Quick Look: Jet Set Radio HD

@JonZero: For a point of clarification, I walked around the water tower because I needed spray cans. Grinding would make it harder to get the cans. Also your argument falls flat on its because it presumes that the only way to enjoy JSR is by fucking around and doing stupid shit when one of the most fun ways is speeding through a level and trying to see the best score you can get. That is one of the main bullet points of JSR: scores and beating times. For me, the fun in JSR is making the absolutely perfect run. Using the argument that I play "like an adult" isn't going to win you any arguments.

Giantbomb made a video saying that the game isn't very good anymore and how it "hasn't aged well", so I made a rebuttal to show it has aged perfectly fine, though it does have some kinks, and that all - or most - complaints in the Quick Look are nothing more than player incompetence.

People have been clamoring for and asking for this game to be ported for years, and in one quick stroke, you show people JSR who have NEVER played it before, players who are completely incapable of playing and deconstructing said game. Good job on that, less sales for Sega too, and less fun for people who are potentially scared off of buying the game because of a Quick Look played by chimps.

Oh, but you've got your fun! You managed to show how incompetent you are at gaming while at the same time blaming it on the game itself because of its "age"! Bravo!

Wow Ryan really is piss poor at video games...he slowly bumps around, doesn't grind out what are OBVIOUS trick chains, bitches about everything that causes him ANY grief (ie level design)...would you like a sippy cup along with the baby spoon for the rest of your games pal?

d-___________-b

The number of people here unwilling to accept that a game they loved back in the day has aged poorly is kind of pathetic and so is the "WELL YOU SUCK AT IT THEREFORE YOUR WRONG" argument. This is a decent port of a now mediocre game. If you still enjoy it and are used to the awful controls and camera, more power to you, but just because you get used to something bad doesn't automatically make it good.

I won't lie. Even when it first came out, I thought Jet Set Radio was pretty hot fucking garbage. This quick look pretty much still confirms my original opinion.

I had a friend who was wicked into this series. I tried it, I really tried to see what he was going on about. Frankly though, it was a bit shit.

I'm new to the series, bought despite everyone warning that it didn't hold up, and I'm really enjoying myself. Maybe I just have an affinity for old games, but I think it's held up just fine.

Man I remembered playing this game on the DC, loved the music and graphic but the the game itself was so frustrating to play

..endurance run?

Dragula was in one of the late game levels where you have to tag a bunch of skyscrapers. The funny part was the soundtrack for that level would alternate back and forth between Dragula and a Jurassic 5 song.

I'll still defend Dragula. Loved that song.

@Himuro: No what I'm saying is that you have to let yourself go when playing this game. You have to try out different things.

The way you play is not how people are going to play the first time, or even in the first couple of times. You memorized that level. You passed up all the small Tags and went for the medium tag, then the big tag and then to second medium tag in the level.

I enjoy speeding running that game too. But I really enjoy the thrill of doing crazy shit. Like in the beginning when you go up the stairs turn around and jump that big gap. I love moving around the level with that show-off style. And you like it too. But in order to speed run this game. In order to have fun with Jet Set Radio. You have to learn how to perfect the doing those crazy jumps. So you have to get stupid with the game and just try thing out.

Jumping around in jet set radio should be like trying to make one big huge combo in Tony Hawk or like Tokyo Drift. To be in control, You have to be out of control.

Patrick, you weren't wrong.

I always thought this game was called Jet GRIND radio, and the sequel was Jet SET radio future...they rebranded it?

All I hear in this QL is whining and complaining. The truth is that Ryan just is bad at JSR, plain BS that he likes the game, if that was the case he would be a lot better at it. The control takes a while to get used to, but looking at this you get the idea that this is a broken game with shit control, and thats certainly not the case. This game was great on DC, and is just as great in the HD version. Great graphics, fine control, and fantastic music. I can't recommend this game more, and for $10 it's just a must buy ^_^

@Counterclockwork87 said:

I always thought this game was called Jet GRIND radio, and the sequel was Jet SET radio future...they rebranded it?

It was always Jet Set outside of the states.

Never played this, but I loosely remember smoking a ton of pot and playing JSRF back in the day. Legit thought that's what this remake was until I saw the QL. Oh well, it's not even coming to PC anyway, right?

Totally getting this again. Also Jet Graffiti is pretty much freeplay, so that's why there were no cops there.

Edit: Dragula was only in Jet Grind Radio so hopefully it's not in here.

As someone who doesn't have any nostalgia towards Jet Set Radio I have to say that this looks pretty awful. The constant hitching, awful camera controls and unforgiving gameplay just doesn't look any fun at all. I guess this is one of those games you would have to have played when it was new to appreciate, but even Ryan and Patrick, who did play it back in the day, doesn't sound to fund of it.

Maybe Jet Set Radio just didn't age well.

Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure HD remake

just saying...

Sign me up when they release Jet Set Radio Future!

@galloughs:

It's on Steam right now

Just got the Steam version after playing the PS3 (no stuttering on either).

Steam version definitely the way to go. The resolution and MSAA make a big difference.

My advice to anyone playing this game is to turn off both the Auto-Centre and Graffiti Camera options. If you're still having camera problems after that, I don't know what to tell you.

One thing that bugs me is that in the DC version, the map would show up the second you hit Start, where it's a sub-menu here. Stupid.

@RoyCampbell: JSRF runs almost perfectly on XBox 360. I tried it 2 days ago and except for a few tearing here or there the game plays perfectly well, I was even surprised by the loading time which was nearly null. I also finished this game several times on XBox and XBox 360 a few years ago and never had any major problem.

Two times i have not listened to Ryan's advice on games. Two Times i have regretted it. 
 
On Stage 2 of a game i used to love I quit. Fuck trying to do that crane jump.

This QL is a fine example to why Brad is the best GB guy. If he's bad at a game he knows it's probably because of him. He doesn't spend the hold time complaining it's the games fault. TEAM BRAD

@Tatsuyarr said:

@RoyCampbell: JSRF runs almost perfectly on XBox 360. I tried it 2 days ago and except for a few tearing here or there the game plays perfectly well, I was even surprised by the loading time which was nearly null. I also finished this game several times on XBox and XBox 360 a few years ago and never had any major problem.

I wish JSRF didn't have the tearing on the 360 because I would have kept my old xbox just to play it. I might fire it up on my 360 today though cause that game is still amazing.

@Tatsuyarr said:

@RoyCampbell: JSRF runs almost perfectly on XBox 360. I tried it 2 days ago and except for a few tearing here or there the game plays perfectly well, I was even surprised by the loading time which was nearly null. I also finished this game several times on XBox and XBox 360 a few years ago and never had any major problem.

Can't agree with that at all. Just a few weeks ago I started JSRF on the 360 - the slowdown is very, very noticable on the 360 when compared to the XBox, and you can't use any custom graffiti.

It was bad enough that I went back to the XBox after playing just 2 levels. Significant difference in performance.

@algertman said:

This QL is a fine example to why Brad is the best GB guy. If he's bad at a game he knows it's probably because of him. He doesn't spend the hold time complaining it's the games fault. TEAM BRAD

Shadow of the Colossus QL says hi :P (only for the first part though as he assumed it was a game problem and not that a thing called fatigue existed in that game, resulting in his inability to hold on forever and eventually drop)

@yoshimitz707:No I had the first one and it was called Jet Grind Radio

Oh my god all the complaining. Saying "let it be nostalgia" is one thing but I think Ryan just got soft. This video makes me want to bust out my dream cast and 100% this game again!

Man the 360 version of this game hitches way more than the PS3 version. Also Ryan sucks at this game

@manbot47: "Jet Grind Radio (known outside North America as Jet Set Radio) is an action rollerblading game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast on November 1, 2000."

So much truth going on in this review.

@ShiftyMagician said:

@algertman said:

This QL is a fine example to why Brad is the best GB guy. If he's bad at a game he knows it's probably because of him. He doesn't spend the hold time complaining it's the games fault. TEAM BRAD

Shadow of the Colossus QL says hi :P (only for the first part though as he assumed it was a game problem and not that a thing called fatigue existed in that game, resulting in his inability to hold on forever and eventually drop)

You had to mention that QL. Damnit now I'm angry! Angry because of recollections!

Man, all these sampled loops, tb-303 basslines and tr-808 drums .. the soundtrack is amazing. While hip-hop and acid jazz aren't my favorite genres to utilize these elements, I'm pretty fond of that entire era of music. Too bad the game doesn't seem to hold up well at all.

On the Dragula stuff, the PSN description says it "contains 29 of the 30 tracks from the original game". Maybe that's the song that's been cut out?

Yo this game doesn't stand up at all but i'm having hecka fun with it. I wish they ported over the JSRF controls since they're way better, but eh.

@DjDonFrancisco said:

Oh god, 20 seconds in and i'm entering nostalgia town.

Yeah it really does hit quick.

Oh man, the rage in these comments. It never ceases to amuse me how whiny people get over QLs of once-loved games.

Hey, uh, angry people? The concept of a Quick Look is different from that of a review or "l33t speedrun 100% 720 noscope" YouTube video. It's (usually) meant to reflect what the average player's first time with the game is going to be like. And contrary to popular belief, most people don't pick up every game and master it in five minutes. Not even the professionals do that.

If you want to look up the music for this game, you need to look up Guitar Vader. That's the artist name that he uses outside of games.

I can't keep my mouth shut about this one.

It's not the games fault that you're having trouble tagging the Sound Tanks. It's skill level. And you have to stop blaming the game when it's not the games fault.

You move faster when you grind/do tricks. You should be grinding/doing tricks to catch the Sound Tanks and tag one at a time when you approach their speed. And you've been playing the game long enough to KNOW that grinding makes you faster, and you weren't. So why not just say "I should be grinding/doing tricks, but I'm not doing well right now because I'm talking." Instead it's just the games fault and the levels suck. Nah. Naaaah bro. It's you. Those levels are the easiest levels in the game, where you're not being shot at by flamethrower dudes/helicopters that are two feet away from something you need to tag.

Now, JSR has aged. The controls aren't as good as, like, a present-day Skate or anything like that. But I think it really sucks when you guys are just bad at a game and blame it completely on the game, or just don't play it long enough or do even a tiny bit a research, such as knowing that you picked a free-tag-mode level with no cops at the beginning and expecting it to be a story mission.

I know these are supposed to be "quick," but what's the point if you're just going to give people false information?

Also PS3 didn't have that blown-out-sound issue.

I remember 15 year old me playing this at a barbershop and having none of the fun.

@ShaggE said:

Oh man, the rage in these comments. It never ceases to amuse me how whiny people get over QLs of once-loved games.

Hey, uh, angry people? The concept of a Quick Look is different from that of a review or "l33t speedrun 100% 720 noscope" YouTube video. It's (usually) meant to reflect what the average player's first time with the game is going to be like. And contrary to popular belief, most people don't pick up every game and master it in five minutes. Not even the professionals do that.

Even funnier for nostalgia-driven games like this since most of the ragers likely haven't booted the game they're defending up in years.

I really wanna see them do a quick look of JSRF

We all have different standards, I don't care about a bad pc port exactly. I just want at least 60fps. This game runs at 30 on the pc. Which hurts my eyes.

The lower framerate is a lot more straining and noticable than on a tv. I can play console game's just fine. 30fps on the pc however feels really terrible. It's the resolution, there is a lot more detail, so the slideshow really grates. Same went for dark souls. I could handle all the crappy port, I did not care about the messed up controls, or the extremely low resolution nearly as much as I did the 30fps. Cap. Recently the cap was lifted, and I started enjoying the game.

No one is good at Jet Set Radio.

@stinky said:

Two times i have not listened to Ryan's advice on games. Two Times i have regretted it. On Stage 2 of a game i used to love I quit. Fuck trying to do that crane jump.

You know that you don't even have to use the crane to beat that level right? You can just wall jump over the gap with ease.

So... I'm playing this game for the first time ever and I think it's pretty awesome. The controls took a bit of getting used to but once you learn how to build and use momentum I think they are great. There are few niggles here and there, but nothing that detracts from the experience for me and I don't have any nostalgia as I've not played the series before.

After watching this quick look I was a bit worried about doing that Poison Tank level Ryan was stuck on, but then I beat it on my first attempt and didn't really have any trouble with it.

I think it's rewarding to figure out the fastest and most efficient routes through the levels and that it will also have good replay value for that reason.

@Xeonian said:

Regarding Patrick talking about Naganuma's career at Sega after the JSR games, he did the Sonic Rush soundtrack which is very similar in style and probably the best thing about that game.

I've heard comments like this before, but I honestly feel that the soundtrack in Sonic Rush is maybe one of the worst of all-time. I don't think I've ever played a game that makes me so angry just because of the soundtrack as that one did.

@verysexypotato said:

@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.

Nostalgia claims another victim.

Ryan's problem with Jet Set Radio appears to be, not that he thinks it doesn't "hold up" to modern games, but that it doesn't hold up to Jet Set Radio Future.

Which is like saying that pancakes don't hold up to poop.

(Jet Set Radio Future is the poop in this analogy. Because it is poop.)