back on my JSRF bullshit! after playing the original, i really had the itch to go back and replay one of my favorite games of all time, and once again i came to the same conclusions as i always do:
it's far from perfect, and i do have problems with it, but the experience of playing, listening, watching and hearing everything this game has to offer just fills me with such a wonderful feeling that i can put it all behind me and say that i think this is one of those perfect games.

the graphics hold up from 2002 because of the wonderful cel-shaded style, the music slaps so fucking hard, the graffiti art is so sick, and the gameplay has been refined to be more focused on making combos work and speed instead of more being a platformer like the first one was, which comes with it's own benefits and detractions. i think the story in Future is simple and not too hard to really understand, but it does feel rushed and i wish there was more time to really focus on that stuff.
speaking on that story, the cop fights i wish were waaaay harder and had more to it, like in the og JSR. i wish there were different enemy types to really try and navigate around, longer boss fights, just things to make this sort of "combat" feel more hard, i guess.

on the flip side, the gameplay, grinding, tricks, mobility is all overhauled and sped up to fit that idea of making combos and speed the priority, and fuck is it fun! the loops of grinding and getting air and using that to navigate and climb up as much as sideways is so awesome, and it makes for some excellent levels to explore and try to find combos for. i really am a fan of the more open-world esque design where each level is more meant to be a different type of level and you can navigate between each one at any given moment.

really though, when i play this and go through it all over and over again, the influence it's had on me and my tastes and seeing how timeless it look and feels is just fucking incredible always. i fucking love this game, and i will continue to love this game for many more years to come

One of the most overrated games I've played. I'm sorry.

This has one of the BEST soundtracks I've ever heard and a style that is still rarely outmatched. However, it has some of THE MOST BAFFLING game design I've seen. In regards of the overall structure, there's barely a sense of direction in-between stages or even IN stages, making it extremely easy to get lost and confused during your playthrough.

However, the thing that easily puts this thing down for me is the combat, where you have to dash towards enemies to knock them down in which allows you to spray them, taking them out. While this was also in the original JSR, a game I consider to be among my favourites, it was never something you had to do, with the final boss being designed in a way that took advantage of the games strengths. In JSRF, you HAVE to engage in forced combat sections constantly in order to progress the game. Not only is this forcing you into a system that is generally not fun to play, it also halts the pacing to a crawl, and makes me much more likely to go and play something else.

Maybe this will hold up better on a replay, like the original, but for now, I don't think it's anywhere near as perfect as I see people label it as. Sorry.

Jet Set Radio as a series really does feel like a capsule of the late 90's early 2000's Counter culture. Loud, in your face, expressive and freedom are what you get from this series. I haven't played other types of skating type games (tony hawk, skate, etc.) but everything here feels like you peering into a small yet bombastic part of culture. I love the aesthetic and the vibe, the soundtrack, the kinda focus you get just jamming out to this game. I've felt this feeling in other games but they seldom come together this well It's super unique and I'm surprised Sega hasn't done anything with this franchise considering its niche but cult status.

Unfortunately I think it's just good. Nothing mind blowing, a bit annoying but fun and I don't regret playing what so ever. It's a straight improvement over the first game in control but I think they want you to do a lot more platforming which I felt was a little cumbersome with vertical levels that often only have one way to get back up. It's a game I feel has the control to be very great but the design I feel like takes away from that control and can be a bit frustrating. Some levels are like really annoying as well. I don't think this series does vertical design super well and it seems to be the same here (skyscraper level was really annoying lol). I also missed the timer levels had to complete task. I get it's removal since levels are bigger but there was a small amount of route planning in the first game that made it fun to tackle a level again and go for a better score. Despite my gripes, I was considering going for 100% for a bit because I was just vibing. The experience is simply unmatched.

I do hope those leaks of a new game are real cause I would love to see what Sega could do with this series now. In the meantime, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk looks to continue the vibe this series cultivated and I'm beyond excited to play.

So uhmm this is like my first time reviewing absolutely anything and i thought what better game to make my debut on then one of my favourite games ever

I am a HUGE fan of the original Jet Set Radio, in my opinion it's one of the best games ever made, and JSRF most definitely does justice to it's predecessor, sporting a very unique and memorable soundtrack that i often listen to while not playing and a beautiful world which is an absolute pleasure to skate around. My only criticism, however, is that the camera controls are rather slow.

All in all, i sincerely hope that even after 21 years, that this game gets a remake, or even a sequel. I love to think of what Tokyo-to would look like with modern graphics, and i would definitely recommend this series to anyone who is interested.

Good:

Great comeback from the first game. Character control is snappier, lighter, and has never felt so good. Graphics do not age. Notoriously good soundtrack. The open world offers lots to do and is fun to navigate.

Not Good:

Wouldn't mind the addition of an arcade side mode.

Verdict:

Super weirdchamp this game has never been re-released or expanded in another sequel.
9 / 10

If you thought the first game was cool - ho, ohohoho - I PROMISE you - you ain't ready for this one. This game dialed up the coolness to the forth (probably the fifth) degree. It improved upon what came before it in a way you wouldn't think they go in. What once were levels as a part of a map, IS the map. Free roaming and skating wherever you damn well please - all while the sound of Naganuma (and that cake song) blasts through your speakers is an out of body experience.

There's not really a word that can explain how much I love this game, so I'll just say this: This game understands the concept of love.

emulated on steam deck

Finishing a game that you loved as a child but could never beat back then is such a magic experience. Getting to see and hear all the things my younger self missed out on was so gratifying. I always saw zero beat in the game manual or some magazine and i thought he looked so cool. Now as a 28 year old man I finally made it to him and I stared at him long enough for dj professor k to call me out.

This game is so flawed but the positives shine so bright its hard to focus on those problems. truly one of a kind.

will probably never write this much again lol

makes me realize how booty butt cheeks the first one was and feel validated in my hate of how you gotta stop to graffiti with enemies everywhere that wont stop chasing you, because THIS game is baller the changes to wallride, collsision for rails, graffiti make the game fun to play even if the camera sucks and makes graffiti ing cohesively hard but with all the gameplay improvements it allowed them to make an actual collectathon that didnt hurt to play, getting every graffiti soul and doing both sets of graffiti on every level plus test runs hasnt grinded my soul to dust and makes me eager to play bomb rush cyberfunk

An improvement in many ways over the original, still lacking in level design in later areas that force you to redo the same relatively simple grinds and jumps just to get another chance to try that one annoyingly hard one that always feels like it's near the end. A lot of backtracking too that just makes a lot of this game's length feel artificial. Having no button to stop grinds when it's this easy to accidentally jump onto them is criminal. Music and visuals however are absolutely on-point and once again make it a lot easier to suffer through some of the more frustrating moments and at least this time there's satisfaction to be had when the level design allows for it. I wish more levels felt as open as Shibuya Terminal. The sewer level is, naturally, the worst in the game.
I don't mind most of the redesigns but I prefer the originals. I don't like what they did with my girl Cube, making her taller and more 'well-proportioned', they made her personality horny as well (going by one of her lines about her henchmen), I miss when she used to be chill and friendly and listen to Rob Zombie. Gum also inexplicably has cleavage now. I get the impression they tried a bit too hard in places to appeal to what they thought western audiences wanted at the time after the original did a lot better outside of Japan. The designs still rule for what they are, same with the new muted but consistent colour scheme, but I still have a preference for the more childlike and colourful attitude of the previous game which seemed more obviously fun, where here DJ K is a huge prick who insults you every time you plummet from a skyscraper or drown in a river. I thought you were cool, man! Must be that crazy hypercapitalist society they have in the far-off Future Year of 2024.

Now this is Jet Set Radio. All the attitude of its predecessor with a far more palatable gameplay experience, Jet Set Radio Future is an evolution in almost every sense of the word.

Tokyo-to has never looked better. The world of Future is huge, with each area offering something distinct. You've got basic layouts with Shibuya Terminal and 99th Street but also batshit insane areas like The Skyscraper District and Sky Dinosaurian Square. Each is beautiful, offering a wide array of views that feels like a natural step from JSR. My only critique with the visuals is that I'm not fond of most characters' redesigns. While I like what they did with Beat, Corn and a couple others, they largely reduced the charm by removing wackier elements from certain characters. It gives the game a more 'grown up' vibe, but this series is so inherently wacky that I just don't get the vision. The worst offenders are Combo and Gum, and none of the new characters did much for me either. Having said that, Hayashi and his pathetic demeanour always put a smile of my face, definitely a step up from the first's police chief.

Another area where JSRF ups the ante stylistically is in its soundtrack. I was surprised by how few the memorable tracks were in the original, but the total opposite was true here. Several songs ended up in my Spotify playlist and those that didn't were still good listens in their own right (the only exception being Birthday Cake, but in a soundtrack this big, it scarcely reared its ugly head). The way each song transitions into another is brilliant and I can't really praise the music enough. Give it a listen if you haven't; I'd recommend Aisle 10, Teknopathetic, Rockin' the Mic and, of course, The Concept of Love for a varied offering.

This game controls so smoothly compared to JSR. It's hard to put game-feel into words, but the original felt like I was controlling bricks. Turning was difficult, especially in the air, and building momentum could be brutal. I found that the quickest way to move was often just to jump over and over, yet it would still feel sluggish whenever I wasn't on rails. Future gives up on making momentum building a struggle and lets you zoom straight into action whenever. This is aided by the number of rails in the game; everything is a rail! This is a good thing, as chaining rail grinds (while also performing tricks to keep you engaged) feels amazing. You can even grind certain rails upwards, fixing a lot of the vertical levels that could otherwise feel like chores to climb. Some levels are still guilty of this, with the bottom of the sewer being a pain to navigate for all the secrets.

And speaking of secrets, I was shocked to find myself collecting every single one! Now that there's no timer, I realised how fun it was to explore with this movement system and the levels highly encourage it. Tons of graffiti scattered everywhere on top of Grafiti Souls (some of which only show up after completing certain challenges) makes these already sizeable levels feel massive. The aforementioned Skyscraper District is an example that I was originally finding disorienting and infuriating, but as I got into the groove of searching for everything, it became a delightful navigational puzzle, having me ponder how on earth I'd reach each objective. The reward was not in the collectible, but in the journey to it. I cannot understate how well put together these levels are, everything else about the game could have been mediocre and yet I'd still manage to enjoy delving into these environments.

Jet Set Radio Future is a chunky game, there's a ton to do, a lot of which does feel like padding. There are some lacklustre objectives, a rote re-treading of the original's story and some frustration to be had in getting around certain locations, but I was never ever sick of it. The vibes were immaculate and only served to lift the wonderful levels, of which there are many. Jet Set Radio Future gave me a world that I managed to lose myself in for hours on end, and barely anything could stop me once I entered its flow.

I think this is the most mixed I've felt on a game in my entire life. On one hand the aesthetic of this game is absolutely marvelous, one of a kind. The cel-shaded polygons are timeless, the music is catchy, the characters are full of life and adorable little quirks (I love when they do their little stock Fortnite dance as after any kind of victory). The story is nonsensical in the perfect way, you'll be attacked by Apache attack helicopters, Doc Ock, an evil train, and a lovable cast of rival vandals who like to play dressup. The art design for the graffiti and general vibe is on point. The UI is like a perfect time capsule of the early 2000's. Point is, it's damn near flawless.

But then you actually play the game.

Dear god, this may well be the jankiest game I've played in years. During my playthrough I experienced the following an EXTENSIVE amount of times:
- Camera clipping through walls when trying to surf on billboards
- Falling through rails instead of clinging onto them
- Randomly coming to a complete stop
- Extremely imprecise jumps that made platforming a nightmare
- Slipping off of a tall building and falling to my death because I pushed the left stick 1mm too far forward
- Pressing the left trigger to center my camera but oh no! an enemy is within view, so it locks onto them and I either slam into a wall or fall to my death
- Jumping into a rail perfectly straight and going in the opposite direction for no reason
- Trying to jump off a rail only to be glued to another rail that's barely near me (yes, this somehow happens while I also deal with falling through random rails)

I could go on and on with complaints but in the sake of fairness, the general gameplay is a big improvement over the original Jet Set Radio. For one, they added a boost mechanic, which makes any kind of chase section feel a lot more fair. It also just feels good to go fast. Second, they did away with the timers and restrictions. This is my favorite change since JSR pissed me the fuck off with it's oddly brutal demand for perfectionism. Now, in Future, you can take things at your own pace. I also love the ever-expanding map, it makes Tokyo-To feel big and fun to explore. The Graffiti Souls are fun collectibles and make for an interesting challenge to grab, I was a little annoyed to have to fetch a couple near the late game, but it's no big deal.

That's about all the compliments I can give to the gameplay, though. Just in general the whole vibe feels clunky. Turning and moving feels like you're constantly on ice, and the camera doesn't do any favors. Jump height and speed felt bizarrely random at times. Some of the platforming sections in this game, like the Underground Facility and Pharaoh Park, were so god damn tedious and annoying. Tedious. That's a good word to describe a lot of the obstacles the game throws at you. Lot's of trial and error with no good balance of challenge, the platform challenges and bosses are either way too easy or way too god damn boring to have to repeat over and over and over again until you get it right.

I hate writing this review because I was really excited to play this game, I went through the trouble of setting an Xbox emulator up just to play it. Everyone has gave amazing reviews and said it's miles better than the original. But I left feeling the same as when I played it's older brother: it sure is charming, energetic, and fun, but it frustrates me to no end and feels like some of the most wasted potential in gaming

honestly such a great game…the controls are so nice and the story is much more complex and fully fledged out then the original while still keeping the important details. character designs are sick as balls. only complaint is some of the chapters were a little long and draining…specifically the one in the sewers, it was really fun at first, especially with the introduction of a new way to do tricks but there could have been some more obstacle diversity and maybe some more checkpoints so you dont have to keep redoing things. I also thought it was an interesting choice to take away yoyo for the majority of the game, as he was the starter character. but honestly a super cool game, i think for being so different from the original its still able to hold onto the title very well