Sega Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi
October 25, 2008 - 1:32 am - Posted by Sean
When I first played Crazy Taxi, I thought “Wow this may be the BEST video game EVER!”. It’s one of those arcade-style games that is instantly fun and addicting.
The gameplay is simple. As a cab driver, you earn money by picking up riders and taking them to their destination as fast as you can. The shoulder buttons serve as your accelerator and brake, and two other buttons allow you to reverse or power slide.
Driving through the city is like an out-of-control roller coaster ride. You can drive everywhere – the sidewalks, in the park, on the beach, even underwater!
We’re talking pure arcade action here. Running into other cars won’t even slow you down, unless you hit head-first. You can take out phone booths, plow through pedestrians, or catch crazy air on the San Francisco-like streets. Bonus points are scored for being extra reckless.
There are four cabbies to choose from, and they are all properly disrespectful to their passengers. You gotta love snarky humor in a game like this.
The two huge cities included in this game are incredibly realistic, teeming with pedestrians and traffic. The buildings are so detailed you’ll want to drive around just to check out the scenery, and you’ll find plenty of ramps and shortcuts as well.
The frame rate is silky smooth, and the background music from the Offspring and Bad Religion really pumps your adrenaline. The six songs are awesome, no doubt about it.
Besides the normal play mode, there’s a “crazy box” mode in which you need to perform specific feats to open secrets.
Crazy Taxi’s simple gameplay and wonderful graphics are a winning combination. My main complaint is the predetermined destinations, which will send you on the same routes over and over. A randomize option would have been nice.
What do you mean by random destinations, exactly? I mean, the Simpsons version of this game has random destinations, but there’s still only so many places in each map that serve as a destination. Is that what you mean, or would you like the game changed so that the customer can demand you stop at any random place on the street?
@Luke: The second one, customers can demand being picked up at any random place.
Talking with a friend of mine Brian, I found out three things:
1. If you hold the Triangle on the controller while selecting your character, the destination markers go away.
2. If you earn a Class S or better license on any map in any time mode in Crazy Taxi, it will unlock a feature which allows you to pick up customers from knocked-over vehicles. Basically you tip a vehicle over and the driver will come out, ready to be picked up.
3. If you press R, then hold R while selecting a character you turn on “Another Day Mode” which allows you to have new fare locations.
These new features I wasn’t aware of pretty much more then make up for my original complaint I think.
Another nifty thing for you to try is press L+R, L+R, L+R, and A on the Driver Select screen. This will give you the Taxi Bike option. Pretty fun.
This game looks and sounds like a lot of fun. One question, wasn’t this game originally in arcades as a full size machine?
Skinny Pete, indeed Crazy Taxi first came out in arcades as a full-sized coin-op machine. It had a seat like a real car, a steering wheel, gear shifter, a gas pedal and a break pedal. We can’t forget the 29″ monitor. I have a friend who owns one of these monsters. It weights close to 400 lbs.
This was one of the best games for the Sega, you gotta get the wheel though. Its a lot better with it.