Jet Grind Radio

Jet Set Radio HD is the latest remaster in a string of Dreamcast "hits" to see new life on download platforms, but Sega has been insistent that they've learned its lessons. The publisher has emphasized how hard it's trying to get things right this time, and for many, it couldn't have chosen a better game. Jet Set Radio was part of Sega's onslaught of new properties with an emphasis on flash and style during the second wave of Dreamcast software, but it might be one of the more obscure. It's a game that almost everyone has heard of, but I think few have actually played. This was remedied somewhat with 2002's Xbox sequel Jet Set Radio Future. Unlike Sonic Adventure or the arcade hit Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio HD is the chance for many to finally play a game they've only heard about. Nostalgia has the side effect of high expectations though, and Jet Set Radio HD just can't meet them. While the flash and style of Jet Set Radio HD remains untouched and unvarnished by a dozen years of progress, the rest of it can't stand up to scrutiny. Squirrely controls, camera catastrophes, and nonsensical level design make Jet Set Radio HD a better memory than game.

Jet Grind Radio (released as Jet Set Radio in Europe) is a video game for the Game Boy Advance system, which is based on the Dreamcast title of the same name. The game was developed by Vicarious Visions and published by THQ. Jet Grind Radio is an action platform game based on the Dreamcast version. The gameplay of Jet Set Radio differs in several key areas from its Dreamcast counterpart. Instead of being a 3D game using polygons, the game is a 2D game with an isometric viewpoint. The goal of the game is to traverse through neighborhoods and find key locations to tag them with graffiti under a specific time frame. Players can grind on rails and perform tricks. When a key location is reached, players must tag it with graffiti that may require a single press of a button, or a sequence of buttons that need to be pressed at the correct time. The game offers a graffiti editor to customize and create unique graffiti tags. Players can collect hidden icons scattered throughout in order to expand the number of graffiti tags. After completing the story mode of a specific neighborhood, three new time attack modes are unlocked for that neighborhood. The three modes involve tagging an entire city, racing, and performing tricks. Jet Grind Radio also offers 4-player multiplayer that allows players to compete within the unlocked time attack modes.

Jet Set Radio Future is a video game developed by Smilebit and is the sequel to Jet Set Radio. Similar to the original, it depicts a future Tokyo where freedom of expression is outlawed. The user plays a character in the GG's, a gang of in-line skating graffiti artists who skate around Tokyo covering up rival gangs' graffiti, knocking over Rokkaku police, and dancing to the electric soundtrack. The game uses a cel-shaded style of animation, and has been widely acclaimed for its unique music style, detailed art, and gameplay. Though the game is set in the future, its style and content incorporates many aspects of 1980's old school hip hop culture, as well as 1990's J-pop culture.