(Originally posted on June, 2017)
(2000, Dreamcast)
In the year 2000, the PlayStation 2 was just beginning to take over the world on the momentum of Sony’s previous success, raw power and massive appeal as an affordable DVD player. In one of their final and most romantically tragic moments as a troubled console manufacturer, Sega fired at the approaching Sony juggernaut with Jet Set Radio. While doing little to reverse the Dreamcast’ fate, it unquestionably overflowed with style and imagination from every angle, realizing the promise of the new console generation perhaps more so than any other game up to that point. Hyped from the glowing impressions and brief clips of the game in action, there’s no way I could wait a whole four months for the US release. Soon enough, I happened upon a local game store’s used import copy for the bargain price of $40. As the Dreamcast’s disc reader loaded the game (characteristically making more noise than the scratching of a turntable), I was quickly drawn into this colorful new world of lighthearted gang rivalry. Playing unlike anything else and wrapped up in the some of the coolest sights and sounds imaginable, when the new PlayStation arrived later that year, I still hadn’t tired of skating through the streets of Tokyo-to…
As much as I’ve personally championed the game since its release, Jet Set Radio’s cumbersome controls and rushed design will understandably chase off many…but that’s not to say those same players didn’t benefit from the game’s influence elsewhere. With many gamers worried over the fate of then-passé and increasingly costly 2D visuals, the revolutionary “cel-shaded” graphics blew minds and went on to add some hand drawn charm to thousands of 3D titles, as everything from Street Fighter to Legend of Zelda adopted and expanded upon the technique. Easily listenable outside of the game, the music, for lack of a better word…was some of “coolest” yet heard on a gaming system. Plenty of prior games may have used licensed or highly elaborate original productions, but nothing was quite like Jet Set Radio: full of obscure international bands and new takes on old samples, one song seamlessly mixed into the next…giving the game a masterful and hip underdog feel which symbolized the Dreamcast itself. Last but not least, the gameplay itself is perhaps even more compelling: Making sense of being chased by an increasingly militarized police/mob presence while spray painting rival turf inside of a jet powered roller skating platformer is as overwhelming as all the neon lights, charismatic figures and eclectic sounds; but in a world so captivating and unlike anything else, you’ll likely stick around long enough to figure things out…
As you clear stages escalating from teenage mischief to all-out war, the cartoonish story unfolds through pirate radio broadcasts narrated by the charismatic DJ Professor K, interested skaters of all shapes and styles stop by the GG hideout, willing to join your group if you can mimic their aerial moves and delicate landings. The game’s approach is so unique that it’s rather confusing at first, but basically functions as a 3D platformer with extreme sports elements, as your skates allow for tricks and fast travel along rails, wires and walls. Always brimming with action, levels are completed by tagging graffiti targets as police desperately try to stop your activities, even if it means deploying armed helicopters or setting up bombs. Packed with all sorts of unique flavor and secrets to discover, the three main areas couldn’t feel more diverse. One stage will have you scouring an industrial junkyard, down into a sewer and emerging into a dense residential area overlooking a beautiful sunset. The other two areas are just as huge and oozing with identity; loosely based on the hilly, bustling Shibuya and high rise dominated Shinjuku. The original Japanese release omits the two New York inspired levels added to the later US version, which were quite enjoyable, but felt rather disjointed from the rest of the game, both in terms of radically different music and more ambitious, less welcoming level design.
Interesting as this all sounds, the flawed execution means only a true “GG” will stick around for the ride. The cumbersome act of braking and slow, moon hopping physics made infamous in Sega’s more well-known Virtua Fighter often put a grind to the pace. The frequent tutorial/challenges to add members to your gang will teach new players a thing or two, at the expense of breaking up the more chaotic and rewarding main campaign. Battle stages where you attempt to tag rival gang members are rather frustrating and mindless as you desperately try to squirrel away paint and hover behind the enemies, hoping to spray them into submission before time runs out. Yes, the game is fundamentally clunky and not the best thought out, but more often than not the combo of the insanely cool presentation and seamless soundtrack set to scenarios such as collecting spray cans as you wind your way up the nose of a playground's elephant slide, hop from a bridge onto the roof of a passing train, or jump off the arm of some heavy machinery to bring down an entire helicopter with your mighty spray paint all will have you in ecstasy. Easily beatable in a couple hours after initially figuring out the levels, you’ll likely return to Tokyo-To many times.
Playing this in my late teens, the height of my “trying out games” that I really shouldn’t have, Professor K’s endorsement of one of the gangs’ business operations was a validating treat to hear in the original version and just as embarrassing to discover censored in the US release for the piracy-plagued console. As one of the crown jewels from Sega’s arguable creative peak in the early 2000s, Jet Set Radio was always a flawed game, but also remains just as refreshing and plain –cool- today as it was back then. The one of a kind thrills coming from the imaginative graphics, legendary soundtrack and all around craziness make the game worth frequent revisits. Even Professor K’s lines still hit hard after hearing them dozens of times. Like the vivid dreams and thrashing, experienced during a sleep deprived afternoon nap, Jet Set Radio is rough and turbulent, but also one of the richest experiences one can cram into a few hours.
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