Crazy Taxi (PC) Review
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System PC
Developer SEGA Publisher SEGA Genre Arcade Racing # of Players 1 Release Date March 4th, 2011 |
Pros
Over the top arcade racing Fun in short bursts Cons Only two maps of the same town Not much to do outside of Arcade/Original mode |
Review
by Thonos
1/8/2016
While I enjoyed arcades growing up, there was only one around where I lived and it was an hour away. When I did get a chance to go into one I usually stuck to light gun games since that was what I was good at. One exception was Crazy Taxi. This was one of those driving games where you sat in a chair and drove with a steering wheel and had to use petals on the floor to move forward and stop, basically like a real car. This game was over the top and had a great soundtrack. The PC port of the game does a good job of emulating the arcade game, minus the use of a steering wheel.
Crazy Taxi is a pretty straight forward game. You pick pick from four cab drivers, pick up customers around the map indicated by different color rings, follow the marker to where they want to go, drop them off and repeat. The different color rings represent how far away the destination is. Getting to the destination faster nets you more money and added time to the game. Driving dangerously also gets you more money form customers when taking them to there destination. The game ends when you run out of time.
The main modes for the game are Arcade and Original. Arcade mode is the same as the game from the arcade. Original mode is for the home release of the game and is a bigger map. Both modes let you play using the normal gain more time for dropping off people rules or you can choose to play for 3, 5 or 10 minutes sessions. There is also a Crazy Box mode which is just challenges for you to work on. This is also a good way to master some of the games mechanics like drifting. While I prefer Arcade mode, Original mode is good too and if you play enough on both maps you start to memorize the layout of each map.
I had no problems with the controls for the game. This is an arcade racing game and it handles as such. If you run into cars and they bounce off of you like a bumper car or just get knocked out of your way. You can drive anywhere you want to get to your destination. The only issue I had was I had a habit of spinning my tires after picking up a customer which would cost me time. After a few minutes I learned not to do that.
The game uses cartoony graphics which I had no problem with since it matched what was used in the original arcades. The graphics also match the tone of the game, which is over the top. The game has good sound effects ranging from the driving sounds to the customers yelling at you. The music was one of the high points for me, something about it just fitted the mood of the game perfectly. There is a difference in bands used from the arcades to the ports of the game, but I found the different bands to still work well.
I really enjoy Crazy Taxi. This is a game that you can pick up and play in short bursts since that is how the game was designed. Everything from the graphics, sound and controls get mesh very well. If I had any complaints it would come down to the fact that there is not much staying power with this game if you do not like the driving mechanics.
by Thonos
1/8/2016
While I enjoyed arcades growing up, there was only one around where I lived and it was an hour away. When I did get a chance to go into one I usually stuck to light gun games since that was what I was good at. One exception was Crazy Taxi. This was one of those driving games where you sat in a chair and drove with a steering wheel and had to use petals on the floor to move forward and stop, basically like a real car. This game was over the top and had a great soundtrack. The PC port of the game does a good job of emulating the arcade game, minus the use of a steering wheel.
Crazy Taxi is a pretty straight forward game. You pick pick from four cab drivers, pick up customers around the map indicated by different color rings, follow the marker to where they want to go, drop them off and repeat. The different color rings represent how far away the destination is. Getting to the destination faster nets you more money and added time to the game. Driving dangerously also gets you more money form customers when taking them to there destination. The game ends when you run out of time.
The main modes for the game are Arcade and Original. Arcade mode is the same as the game from the arcade. Original mode is for the home release of the game and is a bigger map. Both modes let you play using the normal gain more time for dropping off people rules or you can choose to play for 3, 5 or 10 minutes sessions. There is also a Crazy Box mode which is just challenges for you to work on. This is also a good way to master some of the games mechanics like drifting. While I prefer Arcade mode, Original mode is good too and if you play enough on both maps you start to memorize the layout of each map.
I had no problems with the controls for the game. This is an arcade racing game and it handles as such. If you run into cars and they bounce off of you like a bumper car or just get knocked out of your way. You can drive anywhere you want to get to your destination. The only issue I had was I had a habit of spinning my tires after picking up a customer which would cost me time. After a few minutes I learned not to do that.
The game uses cartoony graphics which I had no problem with since it matched what was used in the original arcades. The graphics also match the tone of the game, which is over the top. The game has good sound effects ranging from the driving sounds to the customers yelling at you. The music was one of the high points for me, something about it just fitted the mood of the game perfectly. There is a difference in bands used from the arcades to the ports of the game, but I found the different bands to still work well.
I really enjoy Crazy Taxi. This is a game that you can pick up and play in short bursts since that is how the game was designed. Everything from the graphics, sound and controls get mesh very well. If I had any complaints it would come down to the fact that there is not much staying power with this game if you do not like the driving mechanics.