages.
 * Big Boo's Haunt: The Scream TV levels.
 * Briefcase Full of Money: How the government recruits Gex.
 * Bonus Level: They are unlocked using silver remotes (they even have "BONUS" written in the TV screen) are all collection sidequests which unlock gold remotes. Gold remotes are used to unlock more varied Secret Levels.
 * Circling Stars: Happens when you jump straight into a wall (which doesn't do any damage) or get knocked down from an enemy hit.
 * Cool Shades: Puts on a pair during the intro en route to the Media Dimension.
 * Collection Sidequest: This is how the bonus levels play out in Gex: Enter The Gecko. In the standard levels, it also has you collecting thematic items which change and grant you a 1-UP after getting 30 and 40. Collecting 120 (50 after the second, permanent item change) gets you a silver remote, used to unlock secret levels. The collectibles are:
 * Carrots, cans of spinach, and TNT Plunger Detonators in the Toon TV levels.
 * Skulls, tombstones, and hockey masks in the horror-themed Scream TV levels.
 * Starfish, treasure chests, and necklaces in the Titanic themed level.
 * 9 Volt batteries, red LED's, and ...some strange atom thingy in the cyber-themed Circuit Central levels.
 * Boxes of noodles, yin-yang symbols, and kabuki masks for the chinatown, Kung Fu Theatre levels.
 * Little rockets, laser guns, and mini astronauts for the Rocket Channel space levels.
 * Drumsticks, cow's skulls, and mini, blue brachiosauruses in the Pre-History channel.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: The title of the first Circuit central level: www.dotcom.com
 * Everything's Deader with Zombies: Justification for the presence of zombies in the Scream TV levels.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: Zombies, scorpions, hunters, tikimen, ghosts, robots, ninjae, suits of samurai armor, chinese dragons, aliens, demented pumpkins, dinosaurs, bees, mutant pig-cow hybrids, and bear traps okay. But flowers, smiley faces, capacitors, and semiconductors?
 * Evil Laugh: Rez during his boss fight.
 * Friendly Local Chinatown: Averted. Everything is still out to kill you in the chinatown themed Kung Fu Theatre levels. Even ninjae.
 * Fungus Humongous: Present in the Toon TV level.
 * Gotta Kill Them All: Quite a few red remotes are obtained from killing/destroying X numbers of enemy/destructible Y.
 * Government Agency of Fiction: The people who hire Gex.
 * Green Hill Zone: The Toon TV levels.
 * Hammerspace: In the Toon TV world, the dancing flowers can pull hammers out from behind their backs to attack you. Afterwards, they just hide the hammer behind their backs again, seemingly into thin air.
 * "Have a Nice Day" Smile: Appears as an enemy in the Toon TV world.
 * Hub Level: The Media Dimension.
 * Improvised Zipline: In the Kung Fu Theatre levels.
 * Incendiary Exponent: When Gex eats a fire-fly, he is set on fire and leaves a trail of fire when he attacks. He is also invincible.

Gex: "I'm flaming! In the...manly way.""

"Gex: "Last time I was here I was dressed as a woman. Yes!""
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: Justification for the presence of ninjae in the Kung Fu Theatre levels, despite being China themed for the most part.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: You can recognize a LOT of famous themes in the soundtrack:
 * A variation of the Indiana Jones theme is used in the appropriately themed bonus level: Aztec 2 Step.
 * The In Drag Net bonus level theme sounds remarkably similar to the famous Bad Boys from Inner Circle.
 * When riding a rocket in the Rocket Channel space level, a variant of the Star Wars opening theme plays. Upon arrival, a variant of the Star Wars battle theme plays.
 * A variant of Popeye the Sailor's theme is played while riding a boat to the castle dock in "Fine Tooning".
 * The intro to the second space level, "Pain In The Asteroids", is very similar to the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey... before devolving into the theme of The Jetsons.
 * Kaizo Trap: If you collect a remote and die before landing on the ground (falling off a cliff, run out of air, etc.) the game will act as if you had died, but will still register that you obtained the remote. Not particularly useful, unless you really don't want to go back to the Hub World, but not very frustrating either since the remote collection still counts.
 * Kill It with Fire: In Gex: Enter The Gecko, creating a circle of fire around an enemy while under the effects of the fire-fly grants an instant kill via rising tower of flame. Notably, this is the only way, asides from its ice counterpart, to dispose of the corpses of zombies (which is not necessary or useful in anyway but is still very cool).
 * Kill It with Ice: Functionally identical to the fire-fly, the ice-fly allows Gex to also instakill enemies.
 * Laser Blade: Gex plays with a lightsaber in his idle animation in the Rocket Channel space levels in Gex: Enter The Gecko, complete with sound effects. Sadly, he cannot use it in combat. They are also used by certain enemies in the same level.
 * Last-Second Word Swap: The title of the second non-bonus Rocket Channel level is name "Pain In The As".
 * Lethal Lava Land: The Pre-History Channel levels.
 * Loin Cloth: Gex dons one in the Pre-History channel levels.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father:
 * The Men in Black: They recruit him to help get rid of Rez again.
 * Mix-and-Match Critters: Mooshoo Pork, the second boss. The upper part of a pig with the bottom part of a cow. Also has a curly mustache and High-Class Glass.
 * Mood Dissonance: Hearing Gex's wise-cracks and Non Sequitors make the horror themed levels very silly, even if they aren't meant to be taken seriously in the first place.
 * Only in It For the Money: Gex's motivation in Gex: Enter The Gecko.
 * Oxygen Meter: Used in the Rocket Channel space levels. There are air refueling centers and boxes filled with air bubbles littered across the level.
 * Portrait Painting Peephole: Some of the portraits in the horror themed "Scream TV" world.
 * Savage Piercings: Gex has a Stock Femur Bone attached to his nose in the Pre-History dinosaur themed levels.
 * Secret Level: They are unlocked using gold remotes obtained from Bonus Levels and bosses. They reward the player with secret cutscenes.
 * Sequence Breaking: It is possible to skip a large portion of the "Fine Tooning" Toon TV level by jumping on top of a domino and jump kicking past a gap, as shown here. Normally, you would need to follow the moat river to another section of the level to find a boat which acts as a platform, as shown here.
 * Sequel Number Snarl: The previous game in the series is simply called "Gex", and the next game is Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko...but this game isn't called Gex 2, leading to confusion for those who missed out on the original (e.g. N64 owners.)
 * Space Zone: The Rocket Channel levels.
 * The Stinger:
 * Tennis Boss: The first boss.
 * Thirteen Is Unlucky: In order to get a Red Remote in the second horror themed level, it is necessary to activate a switch which makes a clock strike thirteen.
 * Top Ten List:
 * Translation Train Wreck: Made fun at in "Samurai Night Fever", where there is an advertisement for a deal on subtitles, 2 for 1.
 * Under the Sea: The majority of the N64 exclusive Titanic level.
 * Vader Breath: Plays in the background of the Rocket Channel levels. Gets faster as your air gets lower.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser:


 * Worldwide Punomenon: Almost all of level names are puns:
 * "Smellraiser": The first Scream TV level.
 * Gilligex Isle: The first boss level.
 * Gecques Cousteau: The N64 exclusive Titanic level.
 * Frankensteinfeld: The second Scream TV level.
 * Thrusday the 12th: The second Bonus Level.
 * Lava Dabba Doo: The first Secret Level.
 * The Umpire Strikes Out: The first Rocket Channel level.
 * The Spy Who Loved Himself: The fourth Bonus Level.
 * Pangea 90210: The first non-secret Pre History Channel level.
 * Texas Chainsaw Manicure: The second secret Scream TV level.
 * Honey I Shrunk The Gecko: The second Circuit Central level.
 * Poltergex: The third non-secret Scream TV level.
 * Gexzilla vs. Mecharez: Third boss battle.
 * Samurai Night Fever: The second Kung Fu Theatre level.
 * No Weddings And A Funeral: The penultimate stage.
 * The toon levels: "Out of Toon" and "Fine Tooning".
 * Your Head Asplode: If you hit the Green Grey aliens just right, you can induce this trope.

Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
"Alfred: "Hwah, sir. Them treasure chests contain treasure.""
 * Anachronism Stew: Just in case you were somehow expecting an accurate portrayal of ancient Egypt in the "Holy Moses!", there's a metal hot dog stand at the entrance.
 * An Asskicking Christmas: The "Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Anti Frustration Feature: Levels where you can fall down and are forced to redo a long segment come with mini- checkpoints to go back to where you fell (The "Cutcheese Island"'s platforming segment and the Fairytales TV's beanstalk).
 * Bad Santa: Evil Santa acts as a Tennis Boss in the "Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Big Badass Wolf: The wolf enemies in the Fairytales TV level are fairly harmless, but take the most hits out of all the non-boss enemies in the game.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: You fight giant locusts and a giant spider in the "Holy Moses!" level.
 * Bonus Level: Unlocks cheats.
 * Build Like an Egyptian: The Tut TV "Holy Moses!" level.
 * Captain Obvious: Alfred is like this sometimes.

"Sign in Lake Flaccid: "No Premarital Gex""
 * Circling Stars: A returning trope from Enter The Gecko
 * Dem Bones: Skeletons appear in the Mythology Network channel "Mythstories" level as well as the "Cutcheese Island" level.
 * Christmas Elves: The Mooks of the "Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Egyptian Mythology: Ensemble Darkhorse Anubis is an enemy in "Holy Moses!"
 * Everything's Better with Chickens: There presence in the "Organ Trail" level.
 * Everything's Better with Penguins: You can hit penguins for fly coins in the Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Messy Pig: The reason they appear in the "Mythstories" network.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: You fight taxidermied bears in the "Clueless In Seattle" level.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: Now we have Christmas Elves, taxidermied bears, billard balls, fleas, man-eating lawnchairs, exotic blunderbuss-wielding stereotypically British hunters, mummies, Anubis clones, faces coming out of walls, giant locusts, giant spiders, nasty drill sergeants...and that's barely half-way through the game.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Rex is a T-Rex.
 * Gang Plank Galleon: The Buccaneer Program level "Cutcheese Island". Despite the name, the level does not take place on an island at all.
 * Gatling Good: You can use stationary gatling guns in the Army TV "War is Heck" level.
 * Ghost Pirate: An enemy on the "Cutcheese Island" level.
 * Gotta Catch Them All: Remotes, fly coins, and bonus coins which unlock levels(varies), an extra remote(100), extra health(25), and Bonus Levels respectively(varies).
 * Grave Humor: The tombstones in the "Organ Trail" level are fairly spiteful.
 * Heart Container: Getting 25 Paw coins increases your life.
 * Heroic Albino: Gex when he's a vampire.
 * Hub Level: The Gex cave.
 * Incredible Shrinking Man: In "Clueless In Seattle", Gex needs to shrink to do some minigames on a trophy bear head, a kitchen sink, and a billiard board, because...magnifying glass?
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: Oh so much. If not Gex's lines then some of the titles. If not those then we get gems like these:


 * Instant Ice, Just Add Cold: Rex starts out in an ice cube. Push him near a fire and he's as good as new.
 * Improvised Zipline: In the "Cutcheese Island" level.
 * The Jeeves: Alfred obviously.
 * Kangaroo Pouch Ride: Gex goes for one in the first Bonus Level: Marsupial Madness.
 * Killer Robot: An enemy type fought in the Anime Channel level: "When Sushi Goes Bad."
 * Mad Bomber: One mission in the Superhero Show level has you defeating the mad bomber.
 * Masked Luchador: Gex dresses as one for the first boss fight versus a wrestler.
 * The Maze: A mild example with the hedge maze in "Clueless In Seattle".
 * Medley: The music to "Totally Scrooged" is a medley of various Christmas songs: "Jingle Bells", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and "Frosty the Snowman" (played in a minor key to give it a sinister sound).
 * Mummy: An enemy in the "Holy Moses!" level. Can turn into a tornado, oddly enough.
 * Money to Burn: One mission in the Gangster TV level requires you to burn piles of funny money.
 * Mythology Gag: One of the secret levels (Braveheartless) references another Crystal Dynamics game: Akuji The Heartless.
 * Never Smile At a Crocodile: You ride a crocodile in one of the Bonus Levels
 * Non-Indicative Name: The "Cutcheese Island" takes place on a galleon stranded in the middle of nowhere. Also there is no farting involved.
 * Not Quite Flight: Gex can glide when he wears an outfit equipped with a cape. This includes the vampire costume and the red riding hood costume. He can also get this ability in his Power Suit in the Anime Channel level as well as from a superpower gained from a super power booth.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: Being a vampire only gives Gex the ability to be albino, have fangs and glide.
 * Pirate Parrot: An enemy in the "Cutcheese Island" level.
 * Powered Armor: Gex puts one on in the Anime Channel level. It looks like a stereotypical mecha and allows him to glide. It does not, however, reduce any damage.
 * Scary Scorpions: Seen in the "Organ Trail" level.
 * Secret Level:
 * Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The "Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Snowball Fight: How the elves attack you in the "Totally Scrooged" level.
 * Spin Attack: Strangely enough used by mummies.
 * Stock Dinosaurs: The only dinosaurs in this game are Rex the T-Rex,...
 * Suicide Attack: The walking hand grenades in the "War is Heck" level will attempt to pull one on you.
 * Super Strength: Gex can transform into a super hero and gain this power to destroy special boxes and cars.
 * Tank Goodness: There is a segment in the "War is Heck" level where you drive a tank through a destructible city.
 * Tennis Boss: Evil Santa and the Mad Bomber There is also an enemy in the "Organ Trail" level who can only be defeated this way.
 * Theme and Variations Soundtrack: Nearly every piece of music in the third game is based on one theme, merely arranged in different ways depending on the environment.
 * Toilet Humour: One objective in the "Organ Trail" level is to "visit the world's largest mound of poop" because...westerns are filthy?
 * Wall Master
 * The Wild West: Parodied in the "Organ Trail" level.
 * Worldwide Punomenon: Continuing the trend from Enter The Gecko:
 * Again see the Shout-Out section for puns referencing other works.
 * Holiday Broadcasting channel: "Totally Scrooged".
 * Random signs in front of the doors in the "Organ Trail" level say "Itznot Mine"
 * There is a huge dog dish with the name "Fefido" at the top of a beanstalk.
 * The title of one Bonus Level: "War and Pieces"
 * The Superhero Show level "Superzeroes".