cinematic lean
skews televised horizon;
causes many spills
Additional Comments:
Yet another arcade-style racer that I picked up in my inaugural days of Playstation excitement; I was sold on Jet Moto's over the top fantasy tracks that reminded me so much of the material previously presented in F-Zero. Of course, F-Zero's flatland, planetary themed tracks beheld a stark difference from Jet Moto's "down to earth" beach courses or its romps through some cypress-laden swamp; all of them replete with altitude. Nevertheless, I wasn't facing the famed Maggotts/Becketts complex of Silverstone, the magnificient Eau Rouge or Pouhon of Spa-Francorchamps or even the Carousel at Infineon. Instead, I bravely traded wits with a mighty waterfall, a broken glacier, and a myriad of head-on collisions. Huzzah!
Honestly, there's something to be said about fantasy tracks. 99.9% of the time, they're complete garbage. There's a reason why track design is left to true geniuses of the craft and not some arbitrary game designer who willy-nilly slaps a string of corners together and calls it a day. Yes, I know there's far more work that goes into fantasy track design, but often, that's just how they come across. There's a certain lack of rhythm or finesse. However, game designers have really stepped up their game in recent years when it comes to fictitious layouts. But then you have these games that heartily embrace a true arcade nature where the developers are given absolute freedom to create these outrageous courses in which complete and total peril reigns. The idea is to forego safety and conventional physics and let the player enjoy the ride of his life. This is where your F-Zero's and Jet Moto's fit in; even up through the Wipeout or Burnout series. F-Zero perfected it in its initial release - not so confident about the others myself - but for Jet Moto...we'll call it above average, or at the very least, acceptable.
At first, the tracks are tame, yet littered with enough precarious obstacles to keep the adrenaline going. As the game progresses, the insanity thickens until eventually fear and awe accompany the nightmare that is Nightmare. Sitting on the brink of doom, this track is...bullshit! And that is the kindest, most elegant way to express my appreciation of this track. But more on that later. While the game institutes a progressive track ladder, the standard of difficulty is rather erratic. There's certainly nothing to complain about in the Amateur ranks, until you apathetically meander through the unimaginative Hammerhead. Actually, I really shouldn't complain about that since Hammerhead guarantees victory every time, whether you're just getting your feet wet in the Amateur ranks or proving your genuine champion material in Master. But still, it really belongs in the Amateur ranks swapped with Suicide Swamp. The Intermediate rank becomes all the more curious as you further examine the remaining layouts. Cliffdiver, for example, is one hell of a punch to the gut with its entangling switchbacks. What's more, no matter how well you master the tricky combination of grappling with a counter-leaned tight radius turn, the computer driven bikes drive the section like they're on rails. It's little programming...we'll call them anomalies...like this that really drag a track down. Honestly, the switchbacks aren't that difficult once you get the feel for them, but knowing that time lost is inevitable, you really have to be on your A-game the remainder of the course, which isn't exactly easy either unless you've got a handle on the shoulder leans. Ice Crusher suffers from the rail "anomaly" in the final climb up to the start/finish line, but the remainder of the track is wide and lethargic enough that it doesn't necessarily impede a decent lap. Cliffdiver is, simply put, a tough track; more so than the black diamond Snow Blind and/or Willpower that follow in the Professional ranks.
That's not to say Willpower is a cakewalk - far from it. Willpower deserves the black diamond rating, but not because of an unfair advantage by the computer. This track suffers from an expected flaw of fantasy course design: a ludicrously asinine layout. This problem is even more apparent in Nightmare, and to a lesser degree, both in Snow Blind and Cliffdiver. These tracks represent exactly why game designers should not be track architects. They feel like the designers threw a bunch of corner ideas in a hat and drew lots or just blindly scribbled a configuration on a discarded napkin. They're total chaos. Additionally, it feels like the tracks were designed without accounting for individual bike physics, namely lift. This is most glaringly obvious in Snow Blind where the track consistently crests within low clearance tunnels. The coup de grâce though has got to be the constant checkpoint placement upon every single summit, as if it was specifically outlined in the developer's notes. I don't know how many times I clotheslined those stupid structures thanks to an ill-timed turbo - or hell, even without a turbo.
When it comes to Pandora's Box, Nightmare is by far the worst. While I was able to tame the rest of the tracks; which Willpower was fairly straightforward once I learned the ideal locations for turbo utilization, I was never able to grasp the madness that is Nightmare. Polonius be damned, there is no method to this madness at all. Between Nightmare's layout and the constant battering from the other racers, I raced Master knowing that this race was nothing but a throwaway. And for me, that's the biggest misstep in the game. I really wished that the game had reordered the events within each difficulty mode and/or randomized it. Of course, you can do this on your own accord with the Custom tab, but Custom is an unofficial stab at the championship. I'd rather race the championship as a consistent driver and not as someone who has to push for enough of a lead so that I can totter around the final few events knowing that victory's in the bag. Oh well. Master's a bitch of a difficulty as it is, so who am I to complain how I secure the final blow to the competition.
What's funny is that when I played this game in my younger days, and I played the hell out of it too, I never made it past Intermediate. I ended up becoming so frustrated with the difficulty of the game, especially Ice Crusher, which looking back rather surprises me since that track is considerably easier than some of the other Intermediate ranked tracks. However, the game was still a blast to play so I'd spend hours racing custom seasons. Here it is years later, and I destroyed this game in less than a week. In fact, I think it took me just three nights to progress up through the various modes. I was rather surprised how easy I found the game this time around, easily sweeping victories on all but Joyride in Professional mode and taking at least four wins in Master. Strangely, Joyride turned out to be one of the hardest tracks for me to master, never once taking a victory outside of the Intermediate ranks, but I think I can attribute that to my light bike preference - stupid waves.
As far as music, hmm...I'm not so sure there's anything worth touching on. The music is certainly attuned to the provided environments, but after a while the surf and twangy, southern-fried Appalachia becomes a bit grating. Perhaps it's the track, but even the power of Cliffdiver claws at your ears with razor sharp talons eventually. And as far as the snow-based tunes, despite their initial intensity, they just sort of seep into the background; reminds me of the way NSMB Wii's music tragically disappears into mediocrity. Take Snow Blind, for example. It's not bad, but not great either and after a while, a bit passé - sort of has a next gen Sonic/Crush 40 ring to it as well. Bleagh...
Nano-Rant:
Let it be known that I will always pick handling and light weight over power and speed in any racing game, after all time is best gained or lost in the corners. Let it also be known that I abhor racing light weights in the midst of over-aggressive fatties. I don't mind arcade-racers that promote contact driving, but Jet Moto resorts to bumpin' & bangin' far too often. If it wasn't for the amount of time I spent off the track, I probably could have learned to appreciate both Willpower and Nightmare a whole lot more.
Rating: 3.5 Mountain Dews out of 5
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