The game follows the story of three members of a galactic law enforcement team as they try to stop a horde of drones led by an insectoid called Mizar.

It features a single-player mode where the player must explore a galaxy and save Tribals, a race of survivors who have been enslaved and imprisoned by Mizar, and places strong emphasis on shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks.

Praise was given to its detailed graphics and life-span, while criticism was targeted at its confusing controls and insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the game.

[2] Weapons have no magazine restrictions and include grenades, a pistol, a machine gun, a sniper rifle, a flamethrower, and rocket launchers, among others.

[3] Although much of the game is spent in battle, the player has the ability to jump, hang from ledges, swim, and fly using jet packs, when needed.

Juno can walk through magma safely, Vela can swim underwater indefinitely, and Lupus can hover for a short period of time.

After rescuing all the Tribals and restoring the starship with several needed parts, the team, along with King Jeff, departs to the asteroid and battle Mizar.

To everyone's surprise, Mizar is revealed to be a robot controlled by King Jeff's jealous brother, Barry, who apologizes for letting things get out of hand.

[5] Mountain revealed that "the behaviour of the bad guys was a mixture of arcade space shooter formations and Quake-style 'attack and cover' mechanics".

Lead artist Lee Musgrave admitted, "There are elements of Star Wars in there, Aliens, Dune, Battle of the Planets, even Stargate – it was a real mix of everything and anything 'space' related.

[5] Rare initially attempted to automate the change of view and targeting mode based on the context of the action, but this idea was eventually replaced with a manual system.

[20] A more complete version of the game was showcased at Nintendo Spaceworld in Japan in August 1999, alongside Rare's Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark.

[28] Edge described it as "a straightforward blaster at heart",[24] while AllGame claimed that it "pays homage to 8- and 16-bit games with its emphasis on high-intensity action and level design that requires skill with the controller.

"[29] Writing for IGN, journalist Matt Casamassina remarked that, although Jet Force Gemini has some flaws and could be more polished, it is "still one of Nintendo 64's most original games and it has much more good going for it than it does bad.

[30] Despite the praise, some critics observed occasional frame rate drops when the action increases or when the game is played in non-widescreen mode.

[24] Although Jet Force Gemini was generally praised for its challenging artificial intelligence, included mini-games and length,[30][1][32] some critics reacted negatively to the game's insistence on having to save every Tribal to fully complete the campaign mode.

[9][31][29][30][1] In a negative review, The Cincinnati Enquirer explained that the game is frustrating because players are required to constantly change from using the analog stick to the C buttons of the Nintendo 64 controller when switching to combat mode.

[1] In a retrospective review, Nintendo Life stated that Jet Force Gemini is "a really enjoyable game" with "its fair share of flaws that tend to hinder the experience a little too much.

"[38] The game would be a shooter played from an isometric perspective and would follow Juno and Lupus searching for Vela after a signal is broadcast from an unknown planet.

The staff called it Rare's "big hope" due to the highly anticipated but delayed Nintendo 64 game Perfect Dark.

[40] Subsequent games developed by Rare have featured cameo appearances of Jet Force Gemini, including Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, and Banjo-Tooie.