In the year 2000, Sega released the game Jet Set Radio for the Sega Dreamcast. It was a beautiful cell-shaded game with style at the forefront were we followed a gang of roller blading graffiti artist who fought for turf in the streets of Tokyo. The game is adored by many since its inception for its its music, its cast, and its sense of style and is widely regarded a cult classic. As such its fitting that this game about making art becomes a source of inspiration for new artists.
Nam Mac is a California based 3D artist who have been mostly active on X and Instagram where he has posted 3d shorts and dioramas. Many of these shorts focus on a skateboarding cast and early 2000 nostalgia including Sonic The hedgehog and Tamagotchi but mostly focusing on his original work. His latest big work was the 3 minute long SLUMLORDZ EP. 1 SANDWICH.
From Jet set Radio to Slumlordz
In SLUMLORDZ we follow the criminal Noxie who is just trying to make an egg sandwich when the villainous group, C.A.P.C.H.A. shows up. She gets pulled out by her partner Lancer as they C.A.P.C.H.A. breaks down their door. Leading them to have a highspeed chase down the highway leading them away from the orange colored slums Noxie lives in, into the beautiful city. The episode got a wonderful sense of style and the action is very imaginative.
A thing that I enjoyed with the episode was how it conveyed its world very clearly with no speak or outright explanations. We see how the world is sort of built of an upper, nice looking, and blue skied city that rests on top of an orange colored, traffic stocked, and overgrown slum. We get a pretty good understanding of how the world works from that introduction.
Jet Set Radio generally portrayed its illegal activity, mostly graffiti, as freeing and harmless while getting the main cast subjected to cruel punishment from the justice system. In SLUMLORDZ it’s more likely than not a means to survive and while it fits Noxie’s personality its not exactly ideal. She isn’t an artist, she likes music but her main form of income seems to be from arms dealing. Although it’s generally a more concerning activity it still isn’t exactly damning and its unclear if the people from C.A.P.C.H.A. is even there for any legal reason or if they are just another bigger gang.
As I watch the episode not only do I see the Jet set radio influence but also the design ethos of a lot of other 2000 characters shine through. I feel like the main character draws some inspiration from the jet set radio character Gum as they both have rather thick lips and has similar proportions but besides that Noxie feels rather unique. Many others follow a cyber punk esthetic with robot parts and enhancement while the main antagonist is a gang of men in black suits.
The whole episode has a sense of charm from the way its animated to the smaller touches sprinkled in. The action scenes are filled with small impact frames, fitting slow motion, and the generall sense of motion.
I sort of feel like this in a similar way I did Street Catz where I feel like it did pretty much everything right and the only thing I ever would want is just more of it. The episode is gold to me and the I hope we get more. Those three minutes were spent well both when it comes to economic story telling but also in pure enjoyment.
You can watch episode 1 here!
Leave a Reply