A recent slide presentation from a management meeting at Sega offered details on the upcoming reboot titles. During this year’s The Game Awards, Sega announced it was working on five classic franchises including Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage. While the company is yet to offer specifics, its recent presentation provides a glimpse into what fans can expect from the titles.
Before the official reveal, rumors routinely surfaced online about Sega possibly reviving some of its classic franchises. Back in 2022, fans were already convinced that Sega may be developing Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio titles, with rumors of the latter resurfacing a few times in the following year. Following Sega’s success with its releases over the past few years, it seemed to be a matter of time until the publisher would look to bring back some of its classic franchises.
New Jet Set Radio Game Bringing Back Original Creators
Following a slew of major announcements from Sega, the company confirms that the original creators of Jet Set Radio are returning for the next game.
Sega’s management meeting slide from last week offers some tidbits from the five upcoming reboots. For instance, the next sequel in the Streets of Rage franchise is dubbed Streets of Rage Revolution, where players would “take control of one of the ex-officers and make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the Streets of Rage.” Meanwhile, Jet Set Radio is described as a counter-culture Tokyo street open-world setting. Other titles like Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Golden Axe have similar briefs that provide additional context to the previously teased game footage at The Game Awards for 2023.
Descriptions of the five upcoming Sega classic titles
- Crazy Taxi: Innovative & Fresh Style Driving Action! Cheerful feeling of freedom x Fusion of nature and city, Peel out the new stage of Crazy City!
- Jet Set Radio: “Counter-Culture”. Tokyo Street Open World Experience the “rebellion” movement that feels free in a suffocating society. Make friends, increase your fans, and create a movement!
- Shinobi: Slay the enemies in the silence of the moment Run through the world of Shinobi, full of monsters and ninja actions. Grab Oberozuki, the legendary sword and slay Evil once more. Your clan and the world are counting on you.
- Golden Axe: Warriors arise to subdue the demons! Defeat your enemies with a variety of attacks with swords and magic! The legendary story about the battle axe, “Golden Axe” is about to begin!
- Streets of Rage Revolution: Beloved side-scrolling beat ’em up action series! Take control of one of the ex-officers and make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the “Streets of Rage.”
While the five games are some time away from release, it appears that Sega may have even more revivals on the way. It was recently revealed that the company has filed trademarks for After Burner, Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Kid Chameleon, Outrun, House of the Dead, and Super Monkey Ball. Though this could be attributed to Sega simply looking to protect its IPs, the idea of more revivals isn’t too out there considering what was already announced recently.
Amid the growing demand for more ambitious AAA titles in recent years, the appeal of classic franchises has also seen similar appeal, particularly when it comes to Sega. The success of Streets of Rage 4 and the new Sonic games have clearly hinted at what to expect from the fanbase when old IPs are revived in modern form. While time will tell how well new games like the upcoming Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi will be received by the audience, Sega appears to be optimistic about its potential success with revivals.
