Review of Crazy Taxi for XBLA and PSN by Protomario
9It's Time to make some Crazy Money!
Crazy Taxi is a video game developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It is the first game in the Crazy Taxi series. The game was first released in arcades in 1999 and was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. Subsequently, it was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube by Acclaim in 2001, and then Microsoft Windows in 2002. The game was released on November 16, 2010 for the PlayStation Network and on November 24, 2010 for the Xbox Live Arcade. A port for the Zeebo is also planned, though no release date has been set.
Early reception to Crazy Taxi was very positive. It became one of the few Sega All Stars. It has also earned Greatest Hits status on PlayStation 2 and Player's Choice status on GameCube. Sega followed up on the success of Crazy Taxi by making a sequel, Crazy Taxi 2 for the Dreamcast, which included several gameplay changes. It would also be bundled with Crazy Taxi 2 in Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars, a compilation title for the PlayStation Portable.
The main objective of the game is to pick up customers and take them to their chosen destination as quickly as possible. Along the way, money can be earned by performing stunts such as near misses with other vehicles.[4] The player is directed to a destination by a large green arrow at the top of the screen. The arrow does not adjust based on obstacles, but rather points in the general direction of the destination. Once the player arrives near the destination, they must stop within a specified zone. When the destination is reached, that customer's fare is added to the player's total money earned, a ratings are awarded depending on how long the player took to complete the journey.[5] If the customer's timer runs out before the player reaches the destination the customer jumps from the taxi.
Players can select three, five or ten minute settings, or the Arcade Rules used in the original coin-op version of the game.[5] In the three time-limited settings, play continues for the designated period of time, after which the cab automatically stops and no more points can be scored. Under Arcade Rules, the player starts with an initial time limit of one minute, which can be extended through time bonuses earned for quick deliveries. Console versions of the game also feature a mode known as Crazy Box, a set of minigames that feature challenges such as picking up and dropping off a number of customers within a time limit, bowling using the taxi as a ball, and popping giant balloons in a field.