Jet Set Radio

The player controls a member of the GG's, a gang of graffiti-tagging inline skaters. The game consists of three types of levels: Street, Rival Showdown, and Trial. Graffiti points are marked by arrows and require paint to tag them. In Rival Showdown levels, more playable characters can be unlocked after they are defeated by matching the rival's movements in technique sections or by spraying graffiti before the rival in race sections. Trial levels are unlocked after Street and Rival Showdown levels are cleared in a specific area. There are three kinds of trials: Jet Graffiti, Jet Tech, and Jet Crash. In Jet Graffiti, the objective is to spray all the graffiti points within the time limit. Jet Tech prioritizes in obtaining the top score within the time limit. In Jet Crash, the objective is to reach the goal and spray graffiti on it before the opponent. Players can customize their graffiti by choosing presets, or create their own using the Graffiti editor. By using a VMU, players can upload their graffiti to the official website for other players to use or download graffiti from other players. More Graffiti presets can be unlocked by collecting Graffiti Soul icons scattered throughout stages. == Plot ==

DJ Professor K broadcasts the pirate radio station Jet Set Radio to gangs of youths known as the Rudies, who roam Tokyo-to, skating and spraying graffiti as their means of expression. One gang, the GG's, competes for turf with the all-female jilted lovers the Love Shockers in the shopping districts of Shibuya-cho, the cyborg otaku Noise Tanks in the Benten-cho entertainment district, and the kaiju-loving Poison Jam in the Kogane-cho dockyard. The authorities, led by Captain Onishima, pursue the gangs with riot police and military armaments. After the GG's defeat Poison Jam, Noise Tanks, and Love Shockers in turf wars, they each drop a piece of a mysterious vinyl record. Professor K says that the record is the Devil's Contract and has the power to summon a demon. The GG's are joined by Combo and Cube, who explain that their hometown, Grind City, has been overtaken by the Rokkaku Group business conglomerate. They ask the GG's to help them to free their friend, Coin, who has been captured by the Rokkaku Group for his vinyl collection. The Rokkaku pursue the GG's and steal the Devil's Contract. Poison Jam explains that the Rokkaku CEO, Goji Rokkaku, plans to use it to make a contract with the demon and take over the world. The GG's defeat Goji on the roof of his headquarters by destroying his turntable, and freedom returns to the streets of Tokyo-to. Combo reveals that the Devil's Contract is an old record with no powers and that wealth had driven Goji to insanity. == Development ==

Jet Set Radio was developed by Smilebit, a Sega studio formed from members of Team Andromeda, the developers of the Panzer Dragoon games for the Sega Saturn. The development team consisted of fewer than 25 developers, with an average age of under 25. Programming began in mid-1999. The game was presented at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show and drew media attention for its cel-shaded style. During the early stages of development, director Masayoshi Kikuchi had difficulty leading the team without prior directing experience. The visual style was established prior to the gameplay; according to Kikuchi, it could have become an adventure game or role-playing game. His superiors were not satisfied with early concepts, and so Kikuchi used trial and error to develop a concept that he believed everyone would find interesting. Ueda had joined Sega after being impressed by the "freshness" and international appeal of Sonic the Hedgehog, but was disappointed with the excessive focused saturation of overtly fantastical manga and anime-style designs, and hoped to create something original. Smilebit drew inspiration from games outside the typical game genres of science fiction and fantasy. Smilebit developed a new cel-shading technique not used at the time as it would not have been possible on the Dreamcast or PlayStation 2. Promotion and release Jet Set Radio was released in Japan on June 29, 2000. In North America, it was released on October 31 as Jet Grind Radio due to trademark problems for "Jet Set" in the United States at the time. The PAL version was released later on November 24 under the original name. Soundtrack The Jet Set Radio soundtrack includes original and licensed tracks with a variety of genres including J-pop, hip hop, funk, electronic dance, rock, acid jazz, and trip hop. The music has been described as energetic, rhythm-heavy, defiant, and multicultural. In 2012, Naganuma said Jet Set Radio and its sequel had been his favorite projects. Smilebit worked with Sega of America and Sega of Europe to include as many street culture elements as possible, hoping to create music that was internationally acceptable. A soundtrack CD, Jet Grind Radio Music Sampler, was given to those who pre-ordered the game in the United States, featuring 10 tracks from the game, 4 of which do not appear in any version of Jet Set Radio. It was distributed by Interscope Records. The soundtrack CD, Jet Set Radio Original Soundtrack (UPCH-1048), featured 19 tracks including a data track from the game and was distributed by Polydor Records on December 20, 2000, in Japan. For the HD release, a new soundtrack CD 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 a total of 17 tracks, 10 from the game and 7 additional tracks from the sequel, Jet Set Radio Future. A second soundtrack for the HD version, Jet Set Radio Sega Original Tracks, was distributed by Sega, containing 15 tracks and was released on iTunes on October 3, 2012, alongside Jet Set Radio Future Sega Original Tracks. == Alternative versions ==

Sega re-released the game in Japan under the name This version was released on October 18, 2001, in Japan via Dreamcast Direct (later renamed Sega Direct) and included a T-shirt featuring the protagonist Beat for those who pre-ordered. This version features content that was originally exclusive to PAL and North American versions, namely music from the PAL release, two playable characters, and two stages. Mobile versions Jet Set Radio was remade as two 2D mobile versions. The first, a side-scrolling game in which players escape police, was released for Japanese mobile phones by Sega on June 22, 2001. It was followed by a remake for Game Boy Advance developed by Vicarious Visions and published by THQ in North America on June 26, 2003, and in Europe on February 20, 2004. The Game Boy Advance version uses the ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' engine and an isometric perspective, and it emulates the cel-shaded graphics of the Dreamcast game, with some original stages and shortened songs. High-definition remaster In 2012, high-definition ports developed by BlitWorks were released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. The ports add features, including widescreen HD graphics, online leaderboards, achievements, and a new camera system. It combines the North American, European, and Japanese versions' soundtracks and adds bonus tracks from Jet Set Radio Future, but it omits the PAL version's tracks "Yappie Feet" and "Many Styles". To promote the ports, Sega ran a contest to allow players to submit their own artwork to be used as graffiti within the game. The game was made backwards-compatible with the Xbox One in May 2016. In North America, the PS3 version was released on September 18, with PlayStation Plus members able to purchase it early on September 11. The PS3 version was released in Europe the following day alongside The Xbox Live Arcade and Windows version for both North America and Europe. The PlayStation Vita version was scheduled for release on October 16, but was delayed for development optimization reasons; it was released on November 20 in North America and in Europe the following day. The PS3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Vita versions were released in Japan simultaneously on February 20, 2013. The iOS and Android versions were released in North America and Europe on November 29, 2012. Japan received the iOS version on December 20, 2012, and Android on January 30, 2013. The smartphone versions were delisted as of 2015 due to compatibility problems with iOS updates. The Xbox 360 version of Jet Set Radio was delisted off the Xbox Live Arcade store in February 2023, but is still available for download for those who own it. The Steam version of the game was similarly delisted on December 6, 2024; along with every other game that was featured in the Dreamcast Collection; except for Sonic Adventure and its sequel. == Reception ==

Critical reception Jet Set Radio received universal acclaim for its gameplay, visual style, and music. ''Gamers' Republic'' called it flawless. GamePro called Jet Set Radio one of the best-sounding games of the year for its soundtrack, Accolades Jet Set Radio won the Best Console Game at the E3 Game Critics Awards in 2000 and was the runner up for Best in Show at the same event. The game won the category of "Excellence in Visual Arts" award, received a "Game Spotlights Award" and was nominated for Game of the year at the 2001 Game Developers Choice Awards. Jet Set Radio received nominations for the "Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Console Innovation", "Art Direction", "Game Design", "Original Musical Composition", "Sound Design", and "Visual Engineering" categories at the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (the most nominated game at that ceremony). It won GameSpot's annual "Best Graphics, Artistic" award among console games, and was nominated in the "Best Game Music" and "Best Platform Game" categories. ''Gamers' Republic awarded it "Best 3D Game Design" in its 2000 Year in Review. The game was also featured in 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Jet Set Radio'' also holds a Guinness World Record for the first video game to use cel-shading. == Legacy ==

Jet Set Radio is recognized as one of the first games to feature cel-shaded graphics, with exaggerated shapes, thick lines, and flat, bright colors. Numerous indie developers have cited Jet Set Radio as a major influence on their games, the most notable being the successfully crowdfunded Hover: Revolt of Gamers, Lethal League, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, all of which draw heavy inspiration from Jet Set Radios visuals and music and feature contributions from its composer, Hideki Naganuma. The game has also been speedrun at Games Done Quick multiple times. Other fan community-based Jet Set Radio projects include Jet Set Radio Live, a 24/7 browser-based radio station based on the fictional radio station in-game created in January 2016 and the albums Memories of Tokyo-To released on February 20, 2018, and Sounds of Tokyo-To Future by American musician 2 Mello on August 24, 2021. A sequel, Jet Set Radio Future, was released for the Xbox in 2002, early in the system's life cycle. Two main characters, Beat and Gum, are playable characters in Sega Superstars Tennis and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and the former appears in Sonic Universe issue #45, an adaptation of the game along with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. In 2009, an early antagonist in the game, Captain Onishima, was ranked 95th in IGN's "Top 100 Videogame Villains" list. Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future are highly requested games to be ported to the Xbox One, the Xbox Series X/S, In 2021, Sega teased the possibility of a Jet Set Radio reboot, and announced Beat as a playable character for Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. Sega announced a new Jet Set Radio game at the Game Awards 2023. ==Notes ==