I think its THE most underrated game of the N64 library alongside with body harvest and Space Station Silicon V., heck, even Conker's BFD, wich sold a lot less, receives much more praise and atention than Jet Force Gemini, wich in my opinion, despise the ridicolous idea to rescue all the tribals to fully complete the game, has the same level of quality than most Rare and Nintendo games on the console.
@@Morbonful I don't see peoples problems with rescuing all the tribals. It's not that big of a deal, I had to clear every level maybe twice or trice and then I'd have all tribals. It was more fun than for example collecting every note on all the levels in Banjo Kazooie, or getting the Nintendo Coin and all collectibles in DK64. (Which I've also 101%:ed) It's a juvenile complaint that shouldn't deter people from playing this masterpiece of atmosphere and combat. Having to find secret exits to progress in the story (I'm looking at you Sekhmet) or finding keycards in another level to progress in the one you're in was harder for me to accept. But I guess it promotes exploration of the levels and gives the illusion of a larger game due to backtracking. Fun also not knowing whether you're fully done in a level or not.
One of the best soundtracks on an n64 title. Never completed it though. One of my biggest gripes is how your character kinda slides about making controls a little hard to get used to. As standard fare with rare games there's a lot of content and it's probably the most unique from them for the system. The whole tribal angle is the main reason I never finished it.
This is one of my all time favourite N64 games ever. From the first time landing in Goldwood, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, to the amazingly beautiful Watermia, to all the boss battles, plus the AMAZING sound track, this game had me hooked from the start. Yes, the collecting was annoying, but the game kept me wanting to see more of it. And besides, internet walkthru's were just getting popular and i was able to solve the annoyance issue pretty quick. I loved all the weapons and the diverse environments, and this game left a lasting impression on me, and i still consider it one of the best games of all time. Best on the N64 next to Conker's Bad Fur Day. I hope you do an Aidyn Chronicles review....
+limegreensquid Amazing game. SO many memories playing this. I think it would have been considered one of the greatest N64 games ever, right up there with Zeld and Mario, if the frame rate was just slightly better, and you weren't forced to get all tribals. Maybe they could have had special unlocks for getting all the tribals or something.
Great video. I have such huge nostalgia for this title - I remember when I was like 8-10 or so, my parents were having a little house gathering with drinks with my best pal's parents. He came over to stay the night, and he and I made a kind of padded fort out of loads of pillows in my little room. We stayed up really late with some snacks playing through Jet Force Gemini on co-op nonstop, just being absorbed into this magical game and it's music. Despite it's cartoony style, the ambience and soundtrack was really quite haunting in places, and the 'gore' element made it feel almost grown up. Back then, with brands like Rare, and with the N64 being a 'wild west' of video games, pre-ordering a game just made sense. These companies worked hard to set new bars and push the limits of imagination and a lot of the time deserved every penny from customers, but todays vast in-fighting, leaks, fake news, data-mining, micro-transactions, online requirements and vacuous billion-dollar corporate hijacking feels like all the heart and soul is sucked out before it's even released. I don't care whether people argue it's rose-tinted nostalgia or whatever, I know I lived through the most exciting years in prime gaming as it broke from it's two-dimensional shell, and it's never gonna happen again.
I remember finishing this game. Not only it was very challenging during the whole game, but it also had one of the toughest bosses I've ever seen in a game, Mizar. After I finally beat that motherfucker, I remember screaming in relief that the battle was finally over! One of the best games on the N64 IMO.
This, in my opinion, is the most underrated game on the N64 and perhaps on any system ever. I enjoyed the difficult challenge of rescuing all the Tribals while exploring the beautiful worlds and quickly grew to love the unique controls. The soundtrack to Jet Force Gemini makes it also one of the most atmospheric titles of that era. It’s a shame that this game hasn’t received enough appreciation over time.
this guy is dead wrong when it comes to the soundtrack. This is hands down in the top 3 best soundtracks off all games for N64. And it sounds amazing. They blend with the world's, are unique, and beautifully written. Saying it's a "let down" is crazy.
its soundtrack kinda has mixed reviews, I freaking ADORE this game, but I had to turn the music off because it annoyed me way too much, and it was the only game where I ever did that. In conclusion I agree with him, but it still is my favorite game on the console (sorry Zelda)
He also said that waverace and pilotwing's soundtrack weren't very good so yeah I do like his reviews but I tend to disregard his opinions on audio stuff.
Rare were the fucking best company back in those days, i loved and still love all my Rareware games collection, from Nes to gamecube, i own all their games (i dont count their microsoft era, it was a let down! I buyed the xbox 360 just for perfect dark and i was pissed off) I hope Yooka Laylee is the return of the old Rare!
This is my favourite game. After 15 years I finally beat the final boss. The tribal thing and the Floyd missions managed to make it more frustrating then the Water Temple but I still love it
Shigeru Miyamoto was also the one who killed off Dinosaur Planet by forcing Rare to transform it into Star Fox Adventures for the Gamecube.. if anyone has seen the Press Video Footage of Dinosaur Planet.. the Game could had worked by itself, but it was developed really late in the N64 Cycle.
+DieHardjagged I was honestly kind of glad it was pushed over to the Gamecube. Definitely not a Starfox game, but regardless a good one! I play that one from time to time :)
I just thought, As it has "Jet Force" in the title, do you think Rare ever intended it to be part of their Jet Pac/Jet Man series? But I remember this game coming out very much. it came out almost the same time as the UK Dreamcast, So I was jumping between the two, but that target lock noise is the exact same sound effect from logging onto the internet with a Dreamcast, I grew to dread that noise as it was so unstable. Also, I remember Wil Overton did an anime piece for the cover of N64 Magazine and Rare liked it so much, they snatched him away so he could do the character designs for Perfect Dark Zero. (Which Microsoft then totally scrapped for generic art when they bought the company)
***** that true about will, i think on his website theres some of the art he did for PD which is very cool to see. maybe one day i can ask him to do a cool art piece to give away on the channel, he must have a huge stash of n64 related art stuff.
Larry Bundy Jr that's a pretty crazy idea if it is intended as a soft sequel to those games, it does have a ship part collection section near the end... Either way it's a quality game, best 3rd person shooter from that generation IMO, great action and exploration.
Larry Bundy Jr I also remember this being in a demo booth around the dreamcast release in Ireland which was probably around the same time as UK, I actually wanted a dreamcast but glad my big brother talked me out of it, feels like it barely survived a month over here before it died a quiet death.
As a kid i was completely obsessed by this game, it had a feeling of scale and epicness (amplified by the genius soundtrack) i had not seen before. Whenever i hear it my nostalgia level is instantly over ninethousand. The controls have a steep learning curve (while aiming you move with the c-buttons and aim with the control stick) but when mastered the gunplay is actually very accurate and nothing feels better than mowing down a field of baddies with the machine gun or tri rocket launcher.
Glenn I have been subscribed to you for a long time and honestly I don't understand why you have only 8K subs. IMO you should over 100K or even more! You deliver precise, accurate and humours reviews to classic games on a classic console. Just sitting comfortably behind my screen looking across the room at my N64 and all its games makes me happy but sad for people under underappreciate this magnificent console & all its games.
KhazDamit thanks khaz! I've always been about enjoying myself rather than trying to push my subs up. if i covered all the big titles back to back I'm sure it would go up a lot but i enjoy choosing which games to review and doing some of the more obscure ones :)
In an age where hand-holding is the status quo, the difficulty and challenge presented by JFG is utterly refreshing. The action and exploration were completely addictive, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere, the gratuitous amounts of blood and body parts flying everywhere, and the character animations (especially Vela's *wink wink nudge nudge*). It took me nearly 30 tries to beat that final boss though! #worthit
Hey man great reviews! I recently found your videos and enjoy them quite a lot, and I was wondering if you have a N64DD and if you ever plan to make a video about it and the cancelled Ura Zelda?
Great review.. JFG for me was owned by family, although despite playing it sporadically on occasion, it's one of those titles that frequently give me flashbacks of the limited areas and moments I remember (context completely missing however). I'll definitely have to play it again fully. A game once written off, now personally love? Castlevania 64.
Jetforce Gemini was my first game on the N64, when I was 8. Brutally hard, but the graphics and sound were INSANE back then. As for other hard games, try Body Harvest.
It's hard to imagine this game being about as common as any mario game and possibly less common and being like a fourth of the price. Most underrated rare game usually , and possibly of the entire n64 library.
Great review. The video really shows of the impressive variety in the levels. Really nice use of colors, foreign alien goo, cocoons and such in the levels. Nice views of mountains, snow, high peaks, temples. I remember this game as a great exploration of alien worlds, gives me a real adventurous feeling.
Awesome review. I've got a similar experience as you. This game was damn hard, and I came got close to beating it. I thought the pseudo 2-player co-op was pretty fun, I remember playing it with my friend who got a hell of a lot further in the game than I did... Now that I'm in my mid-20's, I dunno, I kinda wanna go back and give it a shot. Btw, keep up the good work Glenn. I like how you delve deeper into the games and provide info on their development. I had no idea Nintendo was actively involved with the development of a lot of the games that appeared on the console. Though I was an N64 kid, I missed out on a hell of a lot I saw in game magazines of the time, so watching your reviews is especially interesting.
lon242 thank you so much for watching, where theres a cool back story to a game or something of note about its development i always like to touch on it! always appreciate when people also enjoy what i do!
Man I played this game soooo much as a kid either coop with the cuz or 4 person multi-player with the Bros...this game has so much nostalgia...love love love this game!!
Turok 2. I had always played it ever since the 90's but I had never really appreciated how great of a game it was until I was older. In hindsight I'd say it's pound for pound the most impressive game on the console...
This game came out when most my brothers and friends all started growing up and getting on with life. I was gutted i never got to play this game with them to show them how good it was. Happiest days of my life.
Great review Glenn! I've been debating on picking up this game. You should definitely review the San Francisco Rush games. I'd love to see some videos on those!
I've recently discovered your videos and your reviews, magazine videos and everything else are fantastic as well as very informative (N64 is my favourite console hands down and always will be) keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to future videos! P.S. Are you gonna review Shadowgate 64 anytime soon?
Michael Whiteley its on my to do list and has been for a while, just need to find time to cover it as its a big one to record so i want to do it justice :) thanks for subbing, glad you're enjoying what we have going on here :)
I highly recommend playing this with two players. It's much more fun. Having the second character control Floyd was so innovative and a great way to give players a 2player main game experience.
I just realized. All the text in the gameplay footage that you captured is in Japanese. Do you just own the Japanese version of this game? Or did you simply just use that version of the game to conduct this review?
I never owned the game back in the day, but heard and read a lot about it and always wanted to try it. I always expected it would be great since I loved other Rare games like GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing and Banjo-Kazooie. Last year I decided to start collecting N64 games again. One of the games I first picked up was JFG. It took me some time to get used to the controls. But once I got the hang of it, I started enjoying the game more and more. I got pretty far, and grew quite fond of it. The backtracking to find all the Tribals does get a bit tedious, but I can cope with it. However, I can’t beat the Floyd mission on SS Anubis. I simply can’t get any better than a silver medal. This has made me quite frustrated and I haven’t played for a couple of weeks now. Maybe I’ll try again soon, if I can find the strength. I love your channel, and your reviews of games which brings back memories of my adolescence. N64 is my favourite console, and my go to retro console. Keep up the good work.
So did slow down bother back then or only now after getting used to 60 fps? I know what slow down you reference, but I remember not being bothered by it as a kid.
This is easily one of my favorite games. I remember originally playing it to write a review for my middle school newspaper. I liked it so much that I bought it and have loved it ever since.
It's a shame you had such a bad first experience with the game. I rate this as one f my favourite games of all time. With the expert control scheme, I find controlling it a breeze - and the only difficulty I find with the game is the Floyd golds (ugh) and that grasshopper boss. Saying that, I played the game a lot as a kid so maybe my ease with the game comes with knowing it so well! I don't agree with the soundtrack comments either. Personally, I find almost all of the tracks to be memorable. Sure, the sound is more orchestral but it is better than having another game sounding like BK (DK64 had the problem of having a soundtrack that sounded way too similar!). Anyway, I'm waffling now. It was still a good review so well done. I hope you cover some more of my favourite N64 games in the near future!
Adam Miller ill try to :) i just think that the soundtrack doesn't stand out when playing the game like rares other soundtracks did. the scores are all good and when you listen to them on youtube for example you can see they are well made but as a lot of them are slower and more structures it means that you barely notice them in the actual game aside from a few of the bigger ones - in my opinion anyway
I swear if you did other game systems (pc) you'd cover eventually an old game ive forgotten the name of. Your channel seems to have clairvoyance for games I played in childhood. Great reviews, very in depth.
One of the most immersive games I ever played. Don't agree with the reviewer - the music score was excellent from Rare and worked superbly in the games worlds. Despite never completing it when I was younger (due to the Tribals...), it remained a firm fave. I did go back to finish it when I was older and with a wiser and more patient head.
No I haven't, I would like to pick up the game again though! Also I need to play it on a better screen as my old TV was really poor quality and seemed to add to the lag.
This is a game My sister and I loved to play a lot as kids, and it has a special place In my heart. I enjoyed the music, partly because it's sci-fi feel, other part because it actually seems to have heart and mind put into it. The story is surprisingly deep for a T rated game, and the gore and feeling of loss is noticeable.
Can't wait to play this again on the upcoming Rare Replay for Xbox One. Didn't get that far into it, I was very young at the time and found the game too challenging for me then.
Man, I grew up playing this game and loved it. Gotta admit it can get quite frustrating at some point but the overall experience will not disappoint. And dat music. Pure love. Nice review :)
Man, I loved this game when I was little. So ahead of it's time and just pure awesome. However, I was never able to finish it because I couldn't find all the stuff.
Just playing through this game on Xbox one right now. Dam it’s still so good absolutely love it. It’s so action packed and all the effects are amazing for the time. It’s ready for a proper remaster or a sequel.
I never managed to complete the game, even when I enjoyed versus mode with my brother a long time back. I clearly see for now today that most of us would experience difference from playing it back and playing it now, so it's a worth time for checking out the game again if you either enjoyed it or didn't managed to complete it. And as always Glenn, a great review for this game and I'm glad you're back! :)
Just discovered your channel and I must say I love your reviews, really fitting since I recently got myself an N64 since I missed out on a lot being a Sony kid in the late nineties and only playing N64 titles at other people's homes. Nice to see your reviews to see what titles to check out I may have missed. Have to agree with your sentiments on Jet Force Gemini, really good but flawed gem of a game. On the question, growing up I could never get into any of the Sim City games since I did not know what I was doing and was threatened by the manual's complexity. Years down the road as an adult I tried 4 for the first time and fell in love. Since I understand the concept of budgets now the game clicks with me better than in the past.
Will have to, bit frightened since strategy games, mainly real time ones are daunting for me and Age of Empires definitely follows that genre very well.
***** Closest ones aside from Sim City 64 DD is the Playstation port of 2000 and the SNES port of the original. Not as packed as 64 DD or even later entries in the series but they were pretty good console ports of the first two Sim City games.
I beat this game with my younger brother... while i played with the main characters a second player could use Floyd to assist in the battles. It is one of my favourite games because we could play cooperatively like in Kirby Super Star from SNES.
Hi Glenn, awesome review as always, what i can say about JFG?? one of the best games of all time and another masterpiece from the pros at Rareware, loved the battles, the action, the stages, the weapons, the upgrades, the characters, the art style....oh man how awesome was living the 64 days when Rare were delivering the best of the best. Cheers from Spain!
I bought this day one also, I thought the game was amazing but I pretty much gave up when I got to the point where I had to find the tribals though. How did you find the controls by the way?
Stumbled across your review here. What a very knowledgable excellent review you have given. Absolute first class stuff mate. You should really consider sending this review into games mags/ online sites as I'm sure you'd be excellent at this as a full time job. Well done again.
Jono Spencer thanks for the feedback and for watching :) i have been offered interviews etc however I'm lucky enough to have a really good "real job" if thats what people call it. thankfully it means i can enjoy doing this as a hobby and i can work to my own schedule rather than a corporations :)
Hey glenn happy new year to you. Cool review and a game I've always been tempted to get round to playing but still yet to manage it. (On the list of hundreds though sadly!) You mention early on in your review about the expansion pak and that you would get round to explaining later in the video why it was an issue - did you cover that or did I miss something?
Lord Maximus well they could have used it but they wanted everyone to have the same experience when playing the game. so rather than rewarding those who had it with a better experience, they screwed us all. which is funny they said that as if you look at perfect dark they did end up rewarding those with the pak
This was definitely one of my favorites as a kid. I didn't mind the difficulty so much as the tribal collection at the end, but I still have my original copy.
Never got to play this when I had a n64 but tried it when I found my n64 again but the controls turned me off, but I'm happy to say that Rare Replay has made this game much more fun to play with the controller update and it's new look at higher res. Everyone who owns a XBOX ONE should own Rare Replay for 30$ Canadia/USD, that's 1$ per game, you can't go wrong. Great review as always.
I actually really liked this game for what it's worth. But something I'm surprised I feel you didn't touch much on is the multiplayer part of the game. I felt that that was probably the weakest part of the game.
Actually, the Metroid series. My first experience was on the Gamecube and i loved it so much i went back and played every single Metroid ever made before it. I have written it off growing up and i regret it.
Was it really that long? As a kid I rented this and played it co-op with my friends and beat it in a night during a sleepover. Was the co-op condensed? I can't remember, this was back at launch.
This was one of those games that I played in waves as a child. Always started new, played until I found all planets and beat the first mizar and gave up collecting the tribals. Until that point the game is fantastic. Once I collected all tribals but then I gave up at the final boss.
That requirement to beat the game (saving all the tribals) sounds a lot like the first Rayman. You had to rescue all the Electoons to fight the boss, and loads of those were hidden devilishly.
I think the main difference is that in Rayman, the Electoons 1) Can't die before you save them and 2) in Jet Force you have to save every Tribal in a certain sub area in a single run while Rayman remembers the electoons that you already saved so you only have to find the ones you missed. In Jet Force, if you saved, say, 9 out of 10 Tribals in an area, and then go back, you still have to RE-save those first 9 AND track down the 1 you missed but in Rayman, you'd only have to go after the missing electoon cage. People tend not like it when they feel they have to do something over again that they already did.
Hey! Glad you're back! Thanks for this really detailed review. May I avoided this game too quickly as well due to many bad reviews. I also enjoyed your variety of Gameplay footage as well. This game is so beautiful.
I had a similar experience with this title- I loved it for a while, put it away when I hit the same wall that you mentioned, then picked it back up and was glad that I pushed through it. In my opinion, it had two glaring flaws: 1) The requirement to collect all the tribals (of course), and 2) The ending. It tried to be funny and ironic, and just fell flat on its face. It may be just as well that most people didn't see it.
I got this game for Christmas when I was 11-12 years old, and I loved it. Was obsessed with it. I got to the part where you needed to give the bear earplugs I think for a spaceship part? But my Aunt’s BF at the time went into my brothers and mines room and took a bunch of our N64 games and pawned them. Cops were able to get back only Body Harvest and Zelda, but Command and Conquer and Jet Force Gemini were gone…
This was one of my favorites as a kid. Yeah, it was frustrating, but I loved every minute of it. I do think that the getting all the tribals part is a cheap way of extending the game time, but it's not the only game guilty of that kind of stuff (I'm looking at you, Metroid Prime). Either way, a classic no doubt.
I must've spent hundreds of hours in that game as a kid... holy shit, one of the best if not the Best N64 FPS ! ( yes i've played Golden eye a lot too!) [...]Until i've reached some sort of seperated island with a pyramid in the center if I recall, and I never managed to get passed that, therefor not finishing the game... that pissed me off so bad. I shall never forget Jet Force Gemini !
I wrote off turok so hard when I first played it. I hated the controls and the draw distance. It wasn't until the nightdive ports came out that made me realize how amazing those games were. So I went back, learned how the controls proper for the n64 version and now its certainly one of my favorite games.
Oh no! Not a challenging game that forces you to explore without telling you where to go and has penalties to the player for not being efficient enough! Anything but that!
yup #1 reason I hated this game. 1 died because he decided to say fuck it imma run across the battlefield for NO reason? restart. legit never finished it b/c of that lol
@jackthegamer tribals were hostages/slaves, impredictability is just part of this highly non recomendable behaviour (and being desperate for freedom they could just try to run to you, run to hide or even just keep shouting to be saved standing still as of what i've seen when i played this game on the console years back then). and also it makes the game difficult... for when you are looking for all of the tribals. as Glenn says in the review, "on your first playthrough" because you're not told to look for them all until you do can get them all because you're geared up enough.
umm it does tell you wich planet still has non found tribals, but won't tell you the exact position so... at that specific point... yes, i also wished there was something like a gps back then or something alike, and in honor of time because ppl also has to eat, sleep and breath (i'm omiting one or two, i know) using guides at this point to look for tribals i think is clearly understand-able... just my opinion. (wish i were smart enough as a kid/teen back then to look up for help/guide on internet at that point.)
One of the N64's most underrated games.
I think its THE most underrated game of the N64 library alongside with body harvest and Space Station Silicon V., heck, even Conker's BFD, wich sold a lot less, receives much more praise and atention than Jet Force Gemini, wich in my opinion, despise the ridicolous idea to rescue all the tribals to fully complete the game, has the same level of quality than most Rare and Nintendo games on the console.
that is until you play the Floyd missions, but yeah first half of the game is awesome
@@Morbonful I don't see peoples problems with rescuing all the tribals. It's not that big of a deal, I had to clear every level maybe twice or trice and then I'd have all tribals. It was more fun than for example collecting every note on all the levels in Banjo Kazooie, or getting the Nintendo Coin and all collectibles in DK64. (Which I've also 101%:ed) It's a juvenile complaint that shouldn't deter people from playing this masterpiece of atmosphere and combat. Having to find secret exits to progress in the story (I'm looking at you Sekhmet) or finding keycards in another level to progress in the one you're in was harder for me to accept. But I guess it promotes exploration of the levels and gives the illusion of a larger game due to backtracking. Fun also not knowing whether you're fully done in a level or not.
All n64 games are overrated, even the underrated ones lol
One of the best soundtracks on an n64 title. Never completed it though. One of my biggest gripes is how your character kinda slides about making controls a little hard to get used to. As standard fare with rare games there's a lot of content and it's probably the most unique from them for the system. The whole tribal angle is the main reason I never finished it.
Definitely one of the best looking and sounding 64 games
amen to that right, the xbox series X version on rare replay makes it even more playable too due to the control improvement mode they added
One of the many ancient treasures of games.
agreed ^_^
This is one of my all time favourite N64 games ever. From the first time landing in Goldwood, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, to the amazingly beautiful Watermia, to all the boss battles, plus the AMAZING sound track, this game had me hooked from the start.
Yes, the collecting was annoying, but the game kept me wanting to see more of it. And besides, internet walkthru's were just getting popular and i was able to solve the annoyance issue pretty quick.
I loved all the weapons and the diverse environments, and this game left a lasting impression on me, and i still consider it one of the best games of all time.
Best on the N64 next to Conker's Bad Fur Day.
I hope you do an Aidyn Chronicles review....
limegreensquid who knows, after yooka laylee is done a pseudo sequel will be made to this - i feel they have unfinished business
limegreensquid well put sir i bought this with my lawn mowing money when it came out when i was nine i cannot wait to play it in the rare replay!!!
limegreensquid well put sir i bought this with my lawn mowing money when it came out when i was nine i cannot wait to play it in the rare replay!!!
+limegreensquid Amazing game. SO many memories playing this. I think it would have been considered one of the greatest N64 games ever, right up there with Zeld and Mario, if the frame rate was just slightly better, and you weren't forced to get all tribals. Maybe they could have had special unlocks for getting all the tribals or something.
Here's your Metroid 64.
This is without a doubt one of my favorite games of all time!!
Salvador Hernandez a great choice :)
Great video. I have such huge nostalgia for this title - I remember when I was like 8-10 or so, my parents were having a little house gathering with drinks with my best pal's parents. He came over to stay the night, and he and I made a kind of padded fort out of loads of pillows in my little room. We stayed up really late with some snacks playing through Jet Force Gemini on co-op nonstop, just being absorbed into this magical game and it's music. Despite it's cartoony style, the ambience and soundtrack was really quite haunting in places, and the 'gore' element made it feel almost grown up.
Back then, with brands like Rare, and with the N64 being a 'wild west' of video games, pre-ordering a game just made sense. These companies worked hard to set new bars and push the limits of imagination and a lot of the time deserved every penny from customers, but todays vast in-fighting, leaks, fake news, data-mining, micro-transactions, online requirements and vacuous billion-dollar corporate hijacking feels like all the heart and soul is sucked out before it's even released. I don't care whether people argue it's rose-tinted nostalgia or whatever, I know I lived through the most exciting years in prime gaming as it broke from it's two-dimensional shell, and it's never gonna happen again.
👌
I remember finishing this game. Not only it was very challenging during the whole game, but it also had one of the toughest bosses I've ever seen in a game, Mizar. After I finally beat that motherfucker, I remember screaming in relief that the battle was finally over! One of the best games on the N64 IMO.
+Pedro Junior I actually stopped playing, because I found it too easy. But then any game becomes too easy, once you play it to death.
Bruh I've yet to find all ship pieces
The first time you fight is so easy too. You can't lose it.
I completed it but for some reason I struggled to do it again the second time.
I got stuck on the Mantis boss because I missed a Rocket Launcher with the dog and didn't have the firepower to finish the level
This, in my opinion, is the most underrated game on the N64 and perhaps on any system ever. I enjoyed the difficult challenge of rescuing all the Tribals while exploring the beautiful worlds and quickly grew to love the unique controls. The soundtrack to Jet Force Gemini makes it also one of the most atmospheric titles of that era. It’s a shame that this game hasn’t received enough appreciation over time.
Yes it’s incredible
this guy is dead wrong when it comes to the soundtrack. This is hands down in the top 3 best soundtracks off all games for N64. And it sounds amazing. They blend with the world's, are unique, and beautifully written. Saying it's a "let down" is crazy.
I agree man, this soundtrack was so memorable that to this day i listen to it. Such epic music.
its soundtrack kinda has mixed reviews, I freaking ADORE this game, but I had to turn the music off because it annoyed me way too much, and it was the only game where I ever did that.
In conclusion I agree with him, but it still is my favorite game on the console (sorry Zelda)
He also didn’t like the Rocket: Robot on Wheels soundtrack which I loved. Different strokes I suppose
He also said that waverace and pilotwing's soundtrack weren't very good so yeah I do like his reviews but I tend to disregard his opinions on audio stuff.
Rare were the fucking best company back in those days, i loved and still love all my Rareware games collection, from Nes to gamecube, i own all their games (i dont count their microsoft era, it was a let down! I buyed the xbox 360 just for perfect dark and i was pissed off)
I hope Yooka Laylee is the return of the old Rare!
Fei Wong Yooka Laylee sucks. Not worth it.
Nah, I've played it. Just wasn't that good
i think yooka laylee is quite good,my only problem was the camera
lol
This is my favourite game. After 15 years I finally beat the final boss. The tribal thing and the Floyd missions managed to make it more frustrating then the Water Temple but I still love it
Shigeru Miyamoto was also the one who killed off Dinosaur Planet by forcing Rare to transform it into Star Fox Adventures for the Gamecube.. if anyone has seen the Press Video Footage of Dinosaur Planet.. the Game could had worked by itself, but it was developed really late in the N64 Cycle.
DieHardjagged yup thats all correct :)
+DieHardjagged I was honestly kind of glad it was pushed over to the Gamecube. Definitely not a Starfox game, but regardless a good one! I play that one from time to time :)
I just thought, As it has "Jet Force" in the title, do you think Rare ever intended it to be part of their Jet Pac/Jet Man series?
But I remember this game coming out very much. it came out almost the same time as the UK Dreamcast, So I was jumping between the two, but that target lock noise is the exact same sound effect from logging onto the internet with a Dreamcast, I grew to dread that noise as it was so unstable.
Also, I remember Wil Overton did an anime piece for the cover of N64 Magazine and Rare liked it so much, they snatched him away so he could do the character designs for Perfect Dark Zero. (Which Microsoft then totally scrapped for generic art when they bought the company)
***** that true about will, i think on his website theres some of the art he did for PD which is very cool to see. maybe one day i can ask him to do a cool art piece to give away on the channel, he must have a huge stash of n64 related art stuff.
*****
He's quite talkative on Facebook if you ever want to send him a friends request!
Larry Bundy Jr that's a pretty crazy idea if it is intended as a soft sequel to those games, it does have a ship part collection section near the end... Either way it's a quality game, best 3rd person shooter from that generation IMO, great action and exploration.
Larry Bundy Jr I also remember this being in a demo booth around the dreamcast release in Ireland which was probably around the same time as UK, I actually wanted a dreamcast but glad my big brother talked me out of it, feels like it barely survived a month over here before it died a quiet death.
I don't know why you had a bit of a jab at the soundtrack, it's one of my favourites and thought it was quite memorable.
I guess because people prefer the music of GoldenEye, perfect dark, and pretty much any of the platformers.
It's one of my favorites of the system! It sounds really big for the N64 and I love the arrangements ^^
yup it's very good as most tend to think
I never stopped loving this game and would certainly donate to a kickstarter if it could be on Nintendo's 3DS and WiiU!!!
Donkey Kong 64, took me 10 years
I had the opposite feeling. Loved it when I was a kid and then played it 10 years later and had to force myself to finish.
As a kid i was completely obsessed by this game, it had a feeling of scale and epicness (amplified by the genius soundtrack) i had not seen before. Whenever i hear it my nostalgia level is instantly over ninethousand. The controls have a steep learning curve (while aiming you move with the c-buttons and aim with the control stick) but when mastered the gunplay is actually very accurate and nothing feels better than mowing down a field of baddies with the machine gun or tri rocket launcher.
The title screen music gets me so hyped.
Great piece of music isn’t it
This is like a channel that talks about all my childhood games. I love it!
Glenn I have been subscribed to you for a long time and honestly I don't understand why you have only 8K subs. IMO you should over 100K or even more! You deliver precise, accurate and humours reviews to classic games on a classic console. Just sitting comfortably behind my screen looking across the room at my N64 and all its games makes me happy but sad for people under underappreciate this magnificent console & all its games.
KhazDamit thanks khaz! I've always been about enjoying myself rather than trying to push my subs up. if i covered all the big titles back to back I'm sure it would go up a lot but i enjoy choosing which games to review and doing some of the more obscure ones :)
***** Wouldn't expect anything less from such a humble guy. Keep up the good work man.
Glenn you should cover Perfect Dark and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon 1 & 2!!
KhazDamit 10000% agree
In an age where hand-holding is the status quo, the difficulty and challenge presented by JFG is utterly refreshing. The action and exploration were completely addictive, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere, the gratuitous amounts of blood and body parts flying everywhere, and the character animations (especially Vela's *wink wink nudge nudge*). It took me nearly 30 tries to beat that final boss though! #worthit
Hey man great reviews! I recently found your videos and enjoy them quite a lot, and I was wondering if you have a N64DD and if you ever plan to make a video about it and the cancelled Ura Zelda?
G.I. Jew i don't have one but one day i hope to be able to get one as id love to review it and the games for the channel
Great review.. JFG for me was owned by family, although despite playing it sporadically on occasion, it's one of those titles that frequently give me flashbacks of the limited areas and moments I remember (context completely missing however). I'll definitely have to play it again fully.
A game once written off, now personally love? Castlevania 64.
This game is still my all time favorite classic.
Jetforce Gemini was my first game on the N64, when I was 8. Brutally hard, but the graphics and sound were INSANE back then. As for other hard games, try Body Harvest.
Glenn your channel is good you’ve for sure made me pull out the n64 from storage and got me into collecting most of my fav from back in the day
That’s a good thing right!
Probably one of my favorite games of all time. Nice review.
It's hard to imagine this game being about as common as any mario game and possibly less common and being like a fourth of the price.
Most underrated rare game usually , and possibly of the entire n64 library.
LOVED this game as a kid.
Great review. The video really shows of the impressive variety in the levels. Really nice use of colors, foreign alien goo, cocoons and such in the levels. Nice views of mountains, snow, high peaks, temples. I remember this game as a great exploration of alien worlds, gives me a real adventurous feeling.
I'll never forget this game is in my heart.
Awesome review. I've got a similar experience as you. This game was damn hard, and I came got close to beating it. I thought the pseudo 2-player co-op was pretty fun, I remember playing it with my friend who got a hell of a lot further in the game than I did... Now that I'm in my mid-20's, I dunno, I kinda wanna go back and give it a shot.
Btw, keep up the good work Glenn. I like how you delve deeper into the games and provide info on their development. I had no idea Nintendo was actively involved with the development of a lot of the games that appeared on the console. Though I was an N64 kid, I missed out on a hell of a lot I saw in game magazines of the time, so watching your reviews is especially interesting.
lon242 thank you so much for watching, where theres a cool back story to a game or something of note about its development i always like to touch on it! always appreciate when people also enjoy what i do!
I use to absolutely LOVE THIS UNDERRATED GAME !
Man I played this game soooo much as a kid either coop with the cuz or 4 person multi-player with the Bros...this game has so much nostalgia...love love love this game!!
I was obsessed with this game as a kid
Turok 2. I had always played it ever since the 90's but I had never really appreciated how great of a game it was until I was older. In hindsight I'd say it's pound for pound the most impressive game on the console...
4DhumanInstrumentality i remember getting it first time around, it was one hard game but very enjoyable. i prefer it more now that i am older too
This game came out when most my brothers and friends all started growing up and getting on with life. I was gutted i never got to play this game with them to show them how good it was. Happiest days of my life.
It comes to switch online next week too
OMG I miss this game 😭😭😭🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 this was my true happiness 😥
Great review Glenn! I've been debating on picking up this game. You should definitely review the San Francisco Rush games. I'd love to see some videos on those!
Christopher Mathis i think i have them recorded so shouldn't be too long
I've recently discovered your videos and your reviews, magazine videos and everything else are fantastic as well as very informative (N64 is my favourite console hands down and always will be) keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to future videos!
P.S. Are you gonna review Shadowgate 64 anytime soon?
Michael Whiteley its on my to do list and has been for a while, just need to find time to cover it as its a big one to record so i want to do it justice :) thanks for subbing, glad you're enjoying what we have going on here :)
This game was fantastic at the time. Great memories.
I highly recommend playing this with two players. It's much more fun. Having the second character control Floyd was so innovative and a great way to give players a 2player main game experience.
I just realized. All the text in the gameplay footage that you captured is in Japanese. Do you just own the Japanese version of this game? Or did you simply just use that version of the game to conduct this review?
I never owned the game back in the day, but heard and read a lot about it and always wanted to try it. I always expected it would be great since I loved other Rare games like GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing and Banjo-Kazooie.
Last year I decided to start collecting N64 games again. One of the games I first picked up was JFG. It took me some time to get used to the controls. But once I got the hang of it, I started enjoying the game more and more. I got pretty far, and grew quite fond of it. The backtracking to find all the Tribals does get a bit tedious, but I can cope with it.
However, I can’t beat the Floyd mission on SS Anubis. I simply can’t get any better than a silver medal. This has made me quite frustrated and I haven’t played for a couple of weeks now. Maybe I’ll try again soon, if I can find the strength.
I love your channel, and your reviews of games which brings back memories of my adolescence. N64 is my favourite console, and my go to retro console. Keep up the good work.
So did slow down bother back then or only now after getting used to 60 fps? I know what slow down you reference, but I remember not being bothered by it as a kid.
+David Hernández Solyman oh it used to bother me, same as turok 2 with expansion pal did
This is easily one of my favorite games. I remember originally playing it to write a review for my middle school newspaper. I liked it so much that I bought it and have loved it ever since.
It's a shame you had such a bad first experience with the game. I rate this as one f my favourite games of all time. With the expert control scheme, I find controlling it a breeze - and the only difficulty I find with the game is the Floyd golds (ugh) and that grasshopper boss. Saying that, I played the game a lot as a kid so maybe my ease with the game comes with knowing it so well!
I don't agree with the soundtrack comments either. Personally, I find almost all of the tracks to be memorable. Sure, the sound is more orchestral but it is better than having another game sounding like BK (DK64 had the problem of having a soundtrack that sounded way too similar!).
Anyway, I'm waffling now. It was still a good review so well done. I hope you cover some more of my favourite N64 games in the near future!
Yeah i never understood those Floyd Mission controls. I agree though one of my all time favorites. I love everything about this game....
Adam Miller ill try to :) i just think that the soundtrack doesn't stand out when playing the game like rares other soundtracks did. the scores are all good and when you listen to them on youtube for example you can see they are well made but as a lot of them are slower and more structures it means that you barely notice them in the actual game aside from a few of the bigger ones - in my opinion anyway
I swear if you did other game systems (pc) you'd cover eventually an old game ive forgotten the name of. Your channel seems to have clairvoyance for games I played in childhood. Great reviews, very in depth.
One of the most immersive games I ever played. Don't agree with the reviewer - the music score was excellent from Rare and worked superbly in the games worlds.
Despite never completing it when I was younger (due to the Tribals...), it remained a firm fave. I did go back to finish it when I was older and with a wiser and more patient head.
+takeshiC1 have you played the rare replay version? Apparently the updated controls make it much easier to play
No I haven't, I would like to pick up the game again though! Also I need to play it on a better screen as my old TV was really poor quality and seemed to add to the lag.
This is a game My sister and I loved to play a lot as kids, and it has a special place In my heart. I enjoyed the music, partly because it's sci-fi feel, other part because it actually seems to have heart and mind put into it. The story is surprisingly deep for a T rated game, and the gore and feeling of loss is noticeable.
Nice review. This game still looks great.
I remember playing this very young, I remember it being very confusing, and it gave me nightmares too. Lmfao don't know why tho
+Kadeem The Dream Same here!
I got lost all the time hated it as a kid
lol. I remember feeling really bad for the bear that got squashed by the landing pod in the first cutscene.
Grabbed by the ghoulies is a underrated Rare game i like i played it recently and i loved it
Can't wait to play this again on the upcoming Rare Replay for Xbox One. Didn't get that far into it, I was very young at the time and found the game too challenging for me then.
Same here. When I seen the rare collection. I immediately looked to see if jet force was a part of it. I am glad that it is
Man, I grew up playing this game and loved it. Gotta admit it can get quite frustrating at some point but the overall experience will not disappoint. And dat music. Pure love. Nice review :)
Man, I loved this game when I was little. So ahead of it's time and just pure awesome. However, I was never able to finish it because I couldn't find all the stuff.
This and OoT were my favourite games as a kid. I can still remember the N64 Magazine's review headline for it: "One beauty of a shooty"!
Just playing through this game on Xbox one right now. Dam it’s still so good absolutely love it. It’s so action packed and all the effects are amazing for the time. It’s ready for a proper remaster or a sequel.
The little robot races were probably the hardest challenge I have ever seen in gaming.
I never managed to complete the game, even when I enjoyed versus mode with my brother a long time back. I clearly see for now today that most of us would experience difference from playing it back and playing it now, so it's a worth time for checking out the game again if you either enjoyed it or didn't managed to complete it. And as always Glenn, a great review for this game and I'm glad you're back! :)
Mohamed Ismail thanks mohamed! its good to be back too :)
You didn't mention the multiplayer mode! What is a game-mode with multiplayer but only requires 1 player? Custom Mode???
Just discovered your channel and I must say I love your reviews, really fitting since I recently got myself an N64 since I missed out on a lot being a Sony kid in the late nineties and only playing N64 titles at other people's homes. Nice to see your reviews to see what titles to check out I may have missed. Have to agree with your sentiments on Jet Force Gemini, really good but flawed gem of a game.
On the question, growing up I could never get into any of the Sim City games since I did not know what I was doing and was threatened by the manual's complexity. Years down the road as an adult I tried 4 for the first time and fell in love. Since I understand the concept of budgets now the game clicks with me better than in the past.
Welcome! You should also check out the age of empire games if you have a liking fir sim city games now
Will have to, bit frightened since strategy games, mainly real time ones are daunting for me and Age of Empires definitely follows that genre very well.
It does indeed, shame that sim city 64DD is the only game like it on the console
***** Closest ones aside from Sim City 64 DD is the Playstation port of 2000 and the SNES port of the original. Not as packed as 64 DD or even later entries in the series but they were pretty good console ports of the first two Sim City games.
I beat this game with my younger brother... while i played with the main characters a second player could use Floyd to assist in the battles. It is one of my favourite games because we could play cooperatively like in Kirby Super Star from SNES.
Hi Glenn, awesome review as always, what i can say about JFG?? one of the best games of all time and another masterpiece from the pros at Rareware, loved the battles, the action, the stages, the weapons, the upgrades, the characters, the art style....oh man how awesome was living the 64 days when Rare were delivering the best of the best.
Cheers from Spain!
It's a classic now, I absolutely loved the game. My favorite zone is the Rith Essa.
The equivalent of running a marathon, gotta break through the wall. Just keep going!!!
***** i think so too!
I bought this day one also, I thought the game was amazing but I pretty much gave up when I got to the point where I had to find the tribals though.
How did you find the controls by the way?
I find them okay. I tend to use a hori mini pad these days which helps
great review Glenn, I knew this one was going to get the thumbs up!
TootyUk the length clearly told you that :)
Stumbled across your review here. What a very knowledgable excellent review you have given. Absolute first class stuff mate.
You should really consider sending this review into games mags/ online sites as I'm sure you'd be excellent at this as a full time job. Well done again.
Jono Spencer thanks for the feedback and for watching :) i have been offered interviews etc however I'm lucky enough to have a really good "real job" if thats what people call it. thankfully it means i can enjoy doing this as a hobby and i can work to my own schedule rather than a corporations :)
Hey glenn happy new year to you. Cool review and a game I've always been tempted to get round to playing but still yet to manage it. (On the list of hundreds though sadly!)
You mention early on in your review about the expansion pak and that you would get round to explaining later in the video why it was an issue - did you cover that or did I miss something?
Lord Maximus well they could have used it but they wanted everyone to have the same experience when playing the game. so rather than rewarding those who had it with a better experience, they screwed us all. which is funny they said that as if you look at perfect dark they did end up rewarding those with the pak
I did the same thing with this game, kept giving up and coming back then finally beating it. Great game
This was definitely one of my favorites as a kid. I didn't mind the difficulty so much as the tribal collection at the end, but I still have my original copy.
Never got to play this when I had a n64 but tried it when I found my n64 again but the controls turned me off, but I'm happy to say that Rare Replay has made this game much more fun to play with the controller update and it's new look at higher res.
Everyone who owns a XBOX ONE should own Rare Replay for 30$ Canadia/USD, that's 1$ per game, you can't go wrong.
Great review as always.
Jet Force Gemini also released By Rare Replay on Xbox One
Yup and updated control option for twin sticks
YES!!! I was waiting for you to make a review on this game! Thank you so much!!! ^_^
MoreSkyler774 i finally got around to it :)
I actually really liked this game for what it's worth. But something I'm surprised I feel you didn't touch much on is the multiplayer part of the game. I felt that that was probably the weakest part of the game.
isnt this game a bit laggy due to not supporting expansion pak? can i even use the expansion pak? the n64 i have only has the expansion pak
Actually, the Metroid series. My first experience was on the Gamecube and i loved it so much i went back and played every single Metroid ever made before it. I have written it off growing up and i regret it.
Great review as always mate keep up the great work :))
CYANIDE_III thank you for watching!
Was it really that long? As a kid I rented this and played it co-op with my friends and beat it in a night during a sleepover. Was the co-op condensed?
I can't remember, this was back at launch.
I remember spending my summers playing this game with my brother and friends
I love the style and color palette. Is their an easy mode that cuts down on the tediousness or random cheap ewok kills?
I never played this sadly, but it's on the xbox one right? But a game I quit then game back to and appreciated? Fable 3 and Arcania: Gothic 4.
Yeah it’s on rare replay and they also added some modern controls to it. I’ll live stream it one day
That would be so cool. I usually listen to your videos when I need to relax or fall asleep.
This was one of those games that I played in waves as a child. Always started new, played until I found all planets and beat the first mizar and gave up collecting the tribals.
Until that point the game is fantastic. Once I collected all tribals but then I gave up at the final boss.
That requirement to beat the game (saving all the tribals) sounds a lot like the first Rayman. You had to rescue all the Electoons to fight the boss, and loads of those were hidden devilishly.
Alex Mott So true. I haven't even come close to beating Rayman. Yet I see more JFG hate...idk
I think the main difference is that in Rayman, the Electoons 1) Can't die before you save them and 2) in Jet Force you have to save every Tribal in a certain sub area in a single run while Rayman remembers the electoons that you already saved so you only have to find the ones you missed. In Jet Force, if you saved, say, 9 out of 10 Tribals in an area, and then go back, you still have to RE-save those first 9 AND track down the 1 you missed but in Rayman, you'd only have to go after the missing electoon cage. People tend not like it when they feel they have to do something over again that they already did.
I loved this game it had such a great style and atmosphere. I never could finished it, though because of that damn last Floyd mission.
Perplexum that was an annoying mission
Hey! Glad you're back! Thanks for this really detailed review. May I avoided this game too quickly as well due to many bad reviews. I also enjoyed your variety of Gameplay footage as well. This game is so beautiful.
The Treacherous Disciplin glad to be back :)
Zelda II the adventures of Link, great video as always
One of my favorite games of the system!
K1ttyboss64 great choice :)
I had a similar experience with this title- I loved it for a while, put it away when I hit the same wall that you mentioned, then picked it back up and was glad that I pushed through it. In my opinion, it had two glaring flaws: 1) The requirement to collect all the tribals (of course), and 2) The ending. It tried to be funny and ironic, and just fell flat on its face. It may be just as well that most people didn't see it.
I play this and boy it piss me off a lot but I never stop loving
It certainly has that addictive quality to it
I got this game for Christmas when I was 11-12 years old, and I loved it. Was obsessed with it. I got to the part where you needed to give the bear earplugs I think for a spaceship part?
But my Aunt’s BF at the time went into my brothers and mines room and took a bunch of our N64 games and pawned them. Cops were able to get back only Body Harvest and Zelda, but Command and Conquer and Jet Force Gemini were gone…
do u think this game will come out for the wii u shop?
How do the controls work how do you move and aim if you only have the control stick?
This was one of my favorites as a kid. Yeah, it was frustrating, but I loved every minute of it. I do think that the getting all the tribals part is a cheap way of extending the game time, but it's not the only game guilty of that kind of stuff (I'm looking at you, Metroid Prime). Either way, a classic no doubt.
I must've spent hundreds of hours in that game as a kid... holy shit, one of the best if not the Best N64 FPS !
( yes i've played Golden eye a lot too!)
[...]Until i've reached some sort of seperated island with a pyramid in the center if I recall, and I never managed to get passed that, therefor not finishing the game... that pissed me off so bad.
I shall never forget Jet Force Gemini !
Technically this is a 3ps not an FPS but I hope you’ve played the rare replay version which has an updated modern control method which rocks
this, Winback and Hybrid Heaven were godlike classics that were so slept on.
This was my second favorite N64 game, next to Star Fox 64! So many fun childhood memories
This is a great game. Another awesome review!
Thanks retro 👍
It's a shame Rare gave up on this franchise after it's first release.
Ryan AirZonkWorldChamp i think so too, could be a cool one to reboot
I wrote off turok so hard when I first played it. I hated the controls and the draw distance. It wasn't until the nightdive ports came out that made me realize how amazing those games were. So I went back, learned how the controls proper for the n64 version and now its certainly one of my favorite games.
Oh no! Not a challenging game that forces you to explore without telling you where to go and has penalties to the player for not being efficient enough! Anything but that!
Word!
Ooohhh we saw what u did here! Hahaha
yup #1 reason I hated this game. 1 died because he decided to say fuck it imma run across the battlefield for NO reason? restart. legit never finished it b/c of that lol
@jackthegamer tribals were hostages/slaves, impredictability is just part of this highly non recomendable behaviour (and being desperate for freedom they could just try to run to you, run to hide or even just keep shouting to be saved standing still as of what i've seen when i played this game on the console years back then). and also it makes the game difficult... for when you are looking for all of the tribals. as Glenn says in the review, "on your first playthrough" because you're not told to look for them all until you do can get them all because you're geared up enough.
umm it does tell you wich planet still has non found tribals, but won't tell you the exact position so... at that specific point... yes, i also wished there was something like a gps back then or something alike, and in honor of time because ppl also has to eat, sleep and breath (i'm omiting one or two, i know) using guides at this point to look for tribals i think is clearly understand-able... just my opinion. (wish i were smart enough as a kid/teen back then to look up for help/guide on internet at that point.)