Quick Look: Jet Set Radio HD

I'm playing this on PC now, and still love it. JSRF is definitely the better game, though.

I think I'll just continue playing my Dreamcast version of the game. I think it's still pretty awesome (although I will admit the "boss"-style tagging dudes levels kinda suck).

but if you want to jump directly forward while grinding you just, lift your finger away from the stick and you will. 

Black Box should take over the Jet Set Radio series.

After Patrick said that Hideki Naganuma didn't make any music after JSR, I had to go back and listen to the entire Sonic Rush soundtrack.

I'm tryna I'm tryna get I'm tryna get to sleep.

Ryan should stop skipping tutorials.

He's holding down boost only about half the time. He doesn't know how to quick turn. He isn't building momentum tricking and boost jumping.

That chase level is not hard if you switch characters.

You know, stats and stuff. Picking a character with more Power does more damage. Yet moments before chastising the mechanics of the next level, Ryan states how he is sticking with first character because he likes the way he looks. That's like trying beat GT5 in a Mini Cooper.

genuinely believe JSRF is better than JSR in every way... i dont mean that in any way as a slight against JSR. loved that game too, and one of the best things on the dreamcast

but JSRF upped the game in every way i can think of. and i can still go back and play that no problem.

i really hope this revisit results in some sort of JSR3 some time down the line id buy that in a heart beat

@George_Hukas: Been a while since I played, but I was getting a "doing it wrong" vibe. Maybe my nostalgia is getting the better of me, but I want to pick this up and see if the criticisms (here and on GameInformer) are real or just modern games spoiling us to more convenient gameplay.

Is it just me or does the soundtrack not mix together like it used to in the original Dreamcast version?

Also, looking back now, I wish JSR had made spray cans infinite and found a different way to balance the difficulty accordingly.

this is a great and fun game period.

Haha fun QuickLook but to anyone that has never experienced Jet Grind Radio it's seriously not that complicated. Pay attention to the tutorial and you'll be fine this is just Ryan being Ryan but thats why we come to the site I guess!

Anyone know what music plays on the character selection screen?'

EDIT: Found it!

@KingGiddra: JSRF either remied and dropped alot of the songs that essentially MADE JSR to me. That and I didn't care for the liscensed songs, the original tracks are what I love.

10:35 - Patrick channeling James Rolfe.

Ryan wtf man, you do a quicklook for JSR, for a bunch of people at LEAST 50% of which have not seen the game before, and you skim over the graff editor?

Jesus, that hitching seemed horrendous!

Made me play the Trial Version to test it before I shelled out, and I've had no hitching whatsoever as of Chapter 2. What a peculiar problem.

Anyhoo, I'm having a jolly good time with this. I played through the Dreamcast version several times.

And yes Dragula is in this, something which really shook me outta my nostalgia boots as that song wasn't in teh European version.

There's also a nice little fluff piece documentary about the making of Jet Set Radio and several JSRF dongs that are unlockables.

Honestly, after coming in expecting to have the same luke warm feeling for the game, I've actually enjoyed it a little more than I thought I would. The right stick camera really helps for this game. Also, I bought the PC version which so far has given me no performance issues whatsoever.

69 comments.. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHA.. haha?

I hope they reissue JSRF on Steam at some point. I'll buy this at some point either if it goes on sale or when I get some extra money.

@bonbolapti said:

RYAN, DO TRICKS ON THE RAILS AND THANK ME LATER.

Yep. Truth be told, Ryan is way worse at video games than Brad ever was.

@MisterWaingro said:

I found JSRF boring as hale. JET GRIND RADIO FOR LIFE, BROTHER.

PREACH IT BROTHER

also damn, this may not be the place to say, but id totally buy a HD version of Phantom Crash

I recently played through JSR on the dreamcast again, and aside from modern games spoiling me with their camera controls, I found the game perfectly playable. I think ryan difficulties with the controls stem from him just not being very good at games ;/

I loved the crap out of JSR. It along with Shenmue were the reason I bought the DC. Playing the trial on the Xbox I accidently moved the right stick and the camera moved. Blew my mind.

Could not complete this QL. I find it weird that they're critiquing this game so heavily like it's a brand new release and these problems could be fixed. If Ryan did suck at the game so much, he'd know what to do rather than just shrug and then blame the game. The game starts you in a position to learn its simple control scheme but for the later levels you really have to master them and really need to know the level layout to maximize your score.

@bonbolapti said:

RYAN, DO TRICKS ON THE RAILS AND THANK ME LATER.

Yep. Truth be told, Ryan is way worse at video games than Brad ever was.

Yup. He just tends to be less spectacular about it, but I cringed a lot more with Ryan on the helm - watching him play The Darkness II co-op was something painful.

Still, doesn't really matter that much when it comes to enjoying content here.

I never had a dreamcast so I played the shit out of JSRF on the Xbox. That was awesome.

I think it's a shame that people are fighting over two great games. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. A JSRF retro quicklook would be pretty great.

does anyone know if this is coming to pc too ?

@arimajinn: It's on Steam.

I was wondering WTF was up and why nothing looked familiar, then I noticed that the word "Future" was missing.

I never played the original JSR, but I did like JSRF quite a bit. In fact, that is where my name came from. "Oh no! It's Poison Jam!" :)

@CircleNine: lol... I just looked ... :) thx

When these re-releases and ports come about, I still have a difficult time understanding why -- in these quick looks -- they're critiqued and compared to the games of today and recent past in these quick looks. I think we got it the first few times.
 
Difficult to watch quick look, as per usual. Can't even correctly relay its price, as hearing "$15" probably turned off a lot of people. And suggesting that you dig out that ol' copy of JSRF and play it on your 360 is not the best of ideas, as that has a great amount of slowdown, as does many backwards-compatible Xbox games.
 
Though those hitches and slowdowns looked to be problematic, as did the layout of the levels and where the graffiti is hidden.

Everything about Jet Set Radio is amazing... apart from actually playing it.

That hitching is giving me a headache.

@GhostofEazyE said:

Oh my god! You guys are really bad at this game.

You're going to need to do a lot of commenting.

@PlasmaBeam44 said:

@KingGiddra said:

@ProfessorK said:

Patrick pretty much nailed it when he said JSR has the better soundtrack, but JSRF plays better. I still like JSR for its style and characters over the other but purely on an aesthetic level.

I think that's insane. JSR had a pretty bad soundtrack compared to JSRF to me. Dragula had no business in JSR. The Chemical Brothers stuff in JSRF is awesome.

Every time this song came on in JSRF my ears started to bleed.

I love birthday cake.

I've never played Jet Set Radio but this seems like crap.

@verysexypotato: Seriously thought I was going to be the only one. Cibo Matto is the best.

There is nothing wrong with being bad at video games. I just wish they wouldn't blame the game for it when they are bad at playing.

@Shinmaru007 said:

@verysexypotato: Seriously thought I was going to be the only one. Cibo Matto is the best.

I know way more people who like Cibo Matto than people who don't. They're fantastic.

@Atwa said:

I don't care if you guys thrash this, I going to play it anyway.

Agreed. I defiantly stopped the quicklook a minute in, went and bought it, and played a few levels before coming back here. This is one of my favorite games of all time, and so much of it is the style, music, and feeling. Modern cynicism be damned.

this game definintely had and still does have style, but it's no Aggressive Inline

@gbrading:

Jet Set Radio is not the game it look likes. It looks like a simple fun easy time. But it is the Monster Hunter of it's time. It has jank, and you have to learn a billion little trick to become as fluid as water at this game.

For Example: you have to tap the jump button when you are on a rail, so you can do tiny little hops to gain speed. Also there are a ton of grind able walls that people just miss. It alone takes hours to figure out how to do the Infinity grind in the Shybura bus terminal level. Let alone finding all the infinity grinds in all the levels.

I made a video for you Patrick, on how to play Jet Set Radio.

I have always hated playing this game, the gameplay is such an abhorrence... but that music.

I'm with Ryan and thinking JSR is the premiere game, but even that is not very good... aside from the music.

Why did they have no idea where to go? Look at the map guys.

Professor K is totally in the red audio-wise, that's my only complaint so far a few levels in. Otherwise this remains the same game, and it's good, it's just different then modern games.

@Himuro:

Dude I watched your video, and it made me realize why this game is so impossible for people. You're playing it like an adult. You get the cans. You spray the graffiti. You run from the cops. Stop it.

Fail. Keep pressing that jumping button. And don't stop. Try to jump from one place to another. It's fun. In that video you skate around the big round water holder. Don't do that. Grind around it. Jump on to the big round thing and wall ride. Have FUN. Who gives a fuck if you fail.

The game is insane and hard and janky. And trying to play it while being as cautious as possible is making the game way worse. The game was great as a kid because you played it so stupidly that it didn't matter if you failed. You had fun.

I think this quick look has actually sold me on the game... if I still feel it come my next paycheque, anyways