Game review: Jet set radio

The Dreamcast had many great, original games - several of which continue to be held in high regard to this day. For me, one of these games is Jet set radio. This game is one of the few that took a fun new concept, shit loads of originality and ran a mile with it.

Jet set radio is set around a group of 'rudies' known as GG. You begin as a boy named Beat and over the course of the game you encounter other rudies who will set you tasks to prove you're cool enough for them to hang with you. During your day to day skate and graffing sessions you'll encounter rival rudie crews who will make an attempt to skate and graffiti all over your turf. These missions have you skating around the area to graffiti over your rival rudies' tags, track them down and then tag them to put them out of action. The premise of the game is silly, but it all works because it's so damn fun. Jet set radio was released at a time when I was at school and graffing was all the rage - so despite how stupid the game was, it resonated with me in an odd way.

What you have to do on each stage generally is skate around and find something that needs a bit of graffiti tagging. These areas are marked by having a big arrow hover above them. Skating over to the area will bring up a little speech bubble above your characters head, which is the prompt for you to press the trigger button and spray away. Some areas can be tagged with one button press: quick and easy, where-as larger areas require more time and input. These larger areas will bring up arrow commands. Not your basic left, right, up, down - but circular motions and 360 movements. You have to pull these off precisely using the analogue stick. Doing so smoothly and quickly with no mess ups will earn you more points and allow you to get things done quicker. On the first few stages you'll have all the time in the world, but as you progress you'll find that you have police and army squads hot on your trail. So you need to be quick with your fingers and also create enough distance between you and your pursuers before even making an attempt at larger tags. Spraying also uses up spray cans which are dotted about the streets. Larger tags require more cans, so you'll need to ensure you have a large stock of spray cans before attempting them. Messing up larger tags will also cost you more cans than if you had done it swiftly the first time. You are also playing against the clock, so efficiency is the name of the game.

Jet set radio was one of the first titles to sport cel shading. Not only did it make the game look like an interactive cartoon, but it showed that a game doesn't have to sport realistic textures and life-like animation to look good and believable. At a time when it seemed that games' developers were striving for the realism look, Jet set radio was a breath of much needed fresh air. The game looks a stunner and it oozes originality. Jet set radio is one game that wouldn't have looked as striking if it went for the realism look, justifying the use of the cel shading completely. It also showed that the Dreamcast was a more than capable console and had many a trick up its sleeve. Even by today's standards it's still a stunner of a game.

The audio in this game is brilliant. All of the music is uptempo, funky and worth a listen. Several of Japan and America's more obscure artists contribute to the soundtrack, making for a hip, funky, eclectic, yet cohesive soundtrack. Everything from J-Rock, Dance, Electronica, Punk to Hip-hop is featured in this game. There's something here for everyone. The game also features voice acting, but this is limited to Professor K, the DJ of a pirate radio station who narrates the plot in between stages. He's a right character and he is well voice acted. Despite throwing street lingo left, right and centre he never feels over-cheesed and actually comes across as cool. Other characters in the game are limited to mumbles, shouts, "Yeah"'s, "Alright!"'s and varied yelps when they take a smack. There's never a point where you wished the characters talk because they are so expressive via their looks and their movement. Everything regarding the audio is top notch and it's a game you'll want to play with a good stereo or surround setup.

Jet set radio is just a crazy game that never takes itself seriously, yet you become so wrapped up in the story and its characters. The game features many stand out off the wall moments. From the dreadlocked Professor K, to midget Officer Onishima who is desperate to bust your crew for gratifying the city. The craziness doesn't let up, even for a second. The final boss is a DJ who is trying to mix an ancient record. You fight him on a giant turntable and to beat him you have to spray paint his head. The game is so off the wall and downright fun that you can't help but fall in love with everything about it.

This is one of the Dreamcast's best games because not only was it fun and highly enjoyable, but it was incredibly original in its style on every front and most importantly, it all still holds today. If you're a Dreamcast owner and you don't own this game, you need to buy it. If you have yet to play it, then I suggest you find a means of doing so. A fantastic game that is long overdue for a Wii re-release.



The good
+ Brilliant presentation
+ Awesome soundtrack
+ Fun from start to finish

The bad
- The game is quite short
- Mastering how to grind to access certain areas can be frustrating
- The missions which require you to chase rival rudie crews can become annoying