GEX Trilogy Review

Gex spent the mid-to-late 1990s as one of gaming's more memorable wisecracking mascots, a tail-whipping gecko trapped in a TV dimension who spent three games hopping between channel-themed levels and firing off pop-culture one-liners. Decades after the original PlayStation releases went out of print and became expensive collector's items, GEX Trilogy finally brings all three entries, Gex, Gex: Enter the Gecko, and GEX 3: Deep Cover Gecko, back to modern PCs in one legal package. The character's charm survives the trip intact. Whether Limited Run Games' handling of that return deserves the same enthusiasm is where the review base splits sharply.

The games themselves still hold up, mostly

Reviewers are largely in agreement about the trilogy's underlying quality, even when they disagree about everything else. The original 1995 Gex, a 2D side-scroller, draws the most mixed reactions: several reviewers call it dated and punishing by modern standards, with cramped camera framing and old-school trial-and-error design that one reviewer bluntly describes as "one of the most MS-DOS platformers ever made" despite its console origins. Its two 3D sequels fare much better. Gex: Enter the Gecko is repeatedly singled out as the strongest entry, with reviewers comparing its hub-world structure and level variety favourably to Super Mario 64, while GEX 3: Deep Cover Gecko is praised for its improved level design and expanded collectible systems, even if its oversized hub world and slightly more juvenile tone draw some criticism. The series' signature charm, built on Gex's constant stream of dated-but-endearing television and movie references, remains intact across all three games and continues to win over both longtime fans and newcomers discovering the character for the first time.

The collection does add some genuine quality-of-life improvements on top of the base games: widescreen support and smoother analogue camera and movement controls for Gex 2 and 3, a rewind function, and save-anywhere convenience replacing the original games' clunky password and memory-card systems. Several reviewers say these changes meaningfully elevate the 3D entries specifically, making previously awkward camera-dependent platforming noticeably more playable.

A wrapper that undermines the games it's protecting

Where the collection loses reviewers is almost entirely in execution. The most consistently cited complaint, appearing across nearly every detailed negative review, is the total absence of controller remapping for any of the three games — an omission reviewers call baffling given that even free, community-made PS1 emulators support it as a baseline feature. Compounding that, the 3D games received no visual upscaling, no PGXP perspective correction, and no resolution improvements beyond native PlayStation output, leaving reviewers to point out that the same emulation techniques are freely available and already superior in off-the-shelf emulators. One especially detailed and technically thorough negative review goes further, cataloguing specific audio bugs in GEX 3 including a jarring popping sound on the pause menu and intermittent buzzing that reportedly requires restarting the game entirely to clear.

Content completeness is the other recurring sore point. The collection includes only the PlayStation versions of each game, leaving out N64-exclusive levels (including a Titanic-themed stage from Gex 64 that multiple reviewers specifically wanted), Game Boy Color adaptations, and format-specific soundtrack variations, despite some of that content reportedly being advertised in promotional material before launch. Reviewers frequently compare the package unfavourably to other recent retro-collection efforts, name-checking Nightdive Studios' more thoroughly reworked remasters as the standard this collection falls well short of. Some technical issues, including the launch-week absent controller remapping and missing PAL versions, were reportedly patched after release, and a handful of more recent reviewers report a comparatively stable experience, but the earlier wave of detailed, highly critical reviews continues to dominate the aggregate score.

A pattern in Limited Run Games' retro output

A number of reviewers frame their frustration with GEX Trilogy as part of a broader pattern with this specific publisher rather than an isolated misstep. Several point to Limited Run Games' other recent retro compilations, including a Bubsy collection released around the same time, as evidence of a recurring approach: acquire a beloved license, wrap the original disc images in a minimal front-end, and ship with comparatively little additional engineering investment. Interestingly, more than one reviewer who owns both collections describes the Bubsy package as noticeably more polished and stable than GEX Trilogy, suggesting the quality gap isn't simply about the age or complexity of the source material but about how much attention each individual release received. That comparison matters for setting expectations: reviewers aren't grading this collection against remaster benchmarks set by companies like Nightdive Studios by accident, they're doing it because Limited Run Games has occupied enough of this specific market that direct comparisons are unavoidable, and the studio's output is seen as inconsistent even within its own catalogue.

That inconsistency also shapes how reviewers talk about whether to buy at launch versus waiting. Several patches did land in the weeks after release addressing the most glaring omissions, including controller remapping and the previously-missing PAL versions of Gex 2 and 3, and reviewers posting in the months since describe a noticeably steadier experience than those who bought in during launch week. That trajectory is worth factoring into any purchase decision here: the version available today is meaningfully better than the one the earliest, harshest reviews describe, even if the fundamental limitations of an emulation-first approach without proper upscaling remain unaddressed.

Final Verdict

GEX Trilogy succeeds at the one thing it absolutely had to get right: making three genuinely enjoyable, long-unavailable mascot platformers legally accessible on PC again, and the two 3D entries in particular remain worth playing for fans of the era. But the collection's presentation is little more than a bare emulation wrapper, missing basic features like controller remapping and visual upscaling that free tools already provide, while leaving out content longtime fans specifically hoped to see preserved. Dedicated Gex fans will likely find it worth the nostalgia trip, especially at a discount, but reviewers make a reasonable case that a personal emulator setup currently delivers a better technical experience for less money.