they share the same engine and many of the same resources. Late changes and release The game was unveiled at E3 2001 as Jinx and re-introduced as Vexx on January 14, 2002. Vexx was originally slated for an October 2002 release, but was delayed in order for the team to have extra time to polish the game. The development team was inspired by the then-newly released Super Mario Sunshine and its use of previews showing players where to find the shine sprites in the game, and added similar previews in the form of arrow indicators as a last-ditch effort to make the game easier for casual players. Vexx was finally released in North America on February 11, 2003 and in Europe on April 4, 2003. The game was published by Acclaim Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox video game consoles. Due to time constraints and insufficient funding, much content was cut during development. Vexx originally featured six worlds, with each world containing three levels, forming a combined total of 18 levels. The worlds idea was eventually scrapped, and half of the levels were cut from the game in order to focus on the remaining nine a year before the game was released. The game originally featured six bosses, including a troll boss featuring heavily in pre-release footage who eventually ended up as an NPC. The game's day/night cycle was supposed to play a significantly larger role as well, with the development team trying to create a light/dark world akin to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Several suit power-ups were also cut from the game, including an underwater suit that allowed Vexx to swim faster. Reception Vexx received "mixed reviews" on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. It is regarded by critics as a typical platform game that excels in previously established rules of the genre while doing little to expand the premise. Ryan Davis of GameSpot praised the game for its variety of tasks and its combat system but criticized it for its weak story, lack of innovation, and poor design. Hilary Goldstein of IGN praised the variety of tasks and the platforming aspects of the game while criticizing the lack of interesting enemies and the static nature of the character's abilities. Kristan Reed of Eurogamer gave the game a poor review, harshly criticizing the game for retreading previous platform games