Jet Set Radio Dreamcast and its prototypes: When the Rudies invaded the halls of E3
Smilebit, a subsidiary of SEGA made up of former employees of Team Andromeda, the creators of the Panzer Dragoon Saturn series, developed Jet Set Radio for Dreamcast in just 10 months. Initially consisting of three members, the team grew to 25 people at the height of the Japanese studio's success. The average age of employees was 25/27.
SEGA executives placed their blind trust in them. They hoped that these young people would bring a breath of fresh air to the industry. Their gamble paid off, with the press hailing Jet Set Radio for its unique visuals when it was announced at TGS 1999 (Tokyo Game Show). This iconic Dreamcast title was born out of a desire to shake up the established norms of the video game world at the time.
In the early 2000s, many thought they had seen it all with the widespread use of 3D. Jet Set Radio surprised everyone by harnessing the power of SEGA's spiral console not to achieve greater realism, but rather to indulge in visual extravagances that came out of nowhere. The press was won over, calling it a “revolution.” Jet Set Radio innovated with its graphics, which benefited from the Cel Shading rendering technique. The development team called it “manga dimension” internally. It consisted of giving the game a cartoon-like appearance rather than a photorealistic one.
.jpg)
Apart from the cartoon aspect, Smilebit's goal was also to bring to life a town that was almost identical to a real one, rather than a typical imaginary video game city. Its environment had to be as realistic as possible. From this perspective, Jet Set Radio stands out as one of the first open-world games.
To enhance the overall experience, the team wanted to infuse their future production with an underground vibe. Since Jet Set Radio was geared toward pop culture, the music selection included funk, hip-hop, big beat, rock, breakbeat, electronic, jazz, and soul. The soundtrack composed for JSR still resonates in the minds of gamers from the 2000s!
All the ingredients were there to make it a future hit. Specialized magazines and news sites gave Jet Set Radio extensive coverage during its development (poor Illbleed, which no one talked about). They eagerly awaited the slightest bit of news about it. Its promotion turned into real shows with 11-minute dance performances during E3 2000. SEGA even organized graffiti contests to promote it, with a prize of $5,000 to be won.
The dance show at E3
Released on June 29 in Japan and several months later in the rest of the world, this pop and hip-hop-inspired rollerblading game set in late 1990s Tokyo left its mark on a generation of gamers. Jet Set Radio went down in history and inspired many games that would go on to adopt its innovative graphic design.
Jet Set Radio was a title that only SEGA knew how to make. With it, Dreamcast fans were playing a cartoon rather than just a video game!
Jet Set Radio is 100% speed and 200% fun!
The adventure introduced by Professor K, the DJ of a pirate radio station based in Tokyo, follows the exploits of thrill-seeking “Rudies”. This clever term refers to young people who roam the streets of the city on rollerblades in search of walls to tag. The government is struggling to curb the illegal activities of this band of misfits. Together, they form the GG gang, based in a garage in Shibuya-cho.
With rollerblades on their feet, the Rudies speed through the streets of the Japanese capital, tagging walls, rooftops, and buses to mark their territory. This drives the mayor of the city crazy, and he doesn't hesitate to send the police to stop them. They face a threat far greater than the police: rival gangs who want to take over different neighborhoods of the city. Fortunately, DJ Professor K keeps them informed live about the activities of the various gangs and police officers during their missions.
The city is divided into three parts: Shibuya-cho, Benten-cho, and Kogane-cho, each corresponding to a different time of day. Shibuya is a shopping district during the day, Benten is a nightlife district, and Kogane is a residential district built on the water at sunset.
Jet Set Radio offers a host of characters characterized by three different attributes: Power, Technique, and Graffiti. Power determines a character's health, Technique determines the number of points a roller earns when performing tricks and their speed of movement, and Graffiti determines the number of points earned for successfully completing a Tag and the difficulty of painting it.
Somersaults, grinds, slides... any acrobatic move will do to escape your pursuers in style!
The E3 prototype of Jet Set Radio (Apr 28, 2000 prototype)
Examination of the prototype reveals that the disc (GD-R) was burned on April 28, 2000. This Japanese version of Jet Set Radio Dreamcast dates from one month before it went GOLD. It was specially designed to promote the game at E3 2000, as mentioned in the header of its IP.BIN. It launches on a Debug Menu, which is explained in detail later in this article.
The Jet Set Radio E3 prototype in action
This prototype mixes English and Japanese, which is common practice in localization builds or demos created for a specific event.
SEGA has not yet addressed the illegality of graffiti. The splash screen warning about this practice does not appear when the game starts.
When launching the game normally by selecting “GOTO TITLE” from the Debug Menu, a commentator normally shouts “Jet Set Radio” once the title screen appears. He is silent in this E3 version.
Several game modes and features should appear when you press “START” on the title screen, which is essentially the Main Menu. Here, a game starts immediately with a short explanatory sequence, likely designed specifically for the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
If you do not press any keys for a certain amount of time immediately after starting a game, the game will automatically reset without going through the Debug Menu again. It will not go into sleep mode.
Some Debug Menu missions have no music, only sound effects. Some sounds are missing, such as the meowing of cats when the player passes by them or the sound of water when skating through the sewers of “Kogane”. The intensity of the sound effect of the rollerblades rolling often remains constant (a continuous noise).
During the introductory cutscenes for missions, the text displayed on the screen does not always correspond to that shown in the final version.
On the mini map in the Pause Menu, in certain missions (mainly those without introductions), the locations of the graffiti to be drawn are not marked with a G. There are no indications on the map.
In the “Kogane” sewage system, when skating in water, there is no graphic effect of splashing under the skates.
At this stage of Jet Set Radio's development, the “Graffiti Soul” items (those resembling the loading screen logo) have not been implemented in the game.
During gameplay, mini-scenes can interrupt the missions (explosions, appearance of enemies, etc.). These intermediate cutscenes do not appear in this prototype.
Road traffic is strangely interrupted in certain missions (Benten M08, for example). When playing Benten M12, the cars parked on the side of the road are no longer there. Pedestrians strangely desert certain maps such as Kogan M12.
When the player exits a level, an arrow with the word “EXIT” indicates that they are about to leave the current mission and return to the garage. By selecting Mission 8 in Shibuya, it is possible to continue playing outside the authorized area and reach other areas of the city. Some exits are incomplete, with a blue sky replacing the buildings that are supposed to mark their boundaries.
Several characters have textures that will be adjusted in the final version. For example, the clothing of Piranha/Sucre and Ardoise/Soda still bear their original names, “Nuts” and “Code”. The numbering “NT-001” is missing from the bodies of the Noise Tanks. Other differences are noticeable in Gum's face, Corn/Tab's body, and Garam's head.
The only mention of E3 in the build
Yes, a special demo of JSR
.jpg)
Sometimes in Japanese
Sometimes in English
No targets to tag
Exit the level through the sky
No doubt there are other special details to be found as you play through the prototype levels again and again. The ones revealed above are the most notable!
The audio of the prototype
Jet Set Radio Dreamcast offers an eclectic soundtrack mixing hip-hop, rap, and metal, all brought to life by the local DJ setting the mood for Smilebit's title. The work done on the musical atmosphere remains remarkable, one of the game's strong points, if not the most impressive!
Two unused music tracks from Fuzita Blender, Pizza Delivery Man On Harley-Davidson and Fantastic Boobie Band, are hidden in the prototype files but do not play in the game. These songs were used temporarily at some point during the development of Jet Set Radio.
Fantastic Boobie Band de Fuzita Blender
Pizza Delivery Man On Harley-Davidson de Fuzita Blender
Songs only found in this prototype:
BB_M.ADX
BB_R.ADX
BB_R_SJ1.ADX
CLR_HARL.ADX
CLR_RICH.ADX
DUN_RIC1.ADX
FANT_SJ1.ADX
FANTA_M1.ADX
FANTA_M2.ADX
FANTA_R.ADX
HAR_ROC1.ADX
HARLE_F.ADX
HARLE_M1.ADX
HARLE_M2.ADX
HARLE_R1.ADX
KAO_BB1.ADX
KAO_M1.ADX
KAO_M2.ADX
KAO_M3.ADX
MAG_HAR1.ADX
NOI_STJ1.ADX
RICH_F.ADX
RICH_M.ADX
RICH_R.ADX
RICH_R1.ADX
RICH_SJ1.ADX
ROC_FAN1.ADX
SCRATCH1.ADX
SCRATCH2.ADX
SCRATCH3.ADX
SCRATCH4.ADX
SCRATCH5.ADX
SCRATCH6.ADX
SCRATCH7.ADX
SJ1_MAGI.ADX
STATION1.ADX
T_NOISE3.ADX
THA_DUN1.ADX
THAT_M.ADX
Songs shorter than those in the final Japanese version:
CLR_DUN.ADX
CLR_MAGI.ADX
CLR_ROCK.ADX
T_NOISE2.ADX
Regarding “THAT_SJ1.ADX”, the sound corresponds to the Japanese version, but the data differs.
Some compositions are not included in this E3 build. However, they can be heard in the more complete versions of Jet Set Radio Dreamcast.
Some songs were renamed during the development of Jet Set Radio. When the E3 prototype of JSR was created, some of the music was not finalized. Once a song was approved and ready to be implemented in the final version, the developers renamed it to differentiate it from the one used previously. Here are a few examples:
-
(E3) BB_M.ADX and (JP) FUNKY_M have the same sound, but FUNKY_M seems to be of better quality. The data stream is completely different. However, it is the same music.
-
(E3) RICH_M and (JP) EVERY_M1, the song (E3) RICH_F resembles (JP) EVERY_F1 and (JP) EVERY_F2 combined.
You can download a comparative Excel spreadsheet of the music below
Comparative Excel spreadsheet of Jet Set Radio music (prototype-final Japanese version)
The E3 build deserves a thorough comparative analysis of its audio, which would be a long and tedious task. Who is motivated enough to take it on?
The prototype's models and graphics
It is rare to unearth Japanese game prototypes. However, they are the most interesting to examine, particularly in regards to following the progression of level designs. Here are some very specific graphical differences that can be found in the E3 build of Jet Set Radio (left: the prototype; right: the final Japanese version):
The bridge in the E3 beta has wider stairs than in the JP version (Sibuya M04)
The planter is larger in the E3 version compared to the JP version (location unknown)
These 3 trees were removed from the JP version and are only in E3.
The crane has a different position and the model is reversed between versions
The placement of pipes on the ceiling
Color of taxis (Sibuya M01)
Less detailed stair textures (Sibuya M01)
The color of the car (Sibuya M01)
The location of the Digger (Sibuya M04)
The buildings in the background, the enemies on the footbridge (Sibuya M04)
City background, building layout (Benten M01)
Now it's up to you to find the others!
The Features of Jet Set Radio’s Debug Menu
The prototype boots up into a Debug Menu. The three options, TGS SIBUYA, TGS KOGANE, and TGS BENTEN, are likely based on JSR demonstrations used during the Tokyo Game Show. To play them, you must activate them and then start the game by going to the “GOTO GARAGE”. Their dedicated play areas will then appear on the Tokyo-to map.
An easy-to-use Debug Menu
-
STAGE : Choose the city district in which the GGs will skate
-
MISSION : Select the mission to be played through
-
CHARACTOR : Play the character of your choice
-
VS CHARACTOR : Choose the character to face in duels
-
EVENT : Activate or deactivate the explanatory scenes for the missions
-
GOTO GARAGE : Load the garage (game hub). The Tokyo-to map (used to activate the 3 TGS options) will be displayed
-
GOTO GAME : Start the game directly with the modified data from the Debug Menu
-
GOTO DEMO : This option does not work (black screen)
-
GOTO TITLE : Start the game normally, ignoring the Debug Menu
The other options in the Debug Menu are basic and easy to use. They allow the user to:
The developers at Smilebit used code names to refer to the 15 playable characters in Jet Set Radio Dreamcast from the Debug Menu. Here they are with their real names:
Beat (Ereki) (final name Beat)
%20Dreamcast%20prototype%20Jet%20Grind%20Radio.jpg)
Gum (correct name)
Corn (final name Tab)
Combo (correct name
Code (final name Slate)
Nuts (final name Piranha)
Reco (final name Cube)
Bis (final name Mew)
Yo_Yo (correct name)
Plug (Pench) (final name Garam)
%20Dreamcast%20prototype%20Jet%20Grind%20Radio%20E3%20version.jpg)
Character 11 (final name Poison Jam)
Character 12 (final name Love Shockers)
Character 13 (final name Noise Tank)
Poison Jam Black (new character?)
Keydata
This character does not work. Beat loads in their place.
Some characters do not load in certain missions; another “Rudie” will appear in their place. “Pots”, a kind of dog on roller skates, and “Goji” do not yet exist.
The Debug Menu lists 5 playable areas (STAGE): Sibuya, Kogan, Benten, STAGE 05, and FINAL STAGE. The districts of Toky-to, with their real names, feature 12 different missions, sometimes with a short introductory cutscene in Japanese or English. Other times, the game starts immediately without presenting the objectives to be accomplished. STAGE 05 does not work; FINAL STAGE loads instead. No missions are available for FINAL STAGE, even when one is selected. Mission numbers cause the game to crash during loading for these two visitable locations.
The Debug Menu is that little detail that perfects a prototype. It's the icing on the cake, making it even better!
You can download this build of Jet Set Radio Dreamcast below
Other Jet Set Radio prototypes with a dedicated page
These Jet Set Radio prototypes are very unique. As such, a page has been dedicated to them, explaining their specific characteristics in detail (a build analysis).
.jpg){kind=small}
You can download this build of Jet Set Radio Dreamcast below
Good to know about the July 31, 2000 build:
This early NTSC prototype of Jet Set/Grind Radio mainly concerns its localization for the Western market. Its English translation and the addition of exclusive content for the United States were in progress. The new neighborhoods of Jet Set Radio designed to appeal American players, Bantam Street and Grind Square, are shown in a confusing form (without textures, with many changes in their level design, etc.)!
Other Jet Set Radio prototypes available for direct download
Special thanks to:
-
Hicks for proof-reading the French text
-
Neil Riddaway for the English correction of the article
-
Time Ritiau for his investigation of the E3 prototype of Jet Set Radio Dreamcast and his help in analyzing it
Prototypes for special events (E3, Toy Faire etc.): Bomberman Online Dreamcast (Toy Fair) - Jet Set Radio Dreamcast (E3) - Metropolis Street Racer Dreamcast (E3) - Outtrigger Dreamcast (E3) - World Series Baseball 2K1 (E3) - Quake III : Arena Dreamcast (E3) - Agartha Dreamcast (E3) - Castlevania Resurrection Dreamcast (E3) - Shenmue 2 Dreamcast (Game Jam) - Scud Race Dreamcast Tech Demo (New Conference Challenge) - Tower of Babel Dreamcast Tech Demo (New Conference Challenge) - Sonic Adventure Tournament Disk Dreamcast (The Sega Dreamcat Mobile Assault Tour) - Samba de Amigo Dreamcast (E3) - Seaman Dreamcast E3 - Skie of Arcadia Dreamcast (E3) - Illbleed Dreamcast (E3)
More than 300 prototypes have been dumped, all of which are available for free download in the section “Dreamcast prototypes (not only) available to download”.
