Video game pioneer Sega has long held a reputation for developing offbeat titles that, in spite of their quality, fail to capture mainstream success. In 1999 they released the first console game featuring cel-shaded graphics in Jet Set Radio for the now-defunct Dreamcast. Of course cel-shading is ubiquitous nowadays, gracing every type of game from RPGs to racing titles on every console, and we have Sega to thank. Jet Set Radio was another unusual Sega title, blending rollerblading, tricks and graffiti tagging into a unique audiovisual video game experience. Following their exit from the hardware business, Sega has been busy producing games for all three next-generation consoles, and one of the best is the Xbox-exclusive title Jet Set Radio Future.

The game is one of Sega's best efforts for sure, but it's also one of the best games you can get for the Xbox, and for my money is worth the two-hundred bones alone. Jet Set Radio Future is a beautiful game with an outrageous sense of style, an amazing and addicting soundtrack and flat-out fun gameplay. Imagine a game that combined the tricks from Tony Hawk with a free-roaming adventure game, infused it with a wacky, over-the-top story and let it loose in a cartoony, futuristic Tokyo and you get a close approximation of the JSRF experience. Of course, the game is much more than the sum of its familiar individual parts, and becomes a unique and compelling game that truly stands in a category all its own. I'm not exaggerating when I say I love this game.

Jet Set Radio Future earns near-perfect marks for its presentation. From the character designs to the level layout to the music, JSRF exudes an offbeat sense of cool that is both novel and infectious. You take control of a street-savvy group of kids known as The GGs who are standing up to the oppressive and decidedly un-funky Rokkaku group. Set in a futuristic Tokyo, you take control of the various GGs, skating around and tagging just about everything in sight, while generally causing as much trouble as possible. It sounds strange (and it is), but it's also a lot of goddamn fun. The character designs are incredibly hip and appealing, ranging from the brother with the Spiderman sunglasses and the huge boombox (Combo), to the blue-haired, pig-tailed gal with the fishnet stockings (Rapid 99!), to a tricked-out dancing robot wearing his baseball cap backwards (Roboy). The game has a clean, hi-tech look that extends all the way down to the menu screens and graffiti designs. Honestly it's one of the coolest and well-designed game experiences I've ever seen, and Smilebit deserves a lot of credit for what they've put together here.

Visually the game is bold and beautiful and a huge leap over the original Jet Set Radio. The levels are expansive and filled with massive amounts of geometry, featuring a wide variety of railings, telephone poles, moving vehicles, hidden areas and weird Japanesey-looking things. (It is Neo-Tokyo, after all.) There are literally hundreds of objects on which you can do tricks in each level, ranging from half-pipes to railings to billboards. There's lots to see and lots little hidden areas to find. The texture detail is extremely high, and the anime-inspired look compliments the cel-shaded characters perfectly. Textures are always sharp and clean, and the artwork adorning them is appealing and just plain cool. The levels are diverse as well; Shibuya Terminal, Rokkaku-dai Heights and 99th Street all possess unique visual styles, right down to architecture and lighting. The game world is vibrant and alive, as each area is littered with dozens of walking pedestrians and fast-moving cars, trucks and buses. It's strangely gratifying to send ordinary people fleeing in terror as you skate through a crowd.

The cel-shaded characters look better then ever thanks to the increased power of the Xbox. The self-shading effects are outstanding, and the black outlines surrounding each character are smooth and clean. When skating at top speed you'll even see "speed lines" coming from your character, and the wavy screen distortion caused by a boost dash looks incredibly cool. There's even cel-shaded smoke that billows out of pipes and cel-shaded dust that crops up when you come to a sudden stop. The animations are great as well, as your characters skate, grind, jump and pull tricks with super-smooth motions that seamlessly blend into one another. I absolutely adore the idle animations as well, as your character will start dancing if you let them stand in one spot too long. The game also features a great set of visual effects, from the flames that shoot out of your skates to the sparks that fly as you skid along the asphalt. All told, Jet Set Radio Future is a treat to look at, and stands out even amidst the throng of cartoony, cel-shaded titles it inspired.

While this is generally a great-looking game, there are a few problems worth mentioning. Some aliasing pops up here and there and is especially noticeable on the many thin telephone wires that adorn each stage. The game also suffers from slowdown quite frequently, curiously enough when little action is occurring. What's worse is the texture shredding that is visible on distant objects, though this is thankfully less common. Moving objects in the distance, like people and cars, will fade in as you approach them instead of staying visible all the time. While these issues don't really affect my enjoyment of the title, they are annoying nonetheless considering the accessible architecture of the Xbox.

No discussion of JSRF would be complete without mentioning the incredible soundtrack. Nearly every song captures the essence of the game perfectly, with the notable exception of Cibo Matto's blood-curdling Birthday Cake. Many of the j-poppy, techno tunes are remixed by the Latch Brothers (ie Beastie Boys) and have a much catchier edge to them than their original versions. There is a good mix of songs, from Guitar Vader's bubbly "I Love Love You (Love Love Super Dimension Mix)", to the rockin' "Statement of Intent" by Bis, to the soothing R&B hooks of Scapegoat Wax's "Aisle 10". Nothing succinctly captures the vibe of the game, however, more than the Latch Brothers remix of Bran Van 3000's "The Answer", which is just about the funkiest goddamn shit I've ever heard. (I immediately set this song to play as the background music in the Garage, where all the unlocked characters dance to it nonstop.) A contributor to the original Jet Set Radio, Hideki Naganuma, returns with a host of new songs and some remixes of old JSR tunes, including the theme song. It's amazing how well the visuals and music compliment each other, and create something more than each would be by itself.

There is surprisingly little voice acting in Jet Set Radio Future, which is a bit disappointing. The characters you meet will say a single phrase, like "Yo, kid!" or "Hi there!", before they give you information via text boxes. DJ Professor K, who is the host of the pirate radio station Jet Set Radio, is always voiced and he sounds great. He pops up throughout the game to update you on the storyline, and will give you feedback as you skate your way through a level. Sound effects are pretty limited, but seem to be accurate. I mean, grinds sound like grinds, skating sounds like skating, and spraying sounds like spraying. What is impressive, though, is the built-in Dolby Digital support. Cranking this game through my home theater system dramatically increased the audio quality, and blows the two-channel stereo sound out of the water. If you've got an Xbox, you absolutely need a home theatre to take advantage of the standard high-end audio support. Jet Set Radio Future just ain't the same coming out of your TV speakers.

Playing Jet Set Radio is easy and intuitive, with tight analog control and very few buttons to worry about. Smilebit has simplified the controls a bit in Future, which has served to streamline the game and speed things up a bit. You navigate with the left analog stick, jump with the A button and boost with B, while X and Y serve as your trick buttons. The left trigger allows you to lock on to targets and opponents, even when they're moving. Tagging is much simpler in Future, as you need only press the right trigger when near a graffiti mark. While fans of the original may scoff at this simplified scheme, it really does work well, as you'll be required to tag multiple marks while grinding at high speed. Also gone is the time limit, so you can take as much time as you want in each level. As a result the game actually gives you much more freedom than before, and the changes that accomplish this are very welcome. Doing tricks is easy enough as well, as you simply land on a grindable object to grind, then press X or Y to do a grind trick. You can do air tricks as well, and even a cool-looking handplant maneuver while you're in a half-pipe.

When you enter a level, the first objective is usually to tag a set number of marks. (You've got to collect the spray can icons that are littered about before you can spray or boost dash.) You then may be forced to defeat your rivals in a certain task, such as a trick contest or flag battle. Eventually the Rokkaku Police will show up, and you've got to defeat them by spray-painting their oh-so-drab uniforms. In each level is a hidden mystery tape which will open up a series of trick challenges for you to do. Accomplishing each one will reveal a Graffiti Soul, which grants you a cool new tag to use. There is a lot of fun stuff to do, and while some of it repeats it never gets dull or tedious, which is quite the feat of game design. The levels are huge and can be a bit overwhelming at times, but Smilebit has thoughtfully included an excellent 3D map which tracks your position and the position of your rivals, as well as all of the exits, Graffiti Souls and tag marks. I personally think every 3D game should include a map of some sort, and the one in JSRF is very useful and very much appreciated. And did I mention that it's fun? Yeah, I think I did.

Not content with just the great single player campaign, Smilebit has even included a multitude of fun multiplayer games. These range from lap-racing type games in City Rush and Ball Hog to flag collecting in Flag Battle. The Graffiti Wars Battle is similar to the Graffiti mode in the Tony Hawk games, in that you've got to tag objects to claim them and tag your opponents' claims to take them away. Finally there is Tagger's Tag, where you try to tag your opponent's back while they try to do the same. These games support up to 4 players and run very smoothly, all things considered. While I'm generally a lone gamer, these type of games are great to play with a bunch of drunken, rowdy friends. They don't really add to the experience, but it was thoughtful of Smilebit to include them nonetheless.

While the graffiti designs in the game are excellent, Smilebit has included an option to create your own. You can paint different colors and throw down various letters and symbols to make your own distinctive tags. Using the analog stick to draw is an exercise in futility, however, and creating a design as good as those featured in the game is next to impossible. The one crippling problem is that the game does not allow you to import artwork from external sources or even the hard drive. I'm a veteran graphic designer, so making my own tags in Photoshop or Illustrator would have been a cinch. As it stands the editor is limited to making large swatches of color and text using the default lettering. This is quite a shame, as there could easily be a huge online community creating new tag designs. Perhaps in Jet Set Radio 3.

What more needs to be said? Jet Set Radio Future is an awesome game from start to finish, and every single second is pure, unadulterated fun. Its outrageous style, infectious music, beautiful graphics and accessible gameplay will keep this title in my rotation for a long time. JSRF is a somewhat short game, clocking in at around 15 hours, and is somewhat on the easy side, which may turn off some advanced game players. And while it's definitely not for everyone, I personally adore this game, and feel it more than justifies the purchase of my Xbox. I sincerely hope its low sales don't ruin the chances of another sequel, because I'd be right there on day one to buy Jet Set Radio 3.