Crazy taxi
I have a callous on my finger.
Not from carpentry, weightlifting, fixing, or other tough manual labor that will give you callouses, but from playing Crazy Taxi. I kid you not, I have a callous on my finger from playing Crazy Taxi.
Crazy Taxi is virtual heroin. After you play once, you have to play again.... and again, and again. It calls you. As those of us who have played this game in the arcade know, just about the only thing that stopped you from playing Crazy Taxi in the arcade was the lack of tokens. Worry about tokens no more, my friend, because Crazy Taxi has hit the DreamCast... in a BIG way.
For those of you who haven’t played Crazy Taxi, what the hell is wrong with you? But seriously, let me give you a little run-down of the game. You pick from one of four insane taxi drivers, each with their own abilities. You must pick up customers and get them to their destination as quickly as possible by any means necessary. There are no police, no speed limits, and no consequences. You can drive anywhere you feel, through parks, over rooftops, even underwater. You want to get as much money as you can within the time limit.
Can such a simple concept be the basis of a great game? Crazy Taxi answers that question with a resounding “Hell YES!” I have to admit, the first time I saw this game I laughed. I thought “Gee, drive around in a taxi... sounds like fun, not.” I was wrong. I reluctantly decided to pump two tokens into the machine, just to see how pitifully stupid the game was.
And then it happened.
I was lured in. Hook, line, sinker. And ever since then I could not get enough, even after buying the game and playing it for hours on end. And the best thing is, Crazy Taxi is arcade PERFECT in every definition of the words. The game runs uber-smooth, uber-fast, and uber-fun. Using the controller is just as fun as the steering wheel, mainly because now it’s much easier to pull off those “Crazy Combos,” which will add to your total cash.
So, you ask, is there anything new from the arcade version? Plenty. First off, you have a whole new track. Or world, I should say, considering the fact that the tracks are massive. This track may seem average at first, but that is mainly because the new track is much more challenging than the old. However, sometimes the direction arrow goes crazy and simply points you in the completely wrong direction, and also there is a slight amount of slow down every now and then on this track. But it is very well designed, much like the old track.
In addition to the new track, there is the “Crazy Box.” The crazy box is a set of mini-games which, if completed, will get you the rickshaw (one of those Chinese-type bikes.) But the mini-games offer a good amount of fun and challenge all on their own. Some seem a little too easy, though, while others were IMPOSSIBLE (cough CRAZY BOWLING cough). But they are all innovative and interesting in some way.
The soundtrack of the game is also quite good. The Offspring and Bad Religion offer their talents for all the games tracks, which mostly fit the mood of the gameplay, fast and fun. However, there is only seven music tracks total, so after playing the game so long (and you will) they get a bit repetitive and you may find yourself flipping on the radio instead. The sound effects are also pretty accurate and good. Yet, like the background music, gets a little repetitive.
To finish this long-winded review, I’d just like to say that Crazy Taxi could very well be DC’s best game to date. It sure as heck is my favorite to date.
The Rundown
Graphics :: 10 ::
Gameplay :: 10 ::
Sound :: 7 ::
Fun Factor :: 10 ::
No comments:
Post a Comment