For as much as I love arcade games they are not usually my go to. Most arcade games are refined experiences, built to offer short gameplay sessions that take your money as fast as possible. And while their home ports give you an opportunity to experience the game without going broke they also expose how shallow these games can be. Then there are the games that rise above that and are infinitely replayable. Crazy Taxi is one of those games. Crazy Taxi is one of the best games in the Dreamcast library (and PS2 and GameCube) and showed that the system had more to offer after its initial launch rush.
As its name suggests Crazy Taxi is all about delivering customers to their destination in as raucous a way you can imagine. The game definitely lives up to its title. Your taxi is invincible and can crash into poles, buses, and buildings and will only lose a little bit of speed. The mayhem you can cause is absurd; crash into a bus and watch it careen into other cars and cause a pileup. All the while your fare is delighting in the destruction and tipping you for being a maniac. Dropping off customers at their destination as fast as possible will increase your reward and award extra time depending on the mode. The gameplay loop is simple but there is plenty of depth to be found.
The map of the city is pretty large with many separate districts. There are shortcuts galore, and you can even make your own; try driving through the water rather than weaving through traffic to get to your destination. Next to memorizing the layout the colored markers over customers are also a signal as to how far you’ll need to travel. Some parts of the city have few customers meaning even if you drive a long distance to get there you’ll waste time going back to find more business. Min/maxing is what separates good players from those that can barely earn a thousand dollars.
For those that truly want to be efficient there are advanced techniques to master. The crazy dash is a quick way to go from 0-60mph in a second. If you want to take it even further the limit cut sends you rocketing even faster. Mastering that one will take true skill though. The crazy stop might seem silly but it shaves off precious seconds from dropping off customers. The crazy drift not only allows you to drift into turns but can start a 360 spin that will rack up extra tips. You won’t get the chance to practice these in the main game, that is what the Crazy Box is for.
Crazy Taxi offers a wealth of options to tailor its content to your liking. Most will stick with the arcade rules, where extra time is granted by dropping off customers as fast as possible. In addition there are three, five, and ten minute modes that are perfect for quick sessions or multiplayer. The original mode quite what the name suggests. Rather than a new city it is a smaller version of the arcade mode that shuffles locations around. The bulk of the extra content lies in the Crazy Box mode. The Crazy box is a pyramid style collection of sixteen minigames that both test and teach you the game’s advanced mechanics. That skill can then be carried over to the main mode. The minigames are tough but fun and add some longevity to the game.
How much you enjoy the gameplay loop of Crazy Taxi will determine how long you will stick with it. As much as I like it it can’t be denied that the game is light on content. Unlike say Tony Hawk that has multiple skate parks Crazy Taxi only has one city. While it is large once you’ve memorized the layout it then becomes a matter of min/maxing to earn the most money. Make no mistake, the game is incredibly fun. There has been many times where I’ve said “just one more game” only to realize a few hours had passed. But the one city does grow old quickly.
Any review of Crazy Taxi that doesn’t mention its…crazy soundtrack can’t be taken seriously. The selection of rock songs match the game’s off the wall antics perfectly. The game even introduced me to bands I had never heard of like Bad Religion and the Offspring. The music is great but becomes grating quickly due to its repetition. There are only a few songs with certain ones getting the most airtime. I pray to God I never hear the Offspring’s “All I Want” ever again. With a few more songs the soundtrack selection would have been classic.
In Closing
What a great game. Easy to pick and play but hard to master, Crazy Taxi is a timeless gem and one of the best games from that generation and on the Dreamcast. This is peak Sega another reason why they are one of the best developers in the world.
