Jet Force Gemini
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Jet Force Gemini'' is a 1999
third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 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. While 2D shoot 'em ...
developed and published by Rare for the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
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 A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...
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 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 Deathmatch commonly refers to: * A particularly brutal type of hardcore wrestling * Deathmatch (video games), a free-for-all video game mode Death Match may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *'' Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers: D ...
games. Inspired by 80s
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...
s and more recent titles of the time, such as ''
Super Metroid is a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment in the ''Metroid'' series, following the events of the Game Boy g ...
'' and ''
Super Mario 64 ''Super Mario 64'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combini ...
'', ''Jet Force Gemini'' blends elements of both
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre 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 typ ...
and
action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
games. Works such as ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...
'', ''
Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...
'' 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 Fra ...
'' were major influences. The game received generally positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to its detailed graphics and life-span, 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 ''Rare Replay'' is a 2015 compilation of 30 video games from the 30-year history of developers Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles—from the ZX Spectrum in 1983 to the Xbox ...
'' 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 console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
. The game was rereleased via the
Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service in 2023.


Gameplay

''Jet Force Gemini'' is a
third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 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. While 2D shoot 'em ...
with
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre 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 typ ...
and
action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
elements, in which the player controls the
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
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 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, rocket pack or flight pack is a device worn as a backpack which uses jets to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and the first working experimental d ...
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 or crosshair, 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 ...
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 platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
. In the game's
single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...
mode, the player must explore a galaxy that is composed of 15
nonlinear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear 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, mathe ...
worlds. Each world is composed of a series of
stages Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media 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 Brit ...
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 has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
which decreases when attacked by enemies, health-recovery
gems A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and ...
and ammunition crates can be collected throughout the world to increase the player's resources.
Power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...
s can be found to expand the player's health and ammunition capacity. While progressing, 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 (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...
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 Tribal survivors. Tribals can potentially be killed by weaponsfire, requiring the player to restart the encounter in order to save them. The player must collect all 12 ship parts and 282 Tribals to access 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 Deathmatch commonly refers to: * A particularly brutal type of hardcore wrestling * Deathmatch (video games), a free-for-all video game mode Death Match may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *'' Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers: D ...
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 unlock
racing In sports, 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 g ...
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'' features a no split-screen
co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
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, composed of twin siblings Juno and 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 the insectoid Mizar, who has been capturing and enslaving the native Tribals on Goldwood. When their ship is boarded by several of Mizar's drones, the three decide to abandon their ship and go off on their own separate paths to stop the invasion. Along the way, Juno finds and reconstructs Floyd, a small floating robot who defects from Mizar and agrees to aid the team. After traversing various planets, the heroes find themselves reunited at Mizar's Palace and confront Mizar, who escapes to a nearby asteroid and sets course to impact with Earth. To help the heroes, the Tribals' leader King Jeff provides them with an ancient starship that can quickly catch up to Mizar's asteroid, asking them to rescue all the Tribals throughout the galaxy in exchange. After rescuing all the Tribals and restoring the starship with several needed parts, the team, along with King Jeff, departs to the asteroid and battle Mizar. To everyone's surprise, Mizar is revealed to be a robot controlled by King Jeff's jealous brother, Barry, who apologizes for letting things get out of hand. With time running out until the asteroid strikes Earth, Floyd offers to carry a warhead into the asteroid's core and destroy it. The team hesitantly agrees and flees in the starship shortly before Floyd sacrifices himself to destroy the asteroid. 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 (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The player uses vehicles to destroy buildings in the path of a runaway nuclear missile carrier. In the game's 57 Level (video ga ...
'' 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 kart racing game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizard pig named Wizpig, through win ...
''. The inspirations of the game ranged from 80s
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
classics to more recent titles of the time. The free-roaming nature of
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
's ''
Super Mario 64 ''Super Mario 64'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combini ...
'' 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 a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment in the ''Metroid'' series, following the events of the Game Boy g ...
''. 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'' borrowed elements from non-video game sources. Lead artist Lee Musgrave admitted, "There are elements of ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' in there, ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...
'', ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
'', ''
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 Fra ...
'', even ''
Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...
'' – 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 d ...
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 A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
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 sports, 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 g ...
games and had 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 Nintendo 64 accessories are first-party Nintendo hardwareand third-party hardware, licensed and unlicensed. Nintendo's first-party accessories are mainly transformative system expansions: the 64DD Internet multimedia platform, with a floppy driv ...
, 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 that 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 i ...
compatibility and fixed later printings of the boxes. In May 1999, a playable demonstration of the game was presented at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
in Los Angeles, California. A more complete version of the game was showcased at Nintendo Spaceworld in Japan in August 1999, alongside Rare's ''
Donkey Kong 64 ''Donkey Kong 64'' is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first ''Donkey Kong'' game to feature 3D gameplay. As the gorilla Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, the p ...
'' and ''
Perfect Dark ''Perfect Dark'' is a 2000 first-person shooter developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The first game of the '' Perfect Dark'' series, it follows Joanna Dark, an agent of the Carrington Institute research centre, as she attempts ...
''. 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, and on December 1, 1999, in Japan. The Japanese release of ''Jet Force Gemini'' was localized as 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; stylized as 4K!DS ENTERTAINMENT) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production ...
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 by ...
'' described it as "a straightforward blaster at heart", while
AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
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 ...
games with its emphasis on high-intensity action and level design that requires skill with the controller." Writing for ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming 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 district and is headed by its former e ...
'', 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 Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'' 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 Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company Evolve Media, LLC. Mandatory focuses its contents into the male ...
'' said that the game "goes for a more operatic feel than the generic video game
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
." Graphically, the game was highlighted for its "visually stunning" settings, "state-of-the-art" animations, and special lighting, with ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' remarking that the game's "enormous" explosions help intensify the action. Despite the praise, some critics observed occasional
frame rate Frame rate, most commonly expressed in frame/s, or FPS, is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (Film frame, frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and moti ...
drops when the action increases or when the game is played in non-
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), 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 ...
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 the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
, 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 maga ...
'' 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, altho ...
'' 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 console. Manufactured and released by Nintendo, it debuted alongside the console in Japan on June 23, 1996, followed by North America on ...
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 digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' 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 The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...
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 Bits Studios was a British video game developer. The company has had over 30 titles published over the United States, Europe and Asia on multiple platforms. Bits Studios' parent company, PlayWize, sold off all assets and technologies held by th ...
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 The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...
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 journalism, 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 p ...
'' 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 appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
s of ''Jet Force Gemini'', including '' Kameo: Elements of Power'', '' Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise'', and ''
Banjo-Tooie ''Banjo-Tooie'' is a 2000 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 console. It is the second game in the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series and the sequel to ''Banjo-Kazooie''. The game follows the returning protago ...
''. Players may also dress their character up as Juno, Vela, and Lupus in '' Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition'' through the use of a
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
pack. The game is included as part of the ''
Rare Replay ''Rare Replay'' is a 2015 compilation of 30 video games from the 30-year history of developers Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles—from the ZX Spectrum in 1983 to the Xbox ...
'' 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 console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
, with support for dual-analog controls being added post-release. The game was also re-released via the
Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service on November 30, 2023 in Japan, and on December 7, 2023 in western regions.


References


External links

* {{Good article 1999 video games Cancelled Game Boy Color games Cooperative video games Military science fiction video games Nintendo 64 games Nintendo games Nintendo Classics 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 platformers Xbox One games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games about dogs Video games set in outer space