Jet Set Radio And Crazy Taxi Big-Budget Reboots Reportedly In Development

Sega is reportedly working on big-budget reboots of Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio, two of its iconic game properties that will be the first titles within the company's new Super Game strategy.

According to Bloomberg's report, it's still early days for both projects and either one could be scrapped, although it's claimed that the Crazy Taxi reboot has been in development for more than a year and could be released by 2025 at the latest.

As part of the Super Game initiative, Sega's plan is to create AAA-quality titles that can function as a live-service experience with cross-platform support, an online presence, and microtransactions that can be promoted through regular events. This approach uses Epic Games' Fortnite as inspiration and a template according to Bloomberg's sources, and as Sega's executive VP Shuji Utsumi hinted at previously, the possible incorporation of other technologies such as NFTs.

Jet Set Radio became a cult classic when it was first released on the Dreamcast console in 2000, as the game's unique cel-shaded design, Tokyo setting, and rollerblade gangs engaged in turf wars made it stand out at the time.

Crazy Taxi began life as an arcade game in 1999 and combined reckless driving with a punk rock soundtrack that included The Offspring and Bad Religion. Several Crazy Taxi sequels followed after the first game was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000, while the last notable release for Jet Set Radio was an HD remaster in 2012.

A spiritual successor called Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is in development currently for PC and Switch.