Jet Set Radio grinded it's way into everyone's hearts...But not their wallets :'(

Jet Set Radio grinded it's way into everyone's hearts...But not their wallets :'(

Jet Set Radio was a 3D platformer for the Sega Dreamcast, developed by Smilebit a first party Sega developer Jet Set Radio was without a doubt the most unique game that had come out in 2000. It was one of the first games to openly embrace Graffiti art, hip-hop music, rollerblades, and was the first game to implement the well know cell-shading style of graphics.

The game takes place in a futuristic, super bright, super hip-hop, super crazy Tokyo called Tokyo-To, you play one of 3 gang members who fight rival gangs for control of the cities turf. Now being a boy who grew up in the 90's and was raised on a healthy diet of action movies, Time Crisis, and practicing suplexes with my older brother, I assumed that this little corral would be settled with some good old fashion shootouts and beat downs. HOWEVER, they decide that the best way to settle this is by tagging the holy hell out of the rival gang's turf. So off you go tagging and skating all the while you are being chased by the police and cartoonish rival gang members. As the story progresses you add new members to your crew and the stakes are raised as you uncover a deeper conspiracy behind Tokyo-To's corporations.

Critics praised the game for its unique approach and design, everyone was pulling for this Neon Tony Hawk to do very well, but the problem with almost anything too unique is that it ends up flying over people's heads. Now I don't feel that I was completely honest before when describing the key points of this game, so I'm going to Jet Set the record straight (see what I did there?.... Jet Set.Ra... I'll move on.) the game doesn't have hip-hop, it has Japanese hip-hop which is an entirely different, more potent form of hip-hop. Most people who enjoy conventional American music would probably classify this game's sound track much like their parent's would classify their personal tastes, a bunch of noise. All of the music was made in Japan specifically for this game, matching the graphics it was light, energetic and bubbly, definitely not in line with the average 25 year old who just wanted a "cold one" and a Madden roster update.

Another looming problem wasn't entirely the game's fault, but the Dreamcast's. You see the Dreamcast didn't have a second analog stick, so instead the left trigger snaps the camera behind the character; which is a real bummer when you're trying to navigate fairly complex multi-leveled 3D environments. I personally remember several nights of wanting to throw my controller through my screen due to the camera, and I'm the one who specifically hunted down a copy of this game for only about 15 bucks, I can't even imagine how frustrated someone would be after dropping 50!

Now these aren't all game killing issues, but I'm talking about the mainstream, and if I know one thing about this game, it's not mainstream. With all its Japanese flair it can't help itself but turn away the average consumer.

Jet Set Radio did do a lot of good for the industry, it's use of cell-shaded graphics paved the way for tons of other games like Lucky 13, Grabbed by the Goonies, and about a billion Dragon Ball Z titles, and the Graffiti aspect of the game was one of the main inspirations for Marc Ecko's Getting up: Contents under Pressure. A game that heavily drew from Graffiti as and art and a lifestyle.

Most people that even remember Jet Set Radio remember it as an extremely important and unique game for a console that had a just as fitting description, but was just too different to grab a foothold in the mainstream western market, those people are still right.