Jet Grind Radio
For: Dreamcast
Genre: Action/Platform
Reviewed by: Escee (Brandon)
Developer: Smilebit
Publisher: Sega
Released:10.31.00
 
Jet Grind Radio truly shows that Sega is not afraid to be creative and release games based on truly new concepts. Sega is not afraid to be different.

JGR takes place in the city of Tokyo-to, where the police and government are trying to put a stop to the kids' self-expression though graffiti. You'll race through cities, run from the police, tag the walls, confront rival gangs, and complete countless challenges, as you try to master techniques.

The game is very challenging, and gets quite frustrating until you get the hang of it, and it takes a while. But the game is just so damn fun. The levels are all so unique, and grinding, doing tricks, and tagging the wall while the police are chasing you is very exciting. The graphics are unique and the cell-shading technique is very well-done. The game puts you through a variety of different styles of play as you progress. Recruiting new members to your gang (unlocking new playable characters) is usually either a technique-based challenge which you have to copy; or a race, where you have to beat the computer to spray grafitti first. Levels usually involve tagging a number of locations within the various (and every map is quite unique) stages, while the police force increases; sometimes, you will have to tag the backs of rival gang members multiple times, or getting to a location in a certain time limit, or tagging tons of locations in a time limit.

JGR also contains a graffiti editor, so you can make your own graffiti. You can type in text, and then use the graffiti-warper to style it up. Or, of course, you can just paint your own. You can also download graffiti off the 'Net, from either the JGR homepage, or from the WWW (so you can upload your own as well this way). The game also has tons of extras, such as collecting all the Graffiti Soul icons in order to unlock all the extra graffiti within the game, which you can then select and tag. The soundtrack is absolutely awesome.
 
Graphics
JGR has its own style, and the cel-shading technique looks wonderful. Framerate is also pretty solid throughout the game, although occasionally you'll see slowdown in crowded areas, it is nothing frequent.
 
Sound
Wow. The Jet Grind soundtrack is absolutely amazing, featuring music from Jurassic 5, Mix Master Mike, Cold, Rob Zombie, and tons more. Some would even buy the game just for the soundtrack alone. Yes, it's that damn good.
 
Gameplay
Incredibly fun, but quite frustrating at times. This is one of the most fun games this year.

Control
Gah, why'd they have to assign "tag graffiti" and "adjust the camera, to point it in front of you" to the same button? Other than that, it's fine.
 
Lastability
The game has so many extras after you've beaten it. And it takes a while to beat the first time anyway.
 
Ratings

6.18.1

click on the above screenshots for larger versions.
 
images from ign.com and jetgrind.multimania.com