Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)
by Libe Goad

Everyone has a little larceny in them. As of late, there's no better way to do the crime without doing the time than the recent slew of deliciously wrong video games. Gamers can climb the crime ladder in Grand Theft Auto 3, riot in State of Emergency and graffiti in Jet Set Radio Future. Granted, grinding and tagging isn't as heinous as bludgeoning elderly women, GTA style, but Sega's new Xbox title dishes out enough misconduct to satisfy any juvenile delinquent at heart.

And, oh, that style. The cel-shading technology in Jet Grind Radio for Dreamcast, is back--and how. Thanks to Smilebit's top-notch designers and the Xbox's graphics engine, this game could easily double as an interactive art piece. Each level offers a uniquely designed backdrop to the action and is so detailed that it's impossible to start a level without exploring every corner.

Professor K, Gum, Beat and other returning crew members have received updated looks (Gum seems to have financed a boob job between gigs) and the new GGs swagger with similar coolness. The snarly Poison Jam gang, among others, has returned, without much improvement to their vocabulary. ("Hur hur hur," they say.) The Rokkaku police are back in force as well, this time with the Nazi-approved Inspector Hayashi, Rokkaku godfather Gouji Rokkaku and an intriguing mystery villain, designed to infiltrate the GGs inner circle. Could it be the GGs hip-hop robot companion, Roboboy? Or maybe it's you…

Game controllers everywhere are rejoicing for Jet Set's a more simplified control scheme (we sent two Dreamcast controllers to the Fresh Kills for video games). The cumbersome graffiti controls have been replaced with a right-trigger pull and the stringent time limits have been lifted, making for a more accessible gaming experience. The developers also tossed in several key in-game graces, including the hint-filled GG notebook, "secret" tapes offering more hints, in-level save points, miles of grindable surfaces and a handy rocket boost that requires 10 cans of paint for fuel.

Otherwise, JSRF is more of the same--balls-out skate and tag missions that include races, capture the flag and an eff-tha-police maneuver that requires skating into cops and spraying them with paint until they disappear. The good news is that even though the gameplay closely mirrors JGR, Smilebit has managed to keep it fresh and interesting throughout.

The camera movement, however, is as troubling as it was before. The GGs are often victim to unnecessary circumstance because the camera is situated at a funky, MTV-style angle. The time it takes to regain your bearings can be costly, especially when battling Rokkaku Corp's keystone kops and the trigger-happy Inspector Hayashi (who looks oddly like an older, thinner Christopher Walken). The levels are not entirely linear, which is a nice alternative if you get stuck, but Professor K and the instruction booklet fail to inform you that actions in one level will sometimes affect other levels. We learned this the hard way, skating around Rokkaku Heights level for hours, only to learn that we needed to confront the nefarious Poison Jam gang in another part of town before continuing our mission.

The music soundtrack features 30 hip-hop and dance tracks, several from Latch Brothers, headed by Beastie Boys' Mike D. There are a handful of licensed songs as well from BIS, Cibo Mato, Scapegoat Wax, Guitar Vader and Richard Jacques. Much like the SSX Tricky soundtrack, JSRF would make an ideal side diversion for any social gathering. With a combination of block-rocking beats and bleeding edge artwork, it's a party on its own. During solo play, however, unnecessary song repetition grinds the nerves. During our five-hour tour of the Heights, the incessant repetition of Cibo Mato's "Birthday Cake" put us a phone call away from donating our eardrums to science. JSRF sports a plethora of great music, so we were utterly baffled that there wasn't more variety in each level.

The most party-friendly aspect of JSRF is its four-player, split-screen multiplayer mode where pals can compete in City Rush, Ball Hog, Flag, Graffiti Wars and Taggers Tag modes. Unless you're playing on a super-sized TV, the different quadrants can be difficult to see. With the Xbox's powerful processing speed, however, the game consistently runs at a smooth as silk, not a slowdown in sight.

JSRF looks to appeal to most women gamers. There's artistic eye candy for style hounds, grinding and tricking for the sporty types and intense tagging sequences for action addicts. Novices and more squeamish gamers will love the game for its newfound accessibility and its cartoon-inspired, gore-free violence. We were especially pleased to see that a more chicks have been added to the character roster, and that they possessed skills other than style and speed.

If the warm weather finds you feeling devious, take this advice. Avoid time in police custody by purchasing a freshly wrapped copy of Jet Set Radio Future. Your family, and your Xbox, will thank you for it.

SCORE: 8.5