Every Dreamcast owner should know about everyone's favorite (and, so far, only) graffiti-tagging game series: Jet Grind Radio (Jet Set Radio in Europe). This is a game created by Smilebit, the fathers of CEL-SHADING itself. Cel-Shading was a graphics creating technique that gave everything a comic-book feeling and made the game stand out. That's why JGR sold millions. Smilebit also worked on the graphics in Sonic Shuffle, in case you didn't know.
The series started with the first game, which was about you, as Beat, forming your first gang: The GGs. Once you did, you would start the game, which featured tagging graffiti (duh!), skating, grabbing the backs of cars for transportation, escaping cops, fighting a few rival gangs and unravels so much more, that if I said anymore it would count as spoilers.
The first game was a huge success and Smilebit noticed this, so they started developing a new game after the Dreamcast died. In early 2002 (late 2001 for the Japanese), this long-awaited game was finally released. It went by the name JET SET RADIO FUTURE!
So, how was this awesome game compared to it's predecessor?
Graphics 10/10
There are so many graphical things to see in the game. There are the characters and their detail in the game. If you see Beat (and you've played the first game before), you will notice he has changed in graphical detail as much as his wardrobe. He wears vibrant, green shirt, different sunglasses, and different headphones. Some gamers will probably be a little disappointed to see that some of the character names have been changed (Tab was replaced by some guy named Corn.).
If you see the non-playable, innocent bystander characters in the city areas, you will probably go "Hey, look at that guy." A few hours later, in a different area, there will be a small chance that you will see that guy again. The rest of the characters and the Rokkaku Policemen are okay.
There's also the environment to look at. The buildings are vibrant and well-detailed, although they are out of proportion (i.e. The door is too high on the wall to reach.). You will notice that if you look closely at the dog-shaped building in the first level. The billboards and areas all look nice.
The graffiti is VERY NICE. From the first graffiti designs you get to the other ones you get, they are all beautiful and well-designed. I love the graffiti designs and would want to give the graffiti artists a pat on the back for a job well done. The graffiti comes in a wide range of designs to suit anyone's personality. Smilebit was nice enough to include a graffiti creator/editor. The range of graffiti designs only ends where your imagination ends.
Graphics 10/10
Very beautiful, Smilebit. It was smart using the Cel-Shading to create all of the graphical masterpieces in this game and succeed with flying colors.
Story 10/10
You are in a gang called the GGs. You are minding your own business in your little turf wars until Gouji Rokakku came along and started gaining political power. He passed what DJ Professor K calls "'Rokkaku Law' Crap." These were strict laws that were getting rid of society, individuality, and, worst of all, culture. Rokkaku even bought out the police and used them to take down anyone who opposed him and his laws. Seemingly, the only hope that Tokyo had left to save their future was the gangs of Tokyo. They are setting out to bury Tokyo in graffiti and stop any law enforcement that gets in their way. Unfortunately, this won't be an easy task to accomplish since there are far more rival gangs (with the return of the classic ones) to fight off in JSRF than in JGR. But DJ Professor K from JGR is back with a new look and always there to help the GGs with his pirate radio station, Jet Set Radio. Will the GGs be able to guard their turf while stopping the Rokkaku group from drastically affecting the future of Tokyo?
Story 10/10
Wow. Just wow. Smilebit strayed from the path and avoided all the generic story deathtraps, such as "Villain attempts to takes over the world," and "Save the damsel in distress." I salute you for your originality, Smilebit.
Gameplay 10/10
I'll first cover the control issues. The controls are mostly the same as in JGR, but a little bit more responsive. The manual trick was also added to the game, but they removed the ability to grab the back of cars. But you would be very happy to hear that you can grind up things at a ninety degree angle, such as power lines. The speed up was also replaced with the speed dash, a move that sacrifices ten spray cans to have a burst of rocket speed.
You start off and pick up spray cans. The yellow ones are worth one can and the blue ones are worth five yellow cans. There are some red cans, but they give you health instead of spray cans. You can then tag almost anything imaginable with graffiti. You can tag the walls, some buses, and even some cops and their vehicles. Learning to tag graffiti is a must because you do it for almost all of your missions. As you collect special things only certain people can see called Graffiti Souls, you will earn more graffiti designs that you can switch to. Can you get them all?
Speaking of cops, you can tag them in urban battles. That's the event when you are surrounded by an electric pen filled with cops and attacked. The only way to battle them is to knock them at the ground and spray them with paint. When all the cops are gone, the electric pen will vanish and you can proceed with tagging graffiti. You will start to meet different cops later in the game that will become harder to tag or get up from the ground faster than before.
Besides the urban battles, there is a Taggers Tag you can play in multiplayer mode as much as you want. Taggers tag, the game where you chase rival gangs and tag their backs, has returned from JGR and is more fun than ever. Go on and invite your friends over and play as much as you want!
Gameplay 10/10
The game is always fun to play. You will have fun until you have bags under your eyes and haven't eaten in days.
Sound and Music 9/10
The sound is okay. You will see and hear the generic sounds everyone hears in every game here and there along with some different sounds, like the grinding sound when you grind on something and the sound of your boost dash.
The music was okay, but in comparison to JGR, it disappointed me. The game music makes it look like JSRF was released first rather than JGR. There was a new little radio station tune added to the game that plays after every two or three songs. Which makes the game more realistic. Unfortunately, the songs will eventually loop if you stay on one mission too long. I didn't mind that too much, though.
Replay Value: Moderately High
Once you beat the game, you still have the Graffiti Souls to collect. There are over a hundred of them to collect and will take quite a long time to find them all. Can you collect them all?
Buy, Rent or Go To A Used Game Store And Tag The Employees With Graffiti Until They Cry And Fork Over A Copy?
I highly suggest the last choice. You will not regret it, unless that store has a silent alarm under the counter. If you prefer to just buy the game or not get involved with the law, just buy the game. If you are a JGR fan, you will not be disappointed.
My Grand Total 10/10
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