To paraphrase Krejlooc, Jet Set Radio is just Stylish Pac-Man.
Tag graffiti instead of eating dots. Dodge cops instead of ghosts. Same idea, just a little more complex.
All of the sub-systems in the game gelled well with each other and encouraged a lot of replay to find optimal routes. Some types of cops would coalesce around specific tag areas at the start of the stage, while others would guard different areas once the stage was closer to completion, so much of your path planning would start from there. The game was score-based, and the characters who granted the highest score bonus for tags also had smaller capacity for carrying cans (meaning that you'd have to double-back for paint more often and expose yourself to danger more frequently) and more complex tagging motions (meaning that you'd have to spend a little more time tagging and risk being tackled by cops more frequently). Small things on the surface, but they contribute a lot toward a satisfying loop of risk and reward, and it was increasingly enjoyable once you took the time to think and plan a few steps ahead. Learning how to maintain speed while grinding took a little bit of skill, and learning the levels well enough to traverse them quickly and while maintaining a continuous grind bonus were important. The controls and camera were janky, but with enough practice they'd cease to be an issue for anyone who bothered to put time into it.
Jet Set Radio Future is also Pac-Man, except they made the mazes roughly ten times larger and removed all the ghosts. There's hardly a "game" to be found there, and it rests firmly at the top of my lists for "dumbed-down sequels for simpletons" and "examples of Sega's utter inability to expand a solid arcade concept into a sprawling console game."
