One of my favourite games of all time is SEGA's Jet Set Radio, it was one of my most played games on the Dreamcast, especially the first level in Shibuya-cho, which is arguably one of the best levels of the whole game and thankfully it was one of the levels I was able to play on the Playstation Vita version at E3, which notably seemed to be the only version playable at the SEGA booth.
Recently SEGA announced that the re-release of Jet Set Radio was not only coming to Xbox Live, Playstation Network and Windows, but also on Playstation Vita. The premise of being able to play Jet Set Radio on the go is astounding, of course Jet Set Radio isn't really a travel friendly game with some of the levels being really challenging. But to have such a visually pleasing game on the Vita was something I was definitely looking forward to checking out.
Jet Set Radio was one of the best looking Dreamcast games at the time, and having been ported over to the Playstation Vita it looks just as stunning. There was no slowdown in the level while I was playing it, even when Captain Onishima and his police crew started chasing me it was still running smoothly. Of course it really needs to be tested on the busier levels but the whole game wasn't unlocked for us to play sadly. There were three levels in total that were playable though and you could play as Gum, Beat or Tab.
The biggest addition to Jet Set Radio has to be that the game now uses two analogue sticks, because the Dreamcast only featured one making the camera a little clunky and easy to get in a tight spot. However SEGA have now improved the camera by having camera control on the Right Stick, giving you much more fluid control during play, I even finished the level with zero problems which was astounding. Boost and spraying graffiti are now both on the shoulder buttons with Boost on the Right and Tagging on the Left, which may not be what Jet Set Radio fans are used to, but it works well and doesn't feel strange in anyway.
Of course the only real other additions to Jet Set Radio that SEGA have announced are the new pieces of graffiti from the competition they launched shortly after the announcement of the game's release. The competition added 18 brand new pieces of graffiti that you can use within the game, although of course if you don't like the pre-set graffiti you can always create your own like you used to with the Graffiti creator, whether they will be shared across the internet is another thing though.
We previously covered the music tracks on the site and how the game features every track used in each iteration of Jet Set Radio bar two individual tracks; Yappie Feet and Many Styles, well after finding out a little more about the re-release, the chosen game code used for the re-release was De La Jet Set Radio which is why it features all tracks minus those two as they were not in the soundtrack for De La, but everything else was.
Of course there's not much else that needs to be said, it is indeed a re-release of Jet Set Radio in stunning widescreen, and it's what all fans would want plus more, so you can all eagerly await it's release like I am. If you've never played it before and you like the sound of skating mixed with spraying graffiti at a high speed while running from the police then perhaps you should check out Jet Set Radio.
Jet Set Radio will be available on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, Windows and Playstation Vita this summer, SEGA had their lips sealed tightly on if the Vita version will be released on the same day as the other platforms, and also the exact date. Hopefully they'll let all the details, including the price point be known very soon, in the meantime why don't you boot up your Dreamcast and give the original another play to get even more excited.
