Super Mario 64 changed everything for platformers when it arrived on the Nintendo 64 console in 1995. 2D games in the genre were now instantly irrelevant, with games like Rayman, Bug! and Earthworm Jim looking outdated compared to the infamous plumber in his 3D debut.
Another casualty was GEX, a secret-agent Gecko first developed in 1995 by Crystal Dynamics, released for the Sony PlayStation and 3DO consoles. Its sequel, 'Enter the Gecko in 1998', was a 3D platformer, reflecting the changing landscape that Mario 64 made, followed by a less-successful sequel in 1999. GEX embodied the 9 PM watershed on British television at the time, such as bad films, terrible innuendos, and late-night culture, but some of its tropes haven’t aged as gracefully. Throughout the games, players can attack with GEX’s tail, jump, and bounce onto higher platforms while finding remote control devices scattered around many satirical levels of TV and Film.
We did take a look at those Gex 4 early designs out there, so who knows?”
Limited Run Games on re-releasing GEX Trilogy for a modern audience
There were efforts at Crystal Dynamics to look into another sequel, tentatively titled GEX 4, but nothing came of it, and the series lay dormant for some time. However, thirty years on since the first game’s release, American distributor Limited Run Games, is bringing back the Gecko in a re-release of the trilogy for modern consoles and PC. Tentatively scheduled for release this Summer, we sat down with Josh Fairhurst, CEO and co-founder of Limited Run Games, Joe Modzeleski, Development Director, and Audi Sorlie, Producer on the trilogy, to discuss the decision in bringing back GEX and whether a fourth entry could be on the horizon.
Back To The GEX
“GEX was always on my mind as a franchise that I felt needed to come back to modern platforms,” Fairhurst explains. “The original games sold over 15 million units. It was incredible to me that a series that sold that well had never been re-released. I was a fan of these games growing up (I remember my first interaction with GEX was playing it on a 3DO demo unit in a furniture store, of all places), so I had a lot of personal passion behind wanting to revive them.”
Sorlie agrees, explaining how there was a fun challenge in bringing GEX back after so long. “There is a fun challenge and gratification when bringing back these much-beloved characters and franchises to both old and new audiences,” Sorlie continues. “It can be easy to take the cynical approach and see the mascot platformers as a product of a bygone era, but for many, myself included, these were pivotal personalities and avatars that introduced me to video games as a child, so it’s not mere nostalgia, it’s preserving something special and important to millions of players and fans around the world that experienced these wonderful moments with these characters so for me it’s always welcome to take on franchises such as Gex.”
Crystal Dynamics has seen somewhat of a resurgence in its IP lately. The Legacy of Kain series, the gothic 3D platformer, saw a remaster at the end of 2024, using the original assets of the first two Soul Reaver games. The Tomb Raider series, albeit first developed by UK developer Core Design but now in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, has seen the first six games, as well as the three PC-exclusive expansions, be remastered as well. Yet Limited Run Games is doing it slightly differently for GEX by emulating the trilogy instead.
We wondered why this route was taken, when porting the assets could bring bigger benefits, such as higher frame rates and a modern graphic setting that Legacy of Kain, Tomb Raider, and even Halo Anniversary offered a decade ago. Other benefits like Photo Mode, running in a modern engine that resulted in bug fixes, and more made all three of these remastered games even better than how they were originally released. So why was the decision made to emulate the three GEX games?
“Some of these other releases have had access to source code or impressive community efforts like recompilation to power those projects. With Gex, we didn’t have those resources available to us,” Modzeleski reveals. “However, we’ve done a lot of work to provide as many enhancements via emulation as possible across the platforms we support to provide a quality experience similar to those fantastic releases mentioned.”
We pushed further to see if there were other improvements made to the Trilogy, beyond the already-confirmed features of native widescreen support and a Museum mode, but they weren’t ready to reveal more just yet. “There are additional improvements we have been working on that we’re not ready to announce at this time,” Modzeleski replied.
There’s also the factor of any challenges that the team has come across during the development of GEX Trilogy, something that Modzeleski breaks down. “Because of the wide range of hardware we’re targeting, it was very challenging to get the games running in a way that we felt made a great experience. There are homebrew efforts to run emulators on modern hardware, but there are always compromises to that experience.
There’s a difference between what is acceptable through homebrew emulation and what is acceptable in a consumer product, both when it comes to performance and considering modifications that need to be made to the original ISOs to accommodate modern legal/platform requirements,” Modzeleski continues. “There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into these releases that isn’t immediately apparent. We feel that the final product will not only provide a reliably authentic experience, it will also provide some modern improvements that will make the games better to play without compromising their original versions.”
A big aspect of the Legacy of Kain and Tomb Raider remasters that has seemingly flown under the radar, is how some of the original development team helped with getting some of the code and engine working again for modern platforms. Did Limited Run do something similar for GEX? “We attempted to reach out to some individuals involved in the original games,” Modzeleski says. “Ultimately, we ended up working with Dana Gould to reprise his role as Gex for the compilation.”
Sorlie mirrored this, explaining more about working with Gould for this rerelease. “We always make the utmost efforts to reach out as far and wide to original personnel to tell their stories across our releases, from Japan, Europe, and more. As Joe said, we have had a wonderful time working with Dana, who was instrumental in creating the character of Gex, and we’re so happy he’s back Gex’ing it up with us.”
GEX to the MAX
The N64 version of Enter the Gecko and Deep Cover Gecko featured some exclusive levels compared to the PlayStation release of these games. These included the Titanic-inspired level, Gecques Cousteau — as well as Dial A For Arson and Bravetheheartless in GEX 3. With the Trilogy meant to be a celebration to mark the return of the Gecko, we wondered if these levels were also coming back. “Since Gex Trilogy is based on the PlayStation versions of these games, it will not include the exclusive content from the N64 versions,” Modzeleski admits. “However, we do showcase those levels in our museum content.”
However, even now, fans of the series are still uncovering unused content from the games. This one, from the final boss section of GEX: Enter the Gecko, reveals there was going to be an even bigger Alien-inspiration, but it ended up being hidden. However, Modzeleski confirms that this and other scrapped content will not be playable in the Trilogy. “While we did spend a lot of time looking into what we can alter or provide, ultimately we focused on our Quality of Life improvements to the games and left them mostly as they originally were.”
Of course, there’s no getting away from the connotations that the GEX games hinted towards. Whether that was in some of the levels or especially in Deep Cover Gecko with actor Marliece Andrada, these could be seen differently today. We asked the team whether they were mindful of how this content would be seen now. “The GEX games are certainly a product of their time, and this is something we have been mindful about while working on the trilogy,” Modzeleski explains. Sorlie, meanwhile, agrees that there’s been no getting away from the connotations. “Yeah, like Joe said, we are always very mindful of the content whenever we work with legacy content and products, be it Gex or any other game we worked on.”
When asked about their most memorable level from the Trilogy, one came immediately to mind. “The graveyard,” Fairhurst reveals, “Because that’s where we’re all gonna end up.” Sorlie agreed, explaining,” I’d say the graveyard stage because eventually, I’ll visit Joe there.” At the same time, Modzeleski opted for something different. “Anywhere but the graveyard because I see Audi and Joe enough at work.”
GEX Resurrections?
There has been plenty of talk about a fourth GEX entry since Deep Cover Gecko in 1999. Leaked art, as well as a concept game called GEX Jr, have both made their way to the public in the intervening years. If Crystal Dynamics were enthusiastic, could a GEX 4 be made by Limited Run Games in the future? “I can’t speak on behalf of Square Enix or Limited Run Games here, I can only speak on behalf of myself and our development team,” But Modzeleski admits, “GEX 4 is a project we would certainly be interested in should the opportunity present itself.”
Sorlie is of the same mindset, being very enthusiastic about the prospect of being involved with a GEX 4. “Oh man, I would be hyped for the chance to do an all-new Gex title. I’ve had the pleasure of making a few original titles and productions with Limited Run Games already, and with the chemistry between Joe and me, as well as the rest of the amazing team here, I think there could be something special happening if we had the chance. We did indeed take a look at those Gex 4 early designs out there, so who knows, maybe one day?”
A huge thank you to Fairhurst, Modzeleski, and Sorlie about a series that’s clearly close to their hearts. Although GEX Trilogy is an emulation of the PlayStation 1 version, it should be seen as a celebration of the platforming genre from that era, especially how games like GEX had to pivot after the incredible debut of Super Mario 64. Whether this re-released trilogy lays the groundwork for a fourth entry, it’s nevertheless a great thing that the Gecko is back, and he’s now got even more to say.
