Pre-Release | Jet Set Radio Future

Early Look is a series dedicated to looking at games long before they came out. This month is dedicated to Jet Set Radio Future and the coverage it gained over a year ahead of its Japanese release on 22nd February 2002. The game's development is truly a fascinating story and a great insight into one of Sega's most beloved titles.  

The game was originally planned for an Autumn 2001 release. 

The game was first announced on 30th March 2001 via a strategic partnership between Sega and Microsoft for their upcoming Xbox console. Its announcement was still being advertised under the 'Jet Grind Radio' brand for American audiences both by Microsoft and Smilebit.

Interestingly, in an interview with Smilebit's director, Takayuki Kawagoe, highlights some amazing insight into the games inception. Takayuki mentions how the game initially started development on the PS2 alongside Gunvalkyrie before moving to the Xbox after it came "right after the PS2" (probably referring to the Xbox's official reveal in January 2001). 

Couple of direct screenshots from E3

Plans were to get online play ready for Jet Set Radio Future's release, but Takuyaki was unable to comment on any specifics; just that they've been testing and implementing it. If anything, this would possibly just be the split-screen mode but via Xbox Live.

What makes early development of JSRF truly fascinating is the fact that the game first debuted at E3 2001 on the 16th May 2001 - just 4 and a half months after Sega's public announcement they would be leaving the hardware business. Even after nearly 2 months from the game's announcement, the game was still being referred to as 'Jet Grind Radio Future' by Smilebit themselves on their official website.

The game was first shown in video form at a private booth which Sega said was running on actual hardware. Amazingly, Sega acknowledged that the build shown to journalists was only 10% complete. The stage they used to showcase the game was the first stage from the original Jet Set Radio, unchanged apart from upgrading certain scenery to 3D and now running at 60fps.

Rare pic of E3 cover 

While the game was showcased running on a Xbox kiosk with an Xbox controller, early speculation was lead to believe the game would become playable later. While later visits on the 18th by Gamespot confirmed the game was never playable, IGN did report otherwise stating they were the first journalists to get hands-on gameplay. Unfortunately the video file link they had as proof no longer works - though it's not completely unbelievable as they did obtain media footage directly from Sega themselves. 

Everything went quiet until the game was shown off once again at the Tokyo Game Show on the 12th October 2001. Journalists had the option to play as 4 different characters, Beat and Gum from the first game (though it's unclear if they were wearing their original attire) and 2 characters from JSRF including Tab.

TGS 2001 screenshot 

Reports of the TGS demo still had its fair share of technical problems. The first stage with its large open area had a lot of slowdown while the second stage ran smoother. The multiplayer had a pretty solid 60fps, albeit when played in 2 player mode with the environment trimmed down to accommodate split-screen. 

The TGS demo began with it's tutorial stage showcasing the controls taking place once again at JSR's original starting stage. Both Gamespot and IGN reported that the pixelation effect found in the final game when dashing was much more garish in the pre-release version. While people had the chance to get hands-on impressions, unfortunately there was no music to be heard. 

Sadly, as mentioned earlier, a lot of insight into the early E3 built is lost to time. From direct gameplay by IGN to high quality 33mb video files. What we do have is insight into Sega during their transitioning phase from Dreamcast to the upcoming 6th generation of consoles. We see early stages of development to an iconic classic that will always be at the top of Xbox's backwards compatibility program.  

For more information, check the links down below. I have also found direct capture of the E3 trailer straight from Smilebit which I can't seem to find posted anywhere else and will share with you at a later date.

Links:

• https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2001-jet-set-radio-future-impressions/1100-2761926/
• https://uk.ign.com/articles/2001/05/15/e3-2001-first-look-jet-grind-radio-future
• https://web.archive.org/web/20010618092901/http://www.smilebit.com/eng/game/jsrf.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20020606194617/http://xbox.ign.com/articles/094/094962p1.html http://www.jeuxvideo.com/dossiers/00001382/e3-2001-xbox-jet-set-radio-future-083.htm
• https://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2001/ (Way back machine links)
• http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/6045/will-jet-grind-radio-come-to-gamecube
• https://www.gamespot.com/articles/tgs-2001-fall-jet-set-radio-future-hands-on/1100-2817644/
• https://uk.ign.com/articles/2001/10/11/tgs-2001-jet-set-radio-future-impressions
• https://web.archive.org/web/20020606193024/http://xbox.ign.com/articles/094/094741p1.html
• https://news.microsoft.com/2001/03/30/sega-and-microsoft-team-up-for-strategic-xbox-alliance/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20020602055954/http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/095/095663p1.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20020606194335/http://xbox.ign.com/articles/095/095278p1.html
• https://archive.org/details/024057