Jet Set Radio Inspired Parkour Game Hover Is Receiving A PM Studios Physical Release

Ah, forgot all about this one. It still looks interesting, but it would not be at the top of my list of wants, also not for that price, so I guess I'll put it on my wish list and wait for a discount.

Funny, I was just joking about Jet Set Radio last night.

Anyway, I'll be sure to check this out to see if it lives up to it's inspiration.

This is actually the very first game I received a review code for. It's actually a really great game. Solid controls, massive levels, designed with a lot of great parkour in mind. There's only 2 issues with the game. 1. It's designed more like an MMO than a single-player game. Which makes sense as the game was more so intended to be an online focused game. Infact you can choose to play the game entirely online, which will let you roam around the levels with other players and even play missions with them. But the thing is, as a single-player experience the mission system is a bit of a let down due to this. The second issue is in the game's own unique sports game, which looks neat at first but the controls are incredibly wonky. The sport game missions are by far the most difficult and tedious in the game. Each time it's a barrier that keeps you from making any progress due to how hard it is to actually control. But with both of those in mind, it's still a fun game. And I cannot praise the controls enough, it feels amazing too play. So even if the missions disappoint you, you will have hours of fun alone skating around those massive open levels getting into all kinds of shenanigans.

Are there still people playing on that game?

I heard this was good but the design of the levels is a bit random, leading to some difficulty in completing side quests when trying to climb to a particular high roof or such. Also, apparently the online is fairly dead and also really focused on, so I didn't get it in the end.

@Dakotastomp From what I heard even when it went on sale the game only spiked a little in player base.

This is an interesting game but I wouldn't really relate it to Jet Set Radio. It's got some similarities but it's a completely different game overall. What made JSR so much fun was the rollerblading, tricking around the city to get around, and graffiti. Hover just has you running around but you can still grind and trick your away around although it isn't nearly as deep or satisfying as the rollerblading. The level design lacks the flow of JSR and isn't anywhere near as good, it's more of a open world design. There isn't really anything to the graffiti either, in JSR it was this minigame where you would complete objectives, in Hover it's just like applying a tag in Counter Strike. Overall you can tell how the MMO design focus really hindered Hover in the end, and it's kind of a total loss too since there is hardly anybody that plays the game online and only a handful of people will probably make good use of it.

So this isn't a bad game it's just that it isn't going to satisfy JSR fans. This is more of a 3D platformer than anything else. I would only recommend it if the idea of a open world parkour game sounds interesting to you.

It's a really weird game. The levels are so incredibly vertical, which sounds cool but is actually a detriment. Anytime you're up high and you fall down a gaping abyss, your heart just despairs. Making your way upwards from ground level (or even further down) is nothing but pain. Especially when you first start the game with an un-leveled character who can't jump 10x their height, it's a rough welcome.
But on occasions where a mission sends you on a sweet path, everything just clicks and you find yourself having a great time. The music is cheesy and the writing is ameteur hour, but both will grow on you quite a lot as you put in the effort. Ultimately I enjoyed playing this game and still bust it out from time to time, to get some speed up, grind, and jump around like a rabbit in a rave party.

Dang, now I have to make the decision on whether or not to cancel my physical per-order from Red Art Games. I much prefer PM's cover art on this one.

@patbacknitro18 I thought it was just me. You are on point!

@patbacknitro18 so the controls are wonky...yet you cannot praise them enough? I am confused.

I'll be keeping my Red Art Games preorder. I appreciate PM Studios, but I'm tired of seeing multiple physical releases of the same game from different publishers.

I’d rather just have Sega release Jet Set Radio and Jet Grind Radio on Switch as part of their “Ages” collection

Is this actually any good? The couple of reviews i watched at release said it wasn't but if someone can vouch for it i'd be interested to hear your views.

@Kangarooskillit Red art cover art is basically not cover art. So sloppy. This one looks far better.