JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future

The Good
JSRF is one of those games, which you either love or hate. For me, the first two minutes of the game were enough to get me hooked. Zooming around in futuristic Tokyo on rocket powered rollerskates causing mischief and mayhem is the main idea of the game and it has been carried out perfectly. Also the controls are brilliantly crafted and even the cell-shaded graphics manage to look impressive.

The main game is all about exploring large areas of the future Tokyo. You spend your time finding new places to spray graffiti on and from time to time you come across some pretty surreal boss-fights, races against other skaters, play tag with rival skater gangs and try to compleate street challenges by doing certain tricks. Naturally there is a lot of hidden stuff to be found around the levels and plenty of bonus stuff to be unlocked.

In overall, the single player game has plenty of variety and depth. It takes about 10-15 hours to play through it, though you'll probably miss a lot of the hidden stuff on your first run through the game.

And last, but not least the soundtrack of this game is mind blowing. It is fair to say, that a large part of this game's appeal comes from it's very japanese hip-hop -flavored sound. If you're having problems keeping up you "street credibility", then just buy the JSRF's original soundtrack and you'll be again "macking 'round the hood like a mofo". But seriously, it's great.

The Bad
The multiplayer side of this game isn't that great. There isn't enough content to keep the multiplayer modes interesting for a long period of time.

Another complaint that I have is the plot, which is a bit flat. It doesn't motivate the player and it only works as a compass of where to go next.

The Bottom Line
JSRF is an action game, that has it's own style, which can work as a turn-on, or a turn-off. If futuristic roller skating and spraypainting while listening to japanese hip-hop sounds like your idea of fun, go and buy this game. You won't be sorry.

The Good
I liked just about everything about this game. It has some very unique graphics, a dj-type soundtrack, a pretty good storyline, and some very cool characters. The whole game as a whole is excellent. I liked the way the controls worked. It made everything easier to move around and such. The graphics had a hand drawn feel to them, which made everything very unique. The soundtrack sounded like it was being mixed live by a dj inside my Xbox. The characters were very hip and cool. Multiplayer was great, too.

The Bad
The storyliine wasn't too good. I think it could have used a little more work. It was like a bad Japanese cyberpunk film. But fortunatley, it didn't take away from the game experience. Sometimes it was kind of hard to spraypaint grafiti if you were going to fast. Also, since the game is Japanese, some of the Street Objectives were hard to do since some things were still in Japanese.

The Bottom Line
This game is really cool. I would recommend it to anyone with an Xbox. Almost everyone has it, since it comes with the Xbox, though. Like Tony Hawk 2, you can keep playing the game over and over trying to get secret charchters and such even after you've beaten the game. All in all, this is a great game for anyone who has an Xbox.

The Good
A pumping techno / hip-hop soundtrack that has you bopping from the get go. Sits well with rich, colourful environments and an upbeat vibe that lasts the game.

The Bad
I was really sad to see it over so soon.

The Bottom Line
If you had any affinity with the Dreamcast original, this will float your boat all over again. An expanded soundtrack, large and more richly detailed levels and a streamlined control mechanism. This is Jet Set Radio down in epic style on next generation hardware. One of the most joyful videogame experiences I have had the good fortune to enjoy.