i generally don't care about professional reviews but this kind of pisses me off

Average Joe

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http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/jet-set-radio-review/1900-6396616/

probably one of my all-time favorite games and i've been going through it again on the PS3

i still have my DC with a copy of this around, but using the DC controller these days borders on being painful compared to the PS3 or 360 controller

the game still can be kind of finicky with its twitchy controls and unfocused camera, but the basic, almost arcade-like control scheme and unique gameplay elements still make this game as fun as games can get

if there's anything to properly bitch about it's the totally out-of-place of Rob Zombie's "Dragula" in the soundtrack list...
 

ki_atsushi

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So, you're bitching about the review, yet you're validating the reviewer's claims that the controls suck?
 

Average Joe

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admitting they're there isn't validating his overwhelming negative criticism about them when i stated that the inherent enjoyable nature of the gameplay supersedes whatever flaws are found in the control mechanics
 

NeoGeoNinja

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This guy is an obvious early 20's, still in college education face ache pulling reviews out of his pretentious, self-validating arse hole to make a few extra 'bucks' each passing week. As though, marking down gaming classics is edgy and will get him noted. Well it did... as a nob.

I'll agree with the general consensus that the controls can be a bit awkward on occasion and the lack of a camera stick inopportune at times, but that doesn't stop JSR from being good game. The only thing that is 4.5 poor going on here is him.

If I was Luc Devereux I'd fucking split kick him into a combine harvester...
 
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Craig

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one of my fave games... Absolutely groundbreaking when it first came out. I'm scared to go back and play it again now, for fears that I wont love it anymore...

Also, having jurassic 5 on the soundtrack was amazing!
 

OrochiEddie

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I downloaded it on PSN when it came out and was massively disappointed.

I actually agree with the reviewer to a large extent. This game is oozing style out of its pores, but the gameplay is kind of a mess. Not to mention games like Tony Hawk 1 even had better mechanics and that was a few years prior.


....man I loved the original Tony Hawk. Nothing logical about it, but it was a blast.
 
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dspoonrt

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i generally don't care about professional reviews but this kind of pisses me off

No need to get pissed off. There's absolutely nothing professional about this review.

....man I loved the original Tony Hawk. Nothing logical about it, but it was a blast.

THPS2 is where it's at. The first game feels like a mess once you play the second.
 

RabbitTroop

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Haha, a 4.5 for Jet Set? Someone is trying to prove a point, or settle some angst-fueled grudge with that score ;) I was just talking to my buddy about this last night in lieu of the Beyond Two Souls reviews. Very polarizing game, but IGN gave it a very low 6.5, when usually much more critical Gamespot gave it a 9. I believe these reviewers should be honest. If they don't like the game, they don't like the game. Maybe Jet Set is a 4.5 for this reviewer, and maybe Beyond Two Souls was a 6.5 as well, but what I wish we'd get back to is like the old EGM style reviews where you get a main big chunky review, written by one staff member, then at the bottom the other reviewers weigh in. SushiX would have given Jet Set a 9.0, and I wouldn't have cared about the 4.5. ;)
 

Poison Sama

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I agree with essentially all of the criticisms brought up in that review.

I played through JSR for the first time ever when the Vita port was made free for PS+ members, and I honestly wasn't very fond of it. Wrestling with the controls and the finicky mechanics felt like a really tedious meta-game (a steep learning curve is a big no-no for any arcade-style game), not to mention the compromises in game design that were implemented due it being pretty much a direct-to-console arcade game (stage designs+layouts, filler content, enemy+obstacle placement/behavior). I did eventually get the hang of it, but that shouldn't have been necessary; the movement+traversal+tricks should have been made a lot more forgiving/intuitive along with more focused/streamlined stage designs/layouts, and then the game's challenge should have instead come mostly from the scoring system (stricter timer, larger bonus for not taking damage, larger bonus for completing large tags without stopping or making mistakes, chaining smaller tags together for bonus points with a chain meter present, a "survival mode"-style life meter, etc).

That said, JSR is most definitely not flawed enough to deserve a 4.5/10. I'd say it's a 6/10 at the absolute worst (especially the infuriatingly glitchy/buggy Vita port), but I'd probably give it a 7/10.
 

Phyeir

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I downloaded it on PSN when it came out and was massively disappointed.

I actually agree with the reviewer to a large extent. This game is oozing style out of its pores, but the gameplay is kind of a mess.

A lot of the more "groundbreaking" games are like that, where what made them revolutionary 15 years ago doesn't hold up now. Nights into Dreams is one that sticks out into my mind. Before that game felt so freeing being able to use the stick to control and fly in all those directions. Now? It feels like a Mario Party mini-game made into a full release. The nostalgia is there but from a compared to where we are now, it doesn't stack up.

But this thread brings up a good point, I always felt review sites need two reviews for games... one is for a general audience and one if for fans (either of a series, genre, sport, etc.) There's a lot that people will put to the side that would make any other game blah because of something else in the game.

Case in point for me is No More Heroes. The gameplay in both of those games is VERY basic. You walk, slash guys pressing A, rinse repeat. BUT, the story in that game is crazy, wonderful, fantastic... and it's one of my favorite series ever. If I'm recommending it for people that love quirky stories in their games, it's probably an 8 to 9 out of 10 (and I recommend at least getting through the first 3 bosses before judging, it has some warm-up time). If you care more about gameplay and less about the package it comes in or Japanese quirky stuff doesn't work for you, it's a 5/10 at best.
 

OrochiEddie

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A lot of the more "groundbreaking" games are like that, where what made them revolutionary 15 years ago doesn't hold up now. Nights into Dreams is one that sticks out into my mind. Before that game felt so freeing being able to use the stick to control and fly in all those directions. Now? It feels like a Mario Party mini-game made into a full release. The nostalgia is there but from a compared to where we are now, it doesn't stack up.

But this thread brings up a good point, I always felt review sites need two reviews for games... one is for a general audience and one if for fans (either of a series, genre, sport, etc.) There's a lot that people will put to the side that would make any other game blah because of something else in the game.

Case in point for me is No More Heroes. The gameplay in both of those games is VERY basic. You walk, slash guys pressing A, rinse repeat. BUT, the story in that game is crazy, wonderful, fantastic... and it's one of my favorite series ever. If I'm recommending it for people that love quirky stories in their games, it's probably an 8 to 9 out of 10 (and I recommend at least getting through the first 3 bosses before judging, it has some warm-up time). If you care more about gameplay and less about the package it comes in or Japanese quirky stuff doesn't work for you, it's a 5/10 at best.

For sure, and I'll still defend that JSR has some pretty great components to it. It is so stylized and the world it created was bonkers.

Getting locked into a corner not being able to move because the detective keeps shooting you is cute 0 times.
 

not sonic

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Jet Set Radio is my favorite game, if not top 5.

The controls are terrible. They don't hold up for shit. It's really disappointing going back. JSRF is better in that regard, but neither of them are Tony Hawk.

I'd love a new one.
 

Neorebel

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I love Jet Grind Radio for the DC - it was one of the games I played the most... never played the 360 one. As for the controls, I don't know, I thought of the game more as very unforgiving, like you had to really practice at certain lines or how to land just right so you don't fall off that ledge.
 

T.A.P.

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Review scores are pointless, which is why I prefer ones that don't contains numbers/letters and just tell you why they like or hate a game.
 

Poison Sama

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A lot of the more "groundbreaking" games are like that, where what made them revolutionary 15 years ago doesn't hold up now. Nights into Dreams is one that sticks out into my mind. Before that game felt so freeing being able to use the stick to control and fly in all those directions. Now? It feels like a Mario Party mini-game made into a full release. The nostalgia is there but from a compared to where we are now, it doesn't stack up.

I think Nights is one old-3D-era Sega game that has aged far more gracefully than others that came years later such as JSR and Sonic Adventure, from a gameplay standpoint anyway. It was mechanically far more simple and intuitive, and the stages and general game structure were far better designed for the type of gameplay they were shooting for: it took the core of the 2D Sonic games, improved upon the formula, and then elegantly transplanted it into 3D.
 
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terry.330

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JSR was and still is awesome but it has very serious flaws which I think are really hard to overlook if you didn't play the game when it originally came out. When it came out though it was absolutely incredible, there was nothing else like it. It was hard to get your head around it until you actually played it.
 

LoneSage

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terry you fag what are the serious flaws

SPEAK



UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF LOVE
 

ebinsugewa

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I had a pretty similar experience as many here, didn't play it when I had my DC. Gave it a shot after hearing about it endlessly.. doesn't really hold up. Cool music and world and all that, but that's all it really offers.
 

SNKorSWM

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You can't expect the reviewer to put points into the visual WOW factor of the game, which was undoubtly a major factor setting it aside from other games available at the time of release.
 

Dr Shroom

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Aged badly, wouldn't play today. JSRF isn't much better.
 

OrochiEddie

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terry you fag what are the serious flaws

SPEAK



UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF LOVE

The controls constantly simulate you having had at least half a bottle of bourbon.
 

terry.330

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The motherfucking tag button also used to center the fucking camera, getting stuck in corners, the goofy physics of turning around or trying to move from a standstill.

Fuck the haters though, I DLd the HD version when it came out and regardless of the flaws it's still fun as hell. Plus the ST and especially the visuals have held up really well.

Also it should be noted that we are now all officially no longer young. Refering to 8 and 16 bit shit as retro is one thing but... fuck, this shit wasn't that long ago. I could have sworn... where's my pills, what day is it? Goddamn kids... zzz zzz
 
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