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Jet Set Radio!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: August 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

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!

great; read and review!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: January 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

FUN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: July 19, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is currently my favorite game (I bought the import). It's easy to learn, challenging to play, and a lot of fun, plus the awesome music and graphics. You skate around spray painting your tags on walls, while running away from the cops. Eventually they'll bring in tear gas, machine guns, and missiles in attempt to stop. Trust me, it's fun. What makes this game unique is that you can download jpegs off the internet and use them as your tags, or use the tag editor to create your own. Although somewhat quick to beat, it lasts a long time!

An absolute STEAL at this price

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: August 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

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.

Sega strikes again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

…But the world turns a deaf ear. ...As gazed at, I really began to wonder to myself; “Did it do that bad commercially?” Apparently so. But then again, brilliance is often over-looked at first.

If there has been one thing that I have wanted to applaud Sega for, it was for trying something different. Attacking the norm and attempting to elicit a reaction from it. Games like Crazy Taxi; Shenmue, Metropolis Street Racer, and now Jet Grind Radio have all tried to do something different from the competition (with varying results and success). Which is what brings me to Jet Grind Radio. I think its entire purpose was to try some thing different and be able to get a person to put down another rehashed, “up-dated” and try something new for a change. That alone was why I took notice of the game (I’m a sucker for creative, quality products).

…And quality is what JGR shows. From its unique and very colorful “cel-shaded” graphics, to it’s amazingly good J-pop/hip-hop/trance/electronica soundtrack (I'm not normally keen on most of the for mentioned, but I found it quite endearing this time), this game is bursting at the seems with personality. The characters (a bizarre and interesting mix of roller skating punks called “Rudies”), the graffiti tags (which look great) and the cityscapes are all well crafted and implemented well.

But with out quality game-play, this game would just be another pretty face for the next-generation systems (something that seems all too common in most games these days). Luckily JGR talented team of designers also made this game an absolute blast to play. Essentially what JGR is non-linear mix of roller-blading and spray painting in which you must paint designated areas as fast and as smoothly as possible. The painting is done simply by walking up to an arrow and pressing the spray button while avoiding cops and other evil figures. Follow the simple analog commands and you’re finished. It takes some time getting used to, but the learning curve is so smooth in the game, you won’t even notice. But as you will learn the more you play the game, the game’s enjoyment is limited only to your own level of creativity. Nearly everything can be grinded or pushed off of to start a combo of linked tricks. And since the spaces of the game are so varied, the possibilities are endless. With a quick, effective and simple trick system, it becomes even more enjoyable.

But alas, this game is not perfect. The camera work tends to be a bit iffy sometimes (and with limited control over it, it can become frustrating). Not all the music is as great as others (songs like “Super Brother”, “Dragula”, and a few others are just really irritating). The simplistic trick system, though I love it, is certainly going to annoy others who weaned off of Tony Hawk for so long. But none of these things destroy (or even really dent a marvelous game).

So in the end, I guess its up to you. Do you really want another boring, uninspired shooting game? Or how about another dreadful RPG? Jet Grind Radio is the game for people who want something different in their library of games. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be that. Buy it because it’s fun game. Period.

Jet Grind Radio By Extremegamersonline.com

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Jet Grind Radio welcomes you to the underground world of the street artists a.k.a. Taggers. You're probably asking yourself what's so great about this underground world. Well I'll tell you, this game is the one that finally gives you the opportunity to revile the Tagger within you and express your artistic ability to the world.

The object of the game is to start a gang called GG's and to make sure no other gangs, such as The Noise Tanks or Poison Jam take over your territory, and at the same time you are trying to gain more territory by knocking off the rival gangs and obtaining their territory. Of course there is always the Law to watch out for and Captain Onishima is the one to watch out for here. He is the type of Cop that has the attitude of shoot first and ask questions later.

Jet Grind Radio starts off with My Man Beat who is the leader of the GG's. Beat hangs out in a garage that is located in back streets of Shibuya. The fist person to join in with Beat is a good-looking girl named Gum. She decides to give Beat a test to see if he was cool enough for her, of course Beat is and she joins.

Later on that day My Dog Tab hears about this new gang called the GG's. He decides to go to Shibuya where he has heard that they hang out. While walking around town he notices their artwork all over the place. He finds out where they stay and decides to go and check them out. He wants to make sure they are the real deal and after he discovers they are real he decides to join and now there are three GG's.

One of their rival gangs hangs out in Kogane-cho and calls themselves Poison Jam. They have a strange symbol for their trademark, they wear fish masks. And they are supposed to have special powers that let them talk to animals. The other rival gang calls themselves The Noise Tanks and they hang out in Benten-cho. The Noise Tanks are probably the only rival gang that can come close to the GG's because they can travel at night with their special high-tech glasses.

Each gang listens to Jet Set Radio because this is their underground radio station that lets them know what's happening in the tagger world. Who has taken over what area and they also play the hottest beats around.

Now that I have gotten the story out of the way let me give you the answer you seek. Is Jet Grind Radio worth buying? Well if you really want a great game for the Dreamcast that won't hurt your wallet. This is the one for you. And that is especially true if you're a music fan because it has some of the best house, rock, and hip hop music in the industry with artist such as Rob Zombie, Jurassic Five, and Mix Master Mike. Good night and game on.

Game Play 9/10

Jet Grind Radio is the best unique game to come out in a long time.

Graphics 9/10

I love the way Sega and Smilebit made the background look real and the characters look animated, this really works well with this game.

Replay Value 7/10

The replay value is ok but the bottom line is the game is really fun.

Music 8/10

This is the best game sound track to come out in a long time. I am thinking about picking it up.

Bottom Line 8/10

If you want a really great game for the Dreamcast that won't hurt your wallet this is definitely wroth picking up.

An Absolute Classic...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

...but not without its faults. Jet Grind Radio is getting comparisons to both Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Crazy Taxi--and it's obvious as to why. The jumping and grinding the rails, the tricks, and the skating vibe has more than its share of Tony Hawk in it. The arrows that direct you, the nonstop action, and the way it plays is very much like Crazy Taxi. So is Jet Grind Radio basically those two games put together? No! Definitely not. The characters and the graphics are superior to those two games put together, and the tagging element is original. My biggest complaint is the control--it's pretty lame. The A button is to jump, the R button is to accelerate, and the L button is used to both guide the camera and tag. The three left over buttons aren't used. Duh, Sega! It's so frustrating using the L button when trying to tag the bosses (I'll get to this later) and instead it refocuses your camera. There's no brake button either, which isn't too important, but would have been nice. What also bothered me was the lack of a two player option. WHY would Sega not put that option in here? Jet Grind Radio could've been one of my all-time favorite games had there been the option of two players. Ah, yes...my nemesis that plagues video games everywhere--the camera. It's bad enough that there's a cheap camera/tag button, but the camera has a way of screwing up like they always do. But what about the good points, you say? There's plenty of those, let me tell you... While I usually shy away from starting my praises with the graphics (they're not as important as gameplay, ya know), I can't really help it here. The graphics in Jet Grind Radio are simply astonishing. The cel-shaded world of Jet Grind Radio is unbelievable. Just watching this game looks like you're watching a cartoon--actually, that would be an insult the game. Jet Grind Radio looks better than the cartoons US companies put out (not on par with anime, but we can't have it all, I suppose). It makes Disney look like crayon books in motion. Unbelievable, I tell you, unbelievable. Next would be the gameplay. Addicting comes to mind, so does amazing. But the word that describes Jet Grind Radio best is FUN. I haven't had this much single player fun for my Dreamcast since, well... when was the last time I had this much fun? Yes, this is more addicting than Shenmue, and I think it belongs up there in ranks with it. I can't tell you how much fun it is grinding down a rail at top speed, leaping through the air like a superhero, and then tagging the wall. Sweet. The music to Jet Grind Radio is more quirky hip-hop than anything, and it easily fits the game (and, yes, I like it). There's some cuts from real artists such as Rob Zombie (why did they label him industrial though? Duh!), Jurassic 5, Mix Master Mike, Cold, and more. Some are complaining about this since (most of) the J-pop is gone from the import--I say good riddance, as I hate J-pop. But the music in this game is catchy (and even though I am a Rob Zombie fan, it still seems odd putting him in this game. Still a good [remixed] song though), and I enjoyed it very much. The characters are great, too. My personal favorite was Cube, of course (us Goths are neglected in games, so it's nice to see one in here--plus she's cute, heh). She has become one of my favorite video game characters of all time--she's cool, she's hip, and, well, she's a Goth. But I loved ALL the characters in this game, they all have an irresistable charm to them, and even the bad guys were great (Love Shockers!). One has to wonder why Beat is the main character though (I love the guy, but him over, say, Cube or Combo? Please). I would have prefered having Cube and Combo (you gotta love the fact that Combo skates with a boombox kicking out "phat jams") didn't come out so late in the game though--as they were my two favorite characters--but that's alright, I suppose. Like they should, the characters all have different statistics. One may be better at tagging, one might be faster, while the other might have a bigger life bar; so experimenting with the different characters is key here. Speaking of life bar, something that Tony Hawk or Crazy Taxi didn't have was enemies. At times this can get annoying seeing as how your only real defense is to flea, but they add a challenge to the game. There are all sorts of enemies that chase you--from tanks, to helicopters, to losers running up and tackling you, there's a fair amount of baddies to avoid. Te bosses can get annoying though, as you have to tag three of them onthe back--and like everything else you do, you're on a timer. They always knock you down and take off, this gets frustrating when you need one more tag and they knock you down and you die. The length of the game isn't very long, actually, but for some reason this didn't bother me, as I keep going back to it for more. All in all, Jet Grind Radio is one of the best games for the Dreamcast yet. It has a decent challenge, great characters, great dialogue, the option of creating your own graffiti, and it leaves you with a strong addiction due to its infectious, semi-original gameplay (and hey, there's even some more levels than the Japanese version...although I wish they stuck with the original name, Jet Set Radio). A must own masterpiece that deserves to be in EVERY Dreamcast owners' library. I cannot wait for Jet Grind Radio 2--Sega just better leave Cube in though if they know what's good for 'em.

An eyeful of artistic wonder

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Rating:A
While the Sega Dreamcast will always be known for its niche following of specific licenses, and projects that were well thought out but never received the commercial accolade they so deserved, it is by sifting through the grains of sand and finding specific games of this long gone system that we find a hugely underrated, and classic game in the wake of Jet Grind Radio. Featuring a cast of characters that never seems to get old and the continuous joy of tagging graffiti and running away from the police becomes increasingly more enjoyable as you collect graffit souls that open up newer and bigger tags. While I personally prefer the quicker pace of Future, don't let that fool you into tinking this game is not as enjoyable, it's just not as polished, and as quick paced. In this iteration, spray-painting is accomplished by doing motions on the controller similar to StreetFigthers fireball motions, etc. The music is as equally impressive as the visual style, which at the time of this games release was one of the original titles to featre cel-shading, a technique employed just recently to Capcom's Killer 7, with excellent results. Perhaps a game like this deserves to stay as an underground success, but it is unfortanate that we will probably never see a third game in this excellent series, after the lukewarm sales of JSRF. Oh well though, at least we've got the two games, but who knows maybe one day SmileBit will grace us with another excellent entry into this forgotten artistic masterpiece of a game.

A Great title for gaming

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 12
Date: June 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This Game Is a game where you glide through the streets creating a logo of your own wile you get huge air and pull awsome tricks. This is a great game for kids 9 and up...

A La Tony Hawk!?!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: July 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

To tell you the truth, I didn't like the Tony Hawk games very much. In fact after about an hour of that game I was ready to throw my Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, or Playstation across the room if I had to play any more of it!!! It wasn't that it was a bad game. It just had NO point to it WHAT SO EVER!!!! And that is why I didn't pre-order Jet Grind Radio right away. I thought right away that this would be the same this as Tony Hawk! Boy was I wrong! While Tony Hawk was about nothing but performing tricks, Jet Grind Radio is a game that takes place in the future!

Where the government has too much controll, and teenagers now have only one way to express themselves! No it's not music. It's graffity. You have to spray-paint your logo everywhere you go, while avoiding the cops, F.B.I, Air Force, assasins, and watch dogs!!! Sound fun yet? There's more. You can also creat your own logo's, get a bunch of new charicters to play around with, and perform tricks just by pressing the A-Button!!!

While Tony Hawk gets old very quickly Jet Grind Radio keeps you intrested till the end! [...] You can't go wrong!

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