Jet Grind Radio review (Dreamcast)

The US version of the game has been tweaked a bit by Sega's localization team. Lots of the game's character voices have changed, even though most of them were already in English. Also, a new level has been added to the game - Grind Square. Grind Square is loosely based on Times Square in New York, and newly licensed music from Jurassic 5 and Rob Zombie is played. While the additional level is a nice touch, it isn't up to par with the rest of the game's fabulous locales.

A lot has been said about Jet Grind Radio's graphics in the months leading up to its release, and it's definitely worth repeating here: This game looks simply incredible. The characters and environments aren't made up of that many polygons, but the smooth animation and an amazing use of cel shading (which places a black outline around some of the polys, giving them an almost hand-drawn look - expect to see lots of games stealing this effect in the near future) make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. The game's sound effects and music match the high marks earned by the graphics. The effects, while mostly consisting of grinding noises and the whoosh of spray-paint cans doing their thing, are well done, and the music is an amazing collection of hip-hop beats that fit the action perfectly.

Aside from the game itself, there's also a limited graphic editor included. You can use the editor to create your own graffiti tags for use alongside the tons of artwork already hidden throughout the game. You can also save JPEG files to your VMU using the Dreamcast web browser and import them directly into the editor for use as tags.

Jet Grind Radio is one of those "something for everyone" games that really make a perfect addition to the Dreamcast library that no one should be without.