When I got a PS2 as a gift, it was a few months before I hunted down any games. And really, the first games I played might as well have been interchangeable; hop in a car, pick up a passenger, take them where they want to go. Two games, two companies, one story.

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You drive a taxi. Actually, you drive a "crazy" taxi. As a wheelman for the Crazy Taxi cab company, you are the best of the best. Customers pay exorbitant amounts for the thrill provided by your unique brand of reckless abandon behind the wheel. Those white lines painted on the road mean nothing to you; in fact, roads mean nothing to you. Neither do rooftops, seascapes, nor railroad tracks. You'll go anywhere and do anything to get your fare to their destination as fast as possible. And they love you for it.

Crazy Taxi is a Sega property, so it has long had a home in arcades and Dreamcasts across the land. When Sega announced it was getting out of the home consol race, Crazy Taxi migrated to the nascent PS2.

Your goal is to earn as much money as possible. You do this by delivering fares to their destination, earning tips and scoring bonuses. As you drive down the street, you'll notice that some pedestrians have floating dollar signs above their heads. Pull up next to one, and he'll hop into the back of your cab as he tells you where he wants to go. With that, you're off: tearing down the road, cutting through parking lots and leaping barricades, dodging traffic all the while.

To keep you going in the right direction, a large arrow hovers above your car, pointed toward your ultimate goal. As you near your destination, the arrow changes color from green to yellow to red, and a green target surrounds the drop-off point. Above your passenger's head is a tiny clock counting down the time allowed to get them where they're going. Come to a stop within the border of the flashing target area before the passenger's clock reaches 00, or they'll get fed up and leap from your cab, taking their money with them.

In the upper left corner is the game clock, giving you an idea of how much longer you can play. You get some added time when you pick up a customer, as well as bonuses for delivering them promptly: five extra seconds if their counter is still green (speedy) and two if it's gone yellow (average), but none if it's turned red (slow). The dollar sign above their head when you pick them up will let you know how far away their destination is: red is close, green is far, and the colors in between follow accordingly.

When you pick up a passenger, their fare immediately appears. You can then earn tips as you drive, and any extra time upon drop-off converts to money. You can earn tips by performing Crazy Jumps (getting big air), Crazy Throughs (coming close to other vehicles without actually colliding) or Crazy Slides (a tire-squealing spin). For bigger bucks, combine them: dodge past an oncoming bus and slide sideways onto a ramp before launching yourself over one car and deftly avoiding another as you land. Combo!

There are two maps available in the game - arcade and original. Neither is really better than the other, but finding your way around the 'original' map can be a bit tough at first. There is also the Crazy Box section, where you can hone your Crazy skills.

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Mr. Burns has just bought the Springfield Public Transportation Authority, and "gifted" the city with a fleet of dangerously radioactive nuclear-powered busses. Rather than contract cancer on their way to work, the denizens of Springfield have decided to fight back. Painting "Homer for Hire" on the side of the family car, Homer starts his own taxi service.

Your goal is to earn as much money as possible. You do this by delivering fares to their destination, earning tips and scoring bonuses. As you drive down the street, you'll notice that some pedestrians have glowing circles rising around them. Pull up next to one, and he'll hop into the back of your cab as he tells you where he wants to go. With that, you're off: tearing down the road, cutting through parking lots and leaping barricades, dodging traffic all the while.

To keep you going in the right direction, a large hand hovers above your car, pointing toward your ultimate goal. As you near your destination, you'll see a yellowy-green target surrounding the drop-off point. In the upper left corner is a tiny clock counting down the time allowed to get them where they're going. Come to a stop within the border of the flashing target area before the passenger's clock reaches 0, or they'll get fed up and leap from your cab.

Also in the upper left corner is the game clock, giving you an idea of how much longer you can play. You get some added time when you pick up a customer, as well as bonuses for delivering them promptly: three extra seconds if their counter is still green (speedy) and one if it's gone yellow (average), but none if it's turned red (slow).

When you pick up a passenger, their fare immediately appears. You can then earn tips for safe driving (hitting less than three cars) or destroying property (smashing X number of items on the way to your destination), though these are available only when the game indicates.

You begin on Evergreen Terrace, which includes more than its titular street: Springfield Elementary, the Church, and many folks' apartments are all potential destinations. There's also a Mission Mode which will give you the chance to hone your skills.

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Crazy Taxi vs. Road Rage

Range: The various colors around the potential Crazy passengers let you know how far they're headed. Need some extra dough? Pick up a green passenger. Need more time? A series of red and oranges will keep your clock ticking. You can make your own choices. In Road Rage, you don't know where you're going until you pick someone up.

Rates: The crazy bonuses that you can earn really add up, and they reward skillful driving. You can pull off one or two quick moves at any time, rather than worrying about the entire trip.

Speed: Shifting into drive and hitting the accelerator will give you a burst of speed, even if you're already moving. Sometimes that one or two second gain will make the difference in your game living or dying. Simpsons has nothing of the sort.

Looks: Crazy Taxi has a much more realistic look, from characters to cars. The Simpsons just look odd in detailed 3D; they would've been better in two dimensions.

Load: Crazy Taxi's load times are pretty good, and will keep you playing. Road Rage is interminably slow, even if you're just restarting a Mission.

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Road Rage vs. Crazy Taxi

Choices: You may start out with one map and six drivers, but you can unlock ten locations and seventeen different character vehicles (well, actually more than that, but only briefly). Crazy Taxi only ever has four drivers for its two maps, and you can only unlock one extra vehicle.

Bonuses: The bonuses in Road Rage may be harder to get, but they're also much bigger: compare $250 for safe driving and $1,000 for being destructive to 50c for your first Crazy move.

Audio: The cast of the show came in to record brand new dialogue for all the drivers and all the passengers. Very cool, and very funny. Crazy Taxi has about three voices that each say about four lines. Their music, performed by bands such as Offspring, is fairly omnipresent, and can get annoying (yah yah yah yah yah!), though it can be turned down. Simpsons' music is more subdued, and based on themes from the show.

Goals: Road Rage lets you unlock all those bonus goodies by earning money. You may earn five grand in ten minutes of Crazy Taxi, but the money just disappears when you're done. The Simpsons puts that money in the bank and keeps you aware of how close you are to a reward. I only need $6,000 more? Oh, sure, I'll play one more round.

Freedom: Crazy Taxi has the option to play by arcade rules (you can play as long as you keep your clock healthy) or for a set amount of time: three, five, or ten minutes. Road Rage duplicates the first, but then goes one better. Sunday Drive mode removes the clock entirely, allowing you to explore the map of your choice to your heart's content. Personally, I spent more than twenty minutes guiding Marge and her Canyonero around.

The Cars: Sure, Crazy Taxi has four unique convertible cabs that all look nice, but the Simpsons drive around in style in episode-inspired vehicles. From Bart's Soap Box Derby racer to the car that Homer's brother built him, everything makes sense.

Pedestrians: In Crazy Taxi, they jump out of your way. In Road Rage, they cry as you slam into them and send them bouncing down the road. As a nice bonus, you're likely to see poor ol' Gil or the Capital City Goofball

Controls: This is just a personal preference, but I like Road Rage's layout better - you have to edit Crazy Taxi's options to get a more standard button assignment (though that may be a holdover from the Dreamcast's notoriously terrible controller). I just don't see any reason why a game's "drive" button should be on top of the controller.

Fare: Crazy Taxi customers' counters start running as soon as you come to a halt, which can waste valuable seconds. The clock doesn't run until you regain control of the car when driving in Springfield.

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In conclusion...

So, two games with lots of big similarities and little differences. I don't really favor one over the other, and still play them both equally. I just hope to help you make your own decision based on info about the pair.

Recommended: Yes