I had discovered Jet Set Radio through Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing. It was through that game that I learned of Beat, Tokyo-to, and just how great the soundtrack to this game is. I had it in my Steam library for a bit, so I finally decided to give it a go. What I found was a game with an amazing aesthetic, stylish art design, amazing soundtrack, and undercooked gameplay.
The biggest thing that I think everyone who has played this game can agree on is the amazing vibe it has. The art design and soundtrack really showcase this amazing punk vibe that Jet Set Radio has. Character designs are wonderful and showcase this great cell-shaded art style, while still having a punk feel to them. The style and music is what keeps you booting up the game time and time again. I would go as far to say that this may be one of the best soundtracks ever in gaming.
What frustrated me about Jet Set Radio was its very poorly aged gameplay. It just feels...off with your skating. Sometimes the game is very forgiving with your timing or landing spot, and other times if you are just one pixel off from a rail, you'll just keep falling or get stuck on a wall. It can be extremely frustrating to keep your momentum going in this game. However, I will say, when you are able to pull off a lot of tricks and get through levels fast, it is such an amazing feeling.
What hinders the gameplay even more than its iffy movement is its enemies. Things feel pretty fair during the first chapter of the game, but as things progress, enemies get absolutely ridiculous. Enemies seemingly can track you from anywhere and will hinder your progress significantly throughout levels. The game decides to put graffiti spots that take 6-7 times to fully cover it, knowing that enemies will continue to chase you, even if you got some good distance between you and them. It just becomes frustrating to have to keep rolling around the same spaces over and over just because the enemies are so relentless. Furthermore, there is very little you can do against them. You can occasionally use one of your spray cans to bring down particular enemies, such as the flamethrower users or helicopters, but regular enemy mobs, or the big tough guy enemies towards the end of the game, are relentless. This isn't even mentioning the very out of place and disappointing final boss fight, which barely tests any skills that you may have acquired throughout the game.
Level design is actually pretty solid. In the first chapter, you're given these small little playgrounds to learn skills and put up your tags. As you progress, these small areas begin to connect to each other until you have this big area of Tokyo-to that you have to race around. This is actually really well paced, though it can get confusing to figure out just how these areas connect and where you have to go to progress.
My feelings on Jet Set Radio are very mixed. It has probably some of my favorite vibes, art direction, and music in any game I've ever played. Yet, the frustrating and outdated controls (not to mention the awful camera, pop-in, and locked 30 FPS on the PC version) really soured the experience for me. I kept going to see just what cool stuff I'd see and hear next, but playing the game definitely tested not only my skill, but patience as well.
The biggest thing that I think everyone who has played this game can agree on is the amazing vibe it has. The art design and soundtrack really showcase this amazing punk vibe that Jet Set Radio has. Character designs are wonderful and showcase this great cell-shaded art style, while still having a punk feel to them. The style and music is what keeps you booting up the game time and time again. I would go as far to say that this may be one of the best soundtracks ever in gaming.
What frustrated me about Jet Set Radio was its very poorly aged gameplay. It just feels...off with your skating. Sometimes the game is very forgiving with your timing or landing spot, and other times if you are just one pixel off from a rail, you'll just keep falling or get stuck on a wall. It can be extremely frustrating to keep your momentum going in this game. However, I will say, when you are able to pull off a lot of tricks and get through levels fast, it is such an amazing feeling.
What hinders the gameplay even more than its iffy movement is its enemies. Things feel pretty fair during the first chapter of the game, but as things progress, enemies get absolutely ridiculous. Enemies seemingly can track you from anywhere and will hinder your progress significantly throughout levels. The game decides to put graffiti spots that take 6-7 times to fully cover it, knowing that enemies will continue to chase you, even if you got some good distance between you and them. It just becomes frustrating to have to keep rolling around the same spaces over and over just because the enemies are so relentless. Furthermore, there is very little you can do against them. You can occasionally use one of your spray cans to bring down particular enemies, such as the flamethrower users or helicopters, but regular enemy mobs, or the big tough guy enemies towards the end of the game, are relentless. This isn't even mentioning the very out of place and disappointing final boss fight, which barely tests any skills that you may have acquired throughout the game.
Level design is actually pretty solid. In the first chapter, you're given these small little playgrounds to learn skills and put up your tags. As you progress, these small areas begin to connect to each other until you have this big area of Tokyo-to that you have to race around. This is actually really well paced, though it can get confusing to figure out just how these areas connect and where you have to go to progress.
My feelings on Jet Set Radio are very mixed. It has probably some of my favorite vibes, art direction, and music in any game I've ever played. Yet, the frustrating and outdated controls (not to mention the awful camera, pop-in, and locked 30 FPS on the PC version) really soured the experience for me. I kept going to see just what cool stuff I'd see and hear next, but playing the game definitely tested not only my skill, but patience as well.