Jet set radio

The title screen of the game (North American version for Dreamcast).

The game begins in Shibuya , where the professor DJ K. Tokyo appears. He explains the basics of living in Tokyo for “ Rudie ” - young people who roam the streets, apply graffiti and roller skate as a means self-expression. In the storyline through the Jet Set Radio, Professor K will narrate some parts of the game.

However, young people are chased by a policeman, captain Onisima. Along with Onishima, the SWAT team and Goji Rokkaku are creating problems. The player begins the game for the 17-year-old Beat, who ran away from home, like many other Japanese ores. To defeat rival gangs, Beat also decided to create his own group. First, Gum and Tab join him, later other people may come to them.

After defeating other gangs, they transfer their property and provide places for graffiti, as well as the so-called “pleasure” ( English treat ).

The city is divided into three parts: Shibuya-cho, Benten-cho and Kogane-cho, in each of which the game takes place at different times of the day. Shibuya is a shopping area that takes place during the day, Benten is a place of entertainment that takes place at night, and Kogane is a residential area where the sunset is constant. In each of these areas, the player will encounter competing gangs or police, each of which must be defeated or run away.

After Beat creates a gang, the player can draw graffiti on the walls using the gamepad and collect paint cans in different places of the regions. For this the player is awarded points. The parts of the game will be narrated by the DJ of the Jet Set Radio Professor K.

The game Jet Set Radio was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 1999 , where it aroused the delight of players and magazines through the use of the revolutionary shading technique of the time, where three-dimensional models and objects became “cartoony”. Jet Set Radio was first released in Japan on June 29, 2000 . Graffiti was painted by Inkie ^[9] , who was Sega’s head of creative design at the time ^[10] .

In the United States, the game sold as Jet Grind Radio , since Sega did not want to solve the problems about the name.

On February 22, 2012, Sega posted a video called Guess Who's Back? On its blog and YouTube channel, which featured music from Jet Set Radio ^[11] . Later, a re-release of the game was announced, which will be available for the PlayStation Network , Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in the summer of 2012 . In this regard, Sega holds a contest where each participant can show their abilities in graffiti. The best graffiti will be present in the game ^[12] .

The Japanese version of the game, called Jet Set Radio, was released on June 29, 2000 . January 1, 2001 exclusively for Japan, an update was released called De La Jet Set Radio , where bugs were fixed, and music that sounded in the North American version was added. Initially, the update was available only through the special Sega Direct store, but then it was sold in regular departments.

In the United States, the game was released under the name Jet Grind Radio on October 30, 2000. This version is aimed at the popularity of the game for a western audience. It has two new maps of the city “Grind City”, as well as new music. This version also allows the user to connect to the Internet through the SegaNet service, it also has the ability to download and download graffiti.

The version for Game Boy Advance was developed by Vicarious Visions and released on June 26, 2003 in the United States and February 20, 2004 in Europe, and unlike the original game, it was not released in Japan. It includes 3 main levels from the Dreamcast version ("Kogane Cho", "Benten Cho" and "Shibuya Cho") and is executed in isometric graphics .

In the fall of 2012, the game was re-released for the PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 and PC through the digital distribution services PlayStation Network , Xbox Live Arcade and Steam . The release of the game on the PlayStation 3 took place on September 18, 2012 in the United States and September 19 in Europe, however, PlayStation Plus subscribers could get the game a week earlier - September 11 and 12, respectively ^{[1] [2]} . On services Xbox Live Arcade and Steam Jet Set Radio was released on September 19 ^[1] . The release of the game on the PlayStation Vita was scheduled for October 16 in the US ^[1] and October 19 in Europe ^[2] , but as a result it took place a month later - November 20 and 21, respectively ^{[3] [4]} . The version of the game on iOS and Android was released on November 29 ^[3] . Unlike previous editions, all of the listed versions of the game are called Jet Set Radio , regardless of region.

This version added support for the right stick on the gamepad , which was missing from the Dreamcast controller to control the camera, but there are no graffiti sharing and transfer functions in the re-release ^[13] . In the version for the PlayStation Vita, a touch screen was used ^[7] . Versions for Android and iOS include support for the OpenFeint service and Retina displays, as well as the ability to use images captured on the camera as graffiti ^[8] . Initially, it was assumed that due to copyright some of the tracks would be missing ^[13] , however, in the end, all the songs from all three regional versions (except “Yappie Feet” and “Many Styles”) were included in the game ^[14] .

Jet Set Radio Original Sound Tracks ( Japanese: ジ ェ ッ ト セ ッ ト ラ ジ オ オ リ ジ ナ ル · サ ウ ン ド ト ラ ッ ク Zetto Setto Radzio Oridzinaru Soundoundorakku ) was released December 20, 2000 via Universal Music Japan . The music was written by the composer Hideki Naganuma . The album contains 19 tracks. The musical accompaniment of the game received many accolades from game critics for originality.

The version of the game for Dreamcast received very good ratings from magazines and websites. Many of them praised her style and soundtrack. Critics also hailed the simplistic style of arcade games. IGN delivered a Jet Set Radio score of 9.6 out of 10, criticizing the camera and the lack of multiplayer mode.

The version for Game Boy Advance also received good marks. Of the main shortcomings, critics highlighted the lack of streets and Grind Square, and because of the impossibility of choosing graffiti.

Despite high marks from critics and innovation, the game did not sell well, primarily due to poor sales of the Dreamcast console . The 2012 remake performed better; the Xbox 360 version in the first week of sales took 2nd place among the most downloaded games on the Xbox Live Arcade ^[49] .

Awards and nominations

• E3 2000 " Game Critics Awards ": winner for the best game on the console. The game took second place in the nomination "Best Show".
• Game Developers Choice Awards 2001 : Winner in the nomination for "Excellence in Visual Arts and Gaming Innovation." Nominated for the "game of the year."
• 4th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (2001): nominated for “game design”, “game of the year”, “game of the year on the console”, “console innovation”, “original musical compositions”, “sound design” and “visual engineering” .
• In 2009, the main antagonist of the game, captain Onishima, took 95th place in the top of “100 video game villains” according to IGN ^[50] .
• In 2009, the game took 4th place in the top 7 Best Dreamcast Games of All Time according to the GamesRadar website ^[51] . In a similar 2012 top of the same site, Jet Grind Radio was placed at 6th position ^[52] .
• In 2011, the same site in the " Sega 7 Series We Want to Return" top placed Jet Set Radio in 2nd place ^[53] .

A sequel , but at the same time 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, February 25, 2002 (under the name JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future ) and in Europe on March 14, 2002, during the launch of the console. The style of the game and the self-shading are preserved, as in the first part, although they have improved somewhat thanks to the hardware of the Xbox.

Other Character

The Beat and Gum characters appear in Sega Superstars Tennis . Also, a tennis court was made on the game. Beat (with looks from the Jet Set Radio Future ) is a playable character in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing . In the sequel to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Beat and Gum are game characters, but the design of the first in this game is taken from the original. Like Sega Superstars Tennis , Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed have several tracks based on the game Jet Set Radio . Goji Rokkaku appears as a cameo in the game Yakuza . Beat also appeared in No. 45 of the Sonic Universe comic, which is an adaptation of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed .

• Jet Set Radio (2012 ) on the official Sega website
• Jet Set Radio on Sega Retro
• Jet Set Radio (English) (version for Game Boy Advance ) on Sega Retro