For some of you younger readers out there, rollerblades were like wheelies for grownups. Grownups who were extreme. The Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio (re-christened Jet Grind Radio here in the U.S.) channeled that extremity into the best skating/tagging video game in that incredibly limited gaming genre, and in spite of that dubious distinction was actually a terrific, brightly-colored game that appears to be coming back to consoles thanks to publisher Sega at some mysterious point in the future.
Sega teased the release of the E3 Critic's Choice award-winning game with a title and image-free trailer and the text "Guess Who's Coming Back," but the hip hop track playing under the teaser is pretty familiar. In spite of the sometimes hit or mess nature of some of the recent Dreamcast to HD ports (Crazy Taxi comes to mind for one), I'm hoping Sega is able to keep this title intact.
Oh man, I just got bummed out thinking about Crazy Taxi: that game had a licensed soundtrack with music by the Offspring and Bad Religion, but because of the usual raft of licensing issues that plague media as it goes from one format to another, Sega had to go with some generic tracks for the HD port. I'm hoping that since we're hearing snippets of the original soundtrack in the trailer, we'll get the full roster J-pop and hip hop acts that was on the original disc back in 2000.
If you're just absolutely aching to play the game now and can't wait, the Xbox port/sequel/prequel, Jet Set Radio Future is backwards compatible with the 360, although you'll have to track down the version that's not bundled with Sega GT.
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