In a brief trailer at The Game Awards 2023, Sega announced five upcoming remakes for their legacy franchises in quick succession. These included games like Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and “more”.
In the days leading up to The Game Awards, Sega distributed postcards teasing the reveal to content creators, with the slogan ‘New Era. New Energy.’ This likely refers to these legacy titles being brought into the modern day, some with major reimaginings.
Judging by the trailer, the remakes range from faithful recreations of the original games – Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, and Shinobi look refreshed with slick new art styles, but similar to their original iterations – to a complete reimagining of Golden Axe and Streets of Rage, now both seemingly 3D brawlers of some description.
Sega says that all of these titles are merely “in development”, with no platforms or release dates shared at this time. Here are the official descriptions for each game, per Sega.
- Crazy Taxi franchise – A whacky, high-octane driving adventure series where players must weave through traffic in an open play environment to deliver passengers to their destinations before time runs out.
- Golden Axe franchise – A “hack and slash”-style series with close melee combat set in a fantasy world of beasts, swords, and magic.
- Jet Set Radio franchise – This franchise combines action-packed traversal around vibrant Tokyo-to with skating, and self-expression through graffiti, street culture and rebellious themes.
- Shinobi franchise – A series that utilizes ninja shuriken, ninjutsu, special attacks and more to defeat enemies in a mix of side-scrolling action and challenging environments.
- Streets of Rage franchise – A “beat ’em up”-style series that pairs fast-paced fist fighting with fresh music set in a lawless urban environment.
A report from Bloomberg in early 2022 claimed that Sega was working on large-scale reboots for Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi, a report that has now proven its accuracy. They were said to be part of Sega’s so-called “Super Game” plan, which comprised several blockbuster titles to be released over a five-year plan, utilising new technologies. These plans were in the early stages at the time of the report.
It’s also worth noting that Sega had already previously attempted to remake Golden Axe at one point, leveraging the work of its now-defunct Australian studio. A prototype, which was eventually released under the moniker Golden Axed for a brief time, was reportedly made under very poor working conditions at the studio.
