Gex Jr. might have followed the third part of the Gex trilogy. That’s something we never heard before!

Crystal Dynamics had planned a fourth instalment for PS2 that never materialized, and it’s not even that game but a completely different project that has been uploaded to Archive.org. It’s about a prototype of Gex Jr. dated 25 January 2001, in which the younger gecko (perhaps the son of the TV fanatic father…) makes pop culture references almost instantly. For example, from Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, he mistakenly quotes I am your father, Luke.

The game is for PS1, which is a notable factor because the January 2001 prototype means that the PlayStation 2 was already in stores by then, so a large part of the developers was already focused on the new PS2, which was becoming the world’s best-selling console because of its DVD player capability. Therefore, a lower-budget and a cheaper game could have emerged from the gecko kid’s journey.

But now that this prototype has emerged, it’s fair to wonder what the reaction to Square Enix’s initiative might have been. Late last year, the Japanese publisher licensed the rights to three platformers released during the 1990s (the three Gex came out between 1995 and 1999, the first was 2D and was the 3DO’s killer app, but the big-mouthed gecko also made a PS1 move). In 2015, it launched the Square Enix Collective platform, where indie developers can submit several pitches tied to the Japanese company’s franchises. Among the IPs offered was Gex.

Gex Jr. could have been the fourth instalment in the series, which after three acts could be said to have ended inexplicably, since who knows, there could have been a rationale behind it. Except that time may have passed the TV-fanatic reptile by, so the youngster could have been the heir to the throne.

Source: VGC