An astute gamer will immediately be able to see the similarities between Airblade and Jet Set Radio. In the story mode you will play the part of a young fellow named Ethan, who comes into the possession of an amazing new skateboard which utilises hover technology to fly short distances. After escaping from some crooks who are intent on taking the board away from him, Ethan finds that the villains have kidnapped one of his friends and sets out to infiltrate the enemy headquarters to rescue him. This story mode is made especially fun considering you are required to pull off certain stunts in order to proceed through each level (that is to say, if you don't get used to pulling off stunts there are some parts of a stage you will not be able to reach). These stunts include flicking your board into the face of hoodlums, skirting rooftops to take out snipers, and even creaming enemy cars by landing on top of them.

The graphics in Airblade are excellent overall, although they may seem a little unusual at first. Anyone who has ever spotted the motion blur effect in cut scenes found in titles such as Metal Gear Solid and The Bouncer will immediately notice the same effect in this game. In this instance the blur can (and will) happen during action sequences during actual gameplay (not cut scenes), and so may seem disconcerting at first. What this graphics engine does allow for however is a large amount of visual detail on character models and the surrounding environments.