After a very slow first hour I really enjoyed this game a lot, I played JSR and JSRF for the first time in the last year so I was looking forward to seeing what a much more modern version of that could look like. While I would say the vibes of this game aren’t quite on that level, the gameplay is much improved to me. The loop is similar: spray painting over rival gang’s turf to intimate competitions like score attacks or combo lines to ultimately take over the whole city. Having the speed boost from JSRF is great, and making it tied to combos instead of spray paint collectibles is so much better. The same applies to the spray paint itself, removing the requirement to find it in the environment makes the game just flow so much better. The aerial boost dash is also an amazing addition and allows you to stay in combos so much longer, though that combo system does take a bit of getting used to since it doesn’t function like it would in most other games like Tony Hawk for example. The game even has linear platform style stages that I would have a heart attack attempting with JSRF controls, but feel great in this game.

The story is a bit much in the beginning but it did grow on me by the end, it’s not overbearing but introduces a pretty neat world. My only real complaint with the game is the combat is quite bad, I’m not sure why they felt the need to add off board/skate/bike combat. Thankfully it doesn’t show up too much, but it’s a bit rough. Luckily the boss fights that are based around the riding are fine so it’s ultimately not a big game breaker. The soundtrack is also really good, quite a few of the songs will be stuck in my head for a while which is a key part to the game because of the clear JSR inspiration. I look forward to the possibility of a sequel, and it makes me really anticipate what the JSR reboot can be like with modern controls.