Retro Review: Future, Soul and Sound. JSRF!

The Soul of the streets can only be seen by the few...

Given the re-emergence of Sega's Jet Set Radio on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Store, I felt it extremely important that someone somewhere follows up with its ever so highly stylized, vibrant soundtrack'd sequel: Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF).

Neon streets, bus terminals, shanty-river towns and looping, skyscraper-suspended amusement parks are the impossible-homes of the aggressive-inliners called Rudies: the rollerblade gangs hellbent in covering Future Tokyo through the soul of graffiti.

Originally released in 2002, Jet Set Radio Future grinds players into the turbo-infused blades of various members of the GG's and take the streets, fighting for turf with other gangs and eventually crossing ideals against the oppressive, corporate shadow of the Rokakku Group.

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Jet Set Radio Future, even today, holds standards high for videogames.

Controlling your GG's member is seamless because of the basic 5-button control layout: grinding automatically occurs when you jump on a rail, tricks, both grinds and air tricks, are performed with either the X or Y buttons, the B-button initiates the boost and tagging is performed by hitting the right trigger when your character passes buy a graffiti marker.

Because the simplicity results in fluidity, JSRF can settle dozens of awe-inspiring, death-defying moments of stylized bliss.

In a few seconds, you may find yourself starting a grind on a normal rail, only to jump and grind onto a brightly lighted decorative dragon, from tail to head mind you, which also ascends several stories high and wraps around a building. And just when you think you finished the grind, your character shoots from the dragon's neon flamethroer onto a telephone wire. Oh, yeah!

Levels are structured to cater arcade-y moments like these. Grinding on a street lights or wall-riding from billboard to billboard, among the endless skyscrapers, are just normal moments in an extraordinary game.

Of course, extraordinary games demand extraordinary ambiance. Two major games of this generation that define ambiance are easily Bioshock and Skyrim. Even though this game is a decade-old Xbox original, I can absolutely say Jet Set Radio Future is a king amongst men in regards to ambiance and a strong contender even against the latter two video games.

Soul.

Much of JSRF's tunes are original songs composed specifically to represent the feel of the Tokyo streets. And by doing so, Sega has created one hell of a powerful, vibrant and memorable soundtrack. The sounds of Jet Set Radio Future are so amazing, I've purchased the soundtrack and continue to listen to the music even today.

Like the soundtrack, the art of the JSRF reverberate street culture. Developers collaborated with graffiti artists, such as Eric Haze, and successfully transform this fictional world into a living beast of rebellion.

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The cel-shaded graphics are a marvel to behold, especially in juxtaposition to the upbeat, neo-electronic, DJ, hip-hop and funk soundtrack that perfectly constitute the youth culture vibe of a lightning fast Tokyo.

For those who have never followed the series, JSRF rehashes the story of youth culture in an adult world. That archetype, however, is not what makes this game fantastic. The element of what little story this game carries, enhances the already amazing music, the beautiful, cel-shaded graphics, the fluid controls and innovative gameplay.

Jet Set Radio Future gets a Retro Review score of a 4/5

I'll see you on the neon streets, so stay tuned for Subculture!