With almost every company cashing in on HD remakes of older
games, there are some classics from back in the day are being revived once
again to help companies make their bottom line. Jet Set Radio is a unique game
that came out for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000, and now it has made its way onto
consoles and computers alike with the HD re-release. Is it worth the $10 price
tag? Let’s find out.
Jet Set Radio (JSR) is basically a game about tagging city
streets. Flying around on rollerblades, you and your fellow felons skate around
Tokyo-to duking it out with rival gangs with spray paint. Most of your gameplay
involves collecting spray cans and tagging various places while running away
from the cops. While the story is interesting and crazy, it’s not something
that really stands out in this game. Most of the story is fed to you from
Professor K, a DJ who pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Unfortunately
I couldn’t really care enough to pay much attention to the story. And I wish I
had the ability to not care about the gameplay.
Most of the game mechanics in JSR seem pretty cool on paper:
skate around tagging things, escaping police and taking on rival gangs.
Unfortunately the HD remake didn't have any real update to the controls. The
camera changed to a manual control with the right stick, but most of the
movement in the various areas is slow and clunky. Many tricks, grinds, and
jumps are difficult to pull off not because it takes skill and practice, but
because the controls and movements feel sticky and unresponsive. A simple jump
could be thrown off feet by the slightest movement on your part. Most of the
time you are running away from the police… right into buildings and walls.
Think of the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and the feel of the controls. Now
imagine if it was about five times worse than that. Unfortunately, that is what
you’re working with when you play through the levels. What you are fortunate
enough to have with this game is some sweet music.
One of the things that is awesome about JSR, both past and present,
is the music. Instead of some MIDI track or 2 minute instrumental music playing
through the various levels, you get funky techno, rock, and hip-hop songs that
are all great to listen to. The music compliments the great visuals. Yes, you
read that correctly -- the visuals are actually amazing. They really work with
the music, and it helps make up for the downside of it being hard to play..
With an HD uplift, the visuals and the music are the saving graces of this
game.
There isn’t much in the way of multiplayer except for a few leader-boards for the additional game modes. After beating the story missions,
you can unlock Jet Crush, which is basically a time-attack mode with some added
difficulty. You also have the ability to unlock additional characters and
customize your art. It is nice to have something to look forward to but it
isn’t worth spending extra time when the story mode is the bulk of the game.
Even though this is an HD re-release, there wasn't much done
except to update the controls a bit and add some internet connectivity. The
updated graphics make the cel-shaded art style look impressive, however these
kinds of upgrades are pretty standard at this point. I wish they had added a
few other extras, or incorporated some of the controls and additions from the
sequel, Jet Set Radio Future. Either way, the HD-effect didn't have much of an
impact. Aside from the slightly improved graphics, you could buy the game for
the Dreamcast and pretty much get the same experience, and I don’t believe that
is a good thing.
Jet Set Radio is somewhat of an enigma to me. When people
discuss whether video games can be, or are, art, this is a game that should be
referenced every time. The music and the visual art-style stand out and make
the game unique. Unfortunately there are so many smaller faults that really
take away from the experience. At first you may not mind some of the bad
controls, but soon it adds up and really shows the bad parts of the game. I
like the game a lot and wish it was given a little more attention in the
HD-upgrades department, but I can’t really say that this game is worth buying.
It may be worth playing some time, but if you do you might regret spending the $10
on it afterwards.
