Jet Set Radio Future

Still a truly unique game.

Some strange happenings have been going on in Tokyo as of late. A shady organization known as the Rokkaku Group headed by Rokkaku Gouji is spreading it's influence all across the city. They own the police department, and have been getting their laws passed throughout the city. It's even suspected that they have their eyes set on city hall. It's time for you to join a local street gang, don a pair of rocket skates, and rebel against the man via using spray paint to tag your symbols throughout the city.

JSRF is a truly unique game that really has no game comprable game aside from the original Jet Grind Radio on the Dreamcast. I guess it'd be kinda like a Tony Hawk adventure game that instead of an emphesis on doing tricks, the emphesis is on using your skills to search out and tag the various grafitti markers placed thoughout each expansive city with spray paint cans you also collect throughout the city area while occasionally taking on rival street gangs (who themselves are about as hardcore as the gangs in West Side Story) for their turf. Your rocket skates let you grind rails for a relatively long time, and the game in general has a huge emphesis on grinding rails.

It's sufice to say that JSRF is a very unique game. It's pure Japanese quirk, but beyond the quirk packs a huge addictive gameplay punch that will keep you addicted for a long time. Another thing that makes it unique is it's cell shaded visuals. Though the cell shaded craze has come and gone, it was the original Jet Grind/Set Radio that started the craze, and JSRF carries on the tradition nicely. Due to the greatter processing power ot the Xbox, the city areas are now much larger, and much more populated than it's DC predesessor. The game also ads a few new abilities, like the ability to grind straight up poles, and also brings back the grafitti editor where gamers can use their creative sides to create their own custom tags for use in the game.

If I had any complaints about the game it's that they changed the grafitti system from the original. Now instead of completing the larger grafitti via using different motions on the analog stick, it's all now simply a one button affair. I guess it makes it easier, but I enjoyed the original's better. Also, the controls are a little more sensitive than the DC version making precision movement a little harder that it was in the first one. I also enjoyed the music in the original better.

Despite these small complaints, JSRF still manages to be one of the best games on the original Xbox for those looking for a fresh experience.

Bottom Line: Though it pales a little in comparison to the original, Jet Set Radio Future is still an awesome game. If you're tired of conventional games, and are looking for one of the most uniqe gaming experiences ever created, then set your sights on Jet Set Radio Future.

Note: The Jet Set Radio Future/ Sega GT double pack that came packaged in with countless original Xbox consoles is not 360 compatible, so if you buy that version, then you'll need an original Xbox in order to play it. If you buy the game buy itself though I do believe that's backwards compatible.

The original cell shader

Why? Because I said so! This is pretty much the same game as Jet Grind Radio, the first cell shaded game of all time. The sound track is one of the best for a game and belongs right up their with SSX3s.

Suprisingly fun!

I am strickly a fan of only racing, fighting, and Extreme Sports games. JSRF uses Extreme Sports, The platformer style and some racing inside. This was the only platformer I liked. The interesting cel-shaded graphics ad a certain essence to them. This last summer vacation I spent 50 hours playing this. The graphiti concept is so weird yet so fun. Anyone should play this. This is a great all-purpose game and the best game ever from Sega!

Highly Underrated

Yes, Jet Set Radio Future. I was a bit skeptical about this game when it was first released, but I heard good things and picked it up. I was not disapointed. The game is great, challenging, and has more style than Tony Hawk ever will. The graphics already turn most people off, but they are actually great to look at. The music is also great, with 30 pumpin' tracks to get you in the mood of the game. At first, the game takes a little while to learn how to control and everything, but once you get that down, the game becomes great fun. The game also gets very challenging in the later stages. Ocasionally, a tricky jump might force you to start all over, falling what seems like hours from where your were. You are forced to run all the way back up there to do the same jump. Again...and again...and again...I guess every game has those "slam a controller against a wall" moments. Anway, you should still get this game. Unless you really cant handle one of the only ORIGINAL ideas left in video games, I suggest you get this. You will have more fun than you think.

JSRF is the perfect sequel to one of the most original games ever

JSRF is the sequel to Sega's masterpiece Jet Grind Radio. Many of my friends are reluctant to even try the game because they think it is a cheap imitation of Tony Hawk's Proskater. JSRF is not about compiling trick scores, it is about liberation, it is the type of game that sparks a revolution. The one problem is, the only people I have met that tried it both had played the original game, and loved the new one. JSRF is a very early game in the X-Box history, but is probably still one of the most advanced. The cel-shaded graphics are the best around, and are full of bright neon and other novel effects. The soundtrack is a perfect reflection of the game, one will hear music in this game that they probably would not hear anywhere else, it is a welcome change from games that feature played-out radio hits or terrible indy music. The story of the game makes much more sense if you have played the original, but it is still as engulfing as anything Square can think up. JSRF should have been the game to start the X-Box revolution, and to bring Sega to the top of gamers minds once more. The problem is, no one played it, a problem plaguing Sega's masterpieces, even if you are not a Sega fan, please put your fanboy biases behind you and experience the revolution.