Jet Force Gemini is a 1999 third-person shooter game created and released by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game tells the story of three members of a galactic police team who work to stop a large group of drones controlled by a bug-like creature named Mizar. The single-player mode allows the player to explore a galaxy and rescue Tribals, a group of survivors who have been captured and forced into slavery by Mizar. The game focuses on shooting many enemies while avoiding their attacks. It also includes a multiplayer mode where two to four players can compete in deathmatch-style games.
The game was influenced by 1980s arcade games and newer titles from the same time, such as Super Metroid and Super Mario 64. It also draws inspiration from movies and shows like Aliens, Stargate, and Battle of the Planets. Critics generally praised the game’s detailed graphics and long gameplay, but some criticized its confusing controls and the need to rescue every Tribal to finish the game. In 2015, Jet Force Gemini was included in the Rare Replay collection for Xbox One. It was later re-released through the Nintendo Classics service in 2023.
Gameplay
Jet Force Gemini is a game where players control a character from the side in a 3D world. It combines shooting, fast action, and exploration. Players fight many enemies while avoiding their attacks. The game includes weapons like grenades, pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers. These weapons do not have limits on how many bullets they can fire. Players can jump, climb, swim, and fly using jet packs when needed. During battles, players can use a manual aiming system with a targeting camera behind the character’s head. This makes the character see-through and shows a crosshair on the screen to help aim. When moving around, the game feels like a 3D platformer, where players jump between platforms.
In the single-player mode, players explore a galaxy with 15 worlds that are not in a fixed order. Each world has stages connected by doors. Most doors open automatically, but some require actions like defeating enemies or finding keys. Players have health that decreases when attacked, but they can collect gems and boxes to restore health and get more weapons. Power-ups can increase health and weapon capacity.
Players can control three characters: Juno, Vela, and Lupus. Each has unique abilities. Juno walks safely through lava, Vela swims underwater forever, and Lupus can hover briefly. Choosing the right character for each stage is important to complete the game. At first, players must use each character separately until they meet at a central point. After that, they can use any character in any order. The goal is to collect 12 starship parts and save 282 Tribals to reach the final level. Tribals can be harmed by weapons, which means players may need to restart parts of the game to save them.
The game also has a multiplayer mode where 2 to 4 players can compete in deathmatch-style games. Settings like weapons, winning conditions, and time limits can be changed. Some multiplayer features, like levels and characters, require finding secrets in the single-player mode. Players can unlock racing mini-games viewed from above and a firing range challenge where targets are shot while following a set path. A co-operative mode allows a second player to control Floyd, a robot that follows the main character automatically.
Plot
Jet Force Gemini follows the story of the space police team Jet Force Gemini, made up of twin siblings Juno and Vela and their mascot, a dog named Lupus. The game begins with the three characters orbiting the planet Goldwood after narrowly escaping the destruction of their entire team by Mizar, a bug-like creature who has captured and enslaved the native Tribals on Goldwood. When Mizar’s drones board their ship, the three decide to leave their ship and take separate paths to stop the invasion. During their journey, Juno finds and rebuilds Floyd, a small floating robot who switches sides to help the team. After visiting several planets, the heroes reunite at Mizar’s Palace and confront Mizar, who flees to an asteroid and heads toward Earth. To assist the team, King Jeff, the leader of the Tribals, gives them an ancient starship that can quickly reach the asteroid, asking them to rescue all the Tribals across the galaxy in return.
After saving all the Tribals and repairing the starship with needed parts, the team, along with King Jeff, travels to the asteroid to fight Mizar. They discover that Mizar is actually a robot controlled by King Jeff’s jealous brother, Barry, who apologizes for his actions. With time running out before the asteroid hits Earth, Floyd offers to carry a warhead into the asteroid’s core to destroy it. The team agrees and escapes in the starship just before Floyd sacrifices himself to stop the asteroid. On Earth, the Jet Force Gemini team is honored for their bravery and success.
Development
Jet Force Gemini was created by Rare's Blast Corps team. Development started in 1997, led by Paul Mountain, who had previously worked on Diddy Kong Racing. The game's ideas came from 80s arcade games and newer titles from that time. The open-world style of Nintendo's Super Mario 64 influenced the game's large, open environments, while the collection and improvement of weapons were inspired by Super Metroid. Paul Mountain said, "The behavior of enemies mixed arcade space shooter patterns with attack and hide tactics from the game Quake." He added, "We were inspired by all the fun games we had played before." The game also borrowed ideas from movies and books, such as Star Wars, Aliens, Dune, Battle of the Planets, and Stargate.
Most characters in the game were named after stars and constellations, like Mizar and Vela. Originally, the main characters Juno and Vela were designed with large heads and a cartoonish look, but Nintendo asked for changes because they worried about a game with two children killing many creatures. The game's controls were a major focus during development. The goal was to let players see their character while keeping the precision of first-person shooters. Rare first tried an automatic system to switch between view and targeting modes based on the action, but this was replaced with a manual system. Paul Mountain said, "The final solution felt old-school to me—challenging and strict, but very accurate."
Many team members enjoyed racing games, including Diddy Kong Racing, so they added a futuristic Ant racing mini-game in the main story and top-down racing games for multiplayer. Developers considered using the 4 MB Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak but decided against it. Paul Mountain explained, "We wanted all players to have the same experience and believed the standard 4 MB of memory on the console was enough." This caused confusion because the original box cover said the game supported the Expansion Pak. Nintendo fixed the mistake by sending stickers to show Rumble Pak support and corrected later versions of the box.
Release
In May 1999, a demo version of the game was shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California. A more complete version was displayed at Nintendo Spaceworld in Japan in August 1999, along with Rare's Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark. The game was first planned to be released in North America on August 31, 1999, but the release was delayed to September 27, 1999, so developers could improve the game. It was delayed again to October 11, 1999, because of production problems. In Europe, the game was released on October 29, 1999, and in Japan on December 1, 1999. The Japanese version of Jet Force Gemini was renamed Star Twins (スターツインズ) because Nintendo believed the Japanese pronunciation of the original title, "Jetto Fōsu Jeminai," was too hard to say. Although 4Kids Entertainment got the rights to create merchandise such as toys, movies, and other products for Jet Force Gemini and Perfect Dark, the company did not make any merchandise.
Reception
Jet Force Gemini received mostly positive feedback from critics. Edge called it "a simple shooting game at its core," while AllGame noted that it "honors 8- and 16-bit games by focusing on fast action and clever level design that needs skill to play." IGN journalist Matt Casamassina wrote that, though the game has some issues and could be smoother, it is "one of Nintendo 64's most creative titles with more strengths than weaknesses." Next Generation gave a mixed review, saying the game had too many features that might overwhelm players, and suggested it would be better if Rare had removed some of the slower parts.
Critics praised the game's graphics and sound. Casamassina said the sound effects were "very clear and accurate" and the music was "some of the best ever in a Nintendo 64 game." GameRevolution mentioned the soundtrack had a "more dramatic feel" than typical video game music. Graphically, the game was noted for its "visually impressive" environments, "advanced" animations, and special lighting. Game Informer highlighted the game's large explosions, which made the action more exciting. However, some critics mentioned that the game sometimes slowed down during intense scenes or when played in non-widescreen mode. Edge also pointed out that the camera sometimes refused to move, forcing players to manually adjust it.
While critics generally liked the game's challenging AI, mini-games, and long playtime, some disliked the need to rescue every Tribal to finish the main story. Casamassina called this task "too boring or time-consuming to enjoy." N64 Magazine, however, said replaying earlier levels with new weapons was fun and made the game last longer. Many critics agreed that the controls were difficult to use, especially during multiplayer. The Cincinnati Enquirer said the game was frustrating because players had to switch between the analog stick and the C buttons on the controller when entering combat. GameSpot noted that the controls worked well but admitted the frequent changes might annoy some players.
In a later review, Nintendo Life said Jet Force Gemini is "a fun game" with "some problems that slightly reduce the experience." However, they added that it is "very enjoyable" and can "make people happy" when played well.
Legacy
After the release of Jet Force Gemini, work began on a version of the game for the Game Boy Color. However, the project was eventually cancelled. Martin Wakeley, a former designer and producer at Rare, said that Jet Force Gemini for the Game Boy Color "was the only time I can remember Rare hiring another company to help. It was being made by Bits Studios, and I saw it almost finished. I am not sure what happened to it." The game would have been a shooter played from a 3D-like view from above. It would follow Juno and Lupus as they search for Vela after a signal is sent from an unknown planet. The game was never officially shared with the public by Rare or Nintendo.
In 2000, Jet Force Gemini was ranked number 20 on IGN's list of the Top 25 Nintendo 64 Games of All Time. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it as the 93rd best game on Nintendo platforms. The magazine described it as Rare's "big hope" because of the high expectations for the delayed Nintendo 64 game Perfect Dark. Later games made by Rare included appearances of characters from Jet Force Gemini, such as Kameo, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, and Banjo-Tooie. Players could also dress their characters as Juno, Vela, and Lupus in Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition using a downloadable content pack. The game was included in the Rare Replay compilation for Xbox One, with added support for dual-analog controls after its release. It was also re-released through the Nintendo Classics service on November 30, 2023, in Japan, and on December 7, 2023, in Western regions.