Style over substance

User Rating: 6.5 | Jet Set Radio Future XBOX
Jet Set Radio Future is maddening because with a few technical tweaks it could be one of the greatest games of all time. Unfortunately, Sega made some really poor decisions when finishing this game and the flaws really start to slow after a while. First off, the gameplay in itself is solid. You go around mini sandbox type areas and tag graffiti in the locations your map tells you to. You race around different areas and have to perform rollerblading tricks against rival graffiti gangs or even tag the backs of the police force. All of this is fun and the graphics and art style of the game look amazing even by today's standards. The game also has a catchy soundtrack that fits the urban mood of the game and the voice acting is solid. One problem: the camera sucks. This really hurts the game as you continue to progress because instead of easily being able to swing the camera around you with the right analog stick (which is what Sega SHOULD have done) you either have to turn your character all the way around or press the left trigger to get the camera back behind your character. While the left analog trigger works to bring the camera back on you fine, it feels really awkward because you still don't have much control of the camera when it's not on the right analog stick, and you really need it in this game. Jet Set also suffers from an obnoxious amount of slowdown. Running around, grinding on rails and pulling off other fun rollerblading tricks while tagging around the city is great fun, and when this all runs at 60 frames per second it's perfect. When the game slows down it's like the fast paced fun the game has going for it is completely robbed from you, and the slowdown can last pretty long in some areas too. I understand that Jet Set is an Xbox launch title, but it's still no excuse from Sega fixing the slowdown and camera, which if corrected, would make this one incredible game. As it is, Jet Set has some great ambition, but the gameplay only half lives up to it's style.