40 Fun Facts About Jet Moto

At release, the first Jet Moto was seen as Sony's answer to which rival Nintendo racer?

Wave Race 64 was the yardstick critics reached for, though one magazine called the comparison unfair because no real jet moto exists to judge the handling against.

Which soft drink brand has its logo on rider bikes in all three released Jet Moto games?

Mountain Dew stayed on the bikes from 1996 to 1999 while other sponsors came and went, part of the series' nod to real sponsored racing.

The first Jet Moto was conceived by its developers as a science fiction take on which motorsport?

Motocross was the model: riders race in packs of twenty, but on bikes that float above the ground so they can cross water as well as land.

Which Jet Moto technique lets riders latch onto red energy poles and slingshot around tight turns?

Magnetic grapple poles also let riders swing across gaps and chasms that are too wide to ride over.

Which PlayStation car-combat game hides a Jet Moto track unlocked with a code printed in ads?

Twisted Metal 2 came from the same studio at roughly the same time, which is how a Jet Moto course ended up hidden inside it.

Which candy bar brand sponsors one of the four racing teams in the original Jet Moto?

Butterfinger backs five of the twenty riders, giving the invented sport the look of a real sponsored racing series.

Which Jet Moto rider earned his nickname by being inhumanly consistent and rarely showing fatigue or frustration?

Tetsujin is Tetsuo Hibara, hired from a prestigious Japanese team, whose rigid traditional training aims to unify mind, body and spirit with the machine.

Which Jet Moto adrenaline junkie is known for victory parties said to be illegal in some states?

Wild Ride is Kari Kelley, a reckless thrill-seeker who cares little about finishing first and is one of four riders to appear in all three games.

Which new button in Jet Moto 3 lifts the bike off the ground to clear obstacles?

Hop arrived alongside the third game's new stunt tracks, where riders chase points for tricks instead of a finishing position.

Which real South American landmark lends its heights to a high-altitude track in Jet Moto 3?

Machu Picchu joins volcanic islands, catacombs and a thick sequoia forest among the third game's varied settings.

Which Jet Moto track type has riders double back between two end checkpoints into oncoming traffic?

Suicide course races start from a grid in the middle of the track, so the pack meets itself head-on after every turnaround.

Two magazine reviews likened the feel of riding in Jet Moto to moving through an atmosphere of what?

Molasses was the image both Next Generation and GamePro chose, because the controls and unusual physics were the game's most criticized feature.

The cancelled Jet Moto 2124 was pitched as keeping the series' feel at the speed of which racer?

Wipeout speed was one goal of the redesigned physics, and the game would also have taken the series off Earth for the first time.

Unlike its two predecessors, Jet Moto 3 was released in only which region of the world?

North America alone got the third game, whereas the first two had also been sold in Europe and Japan.

Which Jet Moto rider trains on an endless supply of virtual courses in a world of pure electronics?

Technician is Otomo, whose every simulated session is analyzed as he prepares for what his bio calls the ultimate obstacle: the human competitor.

Which Jet Moto rider's aggressive rookie year brought both podium finishes and a run of injuries?

Rhino is Andre Makarczyk, whose off-season plan for a steadier second year mixed competitive swimming, weights and Zen meditation.

Which wealthy Jet Moto 2 rider is said to race just to show off his cat-like reaction times?

Li'l Dave rides for the Atlantic Technology team, and his bio ranks his reflexes with the very best on the circuit.

Which Salt Lake City studio developed the first two Jet Moto games before leaving Sony's fold?

SingleTrac was bought by GT Interactive after the second game, and its original developers had no interest in making a third.

Jet Moto 2's computer rivals race near-perfect laps because developers replaced full AI with what?

Recorded gameplay runs saved processor power for other things, but they made the sequel harder, since any slip quickly costs the player places.

Which subtitle marks the altered Jet Moto 2 that was re-released by mistake after a disc mix-up?

Championship Edition cut the field from ten racers to four so the game could run at 30 frames per second, and it was never meant to go on sale.

Which food brand sponsored Jet Moto 2 but, at its producer's insistence, appears only on track ads?

Chef Boyardee was kept off the bikes after producer Brian Wiklem fought to stop the brand from becoming any rider's sponsor.

Jet Moto's developers chose hovering bikes over wheeled motorcycles to dodge which technical limit?

Polygon counts were not the only squeeze: only the player's bike used the full physics engine, while a simpler system drove the nineteen computer riders.

Which genre drives the first Jet Moto soundtrack, which one review likened to James Bond spy tunes?

Surf rock guitar in the Dick Dale mould won the music real praise, and one critic ranked it among the best game soundtracks of 1996.

Which studio took over development for Jet Moto 3 after the original team declined to make it?

Pacific Coast Power & Light went on to start a fourth game, Jet Moto 2124, before poor sales of the third got it cancelled.

Which Jet Moto heavy-bike rider is a master mechanic, called the Dr. Frankenstein of motor sports?

Bomber is Dayna Hogan, who personally tests the muscle-bound hybrid bikes she builds and returns in both sequels.

Which former Jet Moto champion now rides a heavy bike with a mercenary attitude?

Blackjack is Garth Richter, whose bitterness has reduced him to a hired gun who forces rivals off the track, though a few supporters still expect a comeback.

Which Jet Moto rider races on a modified bike that she won in her divorce from a former champion?

Shannara rose through the ranks just as her ex-husband began to fall, and the engine she rides was built for someone twice her weight.

Which Jet Moto pioneer is nicknamed after the high-acceleration engine he made famous?

The Max rides behind his Maximum Gee engine, now in its fourth generation, and coaches the rising star Quick Jessie.

Which Jet Moto rider from the Australian outback is a veteran of the Dakar rally?

Gunner prides himself on his physical conditioning and came out of Africa's punishing terrain smiling.

Which Jet Moto 2 racer becomes playable only after the game has been completed?

Enigma is a yellow robot-like figure on a medium-weight bike and is the only unlockable character in the second game.

Which Jet Moto rider is rumored to have cybernetic limbs, fitted after a training accident?

Shirow is described as the first Japanese woman to race a heavy bike, and officials leave the rumor alone as long as her weigh-in total is legal.

Which happy-go-lucky Jet Moto rider is called possibly the sport's most dangerous and strangest man?

Mace has no idea of the threat his reckless style poses, and rivals often clear out of his powerful bike's way, right into the winner's circle.

Which moon of Jupiter was planned as a race location in the cancelled Jet Moto 2124?

Europa would have joined Mars and Earth's own moon as the first tracks in the series set away from Earth.

The cancelled Jet Moto 2124 drew its design inspiration from which futurist concept artist?

Syd Mead's style shaped the concepts for a game that was cancelled two years into production, just before beta testing.

Jet Moto 3's studio head Don Traeger had earlier worked on which motorcycle racing series?

Road Rash helped win his studio the job, along with the fact that, in one Sony executive's words, it was nearby and cheap.

The PC version of Jet Moto added reflective water through support for which maker's graphics cards?

3Dfx hardware acceleration also allowed higher resolutions, and a later review of the port singled that support out for praise.

On Jet Moto 3's new stunt tracks, riders score by performing tricks and collecting which items?

Coins are scattered around the stunt tracks, a mode that one magazine said would capture hours of playtime.

Which setting for a group of Jet Moto courses was dropped in development for not fitting the theme?

A stadium did not suit a game built around beaches, swamps and icy slopes, so the developers dropped that whole set of courses.

Jet Moto 3's hand-tuned graphics code was later found to break compatibility with which hardware?

The first PlayStations could not run the game because its lead programmer had rewritten some of the console's library calls, a flaw caught only after release.

Which Jet Moto rider, a rodeo man's daughter, cut her teeth riding bucking broncos?

Irons brings that balance and natural strength to the circuit, often ignoring conventional strategy to bounce high and wide for big air.