''Jet Force Gemini'' is a 1999
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D computer graphics, 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. ...
developed and published by
Rare for the
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
video game console. The game follows the story of three members of a galactic law enforcement team as they try to stop a horde of
drones led by an
insectoid called Mizar. It features a
single-player mode where the player must explore a galaxy and save Tribals, a race of survivors who have been enslaved and imprisoned by Mizar, and places strong emphasis on shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The game also includes a
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode where two to four players can compete in traditional
deathmatch games.
Inspired by 80s
arcade games and more recent titles of the time, such as ''
Super Metroid
is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It is the third installment in the ''Metroid'' series, following the events of the Game Boy ...
'' and ''
Super Mario 64'', ''Jet Force Gemini'' blends elements of both
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
and
action-adventure
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...
games. Works such as ''
Aliens'', ''
Stargate'' and ''
Battle of the Planets
''Battle of the Planets'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime series '' Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' (1972). Of the 105 original ''Gatchaman'' episodes, 85 were used in the ''Battle of the Planets'' adaptation, produced by Sandy Fr ...
'' were also major influences. The game received generally positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to its detailed graphics and lifespan, while criticism was targeted at its confusing controls and insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game. In 2015, ''Jet Force Gemini'' was included as part of the ''
Rare Replay'' video game compilation for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
.
Gameplay
''Jet Force Gemini'' is a
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D computer graphics, 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. ...
with
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...
and
action-adventure
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...
elements, in which the player controls the
player character from a
third-person perspective in a 3D environment.
The game places strong emphasis on shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks.
Weapons have no
magazine restrictions and include
grenades, a
pistol, a
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
, a
sniper rifle, a
flamethrower, and
rocket launchers, among others.
Although much of the game is spent in battle, the player has the ability to jump, hang from ledges, swim, and fly using
jet pack
A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...
s, when needed.
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
crosshair
A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope ...
appears on screen and the player character becomes translucent so that players can aim and shoot with finesse.
By contrast, when walking around, the game plays similar to a 3D
platformer
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...
.
In the game's
single-player mode, the player must explore a galaxy that is composed of 15
nonlinear
In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many othe ...
worlds.
Each world is composed of a series of
stages
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* S ...
with areas interconnected by different types of doors. Most doors open automatically, but some require a special action to be unlocked. For example, some doors require the player to defeat all the enemies in the area, while others may require a specific key.
Although the player has a certain amount of
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
which decreases when attacked by enemies, health-recovery
gems
Gems, or gemstones, are polished, cut stones or minerals.
Gems or GEMS may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Gems'' (Aerosmith album), 1988
* ''Gems'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1994
* ''Gems'' (Michael Bolton album), 2011
* Gems TV, ...
and ammunition crates can be collected throughout the world to increase the player's resources.
Power-ups can also be found to expand the player's health and ammunition capacity.
While progressing through the game, the player can take control of three different characters: Juno, Vela, and Lupus. Each character has a special ability that allows them to uncover areas which the other characters cannot reach. Juno can walk through
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...
safely, Vela can swim underwater indefinitely, and Lupus can hover for a short period of time. Therefore, choosing the right character for the right stage is critical in order to complete the game.
Initially, the game forces the player to use the three characters individually until they reach a meeting point. Once they reach 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 galaxy to collect several
starship parts and save a large number of survivors.
The player can then use a starship and travel to the final stage.
In addition to the single-player mode, ''Jet Force Gemini'' features a
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode where two to four players can compete in traditional
deathmatch games.
Options such as the weapons available, the winning condition, and time limit can be changed to match player preference.
Some multiplayer aspects, such as levels and characters, must be unlocked by finding the corresponding secret in the game's single-player mode.
Players can also unlock
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
mini-games that are played from an
overhead perspective,
as well as a firing range challenge, where players must shoot numerous targets while the game automatically follows a predefined path.
''Jet Force Gemini'' also features a no
split-screen co-operative mode where a second player may take control of Floyd, a floating robot that automatically follows the main player character in the single-player mode.
Plot
''Jet Force Gemini'' revolves around the galactic law enforcement team Jet Force Gemini attempting to stop a horde of
drones led by an
insectoid called Mizar. The team is composed of Juno, Vela, and their
wardog mascot Lupus. 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, who has been capturing and enslaving a race of survivors known as the Tribals. When Juno, Vela and Lupus are attacked by several drones, the three decide to abandon their ship and go off on their own separate paths to stop the invasion. After traversing various planets, the heroes find themselves reunited at Mizar's Palace and face to face with Mizar, who escapes to a nearby
asteroid where he sets course to impact with
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. To help the heroes, Tribals leader King Jeff provides them with an ancient starship that can quickly catch up to Mizar's asteroid. In return, the team must rescue all the Tribals throughout the galaxy.
After rescuing all the Tribals and restoring the starship with several needed parts, the team, along with King Jeff, departs to the asteroid and confront Mizar. To the surprise of all though, Mizar is revealed to be a robot controlled by King Jeff's jealous brother, Barry. Realising that destroying Barry's robot ruined their best chance of destroying the asteroid, the team is out of options. In an honorable notion, Floyd, a little robot that
defected
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
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. The team returns to the starship and departs shortly before Floyd destroys the asteroid. Afterwards on Earth, the Jet Force Gemini team is given the highest honors for their accomplishments.
Development
''Jet Force Gemini'' was developed by
Rare's ''
Blast Corps
''Blast Corps'' is an action game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. In the game, the player uses vehicles to destroy buildings in the path of a runaway nuclear missile carrier. In the game's 57 levels, the pl ...
'' team.
Work on the game began in 1997 with lead engineer Paul Mountain, who had previously worked on ''
Diddy Kong Racing
''Diddy Kong Racing'' is a 1997 racing video game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game is set on Timber's Island and revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizar ...
''.
The inspirations of the game ranged from 80s
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
classics to more recent titles of the time.
The free-roaming nature of
Nintendo's ''
Super Mario 64'' influenced the scale and the openness of some of the backgrounds and settings, while the collecting and upgrading of weapons were inspired by ''
Super Metroid
is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. It is the third installment in the ''Metroid'' series, following the events of the Game Boy ...
''.
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, in short, we were inspired by all the good stuff we'd played and enjoyed playing."
''Jet Force Gemini'' also borrowed elements from non-video game sources. Lead artist Lee Musgrave admitted, "There are elements of ''
Star Wars'' in there, ''
Aliens'', ''
Dune'', ''
Battle of the Planets
''Battle of the Planets'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime series '' Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' (1972). Of the 105 original ''Gatchaman'' episodes, 85 were used in the ''Battle of the Planets'' adaptation, produced by Sandy Fr ...
'', even ''
Stargate'' – it was a real mix of everything and anything 'space' related."
Most of the characters in the game were named after stars and constellations, such as
Mizar
Mizar is a second- magnitude star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has the Bayer designation ζ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised as Zeta Ursae Majoris). It forms a well-known naked eye ...
and
Vela.
Originally, the protagonists Juno and Vela were designed as younger and more cartoon-like with large heads, but they were ultimately changed to a more mature version because Nintendo expressed concerns over a game starring two children killing a large number of creatures.
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 (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
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."
Because several members of the team enjoyed
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
games and had also worked on ''Diddy Kong Racing'', they decided to include the futuristic Ant racing mini-game in the campaign mode and the top-down arcade racing games in the multiplayer mode.
Developers initially considered the possibility to use the 4
MB Nintendo 64
Expansion Pak,
but 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
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 ...
compatibility and fixed later printings of the boxes.
In May 1999, a playable demonstration of the game was presented at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California.
A more complete version of the game was showcased at
Nintendo Spaceworld
formerly named and was an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo from 1989 to 2001. Its three days of high-energy party atmosphere was the primary venue for Nintendo and its licensees to announce and demonstrate new consoles and gam ...
in Japan in August 1999, alongside Rare's ''
Donkey Kong 64
''Donkey Kong 64'' is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first 3D game in the '' Donkey Kong'' series. As the gorilla Donkey Kong, the player explores themed levels to collect it ...
'' and ''
Perfect Dark
''Perfect Dark'' is a first-person shooter developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console in 2000. The first game of the '' Perfect Dark'' series, it follows Joanna Dark, an agent of the Carrington Institute research ...
''.
The game was originally intended to be released in North America on August 31, 1999, but was pushed back to September 27, 1999, to give the developers more time to polish up the game.
It was then pushed back even further to October 11, 1999, due to manufacturing delays.
In Europe, the game was released on October 29, 1999.
''Jet Force Gemini'' was localized as in Japan because Nintendo felt that the Japanese pronunciation of the Western title, "''Jetto Fōsu Jeminai''", was too difficult to pronounce.
Although
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
obtained the rights to merchandising ''Jet Force Gemini'' and ''Perfect Dark'' toys, movies, and other recreational products, the company did not produce any merchandise.
Reception
''Jet Force Gemini'' received generally positive reviews from critics.
''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
'' described it as "a straightforward blaster at heart",
while
AllGame
RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...
claimed that it "pays homage to
8- and
16-bit
16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.
A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mo ...
games with its emphasis on high-intensity action and level design that requires skill with the controller."
Writing for ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'', journalist
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist, businessman, and novelist, and a founding editor of '' IGN''. He quit working for IGN on April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of games by video game ...
remarked that, although ''Jet Force Gemini'' has some flaws and could be more polished, it is "still one of Nintendo 64's most original games and it has much more good going for it than it does bad."
In a mixed review, ''
Next Generation'' felt that the game was bloated with too many features and that it may exhaust players before it is over, concluding that the game would have been "twice as good" if "Rare had cut all the tedious parts".
The game's graphics and surround sound effects were received very positively.
Casamassina described its sound effects as "dead-on and crystal clear" and its soundtrack as "some of the very best ever put into a Nintendo 64 game,"
while ''
GameRevolution
''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') 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, screenshot ...
'' said that the game "goes for a more operatic feel than the generic video game
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
."
Graphically, the game was highlighted for its "visually stunning" settings, "state-of-the-art" animations, and special lighting,
with ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' remarking that the game's "enormous" explosions help intensify the action.
Despite the praise, some critics observed occasional
frame rate drops when the action increases or when the game is played in non-
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
mode.
''Edge'' also criticized the camera for refusing to move in some situations, requiring players to enter the aiming mode to manually center it behind the player character.
Although ''Jet Force Gemini'' was generally praised for its challenging
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
, included mini-games and length,
some critics reacted negatively to the game's insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the campaign mode.
Casamassina felt that this task was "far too tedious to truly be enjoyed."
In contrast, ''
N64 Magazine
''NGC Magazine'' (''N64 Magazine'' until October 2001 (issue 59)) was a British magazine specialising in Nintendo video game consoles and software. It was first printed in 1997 and ran until 2006. It was the successor to ''Super Play'', a magaz ...
'' stated that revisiting previous stages with new weapons was fun and extends the game's lifespan.
Critics agreed its controls were complex and confusing and that they were clunky during multiplayer.
In a negative review, ''
The Cincinnati Enquirer
''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...
'' explained that the game is frustrating because players are required to constantly change from using the analog stick to the C buttons of the
Nintendo 64 controller
The Nintendo 64 controller (model number: NUS-005) is the standard game controller for the Nintendo 64 home video game console. Manufactured and released by Nintendo on June 23, 1996, in Japan, in late 1996 in North America, and 1997 in Europe, ...
when switching to combat mode.
''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' said that the controls remain responsive at all times, but acknowledged that the alternation between the two control styles may frustrate some players.
In a retrospective review, ''
Nintendo Life
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
'' stated that ''Jet Force Gemini'' is "a really enjoyable game" with "its fair share of flaws that tend to hinder the experience a little too much. That being said, it's certainly an incredibly fun title, at its best, that will definitely raise a few smiles."
Legacy
After the release of ''Jet Force Gemini'', work on a
Game Boy Color version of the game started, but the project was ultimately cancelled.
According to former Rare designer and producer Martin Wakeley, ''Jet Force Gemini'' on the Game Boy Color "was the only occasion I can remember Rare outsourcing anything. It was being done by
Bits Studios and was nearly done last time I saw it, I'm not sure what happened to it."
The game would be a shooter played from an
isometric perspective and would follow Juno and Lupus searching for Vela after a signal is broadcast from an unknown planet.
The game was never officially announced by either Rare or Nintendo.
In 2000, ''Jet Force Gemini'' was ranked by IGN at number 20 in their list of The Top 25 N64 Games of All Time.
In 2009, ''
Official Nintendo Magazine
''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo.
Originally published by EMAP as '' ...
'' ranked it the 93rd best game available on Nintendo platforms. The staff called it Rare's "big hope" due to the highly anticipated but delayed Nintendo 64 game ''Perfect Dark''.
Subsequent games developed by Rare have featured
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s of ''Jet Force Gemini'', including ''
Kameo: Elements of Power'', ''
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise'', and ''
Banjo-Tooie
''Banjo-Tooie'' is a platform video game developed by Rare and originally released for the Nintendo 64 console in 2000. It is the second game in the '' Banjo-Kazooie'' series and the sequel to '' Banjo-Kazooie''. The game follows the returnin ...
''.
Players may also dress their character up as Juno, Vela, and Lupus in ''
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition'' through the use of a
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
pack.
The game is included as part of the ''
Rare Replay'' video game compilation for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, with support for dual-analog controls being added post-release.
References
External links
*
{{Good article
1999 video games
Cooperative video games
Military science fiction video games
Nintendo 64 games
Nintendo games
Rare (company) games
Third-person shooters
Video games about insects
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games about zombies
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Video games scored by Graeme Norgate
Video games scored by Robin Beanland
Video games set on fictional planets
3D platform games
Xbox One games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom