Jet Set Radio - GBA

One of the many reasons why the demise suffered by the Dreamcast was so terribly undeserved was Jet Set Radio. Pioneering the now fashionable cel-shading graphical technique, whilst also helping to cement the now commonly held games industry motto of "people like games based on illegal activities - let's make some more of them", the game proved extremely popular amidst the Sega fanbase. Ironically, a conversion of the game is now available for another console that is most likely to be buried by a competing machine from the mighty Sony - the Game Boy Advance.

Staying faithful to the original, Jet Set Radio on GBA sees you strap on your Overdrive Magnetic Motor Skates, take control of a range of hip and trendy characters and blast your way around an assortment of urban environments, spray-painting the town and avoiding police and rival gangs. The main single-player mode charges you with an assortment of missions that generally involve working your way around each area and spraying your tag in as many places as possible in order make the town yours. Along the way you can also score big points by grinding everywhere and pulling off an array of crazy tricks.

As well as the main single-player element, there are also a number of other modes available, such as one-on-one races, freestyle skating for points, time tagging sessions, and a four-way multiplayer mode via the GBA link cable. As well as this, a welcome feature that's been retained from the original is a tag designer, which allows you to create your own individual graffiti tag that you can then go and spray around the town.

As far as portable conversions go, Jet Set Radio is a welcome addition to the GBA library, cramming all the best elements of the original onto the tiny cartridge and making best use of the limited hardware to deliver a quite unique skating experience.
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