JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future

"Unique it may be but fun it barely is..."

Get a BIG pot,add in some funky magnetic rollerblades,some crayons and a bunch of weird stuff in general.Mix them all up and what you get is an eclectic mix called Jet Set Radio Future.

Gameplay:JSRF is a rollerblading game.No,don’t be thinking along the of games like Aggressive Inline or even the great Tony Hawk games.Instead,think of a 3D platformer on rollerblades.Sure,it may have the whole extreme sport look going for it with all the ‘cool’ characters and its tunes,but make no mistake JSRF ISN’T a sports game.It MAY have similar goals(achieve a set score,do certain combos) but the main part of the game is spraying graffiti on the walls,racing against rival gangs and grinding,grinding,grinding.For a non-sports title,it’s strange that JSRF bases so much of its core gameplay mechanics on grinding.To get to the top of a building,you grind.To get from point A to point B before your rival,you grind.To defeat bosses,yes…you guessed it,you grind(and spray paint them).Grinding is your ONLY way of fast travel,since using the turbo boost uses spray cans and only lasts a short time.It gets boring since you have no control over your grinding(only speed,direction is fixed.To change you HAVE to get down,turn around and grind again)…you NEVER fall off so the constant thrill of balancing a particularly tough grind is lost.Sure,grinding up buildings is impressive for the first few times but when user interaction is only needed to maintain speed or jump,it gets dull fast.REALLY fast.And spraying graffiti is not much different(or creative for that matter)either.You just run up to the marked walls(only some walls can be sprayed on),and press the Right Trigger.VOILA!Instant graffiti or ‘tag’ as the game likes to call it.I had more fun ‘tagging’ in Jet Grind Radio,Future’s Dreamcast smaller brother.At least in that game you need to do motions on the analog stick to ‘tag’.It may not be much but it’s certainly more interactive and fun than this!Some of the later levels are a chore as well.Since they’re HUGE,if you get up high and fall to the first floor,you’re pretty much screwed.Going back to where you were is going to be a real drag because you need to grind over and over before you reach your destination.Expect this to happen a lot because most of JSRF’s later levels stretch high into the sky.Having to redo 5 minutes work(not play,WORK) is boring and gets the game stale quicker than anything.

The other half of JSRF is racing against rival gangs.It’s not actually racing per se,more like a mad dash to see who can get a set amount of flags first,or who can hold on to a ball longer.Its actually quite fun…again for the first few times.But like the other parts,you’ll need to repeat them over and over before you can get it right and move on.REAL racing only comes to play when some(not all)characters want to join up with the G.G.’s.Usually,the race is not vital to the game itself as it mostly serves to add in new playable skaters.

Another thing that bugs me is the lack of continuity.I mean,JSRF is supposed to be set a few years after the events of Jet Grind Radio.YET,the G.G’s(the good guys of the first game and the second as well) don’t seem to have gained any fame.I mean,stopping a maniac hell bent on banning rollerblading doesn’t get kudos from the public?Also,what happened to the friendships made?Everybody that returns(Beat,Gum,Combo…etc)all seem not to know each other.How’s this possible since they were skating together just a few years back?Other than a total memory wipe,I think they should at least show some recognition.And the storyline of Future,is nearly IDENTICAL of that in the original.It’s a rehash of the original and most of the basic plot elements are the same.Only difference is the setting-Tokyo this time compared to the fictional Tokyoto of the original.

There’s a multiplayer mode that’s somewhat entertaining.But the games include don’t seem to be really thought out and after a couple of tries,you’ll probably be bored and start playing the main game again.Most of the games(except for graffiti) is boring and feels tacked on.They all play the same most of the times and only vary in goals.

Gameplay rating:5/10

Graphics:You know what cellshading is,right?It’s the techinique of intentionally drawing black outlines on the models so that they look cartoony.But did you know that the technique was first implemented in Jet Grind Radio?Yup,before it was blatantly ripped off by every Tom,Dick and Harry in the gaming scene(*cough*Zelda*cough*),it first appeared in Radio.So does the style of graphics still cut it?You bet!In fact,the style of the game suits it so much,I couldn’t begin to imagine playing it with ‘real’ graphics ala Tony Hawk 3.It just wouldn’t have the same style.And style’s what JSRF is all about!Every level is lovingly detailed with minor touches like birds flying about(wait till you grind on a rail as numerous crows fly around you.It’s amazing!),stacked boxers that realistically fall down as you hit the,pylons that tumble as you skate into them,glass that shatter…blah blah blah.You get my drift,right?The levels are all unique and definitely have an anime inspired feel to them.You get tons of levels(that include most of the levels in the first game but radically redone)that range of a theme park set high in the sky,a rundown housing district and an urban shopping district.All of them are usually populated which gives off the impression that you’re not in the wolrd on your own.Plus,there’s just something undeniably fun about dashing straight at a crowd and watching them dive out of the way as they notice you.

The game runs at a silky smooth frame rate most of the time.It does tend to stutter a bit when there’s lots of things going on at once but those occurrences are few and far between.The graphical goodies don’t end there though.There’s tons of neat particle effect and a REALLY cool heat wave effect that blurs the screen as you use the turbo boost.Lighting effects are nicely done in the game as well,with rotating and resizing shadows depending of the lighting conditions.There’s even sun flare if you happen to glance up into the sky using the free look mode.Needless to say,JSRF does manage to convey that cartoony look across.And quite well,I might add.Also,there’s no fog nor pop up.Its incredible when you take into account the massive amount of detail being pumped out.I can tell you playing huge levels without fog was probably unimaginable during the 32 or even 64 bit days.

Graphics rating:8/10

Sound:Make no mistake,the music in JSRF is groovy.Hell,to prove the point even the GAME says so.You get tons of songs,more than 30 in all.They range from all of over the music genres so expect to hear some rap for a while before suddenly being blasted by thumping techno beats.Although the music is done by unknowns(forgive me if they aren’t,I don’t usually listen to the music genres represented in the game in real life),most are well done.There’re one or two that grate on your nerves(there’s one about a girl cooking for her son’s birthday that WILL make you want to end your life,I swear to you,you WILL!)but for the most part,the tunes are likeable and definitely easy on the ears.

If there’s one thing I really don’t like from the sound perspective is how you can’t use your own tunes.It’s a real bummer because a game like this would be much,much more cooler is you can play listening to your own tunes.One more irritating thing is the game’s tendency to repeat certain songs over and over again.What gives?There’re over 30 songs yet I hear only the same 5 or 6 each time I play?I seriously thought my Xbox was on the fritz before a friend told me his copy was like that as well.And to make matters worse,the tunes ONLY change as you progress to a new act.Oh yeah,before I forget.They also didn’t include a skip song function at all.That’s a pretty stupid mistake to make since Future has so many tunes in its repertoire.You’re stuck listening to the same songs,whether you like it or not.

Voices in the game are passable but some do grate,again just like the music.The male characters don’t seem too bad but some of the female characters’ voices just plain suck.Thank god there’re no actual voice overs(save for the DJ that briefs you on stuff).I’d hate to have to listen to some of the cinemas otherwise.Sound effect wise,there’s not much to hear.Since you’ll be grinding most of your time,that’s what you’ll hear the most.The sound of grinding.Sometimes it may be interrupted by the sound of spray painting but that soon returns to the grinding again.It grinds(hehe…couldn’t resist the pun here)on your nerves to be sure,but after awhile you’ll hardly notice it as you get into the catchy tunes.

Sound rating:9/10

Controls:A game of JSRF’s nature has to have tight controls.Even though JSRF didn’t perform as well in the gameplay department,one certainly won’t find that its fault lies in its control scheme because it performs exceptionally well.Nudging your character in a specific direction is easy and relatively painless.But stopping on a dime is another story.Sure you can do the 180 spin to stop quickly,but even that move will keep you moving forward for quite a bit.It’s because of that singular problem which will make the later levels harder than they should be.Since the later stages require precision control,the skidding forward problem is a huge issue because you tend to go off the edge,eventhough technically you’ve stopped well beforehand.

Tricks are in JSRF but pulling them off is ridiculously easy.Just jump and if you gain enough air,your persona will immediately do a trick automatically.Boring,isn’t it?I understand this isn’t a game about tricks but what’s the point of having tricks in the first place if you have no controls over them?It’s like giving Rambo guns but saying he can’t use them.It simply doesn’t make sense.

So the control has 2 major issues.So what?It’s not a total wreck.Well,not until you’ve met the poor excuse of a camera.Maybe it would have been adequate in a game that’s slower than Future but in Future its certainly found to be lacking.You have to constantly realign it because it keeps getting stuck behind walls or facing the wrong way.Needless to say,this leads to tons of mistakes when you need to do some fancy jumping.Somehow,the floaty camera has magical powers as well…It can temporarily reverse your controls!Now this isn’t the only game where that’s an issue but it’s an issue that should have been left with texture warping and polygon clipping in the 32 bit era.Something needs to be done with it if Sega truly hopes to market JSRF as a continuous series(and it seems like they do.)

Control rating:7/10

Summary:Being the son of the pioneering Jet Grind Radio is not an easy thing.Future had a lot of hype surrounding it before its release and that may be part of the reason many will people will be disappointed in it.But that still doesn’t explain the boring gameplay that hasn’t improved one bit(in fact,I think it’s a step down) nor the wacky camera.Those problems should have been iron out long before the game is released.While its not bad standing on its own,JSRF is definitely of the missed opportunities of the year.It has lots of potential to be a great game but somehow,the lack polish drags it down into the murky depths of crappyness(ok,so I made that word up).

PROS:
-CelShading technique done right
-HUGE levels
-Great use of colors
-Awesome soundtrack

CONS:
-Boring gameplay
-Too easy to do tricks
-Lack of user interaction
-No custom soundtrack feature
-Camera issues
-Mindless objectives
-Repetition(grind,grind,grind…grind some more!)
-Too unforgiving in the later levels
-Forgettable multiplayer

Total Score:5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/03, Updated 01/19/03