In the future, an underground tyrant called Rokkaku Gouji rules Tokyo. He has complete control of the police force, the people, and the many districts within. There are naturally a few people who rebel against his regime, such as the GG’s - a group of people brought together by a mutual love of graffiti and rocket-powered roller-blades. You play the part of Yoyo, the newcomer to the gang, as he learns the ropes and joins the fight against corruption. Armed with only spray cans and an artistic vision, he sets off to save Tokyo.
Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF) is surprisingly simple to play. Your character’s movement is controlled with the left analog stick, you jump with the ‘A’ button, and you spray graffiti with the ‘R’ trigger. The camera is centred behind you with the ‘L’ trigger, and you can look around from your character’s point-of-view by moving the right analog stick. By pressing ‘Y’ or ‘X’ on a rail or in the air will make you pull of a random trick, and you can create a combo by linking tricks together. Combos can give you incredibly high scores, and build up your speed, so it’s a skill you’ll need to master early on in the game. There are many other skating techniques you can learn to help you out, and the in-game tutor called ‘Roboy’ will take you through an interactive demonstration of each. This makes JSRF simple and easy to learn.
Levels are designed superbly, with sprawling, open areas populated with literally hundreds of people. Hidden areas encourage exploration, and you’ll find new and exciting routes to take long after you’ve finished a level. Since the jumping in the game is very ‘floaty’, taking a leap of faith off a tall building isn’t a big deal – it’s this sense of uninhibited risk taking that makes JSRF so addictive.
Grinding works by locking you to a rail simply by touching it. The rails themselves make travelling through a level easy, as you grind vertically up poles, around the edges of skyscrapers, and up cranes. One later level is a giant dinosaur themed rollercoaster, making for an exciting, intense, looping, corkscrewing, disorientating experience.
The majority of the game involves covering each area in graffiti, or defeating rival gangs. Graffiti can only be sprayed in certain spots, marked by circles with arrows inside. To spray graffiti, you need to find Spray Cans that are scattered throughout levels. Yellow cans give you one spray, and blue give you five. Depending on how many circles there are on a wall, that’s how many sprays you’ll have to use to cover it. This aspect of the game never gets boring, as graffiti spots are put in interesting, out of the way areas as the game progresses.
Other challenges in the game include racing, trying to spray your enemies’ backs before they do yours, chasing down flags before your rivals get to them, and there’s even an interesting ball game that is introduced about half way into the game that requires cooperation with a CPU character to succeed. You’ll also get into battles with the Rokkaku Police Force, who’ll latch onto you and attack you if you get too close!
Smilebit are the undisputed masters of Cel Shading, as proven in Jet Grind Radio, and now Jet Set Radio Future. Textures are vibrant and colourful, characters animate with unbelievable fluidity and realism, effects such as sparks and movement trails look beautiful, and environments look convincingly real, with a set of different textures used in every section of the game. The game runs at a constant 30 fps, with occasional framerate drops as the game’s hub, the GG’s garage, gets increasingly populated with dancing characters. The developers brought in real graffiti experts to design the logos and symbols you cover levels in, but if you don't like them - don't despair! You can make your own graffiti with a simple but effective paint program!
This game’s soundtrack is so good, that you’ll be playing the game just to listen to it. There’s a mix of thirty songs, ranging from Techno, to Hip-Hop, Rap, Alternative, and J-Pop. They’re professionally mixed together by DJ Professor K, the owner of Jet Set Radio, and the transitions between songs are seamless. Sound effects are also great, with grinds and skating sounds never becoming monotonous or irritating. Each one of the characters has it’s own individual voice, saying various “Woohoo!” and “Yeah!” sounds upon successful completion of a trick. JSRF is also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, topping off one of the most impressive ambient sound scapes ever used in a game.
JSRF is a reasonably long game, taking the average gamer between 14 – 20 hours to complete. There are also incentives to keep playing after you’ve defeated the end boss, such as finding Graffiti Souls by completing objectives in each area, and unlocking new characters by completing Street Challenges, like collecting flags or racing around a specific area in the shortest time. This will take you far longer than you’d expect, as the post-game challenges aren’t as easy as they sound.
Jesus wept
Loading...
