COLUMN: 'Jet Set Radio HD' a flashback in the right direction
"Jet Set Radio" needs no coy introduction; no careful stage-setting for an explanation to be laid out, for it is quite possibly one of the biggest cult classics from the days of the Dreamcast.
The series' last release was "Jet Set Radio Future" back in 2002, and since then the gaming world has sorely been lacking a blindingly-colorful and funky trip through the streets of Shibuya-cho.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Dreamcast era, "Jet Set Radio" is a game about warring graffiti gangs on rollerblades. The game was highly influential on the industry for pioneering cel-shaded graphics and boasted one of the most counter-culture, effective and mind-shatteringly unique soundtracks ever compiled.
While not a huge commercial success, the game proved to be a critical and award-winning venture.
On Feb. 22, the YouTube account SegaAmerica released a video called “Guess Who’s Back?” and as the video kicks off with the opening beats to the track “Funky Radio,” it’s suddenly all too apparent who is back. "Jet Set Radio HD" is coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 courtesy of XBLA and PSN.
For starters, since this is an HD release, we can safely assume some sort of graphical change will be made. The original game boasted some of the most innovative and iconic graphics of the time. Fudzilla.com has actually released that according to their sources, there will be enhanced graphics and better visuals.
This game’s soundtrack is just as vital as the gameplay and graphics and it cannot go down the HD release road of "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" or "Crazy Taxi" and not have the original soundtrack. Those games, while also having iconic soundtracks, were mainly nostalgia based; "Jet Set Radio’s" music is stage-specific and is used to set moods.
The teaser trailer plays one of the original songs, which hints that the soundtrack has safely made it in.
For speculations it would be great if the competitive jams against the CPU could be turned into multiplayer modes and the original graffiti swapping over the internet came back. Any sort of multiplayer system would be sweet, but simply is just icing on the cake at this point.
As long as the original soundtrack is fully represented in the HD release, then Sega will have outdone themselves in delivering one of the most original games back to the gamers in high-definition glory.
