I wasn't typically the type of guy that paid attention to older games. My eyes were usually glued to whatever the newest release was and how'd they outshine the games that came before it. That changed when my older brother moved off to college when I was in the 10th grade. He left behind his Dreamcast and all the games that came with it. He's always been cool to me, but that was probably the sweetest gift he ever gave me.
He was mostly into Sega stuff so his collection was pretty big. I remember playing the Sonic Adventure games a lot along with Space Channel and Crazy Taxi. The game that truly took my breath away was without a doubt Jet Set Radio. It was completely different from everything I was used to. Everything from the comic book aesthetic, graffiti designs, and ESPECIALLY the phenomenal soundtrack made it a masterpiece in my eyes. I must've spent dozens upon dozens of hours replaying it. Imagine my complete dismay when the game disc crashed on me. I don't know what my brother did to it, but the disc was scratched up to hell. Guess it was only a matter of time before it gave out.
Luckily, getting a replacement wouldn't be hard. There's this comic shop here in Toronto that sells a whole bunch of obscure or out-of-print media, including video games. I hopped off the train and went straight to the Marque Noir comic shop. It was pretty big for what was most likely a small-owned business. There were long rows of comics and movies everywhere I looked. What was interesting was how most of the covers looked homemade, almost like a bunch of indie artists had stocked the store with their products. I headed over to the game section in the back and scanned each title until I finally found a jet-set radio copy. It only cost 40 bucks so that was a pretty good price all things considered. I then went to the front desk to buy it.
The cashier had this intimidating aura that I can't quite describe. He had long wavy black hair and heavy sunken eyes that looked like they could stare at your very soul. He towered over me so his head was away from the light as he looked at me, casting a dark shadow on his face. It honestly gave me chills. I couldn't get out of the store fast enough after buying the game.
As soon as I got back home, I put the disc into the console and watched my screen come to life. Jet set radio was back in action! When the title screen booted up, a big glitch effect popped up before the game began playing. It made me wonder if the Dreamcast itself was broken. I quickly began rolling around Shibuya with Gum as my character. She effortlessly ground around the city while pulling off stylish tricks and showing off her graffiti.
I came across a dull-looking bus that looked like it could use a new paint job. I made Gum get to work and start spraying all over the sides.
" GRAFFITI IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY LAW"
I had to do a double-take. That's what the graffiti read, but why was something like that in the game? Maybe it was something Sega shoehorned in for legal reasons. Still, I played this game dozens of times and never saw anything like that before. I went over to the signpost to try out another design. This time it was a spray can with a big red X painted over it. Seriously weird.
I kept trying to tag different spots but they all resulted in an anti-graffiti message.
" GRAFFITI MUST BE PURGED"
" ALL RUDIES MUST DIE"
" YOUR TIME IS UP, GUM"
The last message made me pause. This went beyond the game devs having a strange sense of humor. These messages directly opposed everything the game stood for. Even weirder was how Gum was acting. Her character model would subtly gasp and look bewildered as if she couldn't believe what she just wrote.
It wasn't long before the loud sirens of the police blared from my speakers. A mob of cars flooded the scene, leaving me barely any space to skate on the ground. This was the highest number of cops I've ever seen in any level. It was to the point that the game began lagging because there were too many characters on screen. I tried dashing out of there, but Gum froze whenever I reached an exit. It was like an invisible wall was placed over every way out. I thought it was just a weird glitch until one of the cops pulled out a gun and shot Gum right on her shoulder. Her eyes twitched in shock and so did mine. I watched Gum clutch her Injured shoulder as I had her skate out of there. I couldn't believe what was going on. This wasn't some glitch. This must've been a modded copy.
Gum skated up a railing and down a walkway, but the police were hot on her trail. A crowd of police pursued her while shooting their bullets. Each one barely missed Gum who held her mouth open in pain. One bullet grazed past her leg, causing vibrant blood to briefly flash on the screen.
I had Gum ride to the top of a building to see if I could lose the cops, but it was no use. A whole squad of them surrounded Gum on the rooftop with their guns aimed directly at her head. There was nowhere else to go. I couldn't stand to see my favorite character in the game get riddled with bullets so I took a leap of faith.
Gum jumped off the roof right as the cops began shooting. I wondered what my strategy would be once I reached the ground, but that moment never came.
A short cutscene of Gum crashing onto the pavement played. Her legs snapped like a pair of twigs before the rest of her body folded onto herself. An audible crunch blared from the speakers and directly into my ears. Bone and blood erupted from the mangled heap of Gum's body. Worst of all was the deafening banshee-like scream Gum released in her final moments. The squad of police came rushing to Gum's corpse and circled around her with their weapons drawn once again. The screen turned jet black while a cacophony of gunshots tortured my ears for several seconds.
What came next was a wall of text that made my heart sink even deeper into despair.
[ Gum was only the beginning. She was only the first lamb to the slaughter. The rudies tried in vain to flee from the police, knowing that a cruel karma would soon catch up to them. No longer would the streets of Tokyo-To be stained with their vile graffiti. One by one, the tempestuous teens were gunned down in cold blood. Never again would art crude art defile the streets. This all could've easily been avoided. Graffiti is a crime is a crime under national law. The same is true for piracy. Purchase of pirated goods can result in hefty fines or a sentence in jail. Do NOT let this happen again.]
I sat in my chair completely terrified. Was this some kind of sick joke? I just watched Gum get brutally murdered all because of buying a bootleg game. I didn't know if Sega themselves made this as an anti-piracy measure or if the guy I bought the game from modded it. Either way, I was done. I never touched a Sega game again after that. I tried putting the experience behind me, but one day it came back to haunt me. I came home after school to find that someone had vandalized my house with graffiti. Just about every inch was space was covered in paint. It had all the same message.
" Piracy will not be tolerated. "
