SEGA says that the upcoming Jet Set Radio game will be open world, a new direction for the previously dormant series.
The news comes via the SegaSammy group’s management slides, which mention the five in-development legacy titles that were announced at The Game Awards.
Each game includes a short blurb about it, though only Jet Set Radio’s seems to give tangible details about the gameplay.
“Counter-culture Tokyo Street Open World”, the slide says, before going on to explain the concept of creating a movement and increasing your fans.
Admittedly a pivot to open world might be fun for fans- the game is well known for its traversal mechanics and street art themes, and being able to grind across a continuous chunk of Tokyo-To might give the game the same kind of highs as swinging through New York in titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Fans have long been clamoring for the return of Jet Set Radio- enough creatives have made projects inspired by the iconic game about street art and grinding rails, including most recently, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.
In an interview with The Washington Post, SEGA of America CEO Shuji Utsumi said SEGA’s recent success made this a good time to reintroduce the world to Jet Set Radio.
“The concept of games like ‘Jet Set Radio’ is advanced. The original creators are involved again, and its time is now,” he said. “It’s a good time where people can appreciate all kinds of concepts.”