Jet Set Radio Future isn't a sequel so much as a recasting of the same characters into a nearly identical world with nearly identical problems. (In short, it's like a new Tenchi Muyo! series.) The game manages to pull off the difficult feat of familiar without treading onto the ground of rehashed. An excellent example of this is the Rokkaku-dai Heights level. It's very similar to the Kogane harbor area in Jet Set Radio. In fact, you can see the twin water towers that you could grind on in the background of the Rokkaku-dai Heights, like you're skating on the other side of the harbor. It's a nice subtle way to tie the two games together.

The Story

The GG's, lead by Corn (Tab to us Grind players), are taking to the streets to fight against a corrupt big business conglomerate who has bought the police force and controls everything. Along the way the GG's must unravel the mystery of who's pulling the other gangs' strings and why.

The Characters

Many of the characters that we're familiar with from Jet Set Radio have returned in Jet Set Radio Future. In Jet Grind Radio some of the names were changed when released in North America. In Jet Set Radio Future the original names were restored, which has caused some minor confusion. ("Who on earth is *Corn* and why should I care about him?! I want Tab back!" "Uh... That *is* Tab...")

Corn is the leader of the GG's this time around. Personally, I think he looked better in his blue jumpsuit and beanie...

Gum is the de facto second in command of this gang of two people (when you start). She's the one who tests you to see if you're good enough to be a GG.

Beat is the mysterious new kid in town. The game starts with him wanting to join up with the GG's.

Yoyo, Garam, Combo, Cube, and more are back, though there is a surprise or two in how they're cast. There's a fair amount of overlapping when it comes to the characters' stats (Corn and Beat are the same).

Game Play

The biggest improvements for the game have come in terms of game play and character control. I really liked Jet Set Radio, but I stunk at it. Despite hours of practicing I still had a difficult time controlling the characters. Future addressed every issue I could have raised about the first game's controls and corrected it.

Spraying graffiti has been simplified to pulling the right trigger. No more having to rotate the stick around in patterns to form it. The right trigger boost has been replaced by moving the boost to the B button and tying how often it can be used into the number of spray cans you currently have (10 spray cans == 1 boost). Don't make the mistake of thinking your characters are now slow pokes because you can't boost at will. Their overall speed has been increased and gaining speed off of rails has been refined. The addition of a speed meter in the lower right corner is a God-send.

My only real complaint with regards to the controls is that they may have gone a tad too far with how 'easy' grinding is. Just get near a rail or telephone pole and it's like your skates are magnetically attracted to it. There are times when I wanted to land next to a rail and couldn't because I kept snapping onto it. When compared to the vast improvements made in the control scheme overall, snapping to the rails is a minor quibble.

Another area where great improvements were made is regarding the scuffles with police and other gang members. In Jet Set Radio the police were an unending annoyance if they got near you and the gang battles were always the same thing. Future shows a refreshing amount of creativity when it's time to rumble. When a battle is started the rest of the stage's goals (like tagging or tricks) are put on hold while you take care of the immediate threat. The police can be defeated and then go away. Gang battles are interesting because they vary from copying their moves to capture the flag to the tried and true game of tag.

The best change in my opinion was also one of the simplest: eliminating the stage time limits. I would get so frustrated with Jet Set Radio because I never seemed to have the time to enjoy the levels like I wanted to. The levels in Future are larger and more detailed than the first game's. I've easily spent over an hour on some of the levels poking around, seeing all the nooks and crannies I could get in to.

Overall

I'm happy to say that Jet Set Radio Future is one of those games that has improved in every way on the game that preceded it. Enough is familiar to appease old timers while still enticing the new kids in town. Even the music is a combination of remixed tunes from the first game and new ones to the second. I don't think I've seen a classier mesh of old and new done with more style. I'd definitely recommend this game to anyone with an Xbox and I hope it's ported to other systems because of how fun it is.

Reviewed by Greenbeans on June 11th, 2002