Gex (1995)
Gex is a 1995 platform video game made by Crystal Dynamics.
Gex is a wisecracking gecko with a TV addiction and a score to settle. When the evil Rez drags him into the Media Dimension, Gex has to traverse worlds built from Saturday morning cartoons, horror B-movies, and action schlock, collecting remote controls to unlock new channels and claw his way back out. The platforming is classic mid-nineties fare: wall-scaling with suction cups, a whip-crack tail attack, a prehensile tongue for pickups, and a steady stream of pop-culture one-liners that made Gex something of a mascot for the PlayStation era.
Similar games
Explore Gex guides
A few thoughts on Gex
If the TV-world premise clicked, Portal scratches the same itch for sardonic humor fused with clever environmental puzzle-design, just without the tail. Both games build their personality around a single sharp comedic voice layered over a tight movement system.
Shows and comics that make fun of the genres they're set in
Gex spends the whole game cracking wise about the schlocky TV genres trapping him, treating horror movies, cop shows, and cartoons as one long joke rather than a threat. The Simpsons, Gintama, Dr. Slump, Crayon Shin-chan, and the rebooted Scary Movie work the same way, playing genre conventions for laughs instead of taking them seriously.
Novelty rock and comedy albums built entirely on one-liners
Gex never stops firing off pop culture one-liners as he scales walls and grabs remotes, and that same joke-a-minute density carries records like Zappa's Apostrophe and Sheik Yerbouti, Weird Al's Alapalooza and 12 Golden Country Greats, and Tenacious D's debut. Each treats music as a delivery system for the gag, not a mood piece.