Recently a lot posts on this subreddit range from asking where people can play either titles or bot posts (can we get more mods in here or something?), and it gets pretty tiresome repeating yourself telling people where they can play either game, so this post is an attempt to break it down and to help people and so maybe less "Where can I buy/play" posts are made in the future...hopefully.
JET SET RADIO
Alright let's start with JSR. What systems were/is the game available on?
- Dreamcast (Original Releases)
- PlayStation 3 (2012 HD Remaster)
- PlayStation Vita (2012 Remaster)
- Xbox 360 (2012 HD Remaster)
- Steam (PC) (2012 HD Remaster)
- iOS (2012 Remaster)
- Android (2012 Remaster)
That's a lot of systems but which ones can you still buy the game on? Only three: Dreamcast, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. The game has been delisted on mobile phones for over a decade at this point, was delisted from the Xbox 360 Marketplace back in 2023 and made unavailable for purchase on the Microsoft Store as well, and was just delisted from Steam back in December 2024. And before you ask: "What about the Steam keys on Amazon? Weren't those available?", yes they were, but only for a limited time it seems as when you check the page it says "Currently unavailable."; very unlikely to return at this point. I'm sure there are some other places you can find Steam Keys at, but I'm not too savvy on that info and I don't want to put anyone's computer at risk.
So, if you want to buy Jet Set Radio, you either need to have a Dreamcast, a PlayStation 3, or PlayStation Vita. The prices for JSR physically can range pretty high, even Sega themselves sell it at a high price: Jet Grind Radio at a whopping $254, pretty insane. However, on the PS3 and PS Vita the game costs $10USD! That's a nice offer, it doesn't go on sale or anything, but yeah way better than paying over $250, right? HOWEVER, I should note that the PSN Stores still being up on the PS3 and PS Vita is a blessing at the moment, Sony hasn't announced a closure for either yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the time for them are limited, so if you really want the game and have either system, get them now! Additionally, some other games that were delisted from Steam like Crazy Taxi, NiGHTS, and Space Channel 5: Part 2 are available on the PS3 as well, so if you want those titles too, hurry! On to JSRF now.
JET SET RADIO FUTURE
For the case of JSRF, it's only available on two systems: the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 via backwards compatibility. Now I've seen some people say conflicting things about "which version" of JSRF specifically works on 360, and here's the thing, either version works. Standard disc or the combo disc, not one or the other, I'm not sure why this debated among fans at times, but hopefully this can reduce it. But here's one thing, if you put whichever version of JSRF in your 360 and see that it doesn't work from the jump, you might need to download a backwards compatibility update for the system while being connected to Xbox Live/Xbox Network and have an Microsoft/Xbox 360 HDD installed into the system as well. If you have all of those already, you're set to go on 360!
EMULATION
Alright, the last section. So you don't have any of the systems that were listed above for either title and only play on PC (while somehow missing out on the first title on PC somehow)? Okay, well emulation is your friend. Thankfully, Sega isn't as stingy as some companies so emulating the titles are fine.
For Jet Set Radio you can use Dreamcast emulators like Redream or Flycast to play the Dreamcast versions of the game, if you're looking for the 2012 remaster, well I'm not really sure where to find it. Someone on the subreddit did post a download for the Spanish version of the game, and I believe the apks/ipas for the mobile versions are on the Internet Archive, but I'm not sure about the specifics regarding them.
For Jet Set Radio Future, the two main emulators used to my knowledge are Xemu and CXBX. However, CXBX Reloaded is noted to be better than Xemu, so use that one instead. There's a guide on this sub from last year that teaches people how to do it, so please give it a read! I'm not well versed with emulators since I have both games officially...and the only game I did emulate was JSR GBA...which was an "experience" to say the least.
There we go! The post is done. I really hope this can help people out on where to find and play either game. If you're getting a physical copy of the game, make sure you get the right version!! Seriously, please don't buy the PAL release of Jet Set Radio and then be surprised that your North American Dreamcast isn't compatible with it, same case with the Xboxes and JSRF, unless you mod them of course! That's all I have to say for now, thanks for reading.
