Marsupial Madness

Marsupial Madness
Level ID	ROO11
Hub	Mission Control (L1) Slappy Valley (L2) Funky Town (L3)
Channel Style	Unique (Australia)
Ambience	Forest
Reqs to unlock	L1: x2 L2: x20 L3: x35
Missions	Ring the 10 Bells
Collectables
Gex's themed outfit(s)	None (Gex rides in Paunch's pouch)

Marsupial Madness is the first bonus level in Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. In it Gex must use Paunch to ring 10 bells in two minutes. The level is broken up into three sections: the bottom, middle, and top area. The player begins in the bottom starting area, and must climb their way up to each section to ring all of the bells in the level.

Setting and inspiration

In terms of pop culture media, it is hard to determine what this level references or parodies. It appears to primarily be a parody of Australian outback stereotypes. In addition to the main Helper being a kangaroo, the drinking koala bear enemies, tribal wall paintings, "DINGO" cards (a play on Bingo game cards), a "Throw some shrimp on the barbee" sign, and several signs that feature a pun of the term "down under" seem to back up this theory.

The walls surrounding the level are made up of flat, almost cardboard-like textures of trees. This gives the level an almost "movie-set" aesthetic, feeling more like an artificial scene of Australian wildlife rather than a natural one. It is also reminiscent of the forest set design in The Wizard of Oz. These aspects are perhaps unintentional, and may be more so due to the PlayStation and N64's limitations rather than being a pseudo-reference to The Wizard of Oz or movie set designs.

Strategy

The strategy behind this level is fairly simple: ring the bells. Bells can be rung by hitting them with the attack button. For higher up, harder-to-reach bells, it is best to jump and hit them with the attack button. There are 3 bells in the first (bottom/starting) area, 3 bells in the second (middle) area, and 4 bells in the final (top) area. All of the bells are usually in a circle pattern in the middle of each area, so to save time avoid searching the edges of the levels. The best method for ringing all 10 bells is to ring them all in order, starting with the 3 bells on the bottom and working your way to the top. However, the specific order in which the player rings the bells doesn't matter. As long as they ring all 10 bells within the time limit, they will complete the level. In the center of the second area, there is a Stopwatch collectible. Be sure to grab this if you need more time to finish the level. If need be, the player can jump back down to previous sections to search for any bells they missed.

There isn't much in the way of enemies or obstacles, so ringing the bells is fairly easy. However, in between sections, the player must scale a rock wall to reach the next area. In these 2D platforming sections, a koala bear hanging from the cliff will throw drink cans at the player down the cliff's sloped ledges. These cans will not damage the player but they will impede their progress with some knockback, and the player has no means of eliminating the koala. Since the koala tosses these cans so low to the ground, it is best to jump over them as they bounce past the player. The koalas only throw cans down the first ledge. So, once the player jumps up to the second ledge of the rock wall, they will be in the clear.

Easter Egg

In recent years, this bonus level became notable for featuring a bizarre Easter egg that went unnoticed for 20 years. By hitting a series of invisible triggers scattered throughout the level, a cube would spawn in the center of the final area. The cube was textured with the image of a man in a Speed Racer costume holding a purple-haired woman in (what appears to be) a Sailor Moon outfit. The cube will spin slowly in place for the remainder of the level, unless the player kicks it and destroys it. It even has some collision that allows the player to jump on top of it.

This Easter egg was first accidentally discovered by Twitch speedrunner, WedSR, in 2018. It wasn't until 2 years later that the method of activating this Easter egg was discovered by Tigame (with the help of SolidSnake11) on February 23rd, 2020. Tigame would document this discovery and upload a YouTube video showing how to activate this Easter egg. It is unclear who exactly the people are in the image. However, it can be inferred that it is a picture of one of the developers and their girlfriend/wife. A similar Easter egg to this one can be found in The Buccaneer Program.

Gex 3 Weird Cube Mystery Solved

Gallery

Map

The source image of the Marsupial Madness Easter egg.

December 30th, 1998 prototype

Different obstacle course.

Trivia

• The level's name may be a parody of the game Marble Madness.
• It is the only bonus level in the game that isn't based around a main level's theme. However, it does share the same music as Fairytales TV.