Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future

    Game » consists of 3 releases. Released Feb 26, 2002

    Jet Set Radio Future is set in a futuristic Tokyo. The follows a gang of J-pop inspired skaters and their efforts to fight an oppressive regime with music, urban mischief and spray-paint while beating off rival gangs.

    hibikirush's Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox) review

    Avatar image for hibikirush

    Smilebit serves up another stylish, standout classic.

     - Intro -

    Hip, modish, daring and dashing are the words that can most accurately describe the Jet Set Radio series. The first game, entitled Jet Grind Radio for the American market, defined gaming standards. It is obvious that it broke barriers of game themes and content by using the absurd idea of rebellious teenagers roaming the streets of a futuristic Tokyo and spray painting every wall in sight. Not selling nearly as many copies as expected, especially in the Japanese market that usually strives on over-the-top games, Smilebit took a risk of sorts in revitalizing the game. For those that are not aware, Jet Set Radio Future is actually a Jet Grind Radio Redux, you could say. If you were to ask any hardcore Dreamcast gamer about the first game, you'd surely get a list of some gripes that they experienced with it, whether it would be the frustrating time limits, frequent deaths due to the annoying police, or the thwarting and oft troublesome boost button. Well, Smilebit heard most of those complaints, and didn't exactly decide to do a sequel to the original per se. They decided that they should revisit the original game, only this time it would be 30 years in the future, and it would have all the problems from the previous game fixed. For those that are reading right now and think that this is just a rehash of the original game, that's entirely untrue. In actuality, Future has nothing in common with the original besides the evident new character designs and a slight similarity in some of the level designs. The story is changed according to the warp in time, thus you'll have to once more meet up with all the characters you've met in the previous game and form the friskiest gang of hipsters that Tokyo has ever seen, the GGs. Sit back, turn the volume up, and get ready for an experience unlike any other.

    Whether or not you're a fan of the game, you have to agree that Smilebit has a unique knack for style. Just take into account that these guys started the whole cel-shading graphic trend that is so commonly used in video games now. The original Radio also dared to include the wacky musical stylings of techno virtuoso Hideki Naganuma, amongst others. Even if your musical taste does not include songs like ''Super Brother'' or ''Rock It On'', you still found that the rhymes and beats stuck to your head even long after you played the game. That's the charm about Jet Set Radio, it tries to be different, and it succeeds at being different. With the slew of games we see almost bi-monthly that are unsurprisingly similar and offer no real innovation, it's good to get a terrific new game that does what no other games have done before.

    - Gameplay -

    The story of the game is simple, yet still has the previously mentioned flavor and style to make it interesting. First off, Jet Set Radio is the name of an illegal underground radio station run by DJ Professor K. DJ Professor K narrates the story throughout the whole game, providing objectives and explaining the different groups you'll face off against. Obviously, Prof. K is much older now, but he's still the smooth talkin' mac daddy we all know him to be. Tokyo, now an evidently futuristic society, is being threatened by the mega-corporation called the Rokkaku Group who wishes to tyrannize the city. The city succumbs to the group's influences, partly due to Gouji's financial status. The Rokkaku influenced the society, industry, and even culture of Tokyo, and now he has his eyes set on the government. They've instated a Rokkaku Law, and even bought out the police department. Apparently, things aren't looking so good for Tokyo. As a member of the GGs, you have to fight back against the evil Rokkaku empire and entrust the protection of Tokyo, as well as regain the soul of the city through graffiti art.

    Basically, the game is all about breakneck rollerblading, radical jumping, extensive grinding, and graffiti painting through the streets of Tokyo. Equipped with special rollerblades, the GGs are set to cover the whole town in graffiti, as well as defeat any obstacles that face them. Along the way, you have to collect cans of spray paint to help you complete your pieces, which come in denominations of single and five cans, as well as a health can that replenishes your health bar. The main premise of most of the game's missions is to skate around the multitude of areas available in the game and find graffiti spots, which are distinguished by special icons. There are also other missions to spice up the gameplay, some of which returns from the original game, and some that is all new. Some of them include Tagger's Tag, which has you following your opponents and spray painting their backs, Flag, which has you taking shortcuts to be the first to capture five flags, City Rush, which is a basic race around the city, and Ball Hog, a really fun and frantic race where you have to cross the finish line with the ball. In addition to these modes that appear in single player mode, you are also allowed to play these in the Vs. mode, which supports up to 4 players through split-screen. This is a first for the series, since supposedly there wasn't enough time to include one in the previous game. Thankfully, Smilebit provided has computer controlled bots, so if you don't own a second controller or don't play with other people, you can challenge the computer in one of the available game modes. There are also plenty of power-ups to be found in the multiplayer mode, ranging from invisibility potions to grenades and bombs, which adds some needed variety to the game.

    The most evident change in the game has to be the fact that it is much faster than its predecessor, and this is clearly evident. From the moment I started controlling Corn, the first character you are able to use, I knew that this was nothing like the previous game. Everything moves at a frantic and furious pace, and your character maneuvers and controls much easier. The grinds are much more expeditious, the jumps much higher, and the excitement, rush and haste are clearly present. Due to this change, JGR now seems more like an action game, and Jet Set Radio Future is more of a frantic mission-based platformer.

    There are a few new additions to the game, which strongly heighten the game's replayability as well as challenge. The one that stands out is the stage challenges feature, which is sort of similar to the challenges presented in other skating games such as the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. Every area in the game has a Golden Tape hidden in a secret location, which you must find. Upon finding the tape, you receive 5 challenges that you can perform if you want to, but it's not required to advance in the game. These challenges range from acquiring a set amount of points in one trick combination, or doing an air trick four times in a row. Whenever you perform a challenge and cross it off your GG notebook, you are awarded with the location of a Graffiti Soul. For those that are new to the series and might not know what Graffiti Souls are, they basically are special items that unlock different graffiti pieces that you can use in the game, and you can select these through a menu. Each area has about 8 or more Souls, which comes to a total of about 150 graffiti pieces of various sizes.

    Speaking of graffiti, the game also features a graffiti editor that lets you create your own tags. It is fairly simple too use, and does the job of making a tag, although it takes loads of time to actually complete your piece. You have different brush sizes, and you are also able to zoom in on your tag to draw those tiny details. Jet Grind Radio allowed you to download tags that you have made on your computer onto a memory card, but since the Xbox doesn't have its broadband network finalized yet, this just isn't possible, so you'll have to work with this. You can also choose from various fonts to write your letters so that you don't have to spend hours drawing them, but the warp function that was useful in the previous game is now missing. Still, there is a large variety of tools and effects you can use, making this a worthwhile feature to play around with.

    Some complaints have been made about replay value of the game, but it depends on what type of gamer you are. If you're going to speed through the game and beat it without paying attention to the acquirable secrets, you'd most likely spend around 20-25 hours on the game. But if you're looking forward to unlocking all the characters and Graffiti Souls, you're talking about 35-40+ hours of gameplay, which is uncommon for a game of this type. The game boasts 24 characters in total, and you will already have 12 by the time you beat the game for the first time, and most of these are returning characters from the previous installment. After beating the game, a Test Run mode is unlocked, in which you can gain the Jet rankings, a status of skill in the Jet Set series. For each Jet ranking you receive on a level, you acquire a different character, and these are usually the opponents and characters that you have met while playing the game. There is also a multitude of massive environments filled with life and movement in the single player game, as well as battle arenas to duke it out with your opponents in the Vs. mode.

    The game definitely has improved controls this time around. Gone is the annoying boost button that you had to hold to activate, now replaced with a single button press that requires 10 spray cans to activate. Smilebit also added a larger focus on tricks this time around. Instead of them being automatically activated when you jump with enough momentum, you have to press buttons to perform tricks. While not as technically complicated as in other games, the trick system is a fun little addition to the game that provides many challenges. First off, there are two types of tricks. One is tricks that are performed faster but net you less points, and the other is tricks that take a different timing technique to perform and get you points in multiples of 2, 4, 8 and 16. You are able to perform a trick during a grind, or when you have enough momentum to jump up from a grind or platform and perform flips and twists in the air. The Y button allows you to perform a 180° twist, which isn't a necessity for acquiring points. There's also the wallride and handplant, which accelerate your character speed. A new addition to the game is the first-person view. Whenever you stop (unfortunately you can't use this while moving), you are able to look around in first-person mode with the use of the right analog stick. This certainly aids in gameplay during those times when you have to look down to see whether or not it's safe to jump on that platform.

    A change that turned out to be a controversy among Jet Set fans and veterans was the control change that allows you to paint graffiti in the game. In the original, you approached a wall that was ready to be painted and pressed the right trigger, which would bring up commands that you had to input with the analog stick, such as a circle motion with the stick. Smilebit realized that some fans just found this to be too difficult decided to drop it from the game, but it actually seems that it was the perfect decision. The way to paint in this game is to just approach the paintable area and press or hold the right trigger, which will make your character paint a piece while you can just skate around by the wall. This new decision fits in with the new fast-paced direction that Smilebit went with the game, and I think that it would be too much of a slow-down and hassle to stop and do commands on every piece of graffiti that you have to paint.

    There are is an unfortunate major drawback to the game, though, and in some situations it does affect the gameplay. The most clear of these is the frequent slowdown in the game, which happens repeatedly in some of the stages. The most obvious occurs in the garage, which is the main starting point of the game, and gets progressively worse as you acquire more characters. This is most likely caused by the detailed textures in this area, as well as the high polygon counts in each of the characters, unlike the filler pedestrians we see on the streets. Same goes for other parts of the game, such as the battles that you encounter with the Rokkaku police force. I literally could not move my character for a couple of seconds because I boost dashed into a group of 12 officers, and the game just couldn't handle it. That is the worst case that I have experienced in my very extensive period playing the game, and the rest of the minor slowdown isn't a detraction whatsoever, considering the vast and gorgeous levels in the game.

    - Graphics -

    The graphic department at Smilebit is at it again, and Jet Set Radio Future is just seeping with style and beauty. Smilebit has often been hailed as the inventors of the cel-shading graphic style, and they have obviously inspired numerous games that have been released over the past year or so, but none even come close to reproducing the sheer detail and gorgeous design that we've come to see from this series. The characters are highly-detailed, featuring varying shades of color, discerning the argument that stated cel-shading does not allow color detail. The vivacious environments are massive and immersing, filled with dozens of buildings, billboards, posters and other details you would find in a regular city. The draw-in problems that plagued the original have been exterminated, and there are minimal, if any, graphical glitches. Besides the inanimate objects, you will also encounter as many as forty or more pedestrians at some levels, and this is possible because they are simple filler characters that don't require a high amount of polygons, and thus they are not very detailed. There are also numerous vehicles moving around the streets, which are wonderfully detailed, and surprisingly, these do not cause any slowdown either.

    Smilebit has included some little extraneous graphical details into the game, which are really impressive if noticed. One of them is the motion blur that's evident when your character has gained momentum. You will be able to see faint motion lines and a slight blur around your character, which is a neat and stylish effect that is also very often seen in manga and anime. While you perform a boost dash, you will also notice that your screen shakes and blurs, and a gust of flames comes from underneath your character's rollerblades. Besides having a visual flare about it, this effect also adds some sense of speed to the game.

    Due to the next generation hardware of the Xbox, the game is allowed to run at a super smooth 60 frames per second. While you will experience some hiccups here and there, an average of 50 fps should probably be expected, and that's more than enough for a game with graphics of this magnitude. The character animation is simply astounding and it is evident that a lot of time was committed to this. Every single character, with an exception of some of the pedestrians, moves very fluidly, whether it be while skating or when taking a break and busting out into a dance. The flips and spins that your character performs while getting air and performing tricks are highly stylized and artistic.

    - Sound -

    The sound that this game has to offer is simply audible excellence. The fresh soundtrack fits in perfectly with the game, and the musical stylings of the geniuses found within completely entrance you. Most of the tracks are from the techno genre, and about half of them are composed by the Smilebit maestro, Hideki Naganuma. Mr. Naganuma provided nearly all of the original songs for the first installment of the series, and this time around we only get to see a couple offerings from him, including some remixes. A couple songs are heavily influenced by Japanese music, such as the Guitar Vader tracks, or a very controversial and oft hated song by Cibo Matto entitled ''Birthday Cake.'' Cibo Matto is a group whose songs are usually out of the norm and different, and maybe this is why the song isn't really accepted. There are also some songs from the popular and talented group The Latch Brothers, which will probably favor to a wider audience than other songs.

    As for sound effects, I don't really have any serious complaints about them. Everything sounds fine, from ambient noises such as the cars in the Shibuya Terminal, or pedestrians talking while observing a horse race on one of the TVs located on 99th Street. Voice acting is done exceptionally well, but this does not come as a surprise since Jet Grind Radio did not have problematic voice acting to be found. There are some tiny gripes though, such as the annoying buzzing sound during the loading screen, which I think is unnecessary, or just could have been done better.

    A major disappointment dealing with sound in the game is the lack of support of a custom soundtrack. There will be numerous people that will basically detest the music in the game, and it would probably lessen their experience of it, although I believe this genre of music fits in best with this type of a game. It hasn't really been revealed as to why they have excluded this feature, but Mr. Naganuma was quoted as saying that he does not support a custom music system in which the users can obtain songs illegally. Another neat feature is the 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound support, which is a extra that immerses you in the world even more. Even though it isn't as advanced as the surround sound in games with more action at one time, such as Halo, it is still worth checking out.

    - Final Word -

    If you're looking for a blast and a good time, you should definitely check out Jet Set Radio Future. It's a new gaming experience that every Xbox gamer should try, and I am sure you wouldn't be disappointed. If you aren't interested in skating or graffiti, there definitely a chance you might find something enjoyable in this game, because it's more of a platform game than anything else. Don't be turned down by the soundtrack either, you might actually get a kick out of the wacky songs. With numerous unlockable extras and a long lasting multiplayer mode, this is worth giving a try. 

    Other reviews for Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)

      One of the Best Hidden Gems Ever 0

      It's really hard to look at JSRF and say, "man, that looks like a rad game." However, this is exactly what you should do. JSRF takes place in a fictional futuristic Tokyo where the everyone is oppressed by a hostile police force except for a small group of Jet Setters on roller blades with rockets on them (hold on let me finish). The object of the game is obviously to put forth some sort of rebellion against the police. Visually the game is a stunning piece of work. The city is vibrant, expansiv...

      2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

      For every Sega fan, there’s a gem. 0

      It’s a shame that this game is exclusive to the Xbox consoles, but this remake of the original 2000 success was another hit, although they should have just made a sequel instead of a remake two years later. Jet Set Radio Future features speed, likeable music, and loveable characters. ...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.