Jet Rider

Futuristic sports have always been fascinating concepts for game developers to explore. A good thing that they always come up with the most dangerous, out-there ideas, though, else gamers would be left with some kind of hover-cricket.

It’s in this experimental, speculative spirit that Jet Rider was published in 1996 for the PlayStation (sold as Jet Moto in North America).

Jet Rider was widely overlooked by many, however, primarily because it debuted around the same time as the acclaimed WipEout. Even so, the fictional racing of the game is a fairly exciting motocross-esque sport, albeit one that is sometimes murderously difficult.

The hover jets themselves resemble those Star Wars speeder bikes, and can travel over land and water in the game’s desperately few ten tracks.

During races, you’ll be competing against 20 other drivers. As in Formula 1, the dash from the starting grid is the best part of the contest, as riders ram each other without caution and go flying off their bikes and through the air.

Whether or not you survive a ramming isn't an exact science: sometimes, you’ll find yourself flung from your jet, arms flailing, at the slightest touch of an opponent. Most of the time, though, the crashes seem fair and it’s usually possible to get your own back on somebody.

Your ability to get sweet revenge will rely heavily on how you find the handling. The controls are mostly straightforward – X to accelerate, Square to brake, and the D-pad to steer, with the shoulder buttons available for making tight turns.

Many of the corners will require you to make use of the grappling poles. These are special posts located at checkpoints and bends, which you can swing around more quickly by holding Circle to grip onto them.

The circuits are designed to make each lap ludicrously dangerous, with plenty of broken tree stumps, concrete walls, ledges, high waves, and other obstacles to force you from your jet.

If they didn’t seem arduous enough to overcome, there’s also a type of track known as a 'Suicide Course', which sees drivers perform a U-turn at both ends and race quickly back into the middle.

Jet Rider makes no apologies for the difficulty of its races. The AI is incredibly tough to beat, and it takes a silly amount of practice just to make it into the top five positions of a tournament.

Unfortunately, when doing well in a season of races determines the number of new tracks you unlock, this extreme difficulty level can easily lead to frustration.

The hideously outdated graphics don't help matters in Jet Rider, since on occasions it’s hard to even tell where to go next because the visuals are so heavily pixelated.

The same can’t be said for the soundtrack, which is surprisingly energetic. At the very least, it beats the hell out of the repetitive faux-dance nonsense of newer mobile racers like Asphalt 6: Adrenaline.

Jet Rider is a competent racer, but it finds itself facing off against its old nemesis once again on the Android Market: WipEout.

Unfortunately for SCEE, Jet Rider cannot overtake its long-standing rival 15 years after their first futuristic duel, despite its disturbingly satisfying aggressive streak.