Earlier this week, Xbox and Tango Gameworks shadow dropped Hi-Fi RUSH on Xbox Game Pass. As you've probably already noticed, it's got quite a unique-looking style, drawing comparisons to certain past releases such as SEGA's graffiti rollerblade game, Jet Set Radio Future.
It seems Hi-Fi RUSH has also brought back some memories of Jet Set Radio Future for Xbox Head Phil Spencer this week. In an interview with IGN, Spencer mentioned how much he loved Tango Gameworks' new release, which had "some of the same vibe" - especially after not being able to secure JSRF for the Xbox backwards compatibility program.
"I love Hi-Fi Rush, I love the way it looks, I love the music. One of the games I'd always wanted to get, we weren't able to land it in our backward compatibility program, was Jet Set Radio Future. I thought it would be fantastic to be able to have that game back, and definitely, it's a different kind of game, but some of the same vibe."
Phil went on to mention how he's "really happy" with the final product that came out of Tango Gameworks, and thinks Hi-Fi RUSH was "definitely" one of the highlights of the Xbox Developer Direct earlier this week.
As for Jet Set Radio Future's return, it seems far less likely at this point in time, now that Xbox has officially closed its backward compatibility program. Who knows what could happen in the future, though (especially after the miracle revival of the licensed game GoldenEye 007 earlier this week) - it could be on SEGA to release some sort of modified version, remake or remaster. On the plus side, the original Jet Set Radio game is still available on the Xbox 360 marketplace and can be played on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.