Jet Moto

About Jet Moto

Jet Moto (1996), Jet Rider in Europe, is SingleTrac's PlayStation hoverbike racer over land and water, with magnetic grapples for slingshotting round corners, seen as Sony's answer to Wave Race 64.

Jet Moto in Depth

Players race hoverbikes that float just above the ground and can ride over both land and water, and most courses are built around that ability, from beaches with debris-strewn water and ice-covered mountains to a track floating above a city. Alongside conventional circuits, it introduced "suicide" courses: the starting grid is in the middle, with checkpoints at either end, so riders race to one end, turn around and head for the other, repeatedly facing oncoming traffic. Riders belong to teams, and bikes carry logos of real products such as Mountain Dew and Butterfinger, like sponsored real-world racing.

The magnetic grapple lets a rider press a button near a red energy pole to attract the bike to it, slingshotting round tight turns without slowing down or swinging across gaps too wide to ride over. Each lap also gives four boosts. Twenty riders and three tracks are available at first, with seven more tracks unlocked by winning tournaments.

Making Jet Moto

SingleTrac developed Jet Moto for Sony Computer Entertainment, which released it on the PlayStation in North America on 31 October 1996, in Europe in February 1997 and in Japan that August, with a PC version in November 1997. At the time it was seen as Sony's response to Nintendo's Wave Race 64. Reviews were mixed, averaging 78.9% on GameRankings for the PlayStation version and 75% for the PC: reviewers felt it had solid gameplay but was too difficult, and several praised its surf-rock soundtrack, GameSpot's Shane Mooney calling it "just the adrenaline pump [he] needed". It sold well enough to join the Greatest Hits line. SingleTrac made Jet Moto 2 in 1997 before leaving Sony, and Pacific Coast Power & Light developed Jet Moto 3 in 1999; later sequels, Jet Moto 2124 and a PS2 game, Jet Moto: SOLAR, were cancelled.