The majority of the missions in Jet Set Radio find you racing the clock to tag a set number of locations throughout a level while avoiding the police. Thankfully, you can call up a map via the Start menu to figure out where all the tags are, eliminating the frustration of a time-out just because you can't locate that one pesky spot. Other missions will shake things up a bit with races, challenges from individual Rudies, or chases to tag rival gang members themselves. That's really shaming the competition.
The various members of GG all have unique stats in the areas of Power (health), Technique (skating and tricks), and Graffiti (tagging). The number of cans of spray paint they can hold also varies, as do their tags. But if you're not satisfied with the GG's tags, you can create your own -- or even download them from the Internet. And here's where a Wii port would begin to thrive. Creating custom tags would be an addictive portion of Jet Set Radio all by its lonesome, and the Wiimote would work far better than an analog stick in the creation of some slick designs. Sega could even take a page out of Brawl's book and offer a tag-of-the-day to gamers, though a way to trade tags with friends would also be a must.
Designing tags on the Wii is an ancillary benefit to a Jet Set Radio Wiimake. The real meat is in the tagging itself. On the Dreamcast controller, Jet Set Radio utilizes a very simple control scheme -- the L trigger controls the camera and tagging, the R trigger grants a speed boost, A jumps, and the analog stick controls your skater. As I mentioned above, large tags are completed through a series of analog stick movements -- movements that would be far more enjoyable with the Wii Remote. This simple change would have fairly large ramifications for the gameplay and really change the experience for the better, bringing the graffiti to life and making each tag more enjoyable to complete. Additionally, the camera in the original game could use a bit of tweaking -- separating the controls for the camera and tagging would be a start, but a camera that re-centers itself when you zig-zag around the environment would be ideal.
Despite its age, Jet Set Radio remains an incredibly fun game eight years after its release, and remains more than competent in the areas of graphics and audio. Sega could do more to make it an extraordinary Wii offering -- expand the already dynamic soundtrack, smooth out the occasional instances of slowdown, or throw in something unexpectedly awesome like co-op multiplayer for online tagging perfection. There have even been rumors of Jet Set Radio making a return, but nothing substantial has been said about the prospect of a port or sequel. Until then, we'll have to settle for acid jazz, hip-hop beats and that uki-uki-waku-waku feeling on the Dreamcast. Take us out, DJ Professor K.
