Retrospectus On Jet Grind Radio

1up.com has a feature up looking back at the stylized wonder that was Jet Grind Radio. From the article: "Besides the relatively basic, and surprisingly challenging "collect spray cans, tag buildings and run away from the cops" premise, another thing that elevated the Jet Grind Radio experience was its exceptional soundtrack. Brassy, and brash as hell, the vibrant beats and future funk of the game's OST rests comfortably alongside Sega's equally cutting-edge soundtracks for games like Rez and Space Channel 5."

Amazing game

[bigbigbison]

I've not played the Dreamcast game, but Jet Set Radio Future is one of my favorite games. A perfect marriage of style and substance. The rollerblading was really fun. THe ability to skate of telephone poles and across rooftops was really cool. The J-pop filled soundtrack was one of the few that I didn't immediately turn off, either.
I yearn for a sequal!

Great premise, mediocre gameplay

[ZephyrXero]

First off, I own both Jet "Grind" Radio and Jet Set Radio Future. As while the premise of the games was great and the graphics were really cool, the actual gameplay was pretty lacking. Maybe I had already been tainted by the control scheme wonders of Tony Hawk, but Jet Set was a real pain to play. I'd much rather spend my time fighting enemies rather than the controls. JSR Future was a little better than the first, but there's still a lot ripe for improvement.

Re:Amazing game

[badasscat]

I've not played the Dreamcast game, but Jet Set Radio Future is one of my favorite games. A perfect marriage of style and substance.

If you liked JSRF, you'll love JSR/(JGR). A lot of people, myself included, thought JSRF tipped the balance a bit too far to the "style" side of the substance/style equation, and it really was a fundamentally different game. In the original game, for example, you actually had to do a series of stick movements to "write" your graffiti, and the harder the tag, the more complex your stick movements had to be. Obviously this meant that if you were being chased, you really had to be quick and precise with your control.

Sega removed this completely from JSRF, which is a lot more of a straight platformer with a distinctive visual style. (This isn't the only major change, but it's one example of the type of changes Sega made to JSRF.) JSR was really all about tagging and outwitting the cops - JSRF is more about figuring out how to get through each level. Take away the skating and JSRF is basically the exact same game as the Knuckles stages in Sonic Adventure 2. JSR was a lot different.

I think Sega probably made the changes they did to appeal to a broader audience. They still don't seem entirely confident in their games these days, now that they're without their own captive audience on their own console - everything they do these days is really overly-broad and less focused. JSR always was intended to be sort of the equivalent of an art-house film - Sega never intended to sell a lot of copies, but they did hope the game brought them a lot of attention (which it did) and that it would help cement the Dreamcast's status as the home of the most creative games around.

When JSRF moved over to the Xbox, Sega had more power to play with but they didn't quite know who their demographic was... so they basically made a standard platformer that they thought people would be able to more easily identify with. I don't personally think it worked - the game didn't review as well as the original and it didn't sell any better either.

Jet Set/Grind Radio on the Dreamcast is really cheap at this point, as is the system itself. You could pick up both for $40 or less. I really recommend doing that if you liked JSRF; you'll probably like JSR that much more.

Re:Sega's Biggest Mistake

[rohlfinator]

I don't know if it's fair to assume that games like JSRF and Panzer Dragoon Orta would have sold better on the Cube, but I agree that Sega really hurt themselves by splitting their game library. They should have just picked one of the big three and gone exclusive, instead of splitting their fanbase.

Personally, I agree that the GameCube would have been the best fit. Obviously the Sega sports lineup fit the Xbox userbase better, but in retrospect Sega probably should have stayed out of sports this generation anyway. I'm not sure if JSRF, PDO, Otogi, Gunvalkyrie, ToeJam & Earl, or Crazy Taxi would have been hits on the GC, but from what I understand, none of them sold too well on the Xbox. Given the success of Sonic, SMB, and PSO on Nintendo's console, I think the overall benefit would have been greater than a multiconsole split. Sega's games could have given the GC a much-needed "mature" edge, and they probably would have been given more attention by the media.

Although, Sega's games would have undoubtedly seen moderate success on the PS2. But as others have pointed out, the Dreamcast had just been hyped to death by Sony's marketing department and Sega would never have given up to Sony that quickly or easily.