The upcoming remastering of the Super Monkey Ball franchise is showing some love to other SEGA franchises. According to a new Twitter post from the company Beat, the poster character for the Jet Set Radio franchise will be joining the game.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is set to be a remastering of both stages and mini-games previously featured in the franchise up until this point. It will however feature a new story mode to tie this content together.
It is being developed by the studio behind the Yakuza games, Ryu Ga Gyotaku Studios. With Yakuza finally getting the respect it deserves in the west this team has gotten much larger and become a far more integral part of SEGA. They were also behind the remake of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD.
Let's get scratchin'!
Beat from Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio is coming to Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania as a playable character, free and unlockable on all platforms through normal gameplay at launch! 🎨#SuperMonkeyBall #BananaMania #JetSetRadio pic.twitter.com/dRwoIwVkdk
— SEGA (@SEGA) August 4, 2021
As pointed out through the Twitter post, Beat will be “Free and unlockable on all platforms through normal gameplay at launch!” Meaning that everybody has access to the graffiti-loving skater as they play through the levels. It has also been confirmed that Miles “Tails” Prowler will also be available through the same process. Sega also has an eclectic roster of characters to choose from so hopefully, we might see more characters running around in a rolly ball.
Jet Set Radio was originally released for the Dreamcast and has since become a classic. While I second game in the series Jet Set Radio Future was released, it was intended as a fully fleshed-out reintroduction with the game sharing many plot points with its original. Ironically, while the first game in the series has seen re-releases, Jet Set Radio Future has yet to be, something that has not sat well with fans of the game including myself.
With Super Monkey Ball finally starting to get more love and helping remind us of the SEGA franchise we loved, hopefully, we will start seeing SEGA return to other classic franchises as well.
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