“Jet Grind Radioooooo!”

As I’ve gone about rediscovering my Dreamcast with a new VGA hookup, I’m troubled by my recent realization that one of my most cherished games is missing. It’s been many years since I tricked down the streets of Shibuya-cho, tagging the backs of the miscreant cops who try to crack down on the vandalizing youth, and I wanted to re-experience the original funky flavour of Beat, Gum and the GG’s gang again.

I may just have to secure another copy of Jet Grind Radio, the Sega/Smilebit celebration of graffiti as art that nonetheless carried a public service-style disclaimer against illegal spraypainting in real life. There really is no nebulous moral ground in this lighthearted take on unlawful activity, making JGR a game that could appeal to pretty much everyone. It’s expression as a game–it let you create your own designs or choose from among the 200+ tags you find throughout the game, it let you choose from any number of carefree characters, and it let you choose your tunes from an eclectic mix of commercial to… very indie music. In a genre that is wont to make executing tricks a matter of holding 10 buttons or more, JGR controls simply and smoothly and lightly.

The game that put cel-shading on the digital entertainment map is a definite must-play for anyone who, like me, still rummages through the old DC collection once in a while.

Posted on June 26th, 2008 by katie