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Jet Force Gemini
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Jet Force Gemini is a science fiction third-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64 developed and published by Rare that was released on October 11, 1999. The single-player adventure spans many varied planets as the player assumes the role of the Jet Force Gemini as they try to stop the evil plans of the bug dictator Mizar. The game is unique in that it employs the rare cooperative style of gameplay, where two can play the story mode at once.
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Encyclopedia
Jet Force Gemini is a science fiction third-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64 developed and published by Rare that was released on October 11, 1999. The single-player adventure spans many varied planets as the player assumes the role of the Jet Force Gemini as they try to stop the evil plans of the bug dictator Mizar. The game is unique in that it employs the rare cooperative style of gameplay, where two can play the story mode at once. Multiplayer modes can be unlocked, including the traditional death-match and survival matches. Also available in multiplayer are racing games, as well as the firing range mode, which is similar to a rail shooter game. Jet Force Gemini shares elements with platform games, first person shooters, and run and gun games.
Storyline
The game begins with Juno, Vela, and Lupus witnessing an attack on the planet Goldwood by Mizar's forces. Soon afterwards, their spaceship is attacked by the Spawnship and boarded by drones. Since they're the last Jet Force ship left (the fleet being destroyed by Mizar), they decide to not to wait for orders and act on their own. The three abandon ship and go off their own separate paths to stop the invasion and confront Mizar. In the beginning, Juno is the only playable character, following a set path towards Mizar's Palace. As the game progresses, Vela's and Lupus' paths to Mizar's Palace can be unlocked, as well as a cooperative mode when the player fixes Floyd. The game progresses as the characters travel to different planets and spaceships, defeating Mizar's forces.
After reaching Mizar's lair, the three finally confront Mizar and defeat him. However, Mizar escapes to a nearby asteroid, where he sets course to impact with Earth. King Jeff, the leader of the Tribals, can help the Jet Force team by providing an ancient starship that can quickly catch up to Mizar's asteroid. However, the team needs to locate several vital parts scattered throughout the game, as well as rescue all the enslaved Tribals. Also, King Jeff upgrades the characters with new armor and Jet Packs that allow the characters to fly (provided they can fuel them up). From this point on, the player can play with Juno, Vela, and Lupus on any level.
After all the Tribals are rescued, and the parts found, the Jet Force team, along with King Jeff, goes to Mizar's asteroid. After a rough landing, Juno fights through Mizar's army and finally confronts and defeats Mizar himself (who is actually a robot controlled by King Jeff's brother, Barry). However, to save Earth, Floyd sacrifices himself to destroy the asteroid. Afterwards on Earth, the Jet Force team are honored for their accomplishments by the Tribals.
Main characters
- Juno — The first playable character. A human male whose parents were killed by space pirates who invaded his home station. In the game's manual, it is mentioned that Juno desires only to protect his side of space; it also mentions his frustration with the Federation, since they apparently do not perceive Mizar as a viable threat (Tyrants, after all, are overthrown by either revolution or other tyrants). He has the ability to walk through magma safely. He is named after 3 Juno, the third asteroid to be discovered by humans.
- Vela — Juno's twin sister and the second playable character. It is implied within the game (As neither the twins nor Lupus have much spoken text) that Juno's frustration with the Federation had reached a boiling point when Juno saw his sister harmed by Mizar's Drones--leading to his complete breakoff from the army, and on his personal quest to bring Mizar down. Vela desires to stay strong and help her brother protect their side of space, as she feels his anger was brought about by her own fragility. She has the ability to swim underwater indefinitely. She is named after the constellation Vela.
- Lupus — the third playable character. The twins' wardog who is outfitted with a gun mounted on his armored back and jets on his feet that allow him to hover for a short period of time. He is named after the constellation Lupus. Later in the game he is fitted with tank-like treads and armor.
- Floyd — A robot who used to serve under Mizar before being shot by drones for insubordination. A player using the second controller can control Floyd to assist the first player by shooting an unlimited amount of weak energy blasts, but he must follow the first-controller character. Floyd was originally named Pyxis, the Compass of the celestial Argo, but his name was changed because Rare thought "Floyd the Droid" was amusing.
- Jeff — the leader of the Tribals, and by all appearances the shaman. He has many magical powers that the Tribals admire him for. He helps the Jet Force on many occasions, giving items and also offering to transport the Jet Force to Mizar's Asteroid using an ancient Tribal spacecraft.
- Mizar — The ruler of the Drones and the main villain of the game. Ironically, the Federation doesn't see him as a threat to their peace, and often ignores his dangerous activity (eventually leading to Juno's frustration and the game's quest itself). He is named after Mizar, a star in the constellation Ursa Major.
- Barry — Jeff's younger brother, who is mentioned at the beginning of the game as having gone missing for some time. However, at the very end of the game, Barry is revealed to be the true mastermind behind Mizar and the Drone invasion. Barry created his Mizar identity out of jealousy for his brother's royal status, but winds up taking the role too far as "Mizar" creates chaos throughout the galaxy.
Although not a main character it is interesting to note that through the use of an in game cheat Mr. Pants appears in place of basic drones. Also, on the planet Tawfret (Juno's third level), there is a hieroglyph on the wall depicting Mr. Pants.
Development
Juno and Vela were originally designed as younger and more cartoon-like with large heads. They were later changed to their more mature versions. However, a similar set of childish models can still be played with via an in-game cheat.
Jet Force Gemini does not support the 4MB Expansion Pak, although Rare had considered the possibility. This led to some confusion as the box cover for the original release stated that it did support the Expansion Pak. Nintendo provided a quick-fix to the mislabeled covers by providing stickers declaring its rumble pak compatibility and fixed later printings of the boxes.
Jet Force Gemini 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 "Jetto Fosu Jeminai" (the Japanese pronunciation) 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, but nothing seems to have been done with the deal.
Critical response, and controversy over violence
Jet Force Gemini released to generally good reviews from critics, though not as high as Rare's other N64 games such as GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. IGN gave Jet Force Gemini an 8.1/10, earning it an Editor's Choice award, and GameSpot gave the game a "great" review of 8.8/10. Overall, it holds a score of 8.3/10 at Gamestats.com and ranks in at #20 among all Nintendo 64 games.
The game was also somewhat controversial at the time. Even though Rare had released Teen rated games in the past, Jet Force Gemini had several scenes of graphic violence. Often, this would involve the cute and furry villagers featured in the game being literally blown to pieces in clouds of gore and the insect armies being dismembered. The game itself was considered very dark and violent for the time and a little bit much for the Teen rating it received from the ESRB. Nintendo called it "one of the darker games of the N64.....and a bit eerie..."
Trivia
- In Banjo-Tooie there are any poster of Jet Force Gemini.
- In Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts is mentionated Jiggy Force Gemini, parody of this game.
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