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 You Want To Be Dropped Off At The Police Station? No Problem. Just Let Me Cut Threw This Here Mall First!
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I remember ages ago, playing on my Atari 800 some of the most classic games ever. Games that come to mind are Defender, Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Jungle (I don't know if anyone has heard of Jungle but it was one of the first adventure games ever). Then a few years later a new system came out, Nintendo Entertainment System. With a huge price tag, Nintendo still was able to sell very well. Classics from that system that come to mind are Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Super Punch Out (OK maybe it wasn't a classic but it was damn fun to play). More recent classics like Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, and Gran Turismo must all bring back fond memories of their pure enjoyment. Anyone who is a game player has to have played these games. Nostalgia comes over me when I think back to the bad-ass Atari 800. I ended up selling that a few years ago to pay for some new stuff but if I still had it I wouldn't have a life. One thing I do not know, though, is why more classic games, or great games, have not been released. Publishers today are releasing some below-average games that make you wonder, "How did this get past the drawing board?". Luckily, though, we can all rejoice to the fact that SEGA has yet again amazed myself with it's latest hit Crazy Taxi.
Nowadays I never see my father play games when I see him. Way, way back before I was born, though, he was addicted. He was the first in my family to play on the Atari 800. I asked him once why he didn't play many games anymore. What surprised me was when he replied that he hated the new games because they are so complicated. That is something I have to agree with. Games that make you press Up, Down, A, B, B, then hold Z to do a hard punch are extremely ridiculous. Going back to the days of Pac-Man or Defender all one had to do was move the joystick around or press a button to fire the blasters. It was also real easy to just pick up and play games too. No previous skill was needed. In racing terms, the first game I can recall was F-1 Pole Position. Talk about simple logic! Just push forward and turn when needed. That is a far cry from today's standards like power-slides, drafting, and finding the correct lines.
If you agree with everything that I have said thus far (or even a little bit) then you are probably dying to find out about this new game Crazy Taxi. It's simple, control-friendly and just about the most entertaining game I have played. You take on the role of one of four cab drivers by the names of Axel, B.D. Joe, Gus, or Gena. There is basically little differences between each of them. One glaring difference is the cabs. All the cabs looked like painted up classic cars especially Gus's 1955 hog. The minor difference I could tell was the speed. Gena's ride seemed to get up in the higher speedometer digits than the fellas. After selecting your driver it is right off into some adrenaline pumping, rubber burning, high flying, car dodging fun through two cities that are chuck full of crazy jumps, pedestrians, speeding cars, and eager people waiting for a ride to their destination.
This is where you all will not believe me. After you hop in your car go towards a person waving you down. The people that need rides have large arrows above their head and circles around them. Stop within the circles to pick them up. The color of the arrow above each person determines how far they want to go. A RED arrow says to the cabbie that that person wants to go a very short distance. Colors start to fade all the way to green. If you wish to drive a much farther distance through the streets then pick up a GREEN-arrowed person. Once you pick someone up a little picture pops up depicting their destination. With the help of a large arrow on the top of the screen, you should find your way pretty easy. Also the passenger will yell out "TAKE A LEFT!" or "GO STRAIGHT". When the spot of departure is in the distance you will be able to see a huge green wall surrounding it. Stop somewhere inside the green area and your passenger will jump out and give you their fare. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well it is, but you have no idea how much fun it is! I can not describe my feelings when I play this game but I know for sure that it will never get old.
You can experience full and utter bliss just "cabbing" around the two cities but for more advanced players there are a few additions to Crazy Taxi that give you an incredible experience. For starters you can adjust many different options like the traffic, time difficulty, and time setting. By adjusting the traffic setting to its maximum level, you are asking for some pumped up action. Another option to help expert players and gamers looking to make more money are different techniques that you can pull off when trying to make it to your customers stop. Techniques like the Crazy Dash (Speed Boost), Crazy Drift (Power-Slide), and Limit Cut (Ultra Speed Boost). The Limit Cut is a move that is not mentioned in the manual but is different than the Crazy Dash. Both the Crazy Dash and Crazy Drift are mentioned in the manual but in order to pull off a Limit Cut let off the gas while moving then shift into reverse then back into drive and press the gas. What should happen is your cab should blast forward with great momentum. This move greatly reduces the amount of time needed to get from point A to point B.
When doing all these Crazy Jumps, Drifts, and Cuts and also barely getting through two cars on the road you can earn combo points that are in the form of extra money. The best way to put it is like this, SCARE THE BEJESUS OUT OF YOUR PASSENGER! They will give you money if you make the ride enjoyable and sometimes scary. Do not ram head on with cars or crash into a wall because it makes them mad.
Finally a very innovative new feature is Crazy Box mode. Think of it as a bunch of mini-games that help to improve your overall skill. Boxes include jumping a certain distance, popping balloons, delivering people to their destinations, and racing threw a city as fast as you can. There are nine to begin with and as you beat each of them more open up to include sixteen in all. Some are very creative too! In one box you must do a little bowling action with your car and get seven strikes in a row. Others are incredibly difficult like picking up seven people under a minute and a half and delivering them to their destination. It may be tough but it certainly adds a lot of longevity to a game that some might find boring, although I do not see how they could think such a preposterous sort of thing.
Besides all the mini-games there are two cities that you can take your business to. The first one, Arcade Mode, has many hills, jumps, turns, and a much better lay-out than Original Mode's city. In the Arcade Mode's city there is much more variety and better shortcuts as well as a very busy but extremely exciting downtown area to it. Also there is an exhilarating freeway driver between all sorts of big rigs. The Original Map is not as fun but it still provides some excellent enjoyment. On this map you will encounter some steep hills along with some under-water driving and some HUGE water jumps. There are also some exciting train track short cuts and some awesome landmarks like the Millennium Tower. What is a high side on both maps is the realism and the way all of us can relate to the surroundings. An example is the fact that there are many well-known stores around each city that people want to go. FILA, the Original Levi's Store, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut. Not only are there these types of stops but there are also a slew of generic stops like the Police Station, Hospital, Baseball Stadium, and Sea Side Market to name a few.
Both the cities are also filled to the brim with excitement! Pedestrians walking along the sidewalk at the last minute when you come barreling down the street. Also there are tow trucks parked everywhere and are just sitting there so you can ramp off them to get some extra fare money. Cars act like they do in real life. They stop at lights, change lanes, and look great when you ram into the side of them! Scattered throughout the city also are boxes, phone booths, and train stations that can either be an obstacle or just something else that can be hit. What is also great is the fact that the most ordinary things can be either shortcuts or ramps. For instance at one part of a city you can go into a parking garage, make your way to the end then sail off the ledge back into the street. While in the process you probably scared the sh*t out of an unexpected driver.
A game like this really doesn't need a whole lot a realism. Besides the fact that there is a lot of recognizable stores there is a lot of unrealistic things. For one, the car definitely does not have the physics engine of Gran Turismo 2. Turns are really quick and acceleration is very fast. Also, driving underwater is available. Who's ever heard of that? Finally there is no damage systems in the game for different vehicles. Your car is basically an invulnerable piece of metal as are the other cars throughout the city. Without these things the game is actually better. It has much more of an arcade feel to it and it keeps to blood pumping during every second.
Light reflects, buildings cast shadows, sparks fly, and cars crash during each run. The graphics system is so good in Crazy Taxi. All the cars shine and all the textures look clear. There is no pixelation when you get close to a building and there is very little draw-in in the distance. Also all the buildings are recognizable. There is no generic black building that says Pizza Hut on the top in big, white, fake letters. Oh no. The actual building architecture that you see on the one down the street is in the game. Another graphic achievement is the ground textures. They rarely repeat themselves and grass kicks up in the tires. Finally all the characters look so believable. A rock dude, a tourist, a college teen, a baseball fan, and a grandma, to name a few, show up as passengers. The game's passengers were really thought out because the tourist always wants to go a landmark and the college teen always wants to go out to eat at some fast-food place. The whole game is very realistic in an unrealistic way. My only problem with the graphics is at times there is some serious slowdown when there is a lot of different cars and textures on the screen.
I am on a roll with the pros of the game so I have to continue on to the control of the game. As with everything else so far, it is great. The car turns when I tell it to and it moves in a smooth motion. Dodging in-between cars and sliding past the corner of a building are easy because the car responds so quickly. Also the controls are easy to pick up and play. There is just an accelerator, brake, shift, and steering wheel in customizable spots on the controller.
No game is perfect, at least not yet. There are a few downsides to Crazy Taxi. The first is the sound. The upside is the comments that the passengers yell to you if you cannot drop them off under a particular time like, "You Suck!". But the background music is so bad that I would rather listen to Hootie and the Blowfish. Well not really but the tracks playing are by some actual known bands like the Offspring. The problem arises, though, that it gets so old so fast that I was forced to listen to Dr. Dre and Eminem on my Rio instead of listening to the game. I hated doing it but I wanted some better music then the horrible, repetitive music.
Another bad thing is that this game could have easily been so much more. I thought it out and came up with some new features that would have made it a perfect game. First off, a two-player mode would have been great. Seeing who could get the most money in the allocated time or who could race to a selected spot first would have been great. Also a Quest Mode kind of thing would have been awesome. Start out as a crummy little first-time driver in a small city and begin to progress till you get to a city like New York. This game is still sooooo sweet that these are minor but I am just suggesting that it would have been cool to have them included.
There are some people I have heard saying that this game gets so boring so fast. That is their opinion. I for one think this game is so great that everyone should pick it up. I still find myself picking up the controller and racing threw the city. It will take you a while to beat some of the crazy boxes too. As a special bonus, if you beat all the Crazy Boxes you can ride a push bike while playing instead of the cars. Also you can start at different places with the help of some codes which adds slightly to the longevity. -Nick Steinhauer
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