Jet Set Radio Future

Jet Set Radio Future[lower-alpha 1] is a 2002 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Xbox. The sequel to the 2000 Dreamcast game Jet Set Radio, players control members of a street gang who use inline skates to traverse a futuristic Tokyo, spraying graffiti and evading authorities.

Jet Set Radio Future
North American box art
Developer(s)Smilebit[1]
Publisher(s)Sega[1]
Director(s)Masayoshi Kikuchi[1]
Designer(s)Various
Writer(s)Ryuta Ueda
Composer(s)
SeriesJet Set Radio
Platform(s)Xbox[2]
Release
  • JP: February 22, 2002[3]
  • NA: February 25, 2002
  • PAL: March 14, 2002
Genre(s)Action, sports, extreme sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer[2]

Like Jet Set Radio, the game uses a cel-shaded style of animation. It received positive reviews for its music, art, and gameplay. After the game's initial release, it was bundled with Xbox consoles alongside Sega GT 2002.[4]

Gameplay
See also: Gameplay in Jet Set Radio
The character Yoyo tagging graffiti on a wall

Jet Set Radio Future plays similarly to Jet Set Radio in which the player controls a member of a gang of inline skaters called the GGs to gain control of a futuristic Tokyo. Players can skate, grind on rails and even up poles, ride on walls, perform mid-air tricks and use boosts to move faster.[2] Most of the game requires the player to search for graffiti tags left by other gangs and spray over them with their own. To do this, players will need to collect spray cans littered across each stage. Spraying is more streamlined from the last game, with manual spraying over large tags replaced by multiple spray targets depending on the tag's size.[2][3][5] Unlike Jet Set Radio, there is no time limit and spray targets can be completed at any time.[5]

Stages in the level are now interconnected, with time limits removed, and often feature multiple objectives.[5] These range from mimicking a rival's trick line or beating other skaters in a race.[5] The police, who previously chased after the player in the last game, now appear in specific areas, with the player tasked with stopping them by charging into them and spraying them to defeat them.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Each area has hidden items to collect, including Graffiti Souls, which unlock new graffiti designs, and Hidden Tapes which unlock additional missions where more Graffiti Souls can be earned.[12][13][14] The game also features several multiplayer modes[15] and the option to design one's tags.[16]

The game is entirely about aggressive inline skating. Players can grind through rails and skate backwards as well as do tricks in the air and boost on the ground and on rails.[2][17][18] When a player is skating fast, they can come to a quick stop by performing an advanced inline-skating move called the powerslide.

Plot

In futuristic Tokyo, referred to in the game as "Tokyo-to", a group of teenage skaters called the GG's vie for control of the many districts of Tokyo against many rival groups. The Rokkaku Group, a megacorporation, has taken over the many districts of the city and their leader is the mayor of Tokyo. It is oppressing the people, taking away freedom of speech and expression, and is forcing other gang members to give up their territory using the corrupt police force of Tokyo.[2][19]

The game begins with the player in control of a character called Yoyo, who has to complete a set of basic training exercise to prove himself worthy of joining the GGs.[20] After these challenges are completed, the game is interrupted by a pirate radio broadcast by 'DJ Professor K' who fills the player in on the turmoil within Tokyo.[2] After this cutscene, the player is released into Tokyo itself, where they cover Dogenzaka Hill in graffiti, race a new skater named Beat and fight the authoritarian Rokkaku Group and their police force, the Rokkaku Police.[21]

The plot begins with the GG's finding out a gang stole a statue referred to as "the Goddess of the Street". The GG's cover up graffiti in Shibuya Terminal, in doing this they find out it was Poison Jam's graffiti and that they stole the statue, they cover up their turf: Chuo Street and Rokkaku Dai Heights, while dealing with the Rokkaku Police and then question Poison Jam's rivals, Rapid 99 in 99th Street, for the location of their hideout.[22][23][24] There, in the Tokyo Underground Sewage Facility, they realize the entrence to their hideout, The Bottom Point of The Sewage Facility is locked using graffiti activated switches, they spray them all, open the door and fight Poison Jam and their boss, Cube, for control of the statue.[25][26]

After the GG's win the battle against Poison Jam, a new gang springs up, the robotic Noise Tanks, who have taken Tokyo by storm and is already in control of three gangs. At the same time, one of the GGs, Yoyo, disappears without a trace. The GGs decide to question one of the Noise Tanks' gangs, the mummified Immortals, wondering if the Noise Tanks sudden appearance had anything to do with Yoyo, they go and graffiti their turf: the Skyscraper District & Pharaoh Park,[27] Hikage Street,[28] Kibogaoka Hill[29] and defeat the Immortals in Highway Zero. In doing so they reveal they had supposedly kidnapped Yoyo; however, when he is freed, he turns on the GGs and enslaves them under the Noise Tanks' control.[30]

The Noise Tanks then have the gangs under their control battle in the game "Death Ball". Those who lose are brainwashed and controlled by the Noise Tanks for life. The GGs succeed in all three games, one against the Doom Riders, one against the Immortals and one against the Love Shockers, but then the Rokkaku Police suddenly appear and crackdown on the whole final game. When the GGs win this battle again, the Noise Tanks become furious, releasing hundreds of Noise Tank androids to terrorize the street.[31][32] When the GGs clear out all of the androids, they discover a wounded Poison Jam, who reveals that Yoyo had beaten him and ran off to the nearby amusement park called Sky Dinosaurian Square. There, it is revealed that 'Yoyo' was a Noise Tank in disguise, and the real Yoyo had been missing the whole time. After the GGs defeat them, a mysterious man destroys the Noise Tanks and runs off. They soon discover the Noise Tanks were built by the Rokkaku Group to take over the gangs of Tokyo.[33]

After the Noise Tanks are destroyed, two new threats appear: a Yakuza-style gang called the Golden Rhinos who are bent on eliminating all graffiti in the city, along with executing all Rudies; and an insane demon-like creature who sprays odd graffiti and looks strangely like one of the GGs, Beat.[33] Amid all this heat, the GGs are approached by Clutch, a Rudie who knows where Yoyo is; the player needs to find a certain number of Graffiti Souls for the info. However, when the GGs give him his payment, he runs off without telling any information. They chase after him in either Chuo Street, Kibogaoka Hill or the Skyscraper district and Pharaoh Park and interrogate him, where he apologizes and says he was "just having a little fun", then reveals Yoyo was taken to the Fortified Residential Zone inside of the Sewage Facility. When they arrive, they discovered the place was rigged with bombs by the Golden Rhinos. They disable them all thinking they finally saved Yoyo when suddenly a group of Golden Rhino jets appear out of nowhere, they beat them and save Yoyo.[34]

Yoyo then tells the GGs what happened: he had heard of the Golden Rhinos and went searching for more information, and he had gotten caught.[34] After the rescue, the Golden Rhinos began tearing up the streets, which required the GGs to intervene.[35] As soon as they clean the streets of all the Golden Rhinos, DJ Professor K and his radio station is carried away and a mysterious Golden Rhino train needs to be defeated, they then defeat it.[35] The owner of the Rokkaku Group and mayor of Tokyo, Gouji Rokkaku, uses this time to broadcast an announcement to the city to gather at Shibuya Terminal. Here, he blares odd, creepy music from his strange tower. He absorbs all the people into the tower, telling them to "wipe the pitiful smiles off your face" and to "let the evil show, baby".[35][36][37]

The GGs go to the bus terminal to stop him. They destroy Gouji's Beat creatures named Zero Beat and supposedly save the city.[37] However, soon they are absorbed inside the tower.[37][36] Inside the tower, Gouji transforms into a giant monster but is defeated by the GGs again.[38] The tower is destroyed, killing Gouji.[38][36] As the game ends as an epilogue plays, DJ Professor K relates to the players how the hearts of men are easily corrupted by greed after this before the credits roll and you go back to the title screen.[39][36][38]

Music

The music is played in a premixed format consisting of certain playlists directed to certain levels, although there is a jukebox. Alongside returning video game composers from the first game Hideki Naganuma and Richard Jacques, the soundtrack features artists such as indie rock band Guitar Vader, Beastie Boys Adrock side project BS 2000, hip hop/breakbeat group Scapegoat Wax, The Latch Brothers (including Mike D of the Beastie Boys, Chris "Wag" Wagner and Kenny Tick Salcido), rock band Cibo Matto, and hip hop group The Prunes.[2][1][40][41]

Reception

Jet Set Radio Future received "favorable" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[43] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 32 out of 40.[48]

IGN called it "one of the coolest titles around" but said that it also fails to reach classic status because it was "not enough of a challenge."[55] GameSpot described it as "one of the better Xbox games to date" and disagreed with IGN, claiming the game "offered a serious challenge."[52] The publication named it the second-best video game of February 2002,[59] and it won the annual "Best Music", "Best Graphics (Artistic)" and "Best Platformer" awards among Xbox games. It received a nomination for the Xbox "Game of the Year" prize, but lost to MechAssault.[60] Despite positive reviews, this was not followed by high sales. It was nominated for GameSpot's "Best Game No One Played on Xbox" award,[60] and landed the title of the most unfairly ignored game in the OXM UK Awards the year of its release.

In 2009, Edge ranked the game #44 on its list of "The 100 Best Games To Play Today", writing: "The sound track is peerless, and whether grinding vertically down a 200-foot dragon, leaping across Shibuya's handrails, or just cruising the wrong way down a one-way street, there's nowhere else that's so exhilarating to simply travel through."[61]

The game was also featured in 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[62]

Legacy and fandom

Kuju Entertainment presented Sega with a concept for a new Jet Set Radio game for the Nintendo Wii, but Sega was not interested in developing new games in the series.[63][64][65][66]

In 2017, Dinosaur Games created a visual proof-of-concept after Sony expressed interest in their work at GDC 2017. This project, Jet Set Radio Evolution, was turned down by Sega for largely unstated reasons.[65][67]

In mid-2020 Jet Set Radio lead designer Kazuki Hosokawa told USGamer that he and his team were "too old and experienced" to create a new Jet Set Radio game with the "same energy" as the original. While Hosokawa still admired the work he and his team did on the first game on the series, Sega's continued reluctance to green light a new Jet Set Radio project have made a sequel near impossible.[65]

Beat, and a stage based on Shibuya Terminal, appears in the 2010 game Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.[68] The Shibuya stage also appears in the 2012 game Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed.[69]

Unlike Jet Set Radio and other Sega games for Xbox, Jet Set Radio Future has not been made backwards compatible for later Xbox systems.[70][71][72] Comicbook.com has speculated that this may be due to problems with licensing the soundtrack, among other reasons.[73]

Jet Set Radio Future has had many fan games and mods, most notably Jet Set Radio Future Multiplayer (often shortened to JSRFMP) an in-development PC remake of the game's multiplayer mode created by Screenracer, adding new graffiti, an online mode and new stages.[74][75][76] The game has been used on Xbox emulator CXBX as testing[77] as well as Jet Set Radio Future Randomizer an (RNG)-based mod of the game where everything is randomized, the game itself as well as the mod have both been speedrun at Games Done Quick[78][79][80][81][82]

Notes
  1. Japanese: JSRF ジェットセットラジオフューチャー, Hepburn: Jetto Setto Rajio Fyūchā

References
  1. Smilebit (February 25, 2002). Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox). Sega. Level/area: Credits.
  2. Jet Set Radio Future manual. United States: Sega. 2002. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  3. "Jet Set Radio Series Retrospective - SEGA 60th Anniversary". Retrieved January 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
  4. "Sega GT 2002/Jet Set Radio Future". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via segaretro.org.
  5. "Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox) gameplay". Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via YouTube.
  6. "JSRF Story Fragment #6 - Shibuya Terminal Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  7. "JSRF Story Fragment #8 - Chuo St Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. "JSRF Story Fragment #11 - Rokkaku Dai Heights Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  9. "JSRF Story Fragment #12 - 99th Street Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  10. "JSRF Story Fragment #19 - Hikage Street Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  11. "JSRF Story Fragment #21 - Kibagaoka Hill Cop Battle". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via YouTube.
  12. "Jet Set Radio Future [1080p] - All Graffiti Souls". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  13. "Unlocking All The Secret Characters (Guide) - Jet Set Radio Future 100% Completion (Tips & Tricks)". Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via YouTube.
  14. "Jet Set Radio Future [1080p] - All Street Challenges". Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  15. "Multiplayer Gameplay With Pots". Retrieved December 27, 2020 – via YouTube.
  16. "JSRF - All Graffiti". Retrieved December 27, 2020 – via YouTube.
  17. "Jet Set Radio Future | All Air Tricks". Retrieved December 26, 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. "Xbox: Jet Set Radio Future (HD / 60fps)". Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. "Jet Set Radio Future Intro (2002, Sega)". Retrieved December 22, 2020 – via YouTube.
  20. Kidzworld staff (December 27, 2006). "Jet Set Radio Future :: Xbox Game Review". Kidzworld. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  21. "Jet Set Radio Future Chapter 1 - Dogenzaka Hill". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  22. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Chuo Street". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  23. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough #3 - Chapter 2: Rokkaku-Dai-Heights". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  24. "Jet Set Radio Future 100% Playthrough - Episode 4 (99th Street)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  25. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Tokyo Underground Sewer Facility 1/2". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  26. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Tokyo Underground Sewer Facility 2/2". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  27. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Skyscraper District & Pharaoh Park". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  28. "Jet Set Radio Future 100% Playthrough - Episode 6 (Hikage Street)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  29. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Kibogaoka Hill". Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  30. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Immortals Tagger's Tag/Highway Zero/Chapter 5 Intro". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  31. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Death Ball/Chapter 6 Intro". Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  32. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Noise Tanks". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  33. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough - Sky Dinosaurian Square/Chapter 7 Intro". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  34. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough #11 - Chapter 7: Fortified Residential Zone". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  35. "Jet Set Radio Future Playthrough #12 - Chapter 8: Defeat the Golden Rhinos". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  36. "Jet Set Radio Future 100% Playthrough - Part 30 (Final Boss)". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  37. "Jet Set Radio Future: Ending, Part 1 (Xbox)". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  38. "Jet Set Radio Future: Ending, Part 2 (Xbox)". Retrieved December 23, 2020 – via YouTube.
  39. "Jet Set Radio Future 100% Playthrough - Episode 14 (Final Boss)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  40. Steinberg, Scott. End of the Road. p. 76. Retrieved December 27, 2020 – via Vibe.
  41. Robischon, Noah (April 19, 2002). We Got Game. Retrieved December 27, 2020 – via Entertainment Weekly.
  42. "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  43. "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  44. Marriott, Scott Alan. "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  45. Edge staff (March 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future". Edge. No. 108. Future plc.
  46. EGM staff (April 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 153. Ziff Davis. p. 142.
  47. Bramwell, Tom (April 25, 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  48. "Xbox - JSRFジェットセットラジオフューチャー". Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 915. Enterbrain. 30 June 2006. p. 104.
  49. "Jet Set Radio Future". Game Informer. No. 107. GameStop. March 2002. p. 83.
  50. Pong Sifu (February 24, 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  51. Gee, Brian (March 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  52. Torres, Ricardo (February 25, 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  53. Bub, Andrew S. (February 15, 2002). "GameSpy: Jet Set Radio Future". GameSpy. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  54. McElfish, Carlos (April 14, 2002). "JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  55. Goldstein, Hilary (February 22, 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  56. "Jet Set Radio Future". Official Xbox Magazine. Future plc. April 2002. p. 66.
  57. Robischon, Noah (April 19, 2002). "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future [mislabeled as "We Got Game"]". Entertainment Weekly. No. 649. Time Inc. p. 75. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  58. Steinberg, Scott (March 1, 2002). "Jet Set Radio Future". Maxim. Biglari Holdings. Archived from the original on June 6, 2002. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  59. The Editors of GameSpot VG (March 1, 2002). "Video Game of the Month, February 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 16, 2003.
  60. GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
  61. Edge staff (March 9, 2009). "The 100 Best Games To Play Today (Page 6)". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  62. Tony Mott, ed. (2013). 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-1844037667.
  63. monokoma (February 18, 2009). "Jet Set Radio [Wii – Cancelled Concept]". Unseen 64. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  64. "Jet Set Radio - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Rated S Games". Did You Know Gaming?. Event occurs at 7:05. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  65. Simmons, Nathan (November 6, 2020). "Jet Set Radio 3: Will we ever see a sequel?". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via looper.com.
  66. Wahlgren, Jon (October 5, 2009). "Check Out Some Jet Set Radio Wii Concept Art". Retrieved January 8, 2021 – via nintendolife.com.
  67. "Dinosaur Games shares Jet Set Radio Evolution visual proof of concept turned down by Sega - Gematsu". Gematsu. 2017-12-17. Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  68. "Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing - Beat - Shibuya Downtown (HD)". Retrieved December 22, 2020 – via YouTube.
  69. "Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed - Shibuya Downtown with Beat (Jet Set Radio)". Retrieved December 22, 2020 – via YouTube.
  70. "10 Original Xbox Games We Want Backward Compatible". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via IGN.
  71. "10 Original Xbox Games That Still (Desperately) Need Backwards Compatibility". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via thegamer.com.
  72. Chandler, Sam (February 27, 2020). "7 Xbox Series X games we need in our lives". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via shacknews.com.
  73. "Here's Why Jet Set Radio Future Isn't On Xbox One Backward Compatibility". March 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via comicbook.com.
  74. "玩家土砲《噴射廣播電臺未來版》，畫質有感提升還能多人連線！" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via techbang.com.
  75. "Trying Jet Set Radio Online with drawlexa (JSRF Multiplayer Remake 0.1.6)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via YouTube.
  76. "This Fan Game Might Surpass Jet Set Radio Future HD... | JSRF Multiplayer Version 0.4.2 Preview (PC)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via YouTube.
  77. "Cxbx-Reloaded Xbox Emulator - Jet Set Radio Future Ingame! (fb5436e4)". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  78. "JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future by FingerQuick in 1:53:06 - SGDQ2017 - Part 32". Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  79. "GDQ VODs - Jet Set Radio Future". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via gdqvods.com.
  80. "Community Spotlight: Jet Set Radio Edition". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  81. "Random Number Generation - Jet Set Radio Future Randomizer". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via YouTube.
  82. "Random Number Generation is LIVE and features the awesome Jet Set Radio Future randomizer community with @7thace, @wecn2250 @acebats , and fusecv running and @phosphohydro and @twinkachu_ on commentary". Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.