Jet Grind Radio

"Jet Grind Radiooooo!"

My first JGR/JSR game was JSRF for XBox. I absolutely loved it, so I couldn't wait for this remake of the first one for GBA. It got delayed for awhile, but I finally got around to buying this right when it came out. I can easily say that I was pleasently surprised. Here is my review...

Story 9/10
You belong to a gang of ''Rudies'' or one of a few Graffiti sprayin' Magnetic-override skate shoe wearin' territorial keepin' gang of punks, yours is called the GG's. You basically have to spray graffiti to claim your stakes and avoide the ''law'' which goes from grunts that latch on to you and slow you down, assassins, a commander who goes gun happy, giant robots that shock you, and more, and also pick up new members while giving the tycoon, Goujii Rokkaku along with the Golden Rhinos, a piece of your mind.(and another thind that has to do with a certain broken record, but I'm not saying anything...) It gets pretty interesting, and sometimes a bit predictable.

Gameplay 10/10
You get to do a wide range of unique things in this game. First, the graffiti. You find an arrow (red means you need to spray there, yellow is optional for extra points, blue is your own custom graffiti, more later, for more points) there are small, large, and extra large tags to use. For large and XL, you need to move the control pad in the right direction to spray. Second, you do tricks. A bit dry, but you can grind and do aerial tricks to get points. You don't choose which one you do though. Third, you customize your graffiti. You can find ''Graffiti Souls'' that get you more tags to choose from, new characters also bring their art with them. You can also make your own graffiti for ''custom'' marks in levels. You can use a variety of tools and colors to make a picture to tag in a level. Finally, you get new characters. You either race them to a tag spot and paint your mark before the other, do a series of challenges that the character tells you to do, or just the basic controls (for the first two)
Overall, the gameplay is unique and fun.

Graphics 8/10
The graphics are alright in this game. It has an isometric view that kind of looks like a fake cel-shading. The characters are sketchy though, they resemble blobs sometimes. The view can also get annoying. The camera is fixed and you can't move it and it can get extremely difficult to judge how tall something is or if something is floating in the air or sitting on the ground. But it isn't too bad. It is very good for GBA anyway.

Sound 10/10
Now THIS was amazing! The songs are fantastic! There aren't too many, about 6 or 7, but they are great! They had to be toned down for GBA, and they are also very short. Each one is about 30 to 45 seconds long, but they loop over and over again. They are still amazing, you can hear the scratches on Everybody Jump Around, the girl whispering ''Sweet soul brotha'' on Sweet Soul Brother, and the vocals are very articulate in the songs. in the game, however, there aren't any vocals. Just the start screen that shouts, ''JET GRIND RADIOOOO!!'' and the original SEGA voice. When characters do tricks they all have a unique ''ALL RIGHT!'' sound, it varies what they say for each character, but they only have one I think. The other sound efeects are very good. not drowning out the music or too monotonous. I love this sound!

Difficulty 9/10
It can get pretty hard at times, because you have a time limit that can get close (I beat one with 4 seconds left) and some aggrivating character challenges,(coughPIRAHAcough) and don't get me started on health, too late, you got me started. Some things like the helicopter and shock troops can take a chunks out of you health meter, which varies for each character, but can be replenished by some (usually put in a hard to reach or out of the way spot)red spray cans. It gets pretty tough at times, but never(but close to) impossible.

Buy or Rent?
I say BUY IT because it is a good length and challenging. It is also fun for anyone. Besides, its only $20! You probably can't rent it anywhere anyway.

OVERALL- 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/03, Updated 06/29/03