Know what you're getting into before you play this.
Jet Force Gemini is a third person shooter created by the team that created Blast Corps. Looking back on it, it is kind of ironic that the team that made Blast Corps, a game that while fun a lot of the time, wasn't lacking in the frustrating moments, made this, which also isn't free from frustrating (awesome alliteration (lol that is also alliteration(lol so was that))) moments. The game has many parts and features, but they don't work as well as you may have hoped.
When you first start the main game, you will be (or would be back then) impressed by the graphics. The game has many huge environments and enemies. After being impressed by the graphics and treated to a first scene, you have to start the game. This is where things start to fall apart.
In Jet Force Gemini, you can control three characters, Juno, Vela, and Lupus. Juno is the boy, Vela is the girl, and Lupus is a dog (get it because the scientific name for dog is canis lupus familiaris and like….its like a play on words and it's…clever..... ah forget it). You get to explore many large worlds, and shoot down enemies and all that good stuff, but there is one catch. There are these bear-things called Tribals that you have to rescue. That's right…every last one, these tiny little f*****s are really what ruined the game for me. They are hidden in the places that take forever to find and are blocked by something you have to do somewhere else in the level or there are enemies out to kill it. If you miss just one of these little things, your work is not saved and you have to start over. All the Tribals do are extend play time which isn't needed because the game is still very big. I just wanted to punt the little things every time I saw one because I knew the pain and frustration it caused me. Anyway…you'll notice that there are certain places you can't reach when you play thorough each level the first time. That is because the different characters have different abilities. Juno can walk over fire and lava, Vela can swim underwater, and Lupus can use his jets to hover. But before you can do that, you have to do a world with each of them until you reach Mizar's Palace where you meet up and can finally explore each other's worlds. That would have been annoying enough, but now we get to talk about the controls.
The controls in this game are nothing more than bearable…after a while. The learning curve for these controls is way too steep; it takes so long to be able to do anything effectively. In addition, the framerate doesn't make using the controls the easiest task. The game seems to slow down every single time you turn. The controls to work your weapons and such is very hard to get used to and everything, but there's also something else. The character always seems to be 3 steps behind where you want them to be. They start running after you push the analog stick in the direction you want them to go, and they continue for an extra second once you let go of the control stick. All these combined with the system where switching weapons can't be done while running unless you maneuver your right hand to the left of the controller make the game very frustrating to play. The final nail in the coffin is the camera. When you have to turn around to go in the opposite direction (which you'll be doing a lot because of the huge amounts of backtracking), the characters face slams into the camera lens.
There are other things to collect like parts for Floyd who is a flying robot assistant, and other things involving collecting parts for a kind of sidequest. I also forgot to mention that there are 5 huge, well designed bosses to face. These bosses are very difficult and you feel like you've accomplished something when you take them down. One other thing to note is the AI. The AI is actually quite tough, and that's why I'm making note of it. Even at the beginning, the game can be unforgiving, especially if you don't have the controls down.
Finally, I get to talk about the multiplayer. I had memories of it being good, but those were smashed by the hammer of reality. Without all the metaphorical bullcrap, the multiplayer sucks. I wouldn't doubt that it was added on afterwards to make the game seem more jam-packed with content.
I know all I have been doing is b****ing but I still enjoy the game. The thing is, it's harder to notice good things than bad things. You don't think about good things when you're playing, only the things that annoy you. So I think if you don't come in expecting a masterpiece like I did, and stick with it until you get the controls, you will have a relatively fun experience. If you are looking for an N64 game to play, and don't have awesome memories of it like I do, then you should find something you like in this game.