Hands-onJet Grind Radio GBA

The Game Boy Advance version of Jet Grind Radio was on display at THQ's press event, and surprisingly, it retains much of the style and most of the gameplay mechanics of its Dreamcast counterpart. Like most extreme-sports-style games on the Game Boy Advance, Jet Grind Radio is viewed from an isometric perspective, and it has a control scheme similar to that of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games on the Game Boy Advance. The game begins much like its Dreamcast counterpart, with a quick tutorial on how to perform some basic moves and how to tag some of the objects in the environment. You can perform jumps, rail grinds, and wall grinds, get a quick boost of speed, and even grab onto the back of cars.

Tagging is accomplished by following directional prompts on the screen that will tell you which direction to paint in. Once you've completed the tutorial and assembled a small gang of inline skaters you get to move into the regular game, which is based on finding objects to tag while avoiding the police.

Vicarious Visions has done an admirable job of keeping the stylized look of the Dreamcast version of the game. The cel-shaded characters animate quite well, and the environments still look relatively vibrant. The music sounds similar to the tracks in the Dreamcast version, though they've been toned down to compensate for the Game Boy Advance audio hardware. Jet Grind Radio is schedule for release on March 17. We'll have more on the game soon.