Jet Set Radio

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Jet Set Radio
File:Jgrbox.jpg
US Jet Grind Radio Boxart
Developer(s)Smilebit
Publisher(s)Sega
Designer(s)Shun Arai (executive producer)
Takayuki Kawagoe (chief producer)
Osamu Sato (producer)
Masayoshi Kikuchi (director)
Composer(s)Yukifumi Makino (Sound producer)
Fumitaka Shibata (Sound director)
Hideki Naganuma (sound effects)
SeriesJet Set Radio
Platform(s)Windows PC[1][2][2]
Release'Dreamcast'Microsoft Windows
September 19, 2012
PlayStation Network
September 11 2012 PS Plus
September 18, 2012 (PS3)
October 16, 2012 (Vita)
Xbox Live Arcade
September 19, 2012
iOS
Q3 2012
Android
Q3 2012
Genre(s)Action/Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Jet Set Radio (ジェットセットラジオ, Jetto Setto Rajio, originally called Jet Grind Radio in North America) is a video game , developed by Smilebit and published by Sega on June 29, 2000. A 2D version of the game was later released for Game Boy Advance; this version was developed by Vicarious Visions and published by THQ. A HD version of the game will be released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows in September 2012.[3] Its sequel, Jet Set Radio Future was released in 2002 for the Xbox after Sega became a software-based company. The game is known for spearheading the use of cel-shaded graphics in video games.

History

Jet Set Radio was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 1999 and generated a prodigious amount of press attention due to its use of the then revolutionary rendering technique, cel-shading. Now commonplace in game design, cel-shading allows for a "cartoon-like" appearance of 3D rendered objects.[4] Jet Set Radio was released in Japan on June 29, 2000. The graffiti featured in the game was the work of Banksy collaborator Inkie,[5] who was Sega's head of creative design at the time.[6]

The US release, re-titled Jet Grind Radio because of trademark issues, contained two new maps, various new songs, and other in-game content designed to increase the game's appeal to Western audiences. This version also allowed the user to connect to the Internet via SegaNet and download user-created graffiti tags, or upload tags of their own, as some could also be used to promote other Sega games. Sales of the game were relatively low, but despite the slumping sales of Jet Set Radio, it has gone on to achieve a cult following in the gaming community.

On February 22, 2012, Sega announced on their YouTube channel and blog with a video titled "Guess who's back?" that Jet Set Radio will be the next in their planned line-up of Dreamcast re-releases for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, and a Microsoft Windows version was also confirmed later on the blog.[7] The game is due for release in mid-September 2012 (October for the PlayStation Vita version).[8]

Plot

The game begins in Shibuya-cho, and is introduced by Professor K, the DJ of a pirate radio station based in Tokyo-to, who explains the basics of life in Tokyo-to for a "rudie", the term he uses to refer to young people who roam the streets spraying and skating, as a means of self expression.

The city is split into three parts—Shibuya-cho, Benten-cho, and Kogane-cho, each of which corresponds to a different time of day. Shibuya is a shopping district full of blue skies and daylight, Benten a nocturnal entertainment spot that represents night, and Kogane a mostly residential area, built on the water, where it is perpetually sunset. In each of these areas the player will encounter a rival gang - the Love Shockers in Shibuya, the Noise Tanks in Benten, and Poison Jam in Kogane - that attempts to usurp the GG's home turf. The player starts off forming a skate gang which also resides in Shibuya-cho, and thus forms a rivalry between the gangs in the area. After completing a set of menial challenges, designed to introduce the player to the control system, Gum and Tab join the gang forming the first 3 members of the GG's. The player starts out as Beat, a 15-year-old rudie who ran away from home like many other Japanese rudies. Beat was first shunned from gang to gang over and over again until he decided to start his own gang. Beat is the leader and founder of the GG's, short for "Graffitti Gang/Gangsters". The player first starts out spraying a little graffiti in Shibuya-Cho looking to recruit members. First Gum joins, then Tab. Then, as the game starts diving into its further plot, many other willing "rudies" decide to join your graffiti gang. But they don't offer to join you as simply as possible. All of the new soon-to-be rudies challenge you to a set of three challenges. These challenges are to test your speed and graffiti skills, giving you a high score based on your performance.

The initial stage is set in a Shibuya bus station, in which the player has to "tag" various parts of the bus station, as well as spray over existing tags, so as to gain the area as part of their territory. While tagging these places, the player is pursued by policemen and their leader, Captain Onishima. The police, the S.W.A.T team, and Goji Rokkaku's Golden Rhinos are yet another obstacle to avoid while defeating rival gangs. Also, Professor K narrates specific parts of the game via his eponymous pirate radio station called Jet Set Radio.

Other gangs which feature in the game as opponents are the Noise Tanks, who appear to be semi-cyborg otaku, Poison Jam, brutish thugs who wear fish costumes, and the Love Shockers, an all-girl gang made up of jilted lovers. Once the protagonist defeats each gang they hand over their belongings and grant the area to the graffiti gang that dethroned them. Plus, after defeating a rival gang, they might offer you a "treat".

Soundtrack

The upbeat Jet Set Radio soundtrack includes an eclectic array of original and licensed songs combining the musical genres of J-pop, Hip-hop, funk, Electronic dance music, Rock (Guitar Vader, Reps), Acid Jazz, Trip hop, and even (in the North American version) metal. Initially, all but two of the tracks from the original worldwide soundtrack would have be kept in the HD port, with Yappie Feet and Many Styles being omitted due to licensing issues. However, a month before the game's release date, Sega was able to secure rights for one of the two missing songs, but it is unknown which one.[9] Sega is still working to get the final song licensed before the game's release date.[10][11]

  1. B.B. Rights - Funky Radio
  2. Castle Logical - Mischievous Boy
  3. Deavid Soul - Dunny Boy Williamson Show (Japanese version only)
  4. Deavid Soul - Miller Ball Breakers
  5. Deavid Soul - On the Bowl (A.Fargus Remix)
  6. Deavid Soul - Up-Set Attack
  7. Deavid Soul - Yappie Feet
  8. F-Fields - Yellow Bream
  9. Guitar Vader - Magical Girl
  10. Guitar Vader - Super Brothers
  11. Hideki Naganuma - Grace and Glory
  12. Hideki Naganuma - Humming the Bassline
  13. Hideki Naganuma - Let Mom Sleep
  14. Hideki Naganuma - Moody's Shuffle
  15. Hideki Naganuma - Rock It On
  16. Hideki Naganuma - Sneakman
  17. Hideki Naganuma - Sweet Soul Brother
  18. Hideki Naganuma - That's Enough
  19. Idol Taxi - OK House
  20. Reps - 'Bout the City
  21. Richard Jacques - Everybody Jump Around
  22. Toronto - Electric Tooth Brush
  23. Cold - Just Got Wicked (North American version only)
  24. Feature Cast - Recipe For The Perfect Afro (PAL version only)
  25. Jurassic 5 - Improvise (North American and PAL versions only)
  26. Mix Master Mike - Patrol Knob (North American and PAL versions only)
  27. O.B. One - Many Styles (PAL version only)
  28. Professional Murder Music - Slow (North American version only)
  29. Rob Zombie - Dragula (Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare Mix) (North American version only)
  30. Semi Detached - Funky Plucker (PAL version only)

Alternative versions

Game Boy Advance version

Main article: Jet Grind Radio (Game Boy Advance)

A version of Jet Set Radio was released for the Game Boy Advance system in 2003, created by Vicarious Visions, the developers of the numerous Tony Hawk Pro Skater GBA games; and published by THQ. It featured an isometric perspective similar to the GBA Tony Hawk games and, despite the hardware limitations, cartoony graphics were designed to emulate the look of cel-shaded graphics, despite the smaller resolution. Music is reduced to 30 to 45 second samples. The levels ranged from exact duplicates to reminiscent counterparts of the original Jet Set Radio.

De La Jet Set Radio

After the public reported several bugs in the original Japanese version of Jet Set Radio, Sega decided to re-release it under the name of De La Jet Set Radio ("Deluxe" Jet Set Radio). This version was only sold in Japan via Dreamcast Direct (later renamed Sega Direct) making it one of the more rare Dreamcast titles available. The gameplay in this version was easier to pick up and included the added music from the PAL and North American versions, including the two levels only included in these two versions. The text featured in the game is localized in the main language of your Dreamcast, unlike the original Japanese version, which means that if your Dreamcast system is set to English language, the text in the game will be in English. The same goes for Japanese, German, French and Spanish. However, the voices remain Japanese.

HD version

A high-definition port of the game is anticipated for release in Summer 2012 for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS, Android and Microsoft Windows through Steam. In association with the announcement of the HD version, Sega ran a promotional contest to allow players to submit their own artwork to be used as graffiti within the game.[8][12] Additional features will include widescreen HD graphics, online leaderboards and a new camera system. All but one song from the soundtrack has been included in the HD version. The North American version of the port keeps the original title, instead of being called Jet Grind Radio. The game will be released on PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 on September 18, 2012 (members of PlayStation Plus can purchase the game from September 11, 2012), on Xbox Live Arcade and Steam on September 19, 2012 and on PlayStation Network for Playstation Vita on October 16, 2012.[13]

Reception

The game was received exceedingly well from online sources and magazines.[14] Many have praised the style of the game as the matching soundtrack with up-tempo music. Critics also applauded the simplistic "pick-up and play" arcade style gameplay.[15] Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 32 out of 40.[16] The lowest review according to Game Rankings was a 3.5 out of 5 from Independent Gamer.[17] IGN gave the game a 9.6 rating but criticized the camera control, saying, "You'll spend at least a week wondering why all games don't look this good. Then you will spend at least a month wondering why the camera didn't get fixed during localization."[18] The lack of multiplayer was also criticized.

In 2009, the main antagonist of the game, Captain Onishima, was ranked 95th in IGN's "Top 100 Videogame Villains" list.[19]

Sequel and related titles

Jet Set Radio Future

Said to be a sequel, yet also a prequel to Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, was developed for the Xbox and released in Japan on February 22, 2002, in North America on February 25, 2002 (under the title JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future) and in Europe on March 14, 2002 as a launch game for the console. The game's style and cel-shaded graphics remained faithful to the original, although somewhat improved to take advantage of the Xbox hardware.

Appearances in other games

Two of Jet Set Radio's characters, Beat and Gum, are playable characters in the sports title, Sega Superstars Tennis. A tennis court is based on the game, with other characters from the game watching the match. Beat also features as a playable character in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, taking his looks from Jet Set Radio Future, where his All-Star move is speeding through the track on his skates, spraying graffiti on his foes. There are several race tracks based on the game as well. Beat is set to appear in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, but will retain his design from the original game; a stage based on Jet Set Radio is included as well. Goji Rokkaku makes a cameo in Yakuza.

Awards

  • E3 2000 Game Critics Awards: Winner for Best Console Game, runner-up for Best in Show
  • 2001 Game Developers Choice Awards: Winner of Excellence in Visual Arts and Game Innovation Spotlights awards, nominated for Game of the Year
  • 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (2001): nominated for Game Design, Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Console Innovation, Original Music Composition, Sound Design, and Visual Engineering

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/349187/jet-set-radio-coming-to-vita-too-first-screens/
  2. ^ a b http://blogs.sega.com/2012/07/20/jet-set-radio-skates-to-mobile-devices-this-summer/
  3. ^ http://www.sega.com/games/jet-set-radio/
  4. ^ "TGS: Sega Shows Jet Grind Radio". 1999. Retrieved 2009-08-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Inkie". filthymodernart.com. Retrieved August 31, 2011. [...] his graffiti featured in SEGA's seminal video game Jet Set Radio.
  6. ^ Joseph, Claudia (2008-07-12). "Graffiti artist Banksy unmasked ... as a former public schoolboy from middle-class suburbia". Daily Mail. Retrieved August 31, 2011. Those arrested included Tom Bingle (aka Inkie) [...] who is now head of creative design at the computer games manufacturer Sega.
  7. ^ http://blogs.sega.com/2012/02/28/jet-set-contest/
  8. ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (2012-02-28). "Jet Set Radio HD out this summer on PC, PSN and XBLA". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  9. ^ http://www.sega.com/games/jet-set-radio/
  10. ^ http://blogs.sega.com/2012/06/01/jet-set-radio-final-tracklist-announced/
  11. ^ http://www.gamercast.net/jet-set-radio-music
  12. ^ "Jet Set Radio Graffiti Contest". SEGA Corporation. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  13. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/362454/jet-set-radio-dated-priced-ps-plus-gets-first-access/
  14. ^ "Game Developers Choice Online Awards".
  15. ^ Hopton, Adam. "Top 10 Dreamcast Games". Trendy Gamers. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  16. ^ ドリームキャスト - JET SET RADIO (ジェットセットラジオ). Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.42. 30 June 2006.
  17. ^ "Jet Grind Radio Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  18. ^ http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/163/163512p1.html
  19. ^ http://www.ign.com/videogame-villains/95.html

External links

Template:Jet Set Radio Games

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