Jet Set Radio Future is the sequel to a Dreamcast sleeper hit named Jet Set Radio (called Jet Grind Radio). Praised by most critics, Jet Set Radio is unique and my favorite game. What makes it so special, though?
Story: 10/10
In 2024 Tokyo, everything is not right. The Rokkaku Group, a megacorporation, has practically taken over Tokyo. Its leader, Rokkaku Gouji, has become the mayor of Tokyo, and is oppressing freedom, with his Rokkaku Police making sure of it. Meanwhile, the Rudies, inline skaters formed in gangs with a passion for graffiti, have seized different areas of Tokyo as their turf. You play as the GGs, one of the hottest gangs out in the streets, as you try to save Tokyo from Gouji's madness by covering Tokyo with vibrant graffiti, while beating rival gangs out of their turf. At the start of the game, there are only 3 members of the GGs, but as the game goes on, more and more people start joining your group if you defeat them. Oh, and let's not forget about Jet Set Radio, a hardcore radio station manned by DJ Professor K, who'll tell you all about the lowdown on the streets while playing tight tunes (more about this later). All this might seem overwhelming, but really, if you're playing the game, it'll seem straightforward.
Gameplay:10/10
The gameplay delves into something never attempted in a game before: Skating while painting grafitti. How do you do this? Well, for the grafitti part, just go over to an individual or grouped spinning circle mark, armed with spray cans you find on the streets, and spray them. You use up one spray can for each mark. Most characters hold up to 30 spray cans, but there are some who can hold 35 or 25, and one who can hold a mere 20. For the skating part, you will have your skates on the ENTIRE time, and you can jump (A button) onto rails or poles to do grinding (X button) and turning (Y button) tricks. If you jump either on a rail or while you're running fast, you'll be able to do air tricks, which you can do with the X or Y button. So what do you do with the B button? If you collect 10 spray cans or more, press B to do a boost dash. This is exactly what the name implies: You'll go at hyperspeed, which is useful if you're escaping cops or racing. And with that, we go to different types of battles: In the game, there is a VS mode, which you can do with 2 (and sometimes up to 4) players. In it, you can play different modes including Tagger's Tag, where you spray your opponent until their health bar goes empty, Graffiti Wars, where you try to spray more tags than your opponent, City Rush, which is a race around the area, and Flag Battle, where you try to get more flags than your opponent. You also get a shot at all of these in the story mode, with the exception of Graffiti Wars, which is replaced in a way by exactly
following the steps of your rival and attacks by the police.
Music: 10/10
The music in the game is so mind-blowing, you won't believe that these songs were made exclusively for the Jet Set Radio series! Yep- Most of the 30 songs in the soundtrack sound exactly like they would go on a real radio! There's "Rockin' The Mic", a rap, "Teknopathetic", a techno song, and "Sneakman", a Mission Impossible-esque song, and many, many others. One thing to add: You hear each and every one of these songs at one point in the game, but most are organized in playlists so you can only hear them at a certain time or place in the game. However, in the Garage, the GG's central hub and basically the center of the streets, you can change the BGM in the Garage to any one of the songs.
Graphics: 10/10
The graphics in the game are outstanding. JSRF and its prequel, Jet Set Radio, are two of the games that started the cel-shading craze, and it's no wonder. If you don't believe me, then just look at some of these pictures:
Overall: 10/10
Jet Set Radio Future is, without a doubt, one of the best games ever made under Sega's name. It's funky, cool, and will certainly leave you wanting more. Sega should really stop making bad Sonic games and revive the Jet Set Radio franchise, because believe me, they will be happy if they do.
