Jet Set Radio – Dreamcast game covers & the review from DC-UK (2000)

Some excellent news this week, that the EU PSN store now has Jet Set Radio available for download. A unique and ground breaking game (in terms of its cel-shaded graphics), it is regarded as one of the most important games on the short-lived Dreamcast console.. There is a great review from IGN here;

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/17/jet-set-radio-review

But how was it received during its initial release, for the Dreamcast, back in 2000? Funny you should ask, as here are the magazine scans of the review from DC-UK issue #16;

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/articles/reviews/Dreamcast/JetSetRadio-DC-UK16-2.html

and here is the cover of that magazine;

here is the PAL cover & back of the game;

and this is the (superior and stranger IMO) Japanese cover art;

and while we are on the subject, here are 5 things you probably did not know about JSR;

http://segabits.com/blog/2012/03/02/five-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-jet-set-radio/

And by the way, ‘Jet Set Radio’ sounds do much better than ‘Jet Grind Radio’ (which was what it was named in the USA, though I prefer the cover art to the PAL version);

Dreamcast 10 years on – Japanese Dreamcast Game Cover Art (1999 – 2001)

Not a lot needs to be said about this, other than;

if you were in the UK, near a Gamestation shop or numerous other indie gaming parlours in the late nineties, Japanese imports were the epitome of gaming coolness. Not only, if you had an import Dreamcast, could you play games months before your friends and colleagues, but also everyone outside of Europe has an Orange Dreamcast symbol, as opposed to the Blue one we had. It just looked cooler. Also, lots of Japanese writing down the side of the covers!

Here we are, in order – Biohazard 2 Value Plus, Typing of the Dead, Power Stone 2, Vampire Chronicle, Sengokuturb, Carrier, Illbleed, Zombie Revenge;