Reviews:
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Sporting spacious stages, plenty of opportunities to grind and show your technique, and a thoroughly hip look and feel, it’s a treat
Just to get it out of the way, if you’ve ever played, seen, or even heard of Jet Set Radio from way back in the day… yes, in many ways this feels like a spiritual successor to that cult hit. With what out of the way we can get into what it is, and how it works. Aside from the weird and unusually dark (didn’t see that moment coming) opening the general vibe is your typical gain your crew respect and try to avoid the authorities vibe on the whole. One thing that really surprised me nicely was the size and general design of the game’s outdoor spaces. Broken into a number of different areas there are opportunities to grind, discover secrets, and practice your technique pretty much everywhere… and that can make simply moving around and figuring out how to get to every inch of each stage a fun diversion in and of itself. You’ll need to be on top of your game as well since challenging rivals and tagging tough-to-reach areas is what you’ll need to do to boost your rep and allow you to take on the competition. Where things struggle a bit more typically revolves around the controls. While I wouldn’t say they’re terrible I would say that they do feel a bit more loose than I’d like, especially since precision is so vital to getting long grind chains going. To go with that, what passes for combat could use a bit more work, especially since there are times when it is essential, so it can be a bit aggravating to get through those spots. All that said though, it’s hard not to see this as a triumph, especially given the fact that I don’t recall any other coming anywhere close to matching the legend of that Sega classic as well as this does.
Justin Nation, Score:Nindie Choice! [8.6]