Jetstream Sam's appearance and role in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was praised by critics for his role as Raiden's rival.[1] In the book Rules of Nature, Heather Alexandria, a former writer for Kotaku and Polygon, praised Sam's character and dialogue.[2] Jetstream Sam's fight has been considered one of the greatest in the game by various critics. Peter Brown of GameSpot wrote that his fight was the "most straightforward yet rewarding conflict" in the game,[3] and Rich Stanton of Eurogamer wrote that the fight was "classic, a desert duel for the ages".[4] When ranking the boss fights in the game, TheGamer ranked Sam's fight as #1, writing it as a "true test of the skills".[5]

Sam has also been considered among the greatest characters in the game,[6] with some considering him the best overall. Rich Stanton of Eurogamer considered him the games most "fabulous" enemy,[4] and critic Joe Juba of Game Informer who considered Jetstream Sam to be "the closest thing to an actual character" in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.[7]

Sam's fight theme, "The Only Thing I Know For Real", has been considered one of the greatest songs in Metal Gear Rising.[8] Internet memes of Jetstream Sam's facial expressions and actions in the game were attributed to causing a resurgence in popularity of Metal Gear Rising in 2022 that resulted in the game's popularity to go up by 1000% on Steam (service).[9][10][11]

  1. ^ "Video Games That Made You Lose A Battle". TheGamer. 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  2. ^ Alexandria, Heather (2016). Rules of Nature. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781365194818.
  3. ^ "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  4. ^ a b "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Jetstream Sam review". Eurogamer.net. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  5. ^ "The Best Bosses In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance". TheGamer. 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  6. ^ "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – 10 Reasons Why it is Still Amazing". GamingBolt. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  7. ^ "Metal Gear Rising's Jetstream DLC Is Completely Terrible". Game Informer. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  8. ^ "10 Best Boss Fight Themes, Ranked". DualShockers. 2023-02-12. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  9. ^ "Jetstream Sam meme appears to have given Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance a boost". Eurogamer.net. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  10. ^ "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Is Blowing TF Up". Kotaku. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  11. ^ May 23, George YangPosted:; Pm, 2022 7:29 (2022-05-23). "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Player Count Surges Thanks to Jetstream Sam". IGN. Retrieved 2023-07-05. {{cite web}}: |first2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)