Jet Set Radio Future

is a 2002 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Xbox. The sequel to the Dreamcast game ''Jet Set Radio'' (2000), it features refined gameplay mechanics, updated graphics, larger open world environments, new characters, an altered plot, a new soundtrack and multiplayer gameplay.

The player controls members of the youth street gang, the GG's, who use inline skates to traverse a futuristic Tokyo, spraying graffiti, challenging rival gangs and evading authorities. Like the original, ''Jet Set Radio Future'' uses cel-shaded visuals.

''Jet Set Radio Future'' was very well received by critics. It won several awards and was nominated for many others. It was released as an Xbox launch game in Japan and Europe, and later bundled with Xbox consoles along with '' Sega GT 2002''.''Jet Set Radio Future'' became backwards compatible on Xbox 360 in 2005. In 2023, Sega announced a sequel.

Gameplay

Like the original ''Jet Set Radio'', players control a member of a gang of inline skaters, the GG's, in a futuristic Tokyo. The lead art designer, Ryuta Ueda, and the composer, Hideki Naganuma, said it was not a continuation of ''Jet Set Radio'' but a remake in an alternate reality.

Players can grind on rails and poles, perform tricks, and use boosts to move faster. They can come to a quick stop by performing a powerslide.

The player must search for graffiti tags left by other gangs and spray over them with their own. To do this, they first collect spray cans in each stage. Spraying is more streamlined from the last game, with manual spraying over large tags replaced by multiple spray targets depending on the tag's size. Unlike ''Jet Set Radio'', there is no time limit and spray targets can be completed at any time.

Open world stages in the level are larger, and are now interconnected, with time limits removed, and often feature multiple objectives. These range from mimicking a rival's trick line or beating other skaters in a race. The police, who previously chased after the player in the last game, now appear in specific areas, with the player tasked with stopping them by charging into them and spraying them to defeat them. Each area has hidden items to collect, including Graffiti Souls, which unlock new graffiti designs, and Hidden Tapes which unlock additional missions where more Graffiti Souls can be earned. The game features multiplayer gameplay up to 4 players and several multiplayer modes. The game also features the option to design tags.

Plot

The citizens of a futuristic Tokyo are oppressed by the authoritarian Rokkaku Group and their police force, the Rokkaku Police. A group of youthful skaters, the GG's, vie for control streets, while listening to broadcasts from DJ Professor K on pirate radio. The GG's recruit more skaters while scuffling with rival gangs such as Poison Jam and Rapid 99, before facing Rokkaku factions such as the Noise Tanks and the Golden Rhinos. When the Rokkaku boss and mayor of Tokyo, Rokkaku Gouji, tries to launch the Rokkaku Expo, he is defeated by the GG's.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains 34 songs and is played in a premixed format consisting of certain playlists directed for each chapter, and for certain levels, although there is a jukebox. The main theme of the game is called "The Concept of Love". Alongside returning video game composers from the first game Hideki Naganuma and Richard Jacques, the soundtrack features artists such as indie rock band Guitar Vader, Beastie Boys Ad-Rock side project BS 2000, hip hop/breakbeat group Scapegoat Wax, indie pop band Bis, The Latch Brothers (including Mike D of the Beastie Boys, Chris "Wag" Wagner and Kenny Tick Salcido), rock band Cibo Matto, musical collective Bran Van 3000, and hip hop group The Prunes.

A soundtrack CD for the game titled ''Jet Set Radio Future Music Sampler'', was given to people who pre-ordered the game in the United States, featuring 11 tracks from the game. It was published by Wave Master and distributed by Grand Royal. The CD album titled ''Jet Set Radio Future Original Sound Tracks'' (SCDC-00166), was released by Scitron Discs on March 20, 2002, featuring 22 tracks from the game and was distributed by Sony Music Distribution (Japan) Inc. For the HD release of the original ''Jet Set Radio'', a new CD album titled ''Jet Set Radio: Original Soundtrack with Bonus Tracks from JSRF'', was distributed by Sumthing Else on September 18, 2012, for North America and Europe, containing 17 tracks including 7 from ''Jet Set Radio Future''. The latest album titled ''Jet Set Radio Future SEGA Original Tracks'', was released digitally by Sega, containing 20 tracks. It was released on iTunes and streaming services on October 3, 2012 alongside ''Jet Set Radio SEGA Original Tracks'', made for the original game's HD release.

Development

''Jet Set Radio Future'' was first scheduled as a Dreamcast game. Lead composer, Hideki Naganuma, stated that the game's story is not a continuation of the original ''Jet Set Radios story, but an alternate story in an alternate reality. Sega left the console market and began developing and publishing games for other platforms, including Microsoft's Xbox. During Tokyo Game Show 2001, Microsoft and Sega announced plans to bring Sega's games to the Xbox. Both corporations announced an 11-title publishing alliance to premiere many of Sega's upcoming games on the platform. Chief Xbox officer, Robbie Bach, stated that "having Sega on board with Xbox is a huge win for gamers around the world". Bach also stated that "the creative artists at Sega not only are going to deliver great Xbox games, they will help us establish the benchmark for great Xbox gaming experiences both on and offline". Sega of America president and CEO, Peter Moore, commented: "We believe that Microsoft will be very successful with Xbox, which is why we have such a close, strategic relationship with them. Our world-renowned development studios have been very impressed with the Xbox hardware, and they are excited to bring new gaming experiences to consumers by utilizing the platform's power and network capabilities. We share Microsoft's commitment to broadband online gaming and will work with it to deliver the best content possible to gamers".

The development schedule was one year and one month, and it was difficult to release it in time for the launch of the Xbox in Japan, as well releasing it worldwide soon after. The goal was to increase the sense of speed, which required making the world bigger. Graffiti spraying was also streamlined to keep the fast pace. The development environment of the Xbox made it easy to develop, and the team felt that they pushed the Xbox as far as they could at the time.

''Jet Set Radio Future'' was first publicly shown in E3 2001 and the Tokyo Game Show. It was announced under the name ''Jet Grind Radio Future'', to stay consistent with the previous game release in North America due to trademark problems for "Jet Set" at the time. The game reverted back to its original name as the trademark problems were resolved.

Release

''Jet Set Radio Future'' was released as an Xbox launch game in Japan and Europe. In 2002, it was first released in Japan on February 22, followed by North America on February 26, and Europe on March 14. A deal was made between Sega and Microsoft in late 2002 to have ''Jet Set Radio Future'' along with '' Sega GT 2002'' bundled with the Xbox on a dual-game DVD. This was designed to build the Xbox installed base and appeal to consumers during the holiday season.

Reception

''Jet Set Radio Future'' received "generally favorable" reviews, scoring 86% and 88/100, according to GameRankings and Metacritic. In Japan, ''Famitsu'' gave it a score of 32 out of 40.

The game was awarded "Outstanding Original Sports Game" and was nominated for "Outstanding Animation in a Game Engine", "Outstanding Art Direction in a Game Engine", and "Outstanding Original Musical Score" by the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. ''IGN'' called it "one of the coolest titles around" but said that it also fails to reach classic status because it was "not enough of a challenge". ''GameSpot'' described it as "one of the better Xbox games to date" and disagreed with ''IGN'', claiming the game "offered a serious challenge". The publication named it the second-best video game of February 2002, and it won the annual "Best Platformer", "Best Music" and "Best Graphics (Artistic)" awards among Xbox games. It received a nomination for the Xbox "Game of the Year" prize, but lost to '' MechAssault''. Despite positive reviews, this was not followed by high sales. It was nominated for ''GameSpot''s "Best Game No One Played on Xbox" award, and landed the title of the most unfairly ignored game in the OXM UK Awards the year of its release. During the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated ''Jet Set Radio Future'' for " Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year".

In 2009, ''Edge'' ranked the game at #44 on its list of "The 100 Best Games To Play Today", writing: "The sound track is peerless, and whether grinding vertically down a 200-foot dragon, leaping across Shibuya's handrails, or just cruising the wrong way down a one-way street, there's nowhere else that's so exhilarating to simply travel through." The game was also featured in ''1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die''.

''Jet Set Radio Future'' sold 80,000 copies in the United States in its first six months. It sold a total of 28,433 copies in Japan.

Legacy

The game was highly regarded, but this did not translate into sales. Director Masayoshi Kikuchi concluded that they wanted to pursue profitability and popularity in Japan, which led to the ''Yakuza'' series, which he also worked on.

The character Beat and stages based on Shibuya Terminal, Rokkaku Dai Heights, 99th Street, and Highway Zero appear in the 2010 game ''Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing''. The Shibuya stage also appears in the 2012 game ''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''.

In 2005, ''Jet Set Radio Future'' was made backwards compatible on the Xbox 360. Unlike ''Jet Set Radio'' and other Sega games for Xbox, ''Jet Set Radio Future'' has not been made backwards compatible on the Xbox One or the Xbox Series X/S. In a 2023 interview, Xbox Game Studios CEO Phil Spencer confirmed that an unsuccessful attempt was made to add the game to Xbox's backwards compatibility program, stating: "One of the games I'd always wanted to get, we weren't able to land it in our backward compatibility program, was ''Jet Set Radio Future''." Comicbook.com has speculated that this may be due to problems with licensing the soundtrack, among other reasons.

''Jet Set Radio Future'' was featured in the 2002 music video to "Hella Good" by American rock band No Doubt, where it depicts them playing the game.

Sequel

Kuju Entertainment presented Sega with a concept for a new ''Jet Set Radio'' game for the Nintendo Wii, but Sega was not interested in developing new games in the series. In 2017, Dinosaur Games created a proof of concept, ''Jet Set Radio Evolution'', after Sony expressed interest in their work at GDC 2017. Sega declined the project.

In mid-2020, the ''Jet Set Radio'' lead designer, Kazuki Hosokawa, told ''USGamer'' that he and his team were "too old and experienced" to create a new ''Jet Set Radio'' game with the "same energy" as the original. In 2021, it was reported that the art director, Ryuta Ueda, had rejoined Sega. During The Game Awards 2023, a new title was formally announced, alongside reboots of several other Sega franchises including '' Crazy Taxi'', ''Golden Axe'', '' Shinobi'', and '' Streets of Rage''.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Jet Set Radio, state=expanded

2002 video games
3D platformers
Graffiti video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Pack-in video games
Roller skating video games
Open-world video games
Sega video games
Smilebit games
Organized crime video games
Video game sequels
Video games with gender-selectable protagonists
Video games scored by Hideki Naganuma
Video games scored by Richard Jacques
Video games set in Japan
Video games set in Tokyo
Video games with cel-shaded animation
Xbox games
Xbox-only games
Video games developed in Japan