Live Magazine September 2017

JET SET RADIO FUTURE
- Hope Corrigan
Jet Set Radio Future is the best
game on the original Xbox and I will
straight up graffiti anyone who argues
otherwise.
If you haven’t guessed it Jet Set Radio
Future is a game about graffiti,
rollerblades, and sweet street soul.
The game was an Xbox exclusive
made by Sega and is the sequel to
Jet Set/Grind Radio on the Dreamcast.
Opinions are quite divisive on
which is the better game, but I feel
that the Xbox’s JSRF blows the original
out of the water due to its incredible
flow and more open world.
Set in a futuristic re-imagining of
Tokyo you play as a street punk
equipped with rocket skates and
spray cans. Along with your crew full
of unlockable characters you take
to the streets to bring down a harsh
regime and corrupt police by covering
their propaganda with street
art. A complex series of grinds, wall
rides, and jumps are often required
to reach all the targets and unlock
all the secrets in the world and no
game for me has ever matched that
feeling of accomplishing the perfect
combination of moves.
Along with fighting the man other
street gangs can get in your way, so
races, ball games, and literal tag battles
also come into play as you explore
the world. Accompanied by the
funkiest soundtrack ever to grace
the Xbox and levels as crazy and
beautiful as an actual rollercoaster
or pyramid city JSRF never fails to
entertain.
It would be a real shame for this
game not to make it to backward
compatibility with its unique style,
unbeatable flow, and fairly large cult
following. Additionally, I would probably
cry.