While Sega has not released a new Jet Set Radio game in 18 years, the franchise’s impact can still be felt echoing in many games still being released today. Be it the likes of the 2014 Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive to Nintendo’s smash hit Splatoon multiplayer shooter series, the funky style and colorful pop-punk aesthetic of Jet Set Radio is still an inspiration for artists and game developers to this very day. Despite this, Sega has not shown any interest in bringing the franchise back, which caused franchise composer Hideki Naganuma to leave the company in 2008. Since then, Naganuma has apparently tried to compose soundtracks for Nintendo on multiple occasions.
Despite leaving Sega well over a decade ago, Naganuma has continued to collaborate with the company on multiple projects, even being tapped at one point to compose the soundtrack for Streets of Rage 4, before leaving the project due to scheduling conflicts. While Naganuma has not been attached to many major projects since 2005’s Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS, he recently revealed that he has tried to collaborate with Nintendo on multiple occasions since leaving Sega, however Nintendo refused his proposals.
Naganuma revealed this after fans had been rallying for years for Nintendo to feature music from him in Splatoon, the online multiplayer shooter first introduced on the Wii U in 2015 that shares some similar art direction and music genres with Jet Set Radio. Replying to a fan on Twitter, Naganuma stated “To tell the truth, I tried to be an employee of Nintendo twice in the past, after I left Sega. But I didn’t pass. They said that there’s no position that I can display my ability to the full. That’s the reason why Splatoon didn’t need my music.”
Interestingly, Naganuma’s comments imply that Nintendo have an appreciation for his work, however they may not have believed that simply collaborating on a Splatoon track would justify bringing Naganuma on board for a collaboration. It is worth mentioning that Naganuma has worked with Nintendo in the past, as he is one of the many supervisors on the soundtracks of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, with some of his tracks from Sonic Rush featured in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. With this in mind, it may be possible that Naganuma could play a bigger role in composing some of the next Splatoon title’s soundtrack or another project for Nintendo, should the company reach out to him.
While it doesn’t seem likely Naganuma will be composing for Nintendo in the near future, he is composing for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, the upcoming title from Team Reptile, the Dutch independent studio behind Lethal League Blaze, which Naganuma also composed the soundtrack for. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is intended to be a spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio, featuring an art style lifted straight out of the 2000 Dreamcast game and its 2002 Xbox sequel.
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