JSRF really pissed me off when it came out, after I realized that the graffiti motions were gone, time limits were gone, and cops presented no threat at all. When I got stuck in one area trying to figure out a grind while Aisle 10 played over and over, I decided I'd had enough. It went into the closet.
The other day I realized that I still had the JSRF/Sega GT 2002 disc sitting around, and so I decided to give JSRF another shot. I wasn't expecting to like it, but...now I've finished the Poison Jam arc and I've played around six hours. It's pretty good, for what it is. The challenge really has gone out the window, but the platforming is still solid, level and grind design is as good or better than in JSR, and it feels like there's a lot more (very rewarding) optional stuff to do.
It's still got more eye candy than practically any game since the original JSR. Some of the geometry is a little simplistic now, but it's aged very well, graphically, what with all the crazy neon signs, garish storefronts, huge crowds of fashionista kids, and hyper-compressed Tokyo architecture. It tickles my inner homojapual. They didn't make many like this in 2000, nor in 2002, nor nowadays.
The soundtrack is still a sore point with me. I like the JSR originals more than I like their remixes here, for the most part. The Poison Jam arc has some really bad licensed tracks, with painful lyrics that I got sick of the first time around (even though I like Birthday Cake), but I seem to be in the clear for more Naganuma now.
Anyway. They made some bad choices here and there, but it's got enough to like on its own.
