Just a day after its launch, the Gex Trilogy – which bundles together the cult-classic 90s platformer Gex and its two sequels – has officially been deemed a success. And publisher Limited Run Games is celebrating the occasion by reinstating a conspicuously absent audio feature that should please European series fans no end.
The Gex Trilogy, if you’re unfamiliar, gathers together developer Crystal Dynamics’ original 2D outing (which launched for PS1 back in 1995), plus its two fully polygonal sequels; that’s 1998’s Gex: Enter the Gecko and 1999’s Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. Limited Run’s bundle isn’t a remaster as such, but it does include a variety of modern-day niceties, including native widescreen support, save states, and the ability to rewind the action.
Throw in a whole bunch of artwork and archival material, and content-wise The Gex Trilogy is probably as close to a definitive release as fans of the ageing mascot platformer could hope for. With one notable exception: it only launched with Dana Gould’s portrayal of suave lizard protagonist Gex, as heard in the US release, while the very different vocal performances European players will be familiar with were nowhere to be found. Until now that is.
“Thank you for making the launch of GEX Trilogy a huge success!,” Limited Run wrote in an announcement on social media. “It’s been in the works for a while and we’re finally able to announce that the PAL versions of GEX 2 & GEX 3, featuring the voices of Leslie Philips and Danny John-Jules, respectively, will be added in an update!… We’re excited for European GEX fans to relive these games the way they remember and for others to hear them for the first time!”
As it happens, anyone that owns the Gex Trilogy on Steam can enjoy Philips and John-Jules’ portrayal of Gex right now. Once the newly released update has been installed, players can select the PAL versions of Gex by changing the regional flag on the menu before starting the game. Limited Run notes these European versions are entirely separate builds, and save data is not transferable. Today’s update also remaps the default keyboard controls for all three games following complaints at launch, but Limited Run is yet to address other customer concerns, including audio issues and a lack of upscaling or anti-aliasing.
As for PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch, they’ll be getting PAL voices just as soon as the patch “has completed certification”.