The original Dreamcast JSR caused quite a stir when it was first released a couple of years ago; the message conveyed apparently unsettling the mild-sensibilities of suburbanites with it’s disenfranchised street culture of graffiti and ‘bad’ attitude, most notably demonstrated in the games complete disregard for law and order. Indeed, the free spirited and overtly creative aspirations of the original have returned once again in Jet Set Radio Future. The game’s in-stores now, so expect the Daily Mail to be condemning it in about six months time…

Until then, lets just sit-back and savour what is the coolest and hippest release so far. It’s not the Tokyo street-chic language, nor the stunning Manga / Cell-shaded vision of a future Tokyo, nor is it the funky beats composed by the likes of Bran Van 3000. It’s not even the hugely original and refreshingly different gameplay, or indeed it’s fast-pace. It’s a combination of it all. The perfectly-balanced whole of Smilebit’s classic proving just too damnably fun and unusual to resist.

So what do you do? Well, for those of you who’ve been living in a cave for the last two years, you skate around various districts of the city on rocket-powered Roller Blades, using your spray-cans as a weapon against Corporate domination and the establishment. All the time you’ll be tuned in to the essential street-wise advise of Jet Set Radio, keeping you chilled with the coolest tunes, and giving you the low-down on what’s going on with the cops and gangs of Tokyo in 2024. As you explore the city, and carry out the desires of your gang, the GGs, you’ll have to undertake various challenges such as races, as well as facing increasingly tough police-opposition and harder-to-tag areas. Indeed, even from the outset Jet Set Radio Future can be an insanely hard game, especially as the save-points are rather too liberally spaced, occasionally requiring you to complete vast-swathes of game when you die, just because you weren’t given the opportunity to save after that crucial challenge, etc.

There’s plenty to keep, you hooked, however, the colourful characters you meet as well as those in the GGs you can control, never disappointing in the ‘cool’ department, as well as offering new characters to use as you recruit Bladers you meet on the streets. The rival gangs are a frequent distraction, too, as you compete for control of the city via tags and challenges. If all this isn’t enough for you, you can even design your own tag – your trademark – for use during the game. Though my creativity in this department was little match for the wild designs already present.