When most people think Jet Set Radio, the first thing that comes to most people’s head is a the music. Losing the eclectic mix of original and licensed music would be a horrible lost to the game.
Well, Sega’s proposal of a HD remake to the cherished and influential Dreamcast game skated around the question of if the game will have the original soundtrack, until finally giving us an answer, 16 tracks, roughly half of the 30 shipped between the North American and European versions will be available..
Sega has stated that “they made every effort to pursue and re-license all the music, but cost and even the availability of certain music publishers became an impediment.” Jet Set Radio will keep its original music (composed by Hideki Naganuma,) and several fan favorites like “Magical Girl” (Guitar Vader) and “Funky Radio” (B.B. Rights.)
Some good news though, is that the levels developed for the NSTC and PAL versions of the game will be included with this summer’s HD port. Jet Set Radio will also get perks from the higher resolution, 16:9 display and 60 frames-per-second output, and a second analogue stick to steer the camera, something that was missing in the previous Dreamcast version.