
As recently highlighted by Video Game Esoterica (and Rock Paper Shotgun), an exciting new project is currently underway to decompile the Xbox title Jet Set Radio Future, meaning it's possible (though not exactly guaranteed) that it could one day end up getting a native PC port.
Released in 2002, Jet Set Radio Future was a reimagining/sequel to the original Jet Set Radio for the Sega Dreamcast. It kept the series's distinctive cel-shaded art style, but featured an entirely new futuristic aesthetic, a freshly updated story, and some noticeably larger open-world areas to skate around.
Much like its predecessor, it went on to become something of a cult classic following its original release, but has somehow remained locked to the original Xbox and Xbox 360 (via backwards compatibility), with the game still being unavailable to buy on Steam or modern Xbox consoles to this day.
Because of this, there's inevitably been a lot of interest in seeing the game get ported to PC, in the hopes that it might make it more accessible to play — something this project could potentially help facilitate, alongside making it easier to mod the original game.
Decompilation, in case you're unaware, is the process that involves translating an executable file back into high-level source code, and is a technique that's become particularly popular over the past few years to help preserve and analyze classic games, and has occasionally resulted in ports of retro games from their original targeted platforms to other devices.
Currently, according to the Codeberg page, the Jet Set Radio Future's decompilation project is 30.6% complete, meaning there is still going to be a very long wait before it is finished. Nevertheless, it's encouraging to see some attention being paid to the classic Sega game, and we'll be watching this endeavour with interest in the future.
