Perform tricks and flips on magnetically driven in-line skates, but watch out for the local police force! Now on Xbox Live Arcade, Jet Set Radio is part of Sega’s Heritage Collection series and now features lush HD visuals, developer interviews, and amazing fan-created graffiti.
Overview
Ah, the evil corporation, that faceless enemy that sees nothing but profits and revenue with no regard for human life and/or the betterment of mankind (unless the profits are there). Resident Evil has Umbrella, Eve of Extinction has Wisdom Inc. and Jet Set Radio has the Rokkaku Group. The Rokkaku Group is a massive conglomerate headed by its CEO Rokkaku Gouji, a man so vile and powerful he has his eyes fixed on nothing but total domination of Tokyo! Unbeknownst to even those that follow his evil will, Gouji is planning on some seriously nasty things to happen in Tokyo.
So how does a game featuring inline skating and graffiti figure into all this? Well I'm glad you asked'you see, the last bastion of freedom and spirit lies in the hands of the collective gangs sprawled across the city. Problem is, these gangs don't much care for one another and constantly bicker amongst themselves instead of sticking it to 'the man.' That's where you come in. As newest member of the hottest gang around (The GG's) you not only have to prove yourself to your new gang, but also figure out a way to right the wrongs that are currently plaguing the city. Of course you will have to do this using spray paint and electromagnetic roller blades as your primary weapons.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
When I heard that the sequel to Jet Grind Radio was going to be released on the Xbox I was instantly fired up, so much so that I went back and reread my original review. Wow, I gave the original a 97! Is this possible? Was it that good of a game or was I not up to speed on scoring since it was my third review? Well, while I can't say my original review was as good as I would have liked it to be (from a writer's standpoint). The game actually was that good, however, and the fact remains that it was literally a selling point for the now defunct Dreamcast. On a side note, you can now pickup a Dreamcast for as little as $49.99 and the original Jet Grind for as little as $7.99 (this is an incredible deal). But enough of this blathering, let's talk about today's topic, Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF).
JSRF takes place in a futuristic Tokyo, where really strange gangs rule the streets, but unlike the violent gangs of today, this future society seems to breed an almost mutant-like gang member. This is a setting wherein gang members wear elaborate monstrous outfits and other visually shocking apparel. Now the great thing about this future world is the really slick roller blades that all the gang members seem to wear. First off, the wearer can move very fast and the law of gravity seems almost suspended when jumping, not to mention the ability to land on your feet (without turning your legs into Jell-O) after jumping off a ledge and landing on the street some 300 feet below. Next, these marvels of engineering allow the user to grind along almost any type of edge surface. Imagine if you will, racing along a sidewalk, jumping up and grinding along a handrail and then up a 90-degree pole, across a streetlight, leaping onto the top of an oncoming bus, jumping over to a rooftop and finally coming to a stop. Yes, this is a typical move during the gameplay and truth be known, a fairly easy one too. The things you do in this game are pretty much limited to your imagination.
So, controlling the game is fairly easy with an incredibly short learning curve. Players view the game from a 3rd person perspective with the left thumb stick used to accelerate and the right side buttons used for boosts, tricks and jumping. The two trigger buttons are also important, as the left one will reset your view and the right one is needed to spray the graffiti.
The whole point of the game is to spray your graffiti over your rivals' 'tag' marks whilst you invade their turf. Plus, since your gang is viewed and generally thought of as the good guys, you will investigate strange goings on around town. These typically involve burning through the scenario once and covering the other gang's graffiti. Once that is completed, you will usually meet a colorful character that challenges you to some sort of task, like follow the leader or a race around the block. If you complete the scenario successfully, the character you have just defeated will join your gang and they will be selectable from the garage (more on this later). Soon after, you will be given a choice to do battle against the Rokkaku Police force and its resident psychotic, Inspector Hayashi. Hayashi has been charged with the dubious task of eliminating the street gangs for Gouji Rokkaku. I don't want to ruin the surprises, but the lengths the Rokkaku Group will go to systematically eliminate you exceed acceptable levels of sanity.
The GG's hang out is called the Garage and is managed by Roboy. Here you can practice your moves and save your game, change game settings, etc. More importantly, the whole game revolves around the garage. Since it's centrally located, there are several exits to the various parts of the city. This is also where those new characters you recruit eventually end up.
So what does recruiting all these other hip-hop graffiti artists do for you? It's simple'each unlocked character has various strengths and weaknesses which can be used during the various stages of the game. Each stage has a graffiti point that allows you to swap up to other GG members. In other words, if you are playing a scenario that requires tremendous speed and your current character is slow, you can find the 'special' graffiti point that teleports you to the Garage (the GG's hangout) and select a quicker gang member. By the time the game is over you could potentially have a baseball team's worth of gang members, each possessing a specialty.
There are quite a few changes/upgrades that this edition has that the original did not. First off, Sega eliminated the time clock that made you rush through the scenarios too quickly in the first game. This allows for a tempo that is much more user friendly. With the exploration possibilities and the gaggle of hidden items/grinds/hidden places the game has, players who like exploring massive environments are in for a real treat, since they now have all the time they want to look for hidden things. Next, the addition of the boost dash was quite an impressive upgrade. Basically, you must collect graffiti cans in order to make your mark on the wall. Well, when you use the boost dash, you burn off 10 cans of paint but you also rocket super fast for a brief moment, and when I say fast, I mean fasssssssssssstttttttt. The game graphics literally blur with the tremendous amount of speed that you unleash. This is particularly effective in the stages where you may need to go uphill or race an opponent. I also found that on the stages where you fight the police force (knock 'em down and spray paint them), you really lay out the bad guys when you fire off a boost dash. The game makers also threw in a combo/trick function part of the game where the original had nothing like it. The tricks often help you through the game when you need to get to a particularly tricky location. I wondered why they implemented this in the original.
A couple of things worth mentioning'one, this game can get really hard at some points' really hard. Two, the adventure isn't so clear at some points and you must look hard to figure out what to do next. Three, occasionally the camera angle will lose you in a wall when you turn too sharply near a solid object. All three of these things are minimal, but still worth mentioning.
Multiplayer support/experience
Surprise! JSRF has a multiplayer mode that really adds another dimension to this superb game. Taking advantage of the four game control ports the Xbox offers, the game has five mission-based levels on which to find out who is the best Jet player. There are levels involving straight up racing, and a 'ball-hog' type game that is a fast version of keep away. There's also a graffiti war level and a race version of capture the flag involving five hidden flags. This option is also extended to having either team battles or an all-against-all battle. While I really thought this was a good addition to the game, why the hell did they not offer this same option with the link cable? I am honestly getting really disappointed with the whole 'link' idea. Why invent it if you never incorporate it?
Graphics
OK, I know the words beautiful, awesome, gorgeous, flawless are thrown around the gaming world with impunity, but JSRF's visuals are almost a religious experience. Cell shading is a not often used medium in graphic design, but this game looks so friggin' good that absolutely no other system could produce graphics this sharp. I am literally speechless in how to explain how good this game looks. The characters are so bright and smooth looking yet have absolutely dead-on shadows. The movements are so fluid I would swear water was coming out of my Xbox. This is arguably the best looking video game on the market today, and that's saying a lot when we're talking about games like Halo, Dead or Alive 3, Final Fanasy X, Wreckless and Survivor (just kidding). The frame rate is laser beam fast and the horizon depth is unflinching'wow.
Audio
JSRF has the coolest mix of movement music. The songs that play along with the action are absolutely fitting. It's like the programmers had a giant puzzle and they fit all of the pieces together perfectly. Clever players will pick out a couple of cuts that were in the first game and even smarter ones will recognize the artists behind the music. The industrial DJ Professor K, spins the music and keeps the story flowing with his witty banter and street style. Prof K is a solid character who wisely does most of the talking in the game. Inspector Hayashi sounds like he's a bit out of his mind and almost has a twisted voice. I would love to give credit to the voice actors but the instruction manual doesn't list any credits.
Originality/Cool Features
Hidden items are always a plus in my book and each level contains an audio recording that must be found and listened to while in the Garage. There are some strange things happening in Tokyo.
Graffiti souls are symbols that unlock different spray paint patterns. You can select which pattern you would like your mark to be from the list of souls you have discovered. Look sharp; while some are in plain sight, others are in areas difficult to get at.
This game is totally original, as is its predecessor. Rollerblading while spraying graffiti in a futuristic world where an evil conglomerate wants to rule the city and said city's gang members are the only ones who can stop it, by spraying paint is truly unique. Some really cool stuff going on here.
It should be noted that there are several disclaimers in both the game and manual stating that spray painting graffiti is against the law, so don't get any ideas or you could end up in jail. Strange that the game that has characters creating art on public property has all sorts of warnings, yet any number of games that involving killing does not. Don't worry, I'm not going to get all political (I like violent games), but I would have loved to been a fly on the wall of the boardroom discussion when it was brought up: Senator Jackass: I'd like to see a warning on this game that graffiti is bad and probably leads to other things like licking slugs and staying up past your bedtime to watch public access television. Ass kissing aide: But sir, we don't put any warnings on games that involve dismemberment and unsafe firearm usage leading to death.
Senator Jackass: But those are things that the Government does, so it's okay. The government would never spray paint on a wall. Do you think we are savages?
Ass kissing aide: No sir, good point.
Senator Jackass: Good, now call up my mistress and tell her to meet me at the hotel in an hour.
Bottom Line
Yup, this game is a winner. Long time readers will note that I am a hard reviewer. For a game to even score in the 90's means that I really put it to the test. Well, chalk this one up to another reason why you should (or did) buy an Xbox. Excellent controls, easy on the eye graphics, killer soundtrack and a challenging adventure mark this as this year's best Xbox game (so far). I can't wait for the third edition.
Pick this game up; it is a hot, hot game
Overall rating: 6.5
Jet Set Radio Future | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Smilebit |
Publisher(s) | Sega |
Director(s) | Masayoshi Kikuchi |
Designer(s) | Various |
Writer(s) | Ryuta Ueda |
Composer(s) | |
Series | Jet Set Radio |
Platform(s) | Xbox |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | Action, sports |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Jet Set Radio Future,[a] known in North America and Europe as JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (stylized in all caps), is a video game developed by Smilebit and is the sequel to Jet Set Radio for the Dreamcast. It was published by Sega. It was released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, February 25, 2002 in North America and March 14, 2002 in Europe and Australia for Xbox. After the game's initial release, it was given away on a disk with Sega GT 2002 in specially-marked Xbox console packages.
Similar to the original, it depicts a future Tokyo where freedom of expression is outlawed. The user plays a character in the GG's, a gang of in-line skating graffiti artists who skate around Tokyo covering up rival gangs' graffiti, knocking over Rokkaku police, and dancing to the electric soundtrack. The game uses a cel-shaded style of animation, and has been widely acclaimed for its unique music style, detailed art, and gameplay.
Gameplay[edit]
The character Yoyo tagging graffiti on a wall
Jet Set Radio Future plays similarly to the original game in which the player controls a member of a gang of inline skaters called the GGs to gain control of a futuristic Tokyo. Players are able to skate, grind on rails and even up poles, ride on walls, perform midair tricks and use boosts to move faster. Most of the game requires the player to search for graffiti tags left by other gangs and spray over them with their own. To do this, players will need to collect spray cans littered across each stage. Spraying is more streamlined from the last game, with manual spraying over large tags replaced by multiple spray targets depending on the tag's size. Unlike the original game, there is no time limit and spray targets can be completed at any time.
Stages in the level are now interconnected, with time limits removed, and often feature multiple objectives. These range from mimicking a rival's trick line or beating other skaters in a race. The police, who previously chased after the player in the last game, now appear in specific areas, with the player tasked with stopping them by charging into them and spraying them to defeat them. Each area has hidden items to collect, including Graffiti Souls, which unlock new graffiti designs, and Hidden Tapes which unlock additional missions where more Graffiti Souls can be earned. The game also features several multiplayer modes and the option to design one's own tags.
The game is entirely about aggressive inline skating. Players can grind through rails and skate backwards. When a player is skating fast, they can come to a quick stop by performing an advanced inline-skating move called the powerslide. Several characters also appear to have removed the middle two wheels from their skates, a slight modification usually done to make grinding easier.
Plot[edit]
In futuristic Tokyo, referred to in the game as 'Tokyo-to', a group of teenage skaters called the GG's vie for control of the many districts of Tokyo against many rival groups. The Rokkaku Group, a megacorporation, has taken over the many districts of the city and their leader is the mayor of Tokyo. It is oppressing the people, taking away freedom of speech and expression, and is forcing other gang members to give up their territory using the corrupt police force of Tokyo.
The game begins with the player in control of a character called Yoyo, who has to complete a set of basic training exercise to prove himself worthy of joining the GGs.[1] After these challenges are completed, the game is interrupted by a pirate radio broadcast by 'DJ Professor K' who fills the player in on the turmoil within Tokyo. After this cutscene, the player is released into Tokyo itself, where they pursue their mission to 'bury Tokyo in graffiti' and fight the authoritarian Rokkaku Group, and their own police force, the Rokkaku Police.
The game begins with the GG's fighting the Poison Jam gang after they steal a statue referred to as 'the Goddess of the Street'. To do this, the GG's cover up Poison Jam's graffiti in their turf, and then question Poison Jam's rivals, Rapid 99, for the location of their hideout. There, in the Tokyo Underground Sewage Facility, they fight Poison Jam and their boss, Cube, for control of the statue.
After the GG's win the battle against Poison Jam, a new gang springs up, the robotic Noise Tanks, who have taken Tokyo by storm and is already in control of three gangs. At the same time, one of the GGs, Yoyo, disappears without a trace. The GGs decide to question one of the Noise Tanks' gangs, the mummified Immortals, wondering if the Noise Tanks sudden appearance had anything to do with Yoyo. They reveal they had supposedly kidnapped Yoyo; however, when he is freed, he turns on the GGs and enslaves them under the Noise Tanks' control.
The Noise Tanks then have the gangs under their control battle in the game 'Death Ball'. Those who lose are brainwashed and controlled by the Noise Tanks for life. The GGs succeed in all three games, but then the Rokkaku Police suddenly appear and crack down on the whole game. When the GGs win this battle again, the Noise Tanks become furious, releasing hundreds of Noise Tank androids to terrorize the street. When the GGs clear out all of the androids, they discover a wounded Poison Jam, who reveals that Yoyo had beaten him and ran off to the nearby amusement park. There, it is revealed that 'Yoyo' was actually a Noise Tank in disguise, and the real Yoyo had been missing the whole time. After the GGs defeat them, a mysterious man destroys the Noise Tanks and runs off. They soon discover the Noise Tanks were built by the Rokkaku Group to take over the gangs of Tokyo.
After the Noise Tanks are destroyed, two new threats appear: a Yakuza-style gang called the Golden Rhinos who are bent on eliminating all graffiti in the city, along with executing all Rudies; and an insane demon like creature who sprays odd graffiti and looks strangely like one of the GGs, Beat. In the midst of all this heat, the GGs are approached by Clutch, a Rudie who knows where Yoyo is; the player needs to find a certain number of Graffiti Souls for the info. However, when the GGs give him his payment, he runs off without telling any information. They chase after him and interrogate him, where he apologizes, says he was 'just having a little fun', then reveals Yoyo was taken to the Fortified Residential Zone. When they arrive, they discovered the place rigged with bombs. They disable them all and finally save Yoyo.
Yoyo then tells the GGs what happened: he had heard of the Golden Rhinos and went searching for more information, and he had gotten caught. After the rescue, the Golden Rhinos begun tearing up the streets, which required the GGs to intervene. As soon as they clean the streets of all the Golden Rhinos, DJ Professor K is kidnapped and taken away. The owner of the Rokkaku Group, Gouji Rokkaku, uses this time to broadcast an announcement to the city to gather at the Shibuya bus terminal. Here, he blares odd, creepy music from a strange tower. He absorbs all the people into the tower, telling them to 'wipe the pitiful smiles off your face' and to 'let the evil show, baby'.
The GGs go to the bus terminal to stop him. They destroy Gouji's Beat creatures and supposedly save the city. However, soon they are absorbed inside the tower. Inside the tower, Gouji transforms into a giant monster, but is defeated by the GGs again. The game ends as the tower is destroyed and Gouji apparently dies. An epilogue plays as DJ Professor K relates to the players how the hearts of men are easily corrupted by greed.
Music[edit]
The music is played in a premixed format consisting of certain playlists directed to certain levels, although there is a jukebox and the end of the game features a song only available through the jukebox. Alongside returning video game composers from the first game Hideki Naganuma and Richard Jacques, the soundtrack features artists such as Guitar Vader, BS 2000 (the side project of Adrock of the Beastie Boys), Scapegoat Wax, The Latch Brothers (including Mike D of the Beastie Boys, Chris 'Wag' Wagner and Kenny Tick Salcido), Cibo Matto, and The Prunes.
Reception[edit]
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Jet Set Radio Future received 'favorable' reviews according to video game review aggregatorMetacritic.[3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 32 out of 40.[8]
IGN called it 'one of the coolest titles around' but said that it also fails to reach classic status because it was 'not enough of a challenge.'[15]GameSpot described it as 'one of the better Xbox games to date' and disagreed with IGN, claiming the game 'offered a serious challenge.'[12] Despite positive reviews, this was not followed by high sales, landing it the title of the most unfairly ignored game in the OXM UK Awards the year of its release.[citation needed]
Edge ranked the game #44 on its list of 'The 100 Best Games To Play Today', stating 'The sound track is peerless, and whether grinding vertically down a 200-foot dragon, leaping across Shibuya's handrails, or just cruising the wrong way down a one-way street, there's nowhere else that's so exhilarating to simply travel through.'[19]
Sequel[edit]
At the end of Jet Set Radio Future, there is an in-game mention of a possible sequel: during the final cutscene, DJ Professor K says 'The streets are in trouble again? Who's gonna rise to the call? Remember, the streets don't wait for no one!'[20] During the early stage of the NintendoWii, Kuju Entertainment made a concept for a Jet Set Radio game for the Wii. But, when Kuju presented the idea for a Jet Set Radio Wii, Sega said they were not interested in making a new Jet Set Radio for any console.[21]
In 2017, Dinosaur Games created a visual proof of concept after Sony expressed interest in their work at GDC 2017. This project, Jet Set Radio Evolution, was ultimately turned down by Sega for largely unstated reasons.[22]
Notes[edit]
- ^Japanese: JSRF ジェットセットラジオフューチャーHepburn: Jetto Setto Rajio Fyūchā
References[edit]
- ^Kidzworld staff (December 27, 2006). 'Jet Set Radio Future :: Xbox Game Review'. Kidzworld. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^'JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox'. GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^ ab'JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
- ^Marriott, Scott Alan. 'JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future - Review'. AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^Edge staff (March 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future'. Edge. No. 108. Future plc.
- ^EGM staff (April 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future'. Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 153. Ziff Davis. p. 142.
- ^Bramwell, Tom (April 25, 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future'. Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^ ab'Xbox - JSRFジェットセットラジオフューチャー'. Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 915. Enterbrain. 30 June 2006. p. 104.
- ^'Jet Set Radio Future'. Game Informer. No. 107. GameStop. March 2002. p. 83.
- ^Pong Sifu (February 24, 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future Review for Xbox on GamePro.com'. GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^Gee, Brian (March 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future Review'. Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^ abTorres, Ricardo (February 25, 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future Review'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^Bub, Andrew S. (February 15, 2002). 'GameSpy: Jet Set Radio Future'. GameSpy. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^McElfish, Carlos (April 14, 2002). 'JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^ abGoldstein, Hilary (February 22, 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^'Jet Set Radio Future'. Official Xbox Magazine. Future plc. April 2002. p. 66.
- ^Robischon, Noah (April 19, 2002). 'JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future [mislabeled as 'We Got Game']'. Entertainment Weekly. No. 649. Time Inc. p. 75. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
- ^Steinberg, Scott (March 1, 2002). 'Jet Set Radio Future'. Maxim. Biglari Holdings. Archived from the original on June 6, 2002. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- ^Edge staff (March 9, 2009). 'The 100 Best Games To Play Today (Page 6)'. Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^FunkyDeodorant (July 4, 2009). 'Jet Set Radio Future: Ending, Part 2 (Xbox)'. YouTube.
- ^monokoma (February 18, 2009). 'Jet Set Radio [Wii – Cancelled Concept]'. Unseen 64.
- ^'Dinosaur Games shares Jet Set Radio Evolution visual proof of concept turned down by Sega - Gematsu'. Gematsu. 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
External links[edit]
- Jet Set Radio Future at MobyGames
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