Jet Set Radio

DJ Professor K broadcasts the Jet Set Radio pirate radio station to gangs of youths who roam Tokyo-to, skating and spraying graffiti. One gang, the GGs, competes for turf with the all-female Love Shockers in the shopping districts of Shibuya-Cho, the cyborg Noise Tanks in the Benten entertainment district, and the kaiju-loving Poison Jam in the Kogane dockyard. The authorities, led by Captain Onishima, pursue the gangs with riot police and military armaments. After the GGs 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 mysterious vinyl has the power to summon a demon.

The GGs are joined by Combo and Cube, who explain that their hometown, Grind City, has been overtaken by the Rokkaku business conglomerate. They ask the GGs to help them to free their friend, Coin, who has been captured by the Rokkaku. The Rokkaku pursue the GGs and steal the vinyl record. Poison Jam explains that the Rokkaku CEO, Goji Rokkaku, plans to use the record to make a contract with the demon and take over the world. The GGs defeat Goji in the rooftop of his headquarters by destroying his turntable. Freedom is returned to the streets of Tokyo-to. Combo reveals that The Devil's Contract was an old record with no demonic powers and that wealth had driven Goji to insanity.

Jet Set Radio HD is the latest remaster in a string of Dreamcast "hits" to see new life on download platforms, but Sega has been insistent that they've learned its lessons. The publisher has emphasized how hard it's trying to get things right this time, and for many, it couldn't have chosen a better game.

Jet Set Radio was part of Sega's onslaught of new properties with an emphasis on flash and style during the second wave of Dreamcast software, but it might be one of the more obscure. It's a game that almost everyone has heard of, but I think few have actually played. This was remedied somewhat with 2002's Xbox sequel Jet Set Radio Future. Unlike Sonic Adventure or the arcade hit Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio HD is the chance for many to finally play a game they've only heard about.

Nostalgia has the side effect of high expectations though, and Jet Set Radio HD just can't meet them. While the flash and style of Jet Set Radio HD remains untouched and unvarnished by a dozen years of progress, the rest of it can't stand up to scrutiny. Squirrely controls, camera catastrophes, and nonsensical level design make Jet Set Radio HD a better memory than game.