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Crazy
Taxi
Sega
does it again...
Simple, fast and addictive. These three words could
be used to describe just about every classic Sega title
that have made them who they are today. From Space
Harriers to Sonic, this successful formula
provided instant gratification for years to gamers who
had neither the time nor the desire to get bogged down
in complex plots, strategies, or battle systems. Now
Sega has once again returned to its roots with Crazy
Taxi, a pure blast of old-school, retro-style gaming
if there
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Stats
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Genre:
Action
Release
Date:
Available
Publisher:
Sega
of America
Developer:
Sega of America
ESRB:
Everyone
System:
Dreamcast
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ever was one. However, before all you hardcore gamers
out there sneer in contempt, know this; Crazy Taxi
is the most insanely fun experience you can (legally)
have in the span of five minutes. Period. Although nobody
will ever accuse this game of being too deep, its brilliant
combination of frantic gameplay, hi-res graphics, and
explosive speed make it a perfect showcase title for
your shiny new Dreamcast. As well, it's a must-buy for
anybody who has ever felt the urge to drive without
any of those pesky "rules" which must be adhered to
in real life. Plus, you get to smash things up. What
more could anyone want?
Crazy Taxi's objective is straightforward, to
say the least. Choosing from a lineup of four "crazy"
cab drivers (each with their own unique personality),
players must maneuver their "crazy" taxi through the
streets of "crazy" San Francisco while ferrying various
passengers to and from their destinations, in order
to make a lot of "crazy" money. Sounds easy, right?
Wrong. Naturally, each passenger is in a hurry to get
to where they want to go, and so you are given a set
time limit to reach the specified locations. On top
of that is the constantly ticking game clock, which
can only be refurbished by picking up new passengers.
It would seem obvious, then, that speed is the name
of this game, as players are forced to find the quickest
route possible between locations in order to avoid the
dreaded "Game Over" screen. Herein lies Crazy Taxi's
ingenuity, as well as the "crazy" part of its name;
because a long distance must be traveled in such a short
amount of time, drivers are free to go wherever they
please, taking whatever shortcuts they find, and barreling
through whatever happens to get in their way. Nothing
is off limits, whether it means hurtling through subway
tunnels, leaping Bullit-style down impossibly
steep hills, or even scuba-driving (har har) under the
San Francisco Bay. Objects such as street signs, park
benches and telephone booths are merely nuisances, obstacles
to be smashed out of the way with impunity as you race
desperately towards your passenger's urgent appointment
with Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other side
of town. If you think that your virtual fares will object
to being bounced around in the back seat, well, think
again; players are tipped generously for pulling off
crazy maneuvers such as dodging traffic, screeching
around corners, and jumping buildings in a single bound.
(Bashing headfirst into a wall, however, is frowned
upon).
As players hurtle through the city streets, many diverse
destinations await, ranging from bus shelters and baseball
stadiums to real-world locations such as Tower Records,
The Original Levi's Store, and the aforementioned KFC.
Although this may seem like yet another form of shameless
marketing cross-promotion, these product placements
do give the world of Crazy Taxi a more realistic,
coherent feel, and I have a feeling that we'll be seeing
this unique style of advertising being "borrowed" in
future driving games. In the end, however, the big factor
that should draw in the crowds will undoubtedly be the
game's quick accessibility. Virtually anybody can pick
up the controller, learn the basic moves, and blast
around town for five minutes without the lasting commitment
that most other video games would require. What this
all adds up to, then, is a simple yet undeniably clever
concept, which translates into an addictive gem of a
game that has to be seen to be believed. Though the
objective itself is straightforward, and though it brings
back memories of Super Runabout, it's safe to
say that Crazy Taxi takes the all-out adrenaline
rush of the arcade racer to a new level. Just take a
look at the game for yourselves, and you'll see what
I'm talking about.
Now that we've established that the concept is great,
how well does it actually play? Like most arcade-style
games, Crazy Taxi is easy to pick up and play,
yet challenging to master. Controlling the taxi itself
is an effortless task, as the game uses the familiar
setup found in most Dreamcast driving games (Right Trigger
to accelerate, Left Trigger to brake, B-button to reverse).
Picking up passengers is simply a matter of coming to
a stop within the colored circles which surround them;
the color corresponds to how far away the passenger's
destination is, while the size of the circle indicates
the relative difficulty involved getting there. As I
mentioned before, most people should have no trouble
getting into this game at first, and in fact, can have
a perfectly good time racing through the city without
needing to learn any of the special moves. However,
if you enjoy setting all kinds of high scores and beating
a game completely (as I do), then you'll find it becomes
necessary to get the hang of the Crazy Maneuvers, various
button combinations which help to cut down on your driving
time. These range from the Crazy Dash, which propels
your cab forward in a burst of speed, to the Crazy Drift,
which spins you quickly around corners. Although these
moves add to the enjoyability of the game, as well as
its replay value, I have to say that I found learning
some of them to be an exercise in frustration (especially
the Back Drift). Add to the fact that the maneuvers
don't always work properly, and your race for the top
score can quickly degenerate into a fit of hair-pulling,
teeth-gnashing, and controller-throwing. If you want
to have any hope of obtaining the elusive "S-License"
(and seeing the game's ending), however, you'll need
to practice, practice, practice until your fingers are
sore. Fortunately, you're able to do just that in one
of Crazy Taxi's bonus modes, which I'll get to
in a minute.
When
creating arcade-to-home translations of video games,
it's a given that developers need to add various extras
and incentives in order to justify that $50 price tag.
Unfortunately, compared to titles such as Soul Calibur,Crazy
Taxi is somewhat lacking in the extras department.
Aside from the Arcade Mode, which is basically the coin-op
game in a nutshell, an Original and a Crazy Box mode
are included as well. Original Mode consists of a city
map which is three times the size of the Arcade map,
and includes some new destinations, side streets, and
passengers to pick up. Players are also given the option
to take a Free Drive for up to ten minutes in both the
Arcade and Original maps; this allows for a more relaxed
game, allowing players to explore the city without the
constant pressure of the game clock. Finally, the Crazy
Box mode allows gamers to practice their power-sliding,
jumping, and accelerating maneuvers in the form of 16
unlockable mini games, ranging from balloon-bursting
to bowling.
Although
the Original map is a welcome addition, and the Crazy
Box provides a fun challenge, these simply aren't enough
to add a huge amount of replayability to the game. Features
such as unlockable drivers and maps would certainly
have helped, as would the addition of a multiplayer
mode. However, it's a testament to the sheer thrill
and insanity of the game that these omissions don't
drag the score down too much. The fact remains that
Crazy Taxi is one of the most top-quality driving
experiences available, as well as a blast to watch and
play.
Aside
from its brilliant concept and high-octane gameplay,
what makes Crazy Taxi a standout is its eye-popping,
high resolution graphics. Bright, crisp, and colorful,
the DC version matches its arcade counterpart pound-for-pound
and polygon-for-polygon. The buildings, objects and
road textures are each rendered in great detail, and
whiz by at a consistent 60 frames per second. Cars,
trucks, buses and trains are all numerous and varied;
the sheer amount of background traffic goes a long way
in creating the impression of an actual living city.
Most impressive of all are the taxis themselves, which
are all modeled in nearly photo-realistic detail; you'll
swear you're actually controlling one of New York's
finest. Add to this some great looking particle effects
and realistic shadows, as well as jaw-dropping lighting,
and you have yourself a visual feast for the eyes, one
that deserves to be placed alongside Soul Calibur,
Resident Evil: CV and Shenmue as a testament
to the power of the Dreamcast. My only complaint here
lies with the cab drivers and pedestrians; both are
blocky and somewhat ugly, and could definitely use more
detail. However, this is merely nit-picking of what
is otherwise a nearly flawless graphics engine, which
should become the standard to meet in all future arcade
racers. The boys and girls at Sega have done a stellar
job with the visual presentation, and their effort shows.
(Going by past experiences, one look at this game is
usually all it takes to draw everyone, from girlfriends
to grandmas, to the TV screen like flies to a bug-zapper.
Don't say I didn't warn you).
Of course, what game would be complete without sound
and music (no, not Sound of Music, that migraine-inducing,
fingernails-on-a-blackboard movie)? Although not as
high up on the scale of quality as the graphics and
gameplay, this aspect of Crazy Taxi is certainly
no slouch. Grabbing the players' attention from the
start is the game's deranged announcer, who sounds like
AC/DC's lead singer Brian Johnson might after he just
swallowed a package of razor blades. This announcer,
whose job it is to entertain players with "witty" comments
(such as "heey heeey, it's time to make some CRAAAZY
money"), quickly becomes an annoyance, especially after
a particularly bad game, when he'll chide you for not
doing better. However, the rest of the voice acting,
which includes the drivers and fares, is much more promising.
From the preacher who comments "You're one hell of a
driver", to the cabbie who tells his complaining passengers
to "shut up and move yo butt", the vocal samples in
this game are both nonsensical and hilarious, and are
guaranteed to keep you laughing. The tone of the various
quips depends on how well the player is doing; screw
up, and you'll be hearing about it non-stop from your
"backseat driver". The environmental sound effects are
top-notch as well, ranging from squealing tires as you
slam on the brakes, to screaming pedestrians diving
out of the way of your renegade cab. The biggest problem
that I had with Crazy Taxi's sound is the variety
of the background music included with the game. Though
the soundtrack features contributions from legendary
punk bands Bad Religion and The Offspring, the fact
that there are only 4 songs in total means that the
music gets old fast (has Tony Hawk taught us
nothing??) Nevertheless, it has to be said that the
soundtrack fits the mood of the game perfectly, as the
pounding ditties get your blood pumping. All in all,
most gamers shouldn't find too much to complain about
in this department. If worse comes to worst, there's
always the Mute button.
Last but not least, we come to the technical aspects
of the game. As anyone who has played Kiss: Psycho
Circus knows all too well, graphics and sound mean
nothing if the game is unplayable because of design
issues. Thankfully, Crazy Taxi appears to be
a clean game, as it's virtually arcade perfect, with
nothing sacrificed. I did notice some slight popup in
certain parts of the Original map, and the game sometimes
slows down a bit (often for no apparent reason), but
overall, there's nothing that should give you any hesitation
about buying it; Crazy Taxi is about as good
as home translations get. Considering the power of the
Dreamcast, I would expect nothing less.
There you have it folks, the good, the bad and the ugly.
After two-and-a-half pages of detailed opinion, what
it all comes down to is this; is Crazy Taxi,
with its all little faults and lack of extras, still
worth purchasing? Absolutely. Never mind that there's
no multiplayer mode, never mind that there's barely
any unlockables to speak of. This is one game that I
can see people popping into their Dreamcasts years from
now, whenever they feel like a fast adrenaline rush.
As I said before, this is one of the most insanely fun
experiences you can have, and the thrill of playing
the game is rewarding enough itself. If nothing else,
Crazy Taxi is proof positive that games don't
have to be complicated in order to be enjoyable.
So get Crazy, everybody. Trust me, it's for your
own good.
Concept
Brilliantly simple; why hasn't anyone though
of this before. |
94
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Gameplay
Easy to get into, tough to master. Lack of extras
hurts the score a little.
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89
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Graphics
Colorful and detailed, running at a sweet 60
fps, all in glorious high-resolution. |
95
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Sound
Vocal quips are hilarious; punk soundtrack gets
old fast.
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86
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Technical
Slight touch of slowdown and popup, otherwise
arcade-perfect. |
93
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Overall
This
should be the cornerstone of every Dreamcast owner's
game collectiont. |
91
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