Round Table: We look ahead to Jet Set Radio’s future!

Jet Set Radio Week enters the final boss battle that is the SEGAbits Round Table! Despite containing only a few games, Jet Set Radio and its sequel pack in a lot of unique ideas and feature an amazing art style and selection of music. With all this unique content, it’s a shame that the franchise has only seen two and a half games (the half being the Game Boy Advance version). This week, our writers have assembled in the GG’s garage to share their ideas for the Jet Set Radio franchise’s future, and seeing as we’re SEGA fans, we can’t help but reminisce and share a few memories. After the break, join us as we look to the future!

TrackerTD

[Image Credit: Unknown]

Jet Set Radio is one of the few reasons I keep my Dreamcast hooked up, so a new entry into the series would be right up my alley – though Hover: Revolt of Gamers is doing plenty to make me excited as it is. That said, if a new game were to be made, I’d rather it stick to the original style of Jet Set Radio as opposed to the soft-reboot Jet Set Radio Future gave the series – this opinion is definitely not just because of the far superior Noise Tanks design in the Dreamcast original, no siree. That said, all in all a new Jet Set Radio game is all I want, Future or not – the All-Star games show SEGA are still acknowledging the characters (and the original designs, as of Transformed) to some degree, so I can hope, surely!

A HD port of Jet Set Radio Future for modern platforms wouldn’t go amiss either, as I would like to give the game a try – and if we do end up with a new game in the series, then Hideki Naganuma better get involved, or there’ll be no money coming from my wallet!

Shigs

[Image credit: BistroD]

My first experience with Jet Set Radio was at E3 in 2000. They had roller bladers on a stage doing tricks to Hideki Naganuma’s music. The demo didn’t knock me off my feet yet, but when I played the full version on an import disc, I was hooked. Easily my favorite game on the Dreamcast. I bought the American version as soon as it was available. Sadly, I still hate the title “Jet GRIND Radio” – hurts my ears to hear it to this day. Also, the additions to the soundtrack didn’t help much. “Dragula” was already seriously overplayed at the time. Jurassic Five was pretty dang good tough. I absolutely love this series, from the trick skating to the tagging to the cop evading to the awesome awesome music. It’s just the best.

As far as the future holds? Who knows? I’m still waiting for an HD port of Jet Set Radio Future. Right now, Hidkei’s doing the upcoming Hover inspired partially by Jet Set Radio itself. Maybe they can go the Crazy Taxi route and do a mobile game. Imagine a Jet Set Radio where you do tagging by dragging your fingers across the screen. It probably wouldn’t be as good, but at least it’d be something new.

Ben

[Image credit: negativedreamer]

Jet Set Radio is a series which has seen two different installments, each one focusing on a very different style of gameplay. Jet Set Radio was a time-driven arcade-type experience, while Jet Set Radio Future took the form of a free roaming action/adventure game with an emphasis on its exploration elements.

To me, an ideal sequel would lean more towards the gameplay of the first, while retaining Future’s cool ability to skate to each part of the city rather than selecting them off a menu. This element of exploration gave Jet Set Radio Future‘s world a more cohesive feel, and it made sense in an industry whose tastes were shifting more towards exploration and away from time-driven arcade gameplay.

That said, without a doubt I missed the original’s energetic feel; the feeling you got from trying to spray a huge mural on a wall as helicopters attempted to gun you down, and the quick pacing that came with its shorter levels. A sequel could mix this with Future’s tighter controls and its more exploratory setting and I think we’d wind up with the best of both worlds.

Kori-Maru

[Image credit: fryguy64]

I was first introduced to the Jet Set Radio franchise when my mother bought two SEGA Dreamcast games for myself to play when I was 14. One of them was the Dreamcast port of Spider-Man and the other was none other than Jet Grind Radio.

The moment I laid my hands on Jet Grind Radio, I was amazed by the game’s cel-shaded art style and upbeat music. Even though I had a few problems with the controls during my youth, I would still pop in Jet Grind Radio to play every now and then. I would play the game non-stop just to run away from the cops and listen to Hideki Nakaguma’s music pieces, such as “That’s Enough”. One gameplay feature that I really liked was that the player could customize their own graffiti art, spray paint the custom artwork in the main campaign mode, and trade the pieces with friends by using the SEGA.Net internet features, which I had never got to use for any of my other Dreamcast games at the time. Jet Set Radio Future on Microsoft’s Xbox on the other hand, I have yet to have a chance to play. Maybe if JSRF could receive the same treatment as it’s predecessor, I would definitely buy it on digital platforms and play for myself.

As for franchise’s future, I would love to see two things happen with the series. First off, I would love to see SEGA develop a MMO style Jet Set Radio where players can form a guild and play against rival territories by spray painting in numerous cities within Tokyo-to, sharing features similar to the Dreamcast version along with character customization. Another idea I thought about for a very long time since the sequel’s release, is to see SEGA develop a prequel of some sort to the original Jet Set Radio game by exploring the past.

Similar to JSRF, I would like to see the next game take influence from history. Japan’s Edo period and the Industrial Revolution are great examples to use, fused with the game’s unique twist. Would be pretty awesome to see the GG’s ancestors and rival gangs as samurais and industrial workers on skates!

Thank you to all those who skated through Jet Set Radio Week with us! Did you miss a feature? Check out the full rundown of content below:

• Jet Set Radio Week begins with a franchise overview
• Series composer Hideki Naganuma shares his favorite tunes
• Page through the Official Dreamcast Magazine’s preview of Jet Set Radio
• Jet Set Radio receives a Retro Review
• SEGAbits Plays streams the Jet Grind Radio demo and the original Japanese release of Jet Set Radio

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