wow! i have a lot to say about this, mainly though that i didn't expect to put in 22 hours into this game. in fact, i'm surprised i even finished the game in the first place - the first time i tried to play this was on my xbox in 2018 and i just could not get into it then, cause it was too hard. flash forward to now, 22 hours later, and i have come to the conclusion that it is still hard for a variety of reasons, but there was something that clicked for me where i suddenly kinda understood how to use the thumbstick, and after that i only failed about 10% of the times i tried to do things rather than uhhh 70%? but when that click happened, man it changed everything for me.

my biggest complaint with this game has and always will be the gameplay - i dunno if it's just because it's dated, whether it's because the Dreamcast is a fucking weird console, or if it's just because the team of Blit and Sega just had hopes, dreams and prayers and it somehow got the game running. it feels like the camera is working against you constantly, the thumbstick just kinda does what it wants, and some of these hitboxes are soooooo obnoxious, especially when you're trying to do sick combos!

but in spite of everything about that, like i said, i kinda got used to it? and things started not just making sense, but the flow just made total sense to me. there's always a technique loop in every level, there's tons of ways to get around quickly, and there's so much more to the maps than what it originally seems. i stumbled across many secret areas and routes completely by accident because i just started loving the loop. the mobility that is provided by JSRF is definitely much better, but the janky charm here really kinda just sells it all for me. so that's how i got over the gameplay, which is still the weakest part of the game!

everything else is just pure, unadulterated style with substance, banging music, banging art, great fun all around. fighting against the police by spray-painting them will never not be cool, and i'm so glad that's the default in both JSRF games every time. but just like the art, the music, that fucking amazing style, it's something that i personally think has had such far reaching effects on video games that i really do believe that it's influenced games even like Hi-Fi Rush. It's one of those games that i am so glad exists because it just created the best fucking style check of all time, and it's gotten us so many good fan-games, art, music, and even inspired games (looking at you Team Reptile! I love you!)
i'm also a really big fan of how many different types of enemies there are, even if they're only an enemy per stage pretty much. the lack of enemy variety is really felt in JSRF, and i wish that it was introduced and implemented in that game better!

overall, while i don't think the game has aged the best, it's very charming still and once you get over the hump of the gameplay, things just get so much better. amazing game whose style has withstood the test of time over and over again. if you wanna play it, try it out! if you don't want the gameplay, emulate JSRF instead!

im gonna start doing the individual season logs cause i'm a lil goober like that! these won't be like super in depth, just kinda basic cause that's all that fortnite deserves!

anyways! this season kinda blows lol
it's, not better than the last season, but the addition of the mythological powers was a fun addition!
...that ultimately got ruined by the addition of waterbending! the biggest thing that all these powerups do is to add a fun sort of variation to how to fight people in the game, but waterbending tends to be a bit overpowered in every single instance that it's in. that being said, it's mostly balanced, except the icarus wings are not as useful as they should be

on the 'story' front, though, it's so inconsequential and i have no clear idea of what's actually going on, even though i am reading along with what's happening. this is my least favorite aspect of these seasons, because the story never matters in the long run, and never really makes sense in the moment. i know it didn't always used to be this way, and god i wish it was better...

star wars crossover was mid as hell, with overpriced packs and not very fun stuff that went along with the gamemodes overall, and the skins were fine, and it's really just a fine season. once again, the second season in chapter 5 where the train does absolutely nothing for the gameplay. i can't believe i've played so much of this shit lmao