If there's one truth about pop culture trends, it's that they don't age well. It takes something incredibly special to actually last, and I was surprised to see that Jet Set Radio somehow pulled it off. Even though it's steeped in the extreme sports and bright colors of the early 2000’s, it remains timeless by weaving their basic appeal into a holistic game design. The developers knew that a sense of speed and flow was something that could appeal to anyone, so they designed the maps to wordlessly facilitate such an experience, with networks of corridors smoothly feeding into each other. If players can recognize how different paths link, momentum can be transferred gracefully as they navigate to each objective. With the goal being to recognize optimal paths, having small maps that the Dreamcast could handle didn’t feel like a limitation at all, and instead a smart choice to facilitate a smooth skating experience. The bright cel-shaded art style also let the developers squeeze a lot of power out of the hardware, so going fast and spinning the camera around wouldn’t be a problem at all. With it being so well-engineered, the only gripe I can think of is how the game can feel pretty bad before you get to the starting point of that design: moving at high speed. Getting moving from a dead stop takes a long time, and the imprecise nature of moving on wheels means the smallest momentum-killing mistakes feel like a slap in the face. For the first hour of gameplay, you may be wondering if I just made up everything I’ve said about speed and momentum, but after some practice, the game’s qualities will click into place.

Also, this game was a bitch to get working on PC with a controller. I’ll save you the trouble and just tell you to download x360ce and map your controller with it, then you’re good to go.