Rocket Punch!

Review by: Mike Corbitt

?Jet Set Radio. A game some still considered to be the late Dreamcast?s best. A game that many people still enjoy playing even in this day of PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. A game that started the revolution of ?cel-shaded? games which is now the style used by Nintendo in making their latest Legend of Zelda game. Smilebit has once again brought out a wonder of a game that has lived up to everything this reviewer had hoped for.

?Jet Set Radio Future is both a sequel and remake of the original Dreamcast game. Although Sega considers it an alternate universe to the original games, you might consider it both of these because it does indeed take place after the first game, and that it does tell a completely new story with the characters established in the first outing. It might remind one of the Final Fantasy game continuity which are all similar in parts, yet different in others.

?The storyline of this one does shadow some parts of the original?s. Once again, the Rokkaku Corporation is trying to take over Tokyo and has corrupted the police and media into believing anything they tell them. However, this group of young skaters, the GGs, have banded together under the guidance of underground DJ, Professor K, to upheave Rokkaku by spray painting the streets and spreading their word. As you play, other people join your crew either by besting them in races, copying their moves, and by other means. Rival gangs also show up in various forms, some good and some bad. The deeper and deeper you get into the game, twist after twist happens, and you are along for quite the ride! The game plot is quite enjoyable, and a sequel to this is quite possible.

?Gameplay is one of the finer points of the game. It?s very similar to the first games, yet different in all the right parts. First and foremost, there is no timer in the game, minus one point in the game, and that timer was more than enough to complete the objective. This gives you more freedom to explore and enjoy your environments. Spraying is different, too. No longer do you have to do the sweeping circular motions when spraying the large tag spots, all tagging is simply done by pressing the right controller trigger. Some might say that the original?s way of tagging was more akin to actual spray painting, but in this game, the emphasis is much more on speed rather than standing still and tagging. The larger tags just take more cans to spray this time, and they can be done in place or while moving.

?To make it easier to do while moving, they added what this reviewer calls a ?Flat Grind? where you press in the left controller stick and your skater will grind on the ground at a controlled speed, and this allows you to tag while moving and not having to worry about pressing the stick at the same time. Grinding this time is exactly the same, although you can grind vertically up phone poles and similar surfaces. Wall riding is much easier this time, and the surfaces for riding are in the right places for some exceptional tricks! Now while grinding you can press either X or Y to do a grind trick. These have two purposes, one is for scoring points, the other is that doing a trick does indeed speed you up.

You sometimes lose speed while grinding when you go uphill for a while, or after several turns. The X tricks are facing forward ones, and Y tricks do 180 degree tricks to face you the other way. Pressing Y while skating normally also turns you around, so none of that weird ?up-down-up? movements of the first one to turn you around. The timing of the X and Y button tricks are also different. To do them constantly, you have to keep a certain rhythm going. The X one you can do around 3-4 a second, while the Y ones you can usually do 2 a second. The Y ones also net you double score, so for a high score, Y is the way to go.

?The score system is based on two things, speed and location. Each grindable surface (and there are plenty!) carries its own value, from 10 points to 500. And depending on how fast you are grinding them, that increases the multiplier for each grind trick. the X ones max at 8, while Y ones max at 16. So you can find the right rail, and do constant Y tricks for a 500 x 16 score for insane points! They also have implemented air tricks in this one, and it follows the same system as grinds. Press X for forward tricks, Y for tricks to turn you around.

?The timing on these is also different. You can do several moves after each other, the X ones you press X again the moment your skater finishes his/her move, and the Y ones you wait just a little longer. The next new move is a somewhat cosmetic one, but is still cool nonetheless. Hand plants: simply hold X as you are about to reach a lip in any kind of a half pipe or ramp, and you?ll do one. When you come out of one, you will max out your current speed, and this allows you to gain enough speed to make very high jumps. Finally, there is the Boost. This costs 10 cans of spray and is done by pressing B. You will boost forward at an insane speed. This is useful for making certain jumps and for attacking enemies.

?Yes, this time you actually put up a fight against those who come after you. Instead of there being constant police presence in some levels, they simply enclose you in a certain area and you can?t continue until they are stopped. Some of these battles are very fun and are usually not very difficult, which is great in allowing the game to flow along. From policemen to tanks, they throw almost everything at you! There?s even some interesting mini-boss style battles along the way.

?Graphically, this game is simply stunning. For a game to come out not even a year after a system?s launch, this just makes one wonder what they?re going to do next. Cel-shading has come a long way, and this is by far the pinnacle of it. The levels are simply huge with so many details and things going on. People bustle in the streets while dozens of cars drive along, not to mention the Rollercoaster Park set amongst tall skyscrapers. That level is just so amazing that this reviewer simply goes there just to grind the coaster rails and watch all the stuff going on around your character of choice.

?Then the way everything becomes a blur each time you boost is amazing. Slowdown is also almost nonexistent. The only spot that really has any slowdown is in GG?s garage, but you have to consider that at its peak, there?s going to be 12 or 13 very detailed skaters in there in various places all doing their little dance routines. That?s a lot going on. In regular levels, it has to be really crowded with people, cars, or stuff breaking to cause any slowdown, and again, that?s rare.

?Next up, the sounds and music. Sounds are fantastic in this game. Different surfaces make different sounds when skated upon, cars honk at you when you swerve in front of them, and people yell at you when you fly past them. All the skaters have fitting voices for them, from the almost Cartman (of South Park fame) sounding Yo-Yo, to the Daft Punk sounding cyborgs, the Noise Tanks; all the characters have their own personality and charm.

Then there?s the music. Granted on any game that has a soundtrack of various artists, there?s going to be likes and dislikes; some songs people can?t stand, while others love them. All in all, there is enough variety of styles and artists to satisfy just about everyone. ?There?s even some remakes of classic Jet Set Radio tunes that are wonderful to hear again. You can also set the game to play any of the songs in the garage. A lot of people did complain about how there is no way to rip your own audio for the game, and I thought that would of been cool, but unless they did it like in Project Gotham and ?intro?ed? each song, it wouldn?t fit in with the ?Radio? aspect of this game?s music. Who knows about the future, though!

?Finally, we have the multiplayer aspect of this game. It?s rather fun, and doesn?t just seem like an afterthought tacked onto the end of the game. There are five modes of play, several of which is used in the single player game, so practicing in the multiplayer mode does indeed pay off. There?s standard City Rush, which is a race around the level. Ball Hog has you hold onto a ball and complete a lap with it. Flag Capture has you race to get to a flag before the others do. Tagger?s Tag has you spray the other person?s back until you drain their lifebar.

?Finally, ?the final mode, Graffiti Wars has you outspray the other person, even allowing you to cover up their own tags! Each of these can be played up to 4 people, we played with three people, and there was little or no slowdown (and still that constant 60fps!.) Games can be played with teams as well.

In all, this game is very enjoyable. Even after finishing the game, there is a lot to do. There are 12 more characters to obtain for multiplayer sessions and single player gameplay, and tons of challenges and hidden graffiti to get as well. ?The game isn?t too overly hard or long, so starting over and doing it again is something you will probably do many times. Side note:?be careful when saving your game!