Jet Grind Radio(DC)
1/22/08
Editor in Chief Matt Lucas
Jet Grind Radio(Jet Set Radio outside of America) is one of my favorite games of all time and for good reason. I have played so many games in my life and this is one of the few games that stands above the rest in my opinion.
This game is the first game ever to use cel-shading. In case you don’t know what cel-shading is let me explain. Cel-shading is when you take a normal 3D model and put an additional layer on top to make the model look like a cartoon. With so many games using this techniques nowadays it’s safe to say that Jet Grind Radio did something real special. The cel-shading graphics add so much style and personality to the game. It’s hard to imagine this game without the cel-shading. It adds a lot to the game. The camera works fine most of time but however there are times when the camera will not adjust itself. This pretty much only happens when your character is skating in tight areas. Hitting the L-trigger centers the camera and tends to help a lot when this problem happens. The game also tends to slow down when there is a lot of characters on screen at once. This is not really a big gripe because it happens rarely and when it does happen the game usually goes back to normal after a few seconds. The character design in the game is incredible. Every character is oozing with personality.
Jet Grind Radio features some of the greatest music to ever grace a video game. The game is packed with original and licensed music that span many genres including J-Pop, Hip-Hop, Funk, Electronic Dance Music and Acid Jazz. Every song in the game is awesome and top notch except for the songs that are featured in the two new levels for the North American release. Don’t get me wrong the songs in these levels are not terrible (except for Rob Zombie’s Dragula) but they just don’t compare to the rest of the songs in the game. The soundtrack is so upbeat and catchy. The first time you hear the song Super Brothers it will be stuck in your head for days. The soundtrack for game usually goes for around $40 because you have to import it. That is not a rip-off. The soundtrack is that damn good. The only other game that comes close to having a soundtrack this cool is Katamari Damacy. The sound effects and voice acting is also top notch. I want to meet the voice actor for Professor K and just bow down before him for his awesome and memorable performance. This is one game that you want to play with the volume up high.
The storyline in JGR is so crazy and out there that it’s awesome. The storyline is nothing deep and mind blowing as a Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid game but it does what it intends to do and pull the game along. The game pits you in a graffiti tagging roller gang called the GG’s that has to defend it’s turf and attack the turf of the other three roller gangs the Noise Tanks, Poison Jam and the Love Shockers. As the game goes on the story gets crazier and more interesting. I’m not going to ruin anything but the storyline is really enjoyable.
Lastly and most important is the game play. Many people might mistake this for an extreme sports game since all the character you play as zip around the map on jet powered roller skates. JGR is an action game first and foremost. Sure you can do tricks and grinds but those are not complicated at all. To grind you just hop on a rail and you grind. To do a trick in the air all you have to do is jump off a rail, ramp or whatever it may be and your character does a trick. The premise of the game is simple you skate around a level spraying painting over rival gangs tags and running away from the police. At start of the game you need to recruit people to your new gang. In order to do so you will have to copy the action/stunts of a character. If you complete these characters challenges they will join your gang allowing you to play as them. Many characters challenge you throughout the game allowing you to unlock more people as you keep on playing. Once you are in a level you need to spray paint over rival gangs graffiti. When you start a level you need to skate around and collect spray cans. You need these spray cans to cover up the rival gangs graffiti. Graffiti comes in three different sizes small, medium and large. For small graffiti all you need to do is approach your target and simply hit the L-trigger. For medium and large however it gets a little harder. When you hit the L-trigger the game will prompt you to perform controller moves with the analog stick that is shown on screen. It will be hard at first for some but you will eventually get used to it and be tagging stuff quickly. When you tag a certain amount of spots the cops show up. They will chase you down and your going have to run away from them. As the game goes on the police send in anything from dogs to helicopters firing missiles to tanks. The games gets pretty crazy. Throughout every level there are these yellow radio like things that are called “Graffiti Soul” if you collect this you unlock more graffiti art to choose from. The game allows you to choose what graffiti you want to vandalize the streets with and it also lets you make your own artwork to spray on the city streets.
This game will last you about 6 hours on your first play. But let me just say that I got JGR when it first came out in 2000 and I have beat the game well over twenty times. I still feel compelled from time to time to beat the game all over again. This game never gets boring. As I said before this is one of my favorite games of all times. Unfortunately it did not sell well due to the bizarre name and the original game play. No one really gave it a chance except for the hardcore gamers that owned a Dreamcast. Do yourself a favor and buy this game. If you don’t have a Dreamcast then buy one and play this game. You will thank me.