Jet Force Gemini
Encyclopedia
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter
video game developed and published by Rare. It was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64
in late 1999 in North America, Europe and Japan. Created by the same Rare team that developed Blast Corps
, the title features elements that have never been seen on the Nintendo 64, such as a no split-screen
co-operative
mode and a control scheme that features two ways to play the game. Jet Force Gemini shares elements with platform game
s, action-adventure game
s, and run and gun games.
Players assume the role of three members of Jet Force Gemini, the last remaining group of the once proud and strong military organization Jet Force. The main story arc encompasses the trio's quest as they try to stop the advances of the dark insect tyrant Mizar and his near limitless army
. Throughout the game, the player will also have to collect several spaceship
parts and save a large number of Tribals, a group of survivors who have been enslaved and prisoned by Mizar.
Reviews were generally positive towards the game, though not as high as Rare's other N64 games such as GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie
. Praise was given to its graphics, sound and originality, while criticism was levelled at the game's difficult controls and insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game. Jet Force Gemini is frequently regarded as one of the most innovative and original games of its era.
of Drones
. Jet Force Gemini is composed of three main characters: Juno, a taciturn, somewhat melancholy human male whose parents were killed by space pirates that invaded his home station; Vela, Juno's feisty twin sister; and Lupus, Jet Force Gemini's wardog mascot. The game begins with the three characters in orbit around the planet Goldwood after barely escaping the destruction of the entire Jet Force fleet at the hands of Mizar. Their ship however, had suffered extraordinary damage, leaving them defenseless and unable to warp out of the system. It is not long before the team witnesses Mizar's attack on Goldwood, and soon afterwards, their cruiser is attacked by a large craft of Mizar's known as the Spawnship. Boarded by drones and out of time, the three decide to abandon the ship and go off on their own separate paths to stop the invasion.
As the game progresses, the heroes eventually find themselves reunited at Mizar's Palace—and face to face with Mizar himself. However, Mizar, enraged and vowing revenge on the human race, escapes to a nearby asteroid
where he sets course to impact with Earth
. King Jeff, the beloved leader of the Tribals, quickly arranges a plan to help the heroes: by providing an ancient starship
that can quickly catch up to Mizar's asteroid. Nevertheless, the team needs to locate several vital parts scattered throughout the galaxy, as well as rescue all the Tribals enslaved by Mizar. Also, King Jeff upgrades the heroes with new armor and jet pack
s that allow them to fly. From this point on, the team stays united and, together, works to search every world for anything they can find.
After all the Tribals are rescued and the parts found, the team, along with King Jeff, reassembles the old Tribal craft and quickly depart to save Earth. After a rough landing, Juno fights through Mizar's guards and eventually confronts the tyrant. Mizar does not go down easily this time, but indeed after a long struggle, Juno does defeat him. To the surprise of all though, Mizar is revealed to be a robot controlled by King Jeff's jealous brother, Barry. After realizing destroying Barry's robot ruined their best chance of destroying the asteroid, the team is out of options. In an honorable notion, Floyd, the quiet little robot that defected from Mizar and followed the team, offers to sacrifice himself to destroy the asteroid. Hesitantly, the team agrees and attaches a timed warhead to Floyd before sending him into the core. With no time to spare, the team returns to the Tribal craft and departs only seconds before Floyd reaches the core. In a brilliant flash of light, the asteroid is destroyed mere miles away from entering the atmosphere of Earth. Afterwards on Earth, Jet Force Gemini is given the highest honors for their many accomplishments.
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter
with classic shoot 'em up
style gameplay. Players control the playable character from a third-person perspective in a free three dimensional environment. The game features erratic levels
to explore, items to collect, power-up
s that enhance characters health and weaponry, towering bosses to defeat, and most importantly, it features devastation on a massive scale. Unlike other Rare shooters such as GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark
, the weapons in Jet Force Gemini feature no magazines and cannot be reloaded after a certain number of shots.
Players fight on foot and have the ability to jump. Much of the game is spent in battle, but some parts feature platform mechanics
, as the player can hang from most ledges, swim and fly using Jet pack
s when needed. The control scheme introduced unique techniques that have never been seen since in a 3D shooter. In combat, the player is free to set on a manual aiming system with the targeting camera fixed behind the character’s head. When using this technique, a reticle appears on screen and the playable character becomes translucent so that players can aim and shoot with finesse. By contrast, when walking around, the game plays much like a typical 3D platformer.
Exploration is the most important aspect of gameplay. The campaign features a galaxy that is composed of 15 nonlinear worlds, with areas connected by different types of doors. Most of the doors open automatically, but some need a special action to be unlocked. For example, some doors require the player to kill all the enemies in the area to be unlocked, and some can require a specific key, among others. On the other hand, players can take control of any and all three characters as they progress though the game, using their individual and unshared strengths where required; Juno can walk through magma safely, Vela can swim underwater indefinitely, and Lupus can hover for a short period of time. These abilities allow the characters to uncover new areas which the other characters cannot reach. Therefore, choosing the right character for the right stage is critical in order to complete the game. Initially, the game does not allow the player to tackle the different worlds with a desired character, and forces the player to use the three characters individually until they reach a meeting point. Once they get to the meeting point, all of the worlds can be tackled with any character in any order. The overall objective of the game is to explore all the areas in order to save all the Tribals and collect several spaceship pieces that allow the player to get to the final stage.
The game also features a multiplayer mode, where up to four player can battle out in traditional deathmatch
and survival matches. Like GoldenEye 007, options such as weapon schemes, time limit, number of kills or number of lives can be altered to match player preference. Additionally, some multiplayer aspects, such as levels and characters, can be unlocked by finding the corresponding secret in the game's campaign. Players can also unlock some racing mini-games, where players race from an overhead perspective, as well as a firing range mode, which is similar to a rail shooter like Virtua Cop
. In this mode, players are limited to moving a crosshair around the screen while the game automatically follows a specific route. On the other hand, Jet Force Gemini also has a no split-screen
co-operative
mode that has not been seen in any N64 game to date. In co-operative, the second player takes control of Floyd, a floating robot that automatically follows the main playable character, and can assist him by shooting.
. Created by Rare's Blast Corps
team, the inspirations of the game were manifold. The free-roaming nature of Nintendo
's Super Mario 64
influenced the scale and the openness of some of the backgrounds and settings, and the collecting and upgrading of weapons were inspired by Super Metroid
. Additionally, Mountain revealed that "the behaviour of the bad guys was a mixture of arcade space shooter formations and Quake
-style 'attack and cover' mechanics". According to him, "I suppose... we were inspired by all the good stuff we'd played and enjoyed playing". The title also borrowed from other non-related video games sources. Lee Musgrave, lead artist of the game, admitted: "There are elements of Star Wars
in there, Aliens
, Dune
, Battle of the Planets
, even Stargate
– it was a real mix of everything and anything 'space' related."
At one time, the game's protagonists Juno and Vela were designed as younger and more cartoon-like with large heads, but were later changed to their more mature versions at Nintendo’s behest. A similar set of childish models can still be played with via an in-game cheat, though. On the other hand, the game's controls were one of the main concerns during development. The idea was to retain a character-based game, where players could see the character they were playing, while keeping the tightness and accuracy of first-person shooter
s. Rare initially attempted to automate the change of view and targeting mode based on the context of the action, but this idea was eventually replaced with a manual system. According to Mountain, "The solution we ended with is a beautiful thing... It feels very old-school to me; difficult, unforgiving, but ultimately precise".
As several members of the team enjoyed racing games and had also worked on Diddy Kong Racing, they decided to include the futuristic Ant racing featured in the campaign and the top-down arcade racing games in the multiplayer. Additionally, developers initially considered the possibility to use the 4MB N64 Expansion Pak, though the idea was eventually dropped. According to Mountain: "We wanted to deliver the same experience to all players and were confident that we could do this using the standard 4MB of RAM on the console." This led to some confusion as the box cover for the original release stated that it did support such a feature. Nintendo provided a quick-fix to the mislabeled covers by providing stickers declaring its rumble pak
compatibility and fixed later printings of the boxes.
The game was originally planned for release on August 31, 1999, but was pushed back to September 27 in order to give the programmers time to polish up the game. It was then pushed back even further to October 11 due to manufacturing delays. Jet Force Gemini was localized as in Japan due to Nintendo's opinion that the Japanese pronunciation of the original name, "Jetto Fōsu Jeminai" was too difficult to pronounce. 4Kids Entertainment
obtained the rights to merchandising both Jet Force Gemini and Perfect Dark
toys, movies, and other recreational products, although 4Kids did not go on to produce any merchandise for the franchise. Later, an unreleased Game Boy Color
version of Jet Force Gemini was discovered via Assembler Forum. The current owner of the prototype cartridge has attested that the game appears to be nearly complete, though it was never officially announced by either Rare or Nintendo
.
. On the review aggregator Game Rankings
, the game has an average score of 79%, based on 23 reviews. On Metacritic
, the game has an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, which is classified as "generally favorable". GameSpot
's Nelson Taruc awarded the game an 8.8 out of 10, commenting "Nintendo 64 fans should pick up this title without delay and hope that Rareware's team of top-notch talent will continue to churn out even more games like this one for years to come". IGN
's Matt Casamassina
praised the JFG team for exploring new mechanics and concluded his review by saying "this is still one of Nintendo 64's most original games and it has much more good going for it than it does bad".
The game's audio and sound were lauded. Matt Casamassina pointed out that the music was "some of the very best ever put into a Nintendo 64 game", and described the sound effects as "dead-on and crystal clear". Game Revolution
's Johnny Liu added that the game "goes for a more operatic feel than the generic video game techno". Gaming Target
's Steve Graff observed that the audio is "suspenseful and exciting" and "it always keeps the mood of the level". The graphics were also well received. Nelson Taruc praised their diversity, colour and lightning effects. However, other critics such as GameCritics or IGN observed that the frame rate
can drop significantlly. Dale Weir wrote "With all the special effects, textures, and polygons onscreen, whenever the action heated up, the framerate would become erratic". The enemy AI, challenge and variety of weapons have received positive criticism as well. According to IGN, "It's old-school gameplay brought into 3D and it's all extremely satisfying".
While critics generally praised the game's smart level designs and length, many reacted negatively to the insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game. GameCritics noted, "Going through each level three times becomes majorly tedious... and finding them also lead a lot of pointless legwork". Gaming Age stated similar cons and criticized the fact of restarting the level and do it all over again if a single Tribal is killed. IGN declared this task to be "far too tedious to truly be enjoyed". Johnny Liu, on the other hand, admitted that this "is countered by the pure fun of running around tearing through giant bugs with lasers". The multiplayer mode received mixed to negative reviews. IGN called it "slow and clunky" and both Matt Casamassina and Ravi Hiranand agreed that the third-person view takes up far too much of the already tiny split-screen
and that the complex control system does not help make it a game to pick-up-and-play. Nevertheless, the minigames and co-operative
mode were generally well received. Many publications also claimed that the controls were complex and odd. IGN remarked that the targeting system was not very intuitive, even though Ravi Hiranand of Gaming Age observed that "once you get the hang of it after about an hour's play, it does get quite easy to use". Nelson Taruc said that it "remains responsive at all times", but also admitted that "the awkwardness in using two very different control styles in the same game might prove distasteful to some".
In 2000, IGN ranked Jet Force Gemini as the 20th in their list of "The Top 25 N64 Games of All Time". Overall, despite of the fact that Jet Force Gemini fared generally well with critics, the game did not reach the level of commercial success that other N64 games reached, leading Rare not to consider a possible sequel. Nevertheless, since its release, several Rare games have featured cameo appearance
s of Jet Force Gemini, including Kameo: Elements of Power
, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
, and Banjo-Tooie
.
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
video game developed and published by Rare. It was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
in late 1999 in North America, Europe and Japan. Created by the same Rare team that developed Blast Corps
Blast Corps
Blast Corps is a video game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on February 28, 1997, and in the PAL regions on September 1, 1997...
, the title features elements that have never been seen on the Nintendo 64, such as a no split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
co-operative
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
mode and a control scheme that features two ways to play the game. Jet Force Gemini shares elements with platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
s, action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
s, and run and gun games.
Players assume the role of three members of Jet Force Gemini, the last remaining group of the once proud and strong military organization Jet Force. The main story arc encompasses the trio's quest as they try to stop the advances of the dark insect tyrant Mizar and his near limitless army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
. Throughout the game, the player will also have to collect several spaceship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
parts and save a large number of Tribals, a group of survivors who have been enslaved and prisoned by Mizar.
Reviews were generally positive towards the game, though not as high as Rare's other N64 games such as GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
. Praise was given to its graphics, sound and originality, while criticism was levelled at the game's difficult controls and insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game. Jet Force Gemini is frequently regarded as one of the most innovative and original games of its era.
Plot
Jet Force Gemini revolves around the Jet Force Gemini team attempting to defeat the evil leader Mizar and his hordeArmy
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
of Drones
Drone (bee)
Drones are male honey bees. They develop from eggs that have not been fertilized, and they cannot sting, since the worker bee's stinger is a modified ovipositor .-Etymology:...
. Jet Force Gemini is composed of three main characters: Juno, a taciturn, somewhat melancholy human male whose parents were killed by space pirates that invaded his home station; Vela, Juno's feisty twin sister; and Lupus, Jet Force Gemini's wardog mascot. The game begins with the three characters in orbit around the planet Goldwood after barely escaping the destruction of the entire Jet Force fleet at the hands of Mizar. Their ship however, had suffered extraordinary damage, leaving them defenseless and unable to warp out of the system. It is not long before the team witnesses Mizar's attack on Goldwood, and soon afterwards, their cruiser is attacked by a large craft of Mizar's known as the Spawnship. Boarded by drones and out of time, the three decide to abandon the ship and go off on their own separate paths to stop the invasion.
As the game progresses, the heroes eventually find themselves reunited at Mizar's Palace—and face to face with Mizar himself. However, Mizar, enraged and vowing revenge on the human race, escapes to a nearby asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
where he sets course to impact with Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. King Jeff, the beloved leader of the Tribals, quickly arranges a plan to help the heroes: by providing an ancient starship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
that can quickly catch up to Mizar's asteroid. Nevertheless, the team needs to locate several vital parts scattered throughout the galaxy, as well as rescue all the Tribals enslaved by Mizar. Also, King Jeff upgrades the heroes with new armor and jet pack
Jet pack
Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack, and similar names are various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases so as to allow a single user to fly....
s that allow them to fly. From this point on, the team stays united and, together, works to search every world for anything they can find.
After all the Tribals are rescued and the parts found, the team, along with King Jeff, reassembles the old Tribal craft and quickly depart to save Earth. After a rough landing, Juno fights through Mizar's guards and eventually confronts the tyrant. Mizar does not go down easily this time, but indeed after a long struggle, Juno does defeat him. To the surprise of all though, Mizar is revealed to be a robot controlled by King Jeff's jealous brother, Barry. After realizing destroying Barry's robot ruined their best chance of destroying the asteroid, the team is out of options. In an honorable notion, Floyd, the quiet little robot that defected from Mizar and followed the team, offers to sacrifice himself to destroy the asteroid. Hesitantly, the team agrees and attaches a timed warhead to Floyd before sending him into the core. With no time to spare, the team returns to the Tribal craft and departs only seconds before Floyd reaches the core. In a brilliant flash of light, the asteroid is destroyed mere miles away from entering the atmosphere of Earth. Afterwards on Earth, Jet Force Gemini is given the highest honors for their many accomplishments.
Gameplay
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
with classic shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
style gameplay. Players control the playable character from a third-person perspective in a free three dimensional environment. The game features erratic levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
to explore, items to collect, power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s that enhance characters health and weaponry, towering bosses to defeat, and most importantly, it features devastation on a massive scale. Unlike other Rare shooters such as GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
, the weapons in Jet Force Gemini feature no magazines and cannot be reloaded after a certain number of shots.
Players fight on foot and have the ability to jump. Much of the game is spent in battle, but some parts feature platform mechanics
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
, as the player can hang from most ledges, swim and fly using Jet pack
Jet pack
Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack, and similar names are various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases so as to allow a single user to fly....
s when needed. The control scheme introduced unique techniques that have never been seen since in a 3D shooter. In combat, the player is free to set on a manual aiming system with the targeting camera fixed behind the character’s head. When using this technique, a reticle appears on screen and the playable character becomes translucent so that players can aim and shoot with finesse. By contrast, when walking around, the game plays much like a typical 3D platformer.
Exploration is the most important aspect of gameplay. The campaign features a galaxy that is composed of 15 nonlinear worlds, with areas connected by different types of doors. Most of the doors open automatically, but some need a special action to be unlocked. For example, some doors require the player to kill all the enemies in the area to be unlocked, and some can require a specific key, among others. On the other hand, players can take control of any and all three characters as they progress though the game, using their individual and unshared strengths where required; Juno can walk through magma safely, Vela can swim underwater indefinitely, and Lupus can hover for a short period of time. These abilities allow the characters to uncover new areas which the other characters cannot reach. Therefore, choosing the right character for the right stage is critical in order to complete the game. Initially, the game does not allow the player to tackle the different worlds with a desired character, and forces the player to use the three characters individually until they reach a meeting point. Once they get to the meeting point, all of the worlds can be tackled with any character in any order. The overall objective of the game is to explore all the areas in order to save all the Tribals and collect several spaceship pieces that allow the player to get to the final stage.
The game also features a multiplayer mode, where up to four player can battle out in traditional deathmatch
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
and survival matches. Like GoldenEye 007, options such as weapon schemes, time limit, number of kills or number of lives can be altered to match player preference. Additionally, some multiplayer aspects, such as levels and characters, can be unlocked by finding the corresponding secret in the game's campaign. Players can also unlock some racing mini-games, where players race from an overhead perspective, as well as a firing range mode, which is similar to a rail shooter like Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop is a lightgun shooter arcade game created by Sega-AM2, and headed by Yu Suzuki. Its original incarnation was an arcade game in 1994 and it was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, and Microsoft Windows in 1997...
. In this mode, players are limited to moving a crosshair around the screen while the game automatically follows a specific route. On the other hand, Jet Force Gemini also has a no split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
co-operative
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
mode that has not been seen in any N64 game to date. In co-operative, the second player takes control of Floyd, a floating robot that automatically follows the main playable character, and can assist him by shooting.
Development
Development of Jet Force Gemini began in 1997, with Lead Programmer Paul Mountain, who had previously worked on Diddy Kong RacingDiddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997, making it the fastest selling video game at the time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is the first game to spin off from the...
. Created by Rare's Blast Corps
Blast Corps
Blast Corps is a video game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on February 28, 1997, and in the PAL regions on September 1, 1997...
team, the inspirations of the game were manifold. The free-roaming nature of Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
influenced the scale and the openness of some of the backgrounds and settings, and the collecting and upgrading of weapons were inspired by Super Metroid
Super Metroid
, also known as Metroid 3, is an action-adventure video game and the third game in the Metroid series. It was designed by Nintendo Research & Development 1, programmed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console...
. Additionally, Mountain revealed that "the behaviour of the bad guys was a mixture of arcade space shooter formations and Quake
Quake (series)
The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...
-style 'attack and cover' mechanics". According to him, "I suppose... we were inspired by all the good stuff we'd played and enjoyed playing". The title also borrowed from other non-related video games sources. Lee Musgrave, lead artist of the game, admitted: "There are elements of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
in there, Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Dune
Dune (franchise)
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
, Battle of the Planets
Battle of the Planets
Battle of the Planets is an American animated television adaptation of the Japanese anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman . Of the 105 original Gatchaman episodes, 85 were used in the Battle of the Planets adaptation, produced by Sandy Frank Entertainment...
, even Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
– it was a real mix of everything and anything 'space' related."
At one time, the game's protagonists Juno and Vela were designed as younger and more cartoon-like with large heads, but were later changed to their more mature versions at Nintendo’s behest. A similar set of childish models can still be played with via an in-game cheat, though. On the other hand, the game's controls were one of the main concerns during development. The idea was to retain a character-based game, where players could see the character they were playing, while keeping the tightness and accuracy of first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
s. Rare initially attempted to automate the change of view and targeting mode based on the context of the action, but this idea was eventually replaced with a manual system. According to Mountain, "The solution we ended with is a beautiful thing... It feels very old-school to me; difficult, unforgiving, but ultimately precise".
As several members of the team enjoyed racing games and had also worked on Diddy Kong Racing, they decided to include the futuristic Ant racing featured in the campaign and the top-down arcade racing games in the multiplayer. Additionally, developers initially considered the possibility to use the 4MB N64 Expansion Pak, though the idea was eventually dropped. According to Mountain: "We wanted to deliver the same experience to all players and were confident that we could do this using the standard 4MB of RAM on the console." This led to some confusion as the box cover for the original release stated that it did support such a feature. Nintendo provided a quick-fix to the mislabeled covers by providing stickers declaring its rumble pak
Rumble Pak
The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player in the game. Versions of the Rumble Pak are available...
compatibility and fixed later printings of the boxes.
The game was originally planned for release on August 31, 1999, but was pushed back to September 27 in order to give the programmers time to polish up the game. It was then pushed back even further to October 11 due to manufacturing delays. Jet Force Gemini was localized as in Japan due to Nintendo's opinion that the Japanese pronunciation of the original name, "Jetto Fōsu Jeminai" was too difficult to pronounce. 4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment is an American film and television production company in bankruptcy since April 2011. It is known for English-dubbing Japanese anime and specializing in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States...
obtained the rights to merchandising both Jet Force Gemini and Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
toys, movies, and other recreational products, although 4Kids did not go on to produce any merchandise for the franchise. Later, an unreleased Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
version of Jet Force Gemini was discovered via Assembler Forum. The current owner of the prototype cartridge has attested that the game appears to be nearly complete, though it was never officially announced by either Rare or Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
.
Reception
Jet Force Gemini generally received good reviews from critics, though not as high as Rare's other N64 games such as GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-KazooieBanjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
. On the review aggregator Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, the game has an average score of 79%, based on 23 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the game has an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, which is classified as "generally favorable". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Nelson Taruc awarded the game an 8.8 out of 10, commenting "Nintendo 64 fans should pick up this title without delay and hope that Rareware's team of top-notch talent will continue to churn out even more games like this one for years to come". IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist who worked for IGN until April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of Nintendo games. He resides in Los Angeles, California, is married and has two daughters, Zoe and Fiona Jade, and a son named Rocco Archer...
praised the JFG team for exploring new mechanics and concluded his review by saying "this is still one of Nintendo 64's most original games and it has much more good going for it than it does bad".
The game's audio and sound were lauded. Matt Casamassina pointed out that the music was "some of the very best ever put into a Nintendo 64 game", and described the sound effects as "dead-on and crystal clear". Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
's Johnny Liu added that the game "goes for a more operatic feel than the generic video game techno". Gaming Target
Gaming Target
Gaming Target is a website covering video games and gaming culture that was founded on February 17, 1999 by Matt Swider.-History:When it launched in 1999, Gaming Target focused solely on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color...
's Steve Graff observed that the audio is "suspenseful and exciting" and "it always keeps the mood of the level". The graphics were also well received. Nelson Taruc praised their diversity, colour and lightning effects. However, other critics such as GameCritics or IGN observed that the frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
can drop significantlly. Dale Weir wrote "With all the special effects, textures, and polygons onscreen, whenever the action heated up, the framerate would become erratic". The enemy AI, challenge and variety of weapons have received positive criticism as well. According to IGN, "It's old-school gameplay brought into 3D and it's all extremely satisfying".
While critics generally praised the game's smart level designs and length, many reacted negatively to the insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game. GameCritics noted, "Going through each level three times becomes majorly tedious... and finding them also lead a lot of pointless legwork". Gaming Age stated similar cons and criticized the fact of restarting the level and do it all over again if a single Tribal is killed. IGN declared this task to be "far too tedious to truly be enjoyed". Johnny Liu, on the other hand, admitted that this "is countered by the pure fun of running around tearing through giant bugs with lasers". The multiplayer mode received mixed to negative reviews. IGN called it "slow and clunky" and both Matt Casamassina and Ravi Hiranand agreed that the third-person view takes up far too much of the already tiny split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
and that the complex control system does not help make it a game to pick-up-and-play. Nevertheless, the minigames and co-operative
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
mode were generally well received. Many publications also claimed that the controls were complex and odd. IGN remarked that the targeting system was not very intuitive, even though Ravi Hiranand of Gaming Age observed that "once you get the hang of it after about an hour's play, it does get quite easy to use". Nelson Taruc said that it "remains responsive at all times", but also admitted that "the awkwardness in using two very different control styles in the same game might prove distasteful to some".
In 2000, IGN ranked Jet Force Gemini as the 20th in their list of "The Top 25 N64 Games of All Time". Overall, despite of the fact that Jet Force Gemini fared generally well with critics, the game did not reach the level of commercial success that other N64 games reached, leading Rare not to consider a possible sequel. Nevertheless, since its release, several Rare games have featured cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s of Jet Force Gemini, including Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure video game developed by Rare. Under development for 4 years, the game was released as a launch title for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console in late 2005.- Plot :...
, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is the Xbox 360 sequel to the critically acclaimed life simulation game entitled Viva Piñata. The title was officially announced on May 13, 2008 with a September 2, 2008 release date in North America and a September 5, 2008 date in Europe.-Plot:The second Viva...
, and Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a platform and action-adventure hybrid video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a part of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The game is the successor to Banjo-Kazooie and was one of the most anticipated sequels for the Nintendo 64.The game's story...
.