"A disgrace to a great series"

Intro
Over the years, the Jet Set Radio series has been a under appreciated cult series. It started on the Dreamcast over in Japan, where rookie developer Smilebit created Jet Set Radio. The North American release of the game, also on the Dreamcast, was modified a bit with American music tracks and two new levels not found in the Japanese release. The remake of both games, Jet Set Radio Future, was an Xbox launch title, and arguably the best game in the series. Unfortunately, all three games were overlooked and underrated, causing sales to be terrible. Sega has said that there will be no more Jet Set Radio after releasing the game being reviewed. After playing this most likely final game, one main thing came to mind: “It sucks that the series had to end like this.” Smilebit, the developer of all the past Jet Set Radio games, has been forced to pass the developer baton off to THQ. THQ clearly doesn't understand the Jet Set Radio formula, and the results were a disaster. So, let's pick this game apart to see what exactly went wrong.

Sound
The Jet Set Radio series is, to fans, well known for its soundtrack. Its perfect mix of rock, hip-hop, and J-pop, would suck you into the funky stylish world and not let you go. THQ totally fudged this great part of the series. Instead of the 30+ songs in all the other Jet Set Radio games, it has about five. You can also argue that there are no songs, as the “soundtrack” consists of looping melodies that make you crave for that rock/hip-hop/J-pop fix found in the other games. After a while, you'll probably get tired of hearing the same annoying rhythm over and over, and just mute the music.

Graphics
You know how with systems like the GBA and NES it's hard to compare graphics because its graphical capabilities are so limited that every game looks virtually identical? Jet Grind Radio has somehow managed to change that. The characters are indecipherable blobs, the environments are bland, and just about everything seems terrible, even for the Game Boy Advance's capabilities. Actually, the GBA is capable of some pretty good things. THQ failed to take advantage of this. Oh, I forgot. JSR was one of the first games to use the cel-shading graphic style. All games in the series used this innovative style. Does this game follow suit? I, um, can't tell. I think that they're trying to make it look cel-shaded. If they are, then they failed miserably. If they aren't, then the graphics still suck.

Story
If you have played any Jet Set Radio game before, then all of this should seem familiar to you. You play as a graffiti gang called the GGs. The GGs are rudies, street gangs that skate around the city on inline skates while spraying graffiti in order to express themselves. You can play as any of the GGs, and as you progress, more will come to join your crew. Since being a rudie is illegal, you will tangle not only with rival rudie gangs, but the cops as well. In the Dreamcast version, there was something about a mafia called the Golden Rhinos, who invade Tokyo-to, the JSR city. I'm guessing that that's in this game as well, considering that there are Golden Rhino symbols all over the place well before they show up. If you're like me, you'll get rid of this piece of crap before you get far in the plot.

Controls
This is what kills the game. The control scheme is simply mind-boggling. The game has a fixed third person camera. Not only is the camera at a weird angle, the controls are FUBAR. The game is third person, but the controls are in first person. Confused? Ok, here. Pressing up will make you go forward, left will make you turn left (just turn, not actually go) right will make you turn right (again, only turning, no advancing) and pressing down will make you turn around. Seems ok, right? Wrong. These controls are in place no matter which way you are facing. So, you will find yourself pressing up and go left a lot. That's just the movement. They managed to make this just a little bit worse with the face buttons. A is tag and B is jump. What the hell? Isn't there some unwritten rule that A has to be jump in any game? Why making it tag? What's wrong with making assigning tag to L, like in the Dreamcast version? What was THQ thinking when they did this? After a while, you'll probably get used to the controls, but still. Why not just make it play normally?

Difficulty
Simply put, this game is cheap. The standard missions themselves aren't so bad, but the real problem is when you have to race against a rival rudie. Not only are the lousy controls causing you to mess up, your opponents are programmed to do everything almost perfectly. They'll rarely screw up, and are near flawless in their racing. This will make you have to do just about every race over and over trying to memorize the proper path, as well as exactly what to do. You'll win with near-impossible perfection (which will be achieved after failing between 5 and 500 times) and luck. You may do what I did, merely give up and sell the game.

Game play
The basic gameplay is wandering around an area tagging everywhere that you can. Taggable spots are marked by arrows. Like in the other games (minus JSRF) bigger tags will start a tagging mini-game where you have to press the D-pad in certain directions to tag properly. If you mess up (and you'll find yourself doing a lot of that) then you'll waste a can of paint. There are also cops that you have to avoid, and you can knock them down to buy yourself some time. Remember how I mentioned that new rudies would come to join you? Well, they won't just flat out join you. First you have to complete a challenge to prove that they're not too good for you. The challenges will be one of two things: beat them in a race or do a special move. The special moves aren't too bad, but, as described earlier, the races are a real pain. Also, after completing enough missions in a certain area, you will be able to attack the residing gang. You see, Tokyo-to is divided into three sections, and a rudie gang owns each section. The three areas are: Run by the GGs (but also containing the Love Shockers) is Shibuya-Cho. Poison Jam controls Kogane-cho, and Benten-cho is run by the Noise Tanks. As I was saying, you get to choose which area you wish to tag up before each mission (eventually you will have to do all) Once you have done every mission there, you will have to fight the residing gang in a game called Tagger's Tag. In Tagger's Tag, you chase around three members of the rival gang. You will have to tag each member's back 10 times. Once they're defeated, the turf is yours.

Pros and cons
Pros
-Uh… pass
Cons
-Lousy soundtrack
-FUBAR controls
-Horrible graphics
-Flat-out cheap difficulty
-Clumsy, disastrous gameplay
-Pick something else, they probably screwed that up, too

Overall
Overall, this game is a disgrace. It is, in fact, the worst game that I've ever played. Smilebit was screwed over in ending their great franchise, and THQ was just lazy with it. While playing this game (I suggest that you don't) you may wonder, “What the hell were they thinking?” or “Where they even trying to make a successful game?” So, just don't touch this game. Please don't buy it, that will only encourage them. Don't rent it. Don't even look at the cartridge; it's not worthy of such attention. If you are a Jet Set Radio fan, just pretend that future was the last game in the series and that this game doesn't exist. We're better off that way.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/06