New Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi Games Announced by Sega!

If you are a Sega enthusiast, I'm sure you are already well aware of the big announcement they made last night at The Game Awards. If you still need filling in, then here's the news: Sega have announced new games based on some long-neglected IPs, and much to our delight here at the Junkyard, two of them are Dreamcast staples: Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi! You can view Sega's teaser trailer below.

While not a whole load is known about these two new games other than the brief flash of footage shown in Sega's teaser trailer, they do look really cool. The Jet Set Radio game shown is actually the one which had images leaked following a July 2022 survey from Sega. The footage shows Beat tricking - and also parkouring - around Tokyo-To. The game looks to still retain the series' distinctive cel-shaded look, but appears to opt for more realism in its graphical style. A brand new take on Jet Set Radio's very own DJ Professor K is shown off too. In an interview with Washington Post, Sega of America CEO Shuji UtsumI confirms that “the original creators” are involved in some regard.

The Crazy Taxi game looks great too. The gameplay looks as energetic and flashy as any modern take on Hitmaker's arcade classic should be. The teaser shows a taxi being chased by the police, drifting around large, open streets. The footage also seems to imply that players may also be able to take control of the police car, which makes me wonder if there will be some kind of multiplayer mode involved where some players ride the taxis while others chase them down as the cops... perhaps even the dreaded "games as a service" model based on Fornite that was mentioned back in 2022? Of course, I will save any judgement until I know more, but let's hope that Sega know who the real audience is for these reboots.

The other games announced include some very awesome-looking 3D Golden Axe and Streets of Rage reboots (makes me wish we'd got that cancelled Street of Rage for Dreamcast!), which look very much like they'd be a lot of fun as co-op experiences. The last game showed off is a new entry in the Shinobi series which utilises an absolutely stunning 2D art style. 

At the end of the teaser trailer it is clarified that all the games announced are still in development, so it's probably going to be a bit of a wait before we finally get to play them, or even find out more information, like which platforms they'll be available on (hopefully not mobile exclusives!). The Sega fan community have also picked up on the fact that after the announced games are listed, it reads "and more", meaning there is a potential for even more games (hopefully all reboots!) to be unveiled from Sega at some point. Maybe a HD rerelease of Skies of Arcadia? Shenmue 4? The much anticipated Floigan Bros. Episode 2? Only time will tell...

For now, though, this announcement has made the Sega fan community very happy indeed. It's good to see Sega have finally pulled their finger out after countless years of shrugging off the passionate cries of fans asking them to revisit their abandoned IPs.

They finally did something!

What do you think of these new reboots? Which ones are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments section below or via one of our various social media pages!