Jet Grind Radio (known in Japan as Jet Set Radio) is about in-line skating and graffiti, and the story of a gang of teens (the GG's) living in a "typical Japanese town" known as Tokyo-to (but everybody calls it Tokyo) who get their kicks out of busting awesome tricks and flips and grinds while spraypainting or "tagging" literally anything in sight with their artistic graffiti. Of course, like in real life, the cops don't appreciate the act of vandalism, so they (guided by their insane--and hilariously voice-acted--Captain Onishima) are out to stop the teens--any way they can. The GG's are also threatened by rival gangs, who will attempt to tag the GG's turf with their own gang graffiti.

From your gang's hideout in a small warehouse garage, you choose your next area of the city to skate and tag. Things start out easily enough--you're given a generous time limit and a map of targets in the city for you to tag (anything from billboards to shop windows to police cars). Cans of spraypaint are found floating in the air. As you approach a target, giant flashing arrows will point to its location (similar to Sega's own Crazy Taxi). Pressing the L button when standing in front of the target will bring up directional symbols (like in Bust-A-Groove or Dance Dance Revolution) for you to match with the Analog Stick. Smaller-sized graffiti takes but a few simple up, down, left or right directions to paint, but larger graffiti takes several directions (including 360 degree circles) and several cans of spraypaint to finish. The combinations never get too tough, however.

Just as you start tagging and chasing off rival gang members, an indicator at the bottom of the screen flashes (and rumbles your controller if you have a Jump Pack) and the police scanner message is heard. Sometimes it's the HQ dispatching some officers on foot, other times it's Captain Onishima going berserk and calling in the heavier reinforcements. Their job is to stop you any way they can, and each time they come in contact with you they'll drain power from your stamina bar. Lose all your stamina, and your session is over. Plus, if they hit you while you're tagging, you'll have to resume the graffiti again where you left off. At first you'll chuckle at the Keystone Kops-like police force that runs around after you, yelling and screaming, trying to tackle you or bonk you with their billy clubs. Eventually, you'll laugh out loud at what Onishima calls in for backup--paratroopers, tanks and attack helicopters to name a few.

This sense of humor is evident in Jet Grind Radio's character design. Jet Grind Radio uses a technique called "cel-shading" which gives 3D-polygons the illusion of 2D-hand drawn sprites. It's a marvel to see, and it's what gives Jet Grind Radio its unique comic book style. JGR's graphics are the some of the best yet for Dreamcast, and put most PlayStation 2 games to shame. Each character in Jet Grind Radio is drawn with a different attitude in mind, from the Ultraman-lookalike Garam to Combo (who always carries a giant boombox on his shoulder). The characters differ in more than just looks, each is ranked in three areas: Power, Technique and Graffiti. Characters high in Power (Combo and Garam) have longer stamina meters; characters with high Technique (Cube and Tab) can skate fast and turn on a dime; characters with high Graffiti (Gum and Yo Yo) can hold more cans of spraypaint.

Tricks in Jet Grind Radio is not as complex as the ones found in Tony Hawk, but they are nonetheless entertaining and actually necessary to complete some levels and gain bonuses (unlockable graffiti) floating high in the air. Backflips, one-foot and two-feet grinds and Method grabs are the norm as you fly through the streets, sewers, highways and rooftops of Tokyo-to. It would have been nice to have a competition mode where tricks could be focused on, but that's just a personal wish and does not mean the game is any less outstanding.

The other big ingredient to Jet Grind Radio's unique style is its music. Jet Grind Radio has one of the best soundtracks in any video game. It has the best soundtrack of any game released this year, in my opinion. The music ranges from rock to pop to J-pop to techno to funk to rap, yet it somehow blends together perfectly and reinforces JGR's ultra-cool style. Music from Rob Zombie, Jurassic 5 and Mix Master Mike (whose music also appeared in EA's PS2 hit, SSX) is included in the soundtrack, but the best music is the stuff from the original Japanese release--and Sega thankfully kept everything in the game for its US release.

Jet Grind Radio also has options for you to create your own unique graffiti, either by using an in-game paint program or by downloading JPG files from the Jet Grind Radio homepage (or even your own JPGs). You can also listen to any song in the game's excellent soundtrack or upload scores and your own graffiti to the Jet Grind Radio homepage.

Jet Grind Radio is the best Dreamcast game of the year and a must-have game for any Dreamcast gamer. Buy it without hesitation, you will not be disappointed.