Dreamcast Reviews: Jet Grind Radio

Attention PAL readers: This game is called Jet Set Radio in your region, as well as in Japan.

JET GRIND RADIOOOOOOOOO-*shot*

This game number one on my list of reasons to get a Dreamcast. It's a humorous twist on Tony Hawk where you use rocket powered roller blades to evade the police, airplanes, tanks, and supervillans in order to spray paint the city with your graffiti, which can either be made in the graffiti maker (my personal choice), unlocked throughout the game (you can find over 100 laying around, good luck getting them all), or be downloaded off of the DC's web browser... if you either still use dial-up or are willing to dish out $100 for the broadband adapter. Onto the review!

1) Gameplay
You can choose your character, so regardless of playstyle, you should be able to appreciate the game. Some characters can take massive damage (great for if you ignore the enemies), others can hold more spray paint than you'll ever need (very useful on some levels), and the other ones (the ones I prefer) are amazing at pulling off tricks.

You'll be pulling off stunt after stunt to navigate the segments of the city and reach new heights- sometimes literally. Each of the five areas (three if you import the Japanese original- I'd advise against it) has a unique feel to it. One has a lower halfpipe that runs through it for fast travel, another is linear, and the third is mazelike. When it was ported outside of Japan, it gained two flashback levels that are in conjunction with a cut-scene that encompassed them in the Japanese version. One is based around riding a lift up, then tagging as much as you can on your decent down before going back up. The other is about avoiding enemies in some tough situations. Both of these fit in perfectly, and until I read about them being added in, they were so seamless with the rest of the story that I thought it was in there from the start.

Overall, gameplay stays fresh and unique, with nearly no flaws.

10/10 (20/20)

Visuals:

This game came out before Wind Waker. It brought cell shading to gaming. When you use the Dreamcast's beautiful VGA cable on the game, I do have a complaint: The logo looks awful. It's just one small scrape... but you'll be seeing it quite often, as it's a very addicting game.

9/10

Music:

Pros like Rob Zombie were hired to do this. Every song is beautiful- well, most of them. There's some scream-o one in the couple of levels that were added in, and the final boss music is just flat out lackluster. Amazing elsewhere though, still can't get Sweet Soul Brother out of my head.

8/10

Replay Value:

You get to take a route of your choice through the game, but in the end you'll still be hitting every mission besides the 15 side ones. Additionally, there's a New Game+ that carries over all your unlocked characters. Getting A ranks can unlock the five hidden characters, and will certainly take you a while. No skipping missions you get bored of and/or already have the A rank on, though. Level select also only lets you use the 15 side missions ahead of time. Flawed, but still above average.

9/10

Overall:
20/20 + 9/10 + 8/10 + 9/10 = 46
46 * 2 =

92%
WetDreamCaster

Closing comments:
This game is worth getting a Dreamcast for. Seriously, I'd put it in my top 10 games of all time list. 92% is very, very hard to get out of me. In comparison, Banjo Kazooie would get 94%. You'll get used to my rating system as time goes on, and when you come back to this you'll marvel at that 92% I gave it.