Not sure if I'm getting better at Mega Man or if Mega Man 5 is the easiest game in the series as of its release.
The game is surprisingly generous with its 1-Up drops, and a majority of the bosses are a complete joke. Like, why is there a post-Robot Masters boss whose only attack pattern is walking back and forth? Mega Man 5 also has the easiest set of Robot Masters as of yet, with only a few of them posing a considerable challenge, at least when you understand their attack pattern.

The game has a few cheap "gotcha"-moments within its levels, but I honestly thought that the level designs were all-around pretty good in this one. A bit on the simpler side perhaps, but they were nice to plow through. Gravity Man's stage was a real highlight with the gravity flipping mechanic.

There was only one optional upgrade this time around in the form of Beat the bird. Collecting letters in each stage in order to unlock him was not as compelling as trying to find hidden routes like in Mega Man 4. Most of the letters are placed in plain sight, while the one in Stone Man's stage was hidden behind a breakable wall. I honestly wish that all of the letters were hidden in a similar manner, but oh well.
However, I didn't find much utility in using Beat -- or any of the unlockable weapons for that matter -- which was a bit disappointing. One of the great joys of a Mega Man game for me is discovering how the weapons and upgrades can make my life easier during a stage or a boss. I tried to experiment with my new weapons, but ultimately came to the conclusion that they were more effort than they were worth, and that the Mega Buster is simply better 90% of the time.

Mega Man 5 is simply more Mega Man, for better or for worse. Nothing major is added, but nothing major is lost either. It's a fine game, and I think I would recommend this one as an entry point for people who are curious about the classic Mega Man games. However, I personally prefer 4 over this one.

This is a game full of unique ideas and mechanics that remain fresh all the way until the credits roll. This remaster has brought the graphics to a point where it may as well be modern - an animated art style will always hold up better than realism but this game came out in 2007 and you would not think it to look at it. I could gush about all the ways this game is great but in the fairness of my time I'm going to mostly highlight the small negatives I have with it.

The biggest issue that holds back true love for this game is just how much it wastes your time. A level in this game will take around 5 - 10 minutes to complete, but each and every time you get a star (of which you will be getting many) the game kicks you out to the Observatory. End of level animation, animation of coming back to the Dome, score trackers going up, ask if you want to save, wait for it to save, use the blue star to access level select, choose level, confirm, watch animation of Mario flying to level, wait for stars to appear, select star, confirm, camera pans over level, Mario flies in - now you can play. This happening for every single level means you spend collective hours in this meaningless downtime. It seems a small thing to harp on but this game at minimum requires 60 stars to complete, and you are going to go through that process every single time - even longer if the level you want to do is in a different dome.

The other time wasting issue comes from the dialogue; it's overall a smaller issue but the text boxes being unskippable for several seconds is annoying to someone who can read quicker than the target demographic of 8 year olds.

The game's soundtrack is majestic, the graphics awe inspiring and the gameplay is varied and challenging. I would give this game my highest recommendation, but unfortunately it is locked behind this obscenely over-priced bundle on the switch. I get that these games (64, Sunshine and Galaxy) make up some of the most important titles ever released, but £70 for three games that are decades old is a crime.

JSR is one of those games that is really tough to get into, but is crazily satisfying when it all clicks.

The cons:
The controls are a bit clunky and seem to go against you some times.
Whose idea was it to assign the spray action and the camera reset action to the same button??
I don't like how you can't do a short hop while going full speed.
You can slide on some walls. Which ones? Just guess.
The way the momentum works is weird. There's no way to gain momentum while sliding, unless you're moving downwards. This is realistic of course, but screw realism. It would've been more fun if you gained some speed while grinding. Also when you jump onto a moving object, you basically gain that object's momentum instead (if that makes any sense). Basically if you jump onto a car going in the opposite direction that you're going and you immediately jump off the roof, you'll go the exact opposite way that you were originally going. Is that how physics work in real life? I don't know, but it feels weird.

The pros:
This is one of those games that hasn't aged a day. Its soundtrack and general aesthetic is candy to both my ears and eyes.
The gameplay is super satisfying when you start to understand how the character movement works. Furthermore, once you get a feel for the the stage layouts you'll get around quicker and more efficiently, while simultaneously pulling off more sick tricks and combos.
The plot was surprisingly entertaining, due to the fact that it goes absolutely bonkers towards the end. Gunning down kids with choppers and tanks because they go around tagging the city? Seems reasonable.

As it stands, Jet Set Radio is a really fun game. I'm glad I played in now, because I'd imagine that I'd have a hard time plowing through it if I'd played its spiritual successor Bomb Rush Cyberfunk first. As such, I can't recommend it to players who expect a flawless game with tight controls. But I gotta give credit to the game for holding up so well all these years later.