Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Release Date: January 24, 2000 Platform: Dreamcast

YOU’RE ONE HELL OF A DRIVER!!

I can’t believe that it’s been almost a decade since this came out. Crazy Taxi was one of the games that made me buy a Dreamcast (along with SoulCaliber and Jet Grind Radio).  At the time there was nothing like it. In fact, there really hasn’t been much like it since the series dissolved into nothingness (Crazy Taxi 3 failed to impress most gamers on the original Xbox).  But to this day I can still pick up the ‘ol DC controller and put in a few hours if I’m looking for some quick arcade satisfaction. No idea what I’m talking about? Never played the game? Shame on you!!

The beauty of  Crazy Taxi is the simple pick up and play controls. If you have ever played a video game in your life, you will be comfortable with the setup within fifteen or so seconds – no lie. The premise of the game is just as simple; pick up a client and drop them off at their destination as fast as possible to gain the most cash. You get four drivers to choose from, each with their own awesome cars and dialogue. Each passenger is surrounded by a colored ring of four varying colors representing four different difficulties, red, orange, yellow and green with green being the most easy with the most time available. That’s really as complicated as it gets (memorizing the areas notwithstanding). Granted, it doesn’t sound like much, but complexity really isn’t needed when a game is this much fun.

The music is pretty good with a soundtrack consisting of Bad Religion and The Offspring – unless you hate both. But still, not bad for a DC game. The voice acting is pretty good, if not a tad repetitive. A priest telling you that “you’re one hell of a driver” is less funny now than it was ten years ago, but it still brings a smile to my face.

The only real problems with CT are the bits of pop-up that appear (which was common back then) and a lack of any real longevity. In comparison to today’s driving games that have dozens of hours of ever-changing gameplay and new areas to explore, CT seems pretty repetitive and might get lost in the shuffle (if it hasn’t already). It’s the kind of game that you play like crazy for a month or so, then you pick it up when friends are around on occasion and finally you find yourself picking it up for a couple of hours a decade-or-so later and deciding to write a retro review of it on a website. Thus is the fate of many Arcade-style games from the late 90’s/early 2000’s, I’m afraid. But then again, if all games stayed great forever there would be less need for new games now wouldn’t there?

Overall, I still have to give Crazy Taxi a thumbs up. Finding a copy on one of your outdated game systems shouldn’t be all that hard – everybody played this game when it came out. It will still be worth the money, I assure you. You may be thinking “gee, Schwinghammer, I think you’re full of shit”. Well I’ll have the last laugh when you burn up your first afternoon with this one – so kiss my ass. Mmmyep.

THEN

NOW