LADYDRAGON.COM - JET FORCE GEMINI

Since the video games became very popular, there are more and more companies on the market which try to produce videos games. Unfortunately, it is not all companies which succeed by doing good games. On the other hand, other companies, in less great numbers, succeed in creating videos games which are not ordinary and which are always very popular. It is the case of Rare, a company that work real hard to create successful games and which, by consequent, does not create a lot of games every year. But each one of these games are all the time successful because this company puts much effort for each one of them: let us take only for example Goldeneye, which after more than 2 years, is still very popular and remains one of the best multiplayer games on platform. The last fruit of this marvelous company is Jet Forces Gemini, a game between Banjo-Kazooie and Goldeneye. In this game, you must save the race of the planet Goldwood, the Tribals which was attacked by the army of Mizar who are very large kinds of insect with rather powerful weapons.

You can control 4 characters in this game : the twins Juno and Vela, Lupus (a dog with a combination and a gun on the back) and also Floyd (a small robot who flies that the 3 other heroes must assemble). Each character has his characteristics: Juno can walk on the lava, Vela can swim under water, Lupus can jump high and to be maintained in the air some times and finally Floyd can flies and can follow one of the heroes to cover them or reach places inaccessible by the others.

There are two modes in this game, there are the 1 player mode or 2 players in co-operative and the multiplayer mode. In the first mode, you follow the rate of the history and you can choose one of the three principal character once that you found them and you explore 15 different worlds. As you find the characters or a special items, you will have to return in the old levels to discover secrets. If you play with a friend in co-operative, you must initially find Floyd and the second player will be able to control it to kill the enemies close to the hero. In Multiplayer (2 to 4 players), there are several modes which you will be able to reach while advancing in the history and by discovering secrets. There is the Battle mode, a race mode in 2D and one in 3D and a target mode where you must shoot at targets but you do not control your vessel. Several weapons are at your disposal (approximately 15) to defend you against insects without mercy.

DESTROY!

You can see that the graphics are very impressive

One of largest problem of this game it is that the control is not really at the height of the game and can become frustrating with times. It is a little bit difficult to aim and to move well in the same time for example but the concept is well thought. The system of camera is not excellent also, but it is not that bad compared to other games. The worlds are very vast and certain players could find them too long and won't want to finish them.

The graphics of this game are very incredible even without the help of the expansion pak (you must not trust what is written on the box, the expansion pak is not used in this game) and you can play in wide screen mode. The sound and the music are also excellent even if there is not much voice. There is also the artificial intelligence which is the best than I ever saw: the enemies do not make only a stupid attack that consist of running toward you while shooting like crazy, they will hide behind boxes or rocks to be more difficult to kill and they attack in groups, RARE-ly (good one) alone. The history of the game is very good and resemble a little bit like Star Wars (the tribals looks like the cute small ewoks in Return of the Jedi) and the videos sequences are very well introduced so that they are parts of the history: Everything is well connected. The idea to have to traverse the game alone to be able to find secrets in the multiplayer mode is an idea that I like and that they have reused again and I like it because you are obligated to play the game all alone to be able to play with all the characters and the levels available. And like Goldeneye, I believe that what will makes this game popular will be its multiplayer mode, this is why the lifespan of this game is very high.

Jet Force Gemini has actually 2 goals: hours and hours of pleasure in 1 player mode and even more hours of pleasure as a multiplayer mode. Certainly some times the system of camera and the control can pose a problem but this small problem is nothing if we look the game's overall. This game is one more example that Rare is a company which is very devoted with its cause: to create good videos games. And if you believe that this game is one of best that Rare has ever made, wait for the arrival of the very awaited Donkey Kong 64 and especially of Perfect Dark, the some short of sequel of Goldeneye, which will certainly be extraordinary games.

Companies
Developer and Publisher
Rare
www.rareware.com

www.jetforcegemini.com

Category
adventure

Notes

Interest : 93 %
Control : 83 %
Graphics : 93 %
Sound : 85 %
Gameplay : 96 %
Originality : 90 %

TOTAL : 90 %

Requirements

Console
Nintendo 64

Accessories
Compatible with the Rumble Pak

Number of Players
1 to 4 Players

ESRB Rating
T (13+) animated violence

LadyDragon's
Choice