Jet Grind Radio

by Sega

• Cartoon dimension art style where everything looks like a 2D comic, but moves and controls are in complete 3D.
• 3 huge, fully interactive 3D gameplay worlds.
• Traffic moves with the passing of time and the sidewalks are littered with pedestrians for a completely realistic urban feel.
• 10 initial playable characters, each with his/her own style and abilities.
• Dozens of animations running at 30+ frames per second.

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004S99S
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,666 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com

In the 21st century, the Tokyoto city government bans kids from expressing themselves in any way. Only three things keep their spirits alive: Overdriver magnetic-motor skates, graffiti, and a pirate-radio broadcast that's called Jet Grind Radio. Explore and, uh, decorate three fully interactive worlds in which traffic moves at real time and pedestrians wander the streets. Watch out for police who'll want to nab you for breaking the law, and rival crews that want to deface your artwork. The "Cartoon Dimension" art style gives the game the appearance of a 2-D comic, but the characters move through it in complete 3-D. Animations run at 30 frames per second. Ten characters are available at the outset, each of which has its own style and abilities.

Product Description

In Jet Grind Radio, you play a whacked out kid who's completely torqued off about the system. It seems that the city of Tokyoto is not terribly kid-friendly and wants to keep things neat and pretty. You, the skater punk, figure that the only way to rebel is with your inline skates and a couple of cans of Krylon. That kind of attitude can lead to trouble when you're in the real world; but, in the world of Jet Grind Radio, there are no paint fumes, and it's all done in the name of fun and scoring points.

Jet Grind Radio's gameplay has some of the feel of Crazy Taxi. As you skate, you see little floating arrows that indicate where you should go (and where you should be tagging). Also, like in Crazy Taxi, the pace of the game is absolutely nonstop. There is moving traffic in the street, and nearly everything can be jumped, hopped, or ground. Underscoring all of this action is a DJ at the local hip-hop station, who spins cool tunes while you tear up Little Tokyoto.

The game starts out with a training course that's designed to bring you up to speed. Pay good attention to this section; it teaches you the basics, and you're tested on one of the lessons right away. Learning how to hop over obstacles while keeping a rail grind going is particularly helpful.

After graduating into the real game, you have the option of going it cool or easing up and figuring out how to do the flips, splits, and other midair antics that make this game so much fun. Once your skating skills are set, you'll learn the spray-can side of things. You pick up cans of paint as you maneuver around (keep your eyes open--some cans are placed in those hard-to-reach places, so that you'll have to catch serious air to get them). After securing your fill, use the left trigger and the analog to spray as you pass by areas that have

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Jet Set Radio! August 25, 2000

By mike mattox

Durability: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I just picked up this import and have not quit playing it! This game finally lets you be the "thug" you've always dreamed about being. The game is presented beautifully, from the cartoon-ish graphics right down to the city's themselves. The breaks between stages are absolutely AMAZING! The animation is beautiful! I also love the option to create your own tags or download them via internet. But all in all, we can't forget the music. If this game had a soundtrack, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. The music goes along perfectly with the games atmosphere and frantic play. My only complaint on this game is (with almost every other game with it) is the camera. Hopefully this will be fixed for the American version. This game is THE reason to buy a dreamcast. I can safely say this game blows Crazy Taxi out of the water. If you have a DC, BUY THIS GAME!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great concept with decent execution November 8, 2000

By Kevin Doherty

Jet Grind Radio is yet another impressively creative title to come out of Sega (which is why I'm so fond of Sega), and definitely rates as a success.

The concept is simple, you skate around towns, tagging (spraypainting) certain objects while evading police officers, police dogs, rockets from helicopters, and other baddies. The animation style is really what cements the experience as being something out of the ordinary, though. Dubbed "cel-shading", the end result is something that looks very much like a cartoon. It's really beautiful to watch as well as play.

The gameplay is fun, but has some problems. The first, which likely everyone has addressed, is camera control. There are 3 unused buttons on the controller, and the developers still decided for some unknown reason to double up controls. It's annoying, but you learn to live with it. The other issue that bugs me is that you're constantly on the run from police with no real defense other than fleeing.

One other problem I have is with the menu system. When you boot up, you're given the choice of starting a new game, playing a tutorial, or loading an existing file. However, once you have a game in play (through creating a new game or loading), you have to reboot the system to load another. This is really a patently ridiculous feature and particularly annoying if you like alternating w/ a friend but keep seperate game files.

One other note I should make is that the worlds may seem smaller than they were described by other reviewers at first. I was pretty aggravated and disappointed for a while until I got far enough that I was actually given the opportunity to skate more or less freely without worry of harassment by police, etc.. It's a bit into the game, but worth noting if you get discouraged.

All in all, Jet Grind Radio is still a fantastic game, and definitely a game to get for the Dreamcast. There are minor points that really should have been taken care of, but other than that, a solid effort.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute STEAL at this price August 30, 2001

By punkviper VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Verified Purchase

Really worth much more than the price tag, this is a game that anyone will like. The fairly juvenile premise did turn a lot of folks off when the game was first released (myself included) but I am very glad I looked past that and picked it up.

Awesome gameplay, good cohesive storyline, fresh stylish animation, very inventive and compelling level design that shows how much the Dreamcast as a system is capable of. Not to mention a fairly decent amount of playtime in order to beat it, no arcade 5-minutes-and-you're-done syndrome. Cruise around a portion of the city, bumping off opponents & painting over their graffiti. Eventually the cops show up, which you can usually deal with just be keeping active and running away. But then the Chief shows up, and this dirtbag has a loaded gun! I still get freaked out when I try to run away and the dude is firing live rounds in my general direction as he's chasing. Yikes!

All I can say is "Try it, you'll like it!" It may not be the ultimate skating simulator, but it isn't meant to be. There really are so few decent original action games for the Dreamcast and that makes Jet Grind Radio stand out that much more. The game is pure fun, no matter what age you are.