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Throwback Thursday: Crazy Taxi
It’s time to make some crazy money remembering Sega’s Dreamcast classic.
Crazy Taxi
© Sega
Sega may be most famous today for its Football Manager series and the continuing, up and down adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, but back in the '90s it was arguably the foremost creator of arcade driving experiences.
The decade started with the likes of Virtua Racing, Daytona USA and Sega Rally, but closed with a title which took the company's vast knowledge of driving games and turned it into something a little different.
1999's Crazy Taxi still offered the usual Sega trademarks – lush, colourful visuals, extreme speed and a massive dedicated arcade cabinet – but instead of asking you to compete against rival racers, you were instead tasked with ferrying fare-paying passengers around a bustling coastal city in the quickest time possible.
Created by Sega's internal Hitmaker studio, Crazy Taxi sums up everything that was great about the company when it was at its creative peak. The concept was simple and accessible but incredibly compelling – just like the idea of being a firefighter or jet pilot, the notion of stepping into the shoes of a taxi driver needed no explanation and offered an instant hook for players of all skill levels. You drove around the city picking up passengers and conveying them as quickly as you could to their desired location.
Of course, with "crazy" in the title, it goes without saying that the trip would be anything but sedate; dangerous driving – playing chicken with oncoming traffic and driving dangerously close to other vehicles – would boost the amount of cash your thrill-seeking fare would eventually pay. Likewise, leaping from rooftops or catching some serious air on the many massive, San Francisco-esque hills in the game also added to your cash haul, provided you successfully got your passenger to their destination in time, of course. While your vehicle and the people contained within it were effectively invincible, collisions were undesirable and would have a negative effect on your bank balance at the conclusion of each run.
The action took place against a clock, with the aim being to secure as many swift trips as possible in order to add precious seconds to your stock – the console ports would add other modes where you had a set amount of time and had to score as many points as possible within that limit. The key was learning the layout of the city and keeping your eyes peeled for potential shortcuts. Your proposed destination was indicated by an arrow at the top of the screen which didn't take into account any buildings or obstacles: it merely showed your goal "as the crow flies".
By seeking out alternative routes, such as driving through multi-storey car parks and leaping from higher levels onto the road below, you could shave off seconds from the journey time and score big tip from your shaken-but-pleased fare.
While the concept was simple, learning the game's map layout, finding all the shortcuts and mastering the "Crazy Dash" speed boost (a move which ensured a quick getaway after picking up a fresh passenger) took time and effort. As a result, the game encouraged repeat play in its arcade setting, earning it a legion of loyal fans. The licensed Offspring soundtrack didn’t hurt matters either.
However, Crazy Taxi's fame would be taken to an entirely new level when it was ported to the Sega Dreamcast in 2000. The arcade version used Sega's Naomi board, which was practically identical to the Dreamcast console hardware, and this resulted in a near-perfect conversion. In fact, Sega followed prior form with the domestic port – it took the core arcade game and added more content to extend its longevity.
The "Crazy Box" mode introduced in the Dreamcast version offered a bundle of mini-games, which included using your car as a bowling ball or popping a certain number of balloons, and this aspect would prove addictive in itself. Another city was added to the Dreamcast edition to further increase its playability, offering a new environment for seasoned players to explore and memorise.
Crazy Taxi
© Sega
The Dreamcast port is widely regarded as one of the system's best games, but the console's dismal commercial performance arguably limited its appeal. When Sega decided to move slowly towards third-party publishing in 2001, Crazy Taxi was a prime candidate for release on other systems.
It hit the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube in 2001 – courtesy of Acclaim, which signed a deal with Sega to port and publish the title – and would hit the PC the following year. It’s since been released on more recent systems, including the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS and Android, further cementing its position as one of the most iconic and downright playable arcade releases of all time.
Given its incredibly popularity even in the wake of the Dreamcast's failure – the director of Superman was once attached to direct a live action movie of the game – it was inevitable that Crazy Taxi would see a handful of sequels. 2001's Crazy Taxi 2 for the Dreamcast added the ability to pick up multiple passengers and hop over obstacles, while the 2002 Xbox exclusive Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller introduced night-time driving. The 2007 PlayStation Portable release Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars bundled the first two games and bolted-on local multiplayer, while more recently Sega has returned to the series on smartphones with Crazy Taxi City Rush, a free-to-play release which has more in common with Temple Run than it does with previous entries in the series, as the player does not have direct control over the direction of their car.
Crazy Taxi
© Sega
Hopefully City Rush won't be the final instalment in this beloved lineage, as Crazy Taxi certainly deserves more than throwaway mobile releases. The concept has universal appeal and is timeless, and we'd give our right arm for a next-generation sequel with vastly improved visuals, improved physics and a massive, open-world map to explore and traverse.
There’s certainly hope though: Crazy Taxi creator Kenji Kanno is still at Sega, even producing City Rush. Whether or not we'll ever see another, more substantial release is another thing altogether, but for the time being we always have the smartphone ports and PS3/360 versions to remind us that this anarchic, day-glo arcade classic will never go out of fashion.
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