Team Reptile has released a trailer for their upcoming title, "Bomb Rush Cyberfunk." The game tasks players with skating, dancing, tagging, and facing off against the oppressive police in a colorful and futuristic metropolis. Evoking the style, tone, and sound of Sega's "Jet Set Radio," "Bomb Rush Cyberfunk" looks as if it'll satiate a base that's been starving since the 2002 Xbox title, "Jet Set Radio Future."
The concept of love
For the multitudes of people who've been in this world long after Sega left the hardware business, "Jet Set Radio" was a game developed by a division within Sega known as Smilebit.
Previously known as Team Andromeda, they were most well known for their "Panzer Dragoon" titles for the Sega Saturn. While these games were critically acclaimed for their unique fantasy world, arcade action gameplay, and orchestral soundtracks, they had the misfortune of being released on a platform that was being utterly dominated in the market by both the Nintendo 64 and the original PlayStation.
For their debut title on the upcoming Sega Dreamcast, the team wanted to do something completely different from "Panzer Dragoon." In contrast to the fantasy setting of its predecessor, this new title would take place in modern times and deal with pop culture and teenage rebellion. David Fincher's "Fight Club" served as an inspiration to the anti-establishment themes that would permeate this new game.
"Jet Set Radio" takes place in a city in Japan known as Tokyo-To, where a greedy business conglomerate known as The Rokkaku Group have seized control of it and the police force. In this oppressive environment, gangs of skaters rebel by covering the streets with graffiti. Players are put into the jet-fuelled roller skates of a gang known as the GGs as they take on rival gangs and the powerful police force that silences those who oppose The Rokkaku Group.
A pirate radio station covers all the events of this struggle, the eponymous Jet Set Radio, hosted by the funky DJ Professor K.
"Jet Set Radio" was released on the Dreamcast in 2000 to rave reviews and respectable sales. The game was lauded for it cel-shaded graphics and a unique soundtrack by Hideki Naganuma. Ironically, the game performed better in the West than in the developed country and took place in Japan.
Shortly after the Dreamcast was discontinued, Sega left the hardware business and became a third-party developer. Smilebit released two follow-ups of their previous games on the Xbox. One of these games was "Jet Set Radio Future-" a reimagining of the original title with a variation of the story and revamped gameplay. The game was met with good reviews but poor sales.
Since then, Sega has rejected every pitch for a "JSR" sequel by many different developers. Smilebit would later be restructured into Sega Sports R&D, and Hideki Naganuma would later contribute tracks to other Sega franchises such as "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Persona."
Can't get enough of you
Enter Team Reptile. Founded in 2011, this independent Dutch Developer has had two titles under their belt that evoke the style and sounds of "JSR." "Lethal League" and its follow up, "Lethal League Blaze," were fighting games that featured cel-shaded graphics and character designs reminiscent of "JSR" and even featured music by the game's composer, Hideki Naganuma.
"Bomb Rush Cyberfunk" looks to be a full-on spiritual successor to Sega's long-abandoned franchise. "Bomb Rush Cyberfunk" boasts features that "JSR" lacked, such as skateboarding. The game is slated for a 2022 release on the Nintendo Switch and PC.
