awoolcott's Full Review: Crazy Taxi 2 for Dreamcast
The original Crazy Taxi was a huge hit for Sega – it’s one of the best selling Dreamcast games, and has translated into a big hit upon it’s release for PlayStation 2 as well. Naturally, Sega, and CT developer Hitmaker would want to do a sequel and build upon a franchise that was quickly becoming one of their most popular. Enter Crazy Taxi 2.
The ingredients? Take the setting to the East Coast, create 4 new drivers, add a couple new features to what’s already there, revamp the mini-games, and toss in some surprises. Mix it into one pretty package and out comes Crazy Taxi 2. And that’s about the gist of it; CT2 is really just a souped up version of the original, with a different setting and characters. That’s not a bad thing in this case; CT2 still maintains the addictive pick up and play mechanics and feel, making CT2 one of those games that might get boring after a couple straight hours, but will feel brand new again the next time you play it. It might not be the deepest game out there, but it’s definitely still entertaining and worth the money. But if you didn’t like the original CT, then you won’t like CT2.
So, What’s New? - As mentioned, CT2 heads east – to New York City no less. There are 2 “versions” of NYC – Around Apple, and Small Apple. Both are similar but different – AA is split into 3 different areas by a long freeway, each with totally different feels and looks to them. Small Apple is the same somewhat, but they’re all connected together, with no freeways to use getting to different parts of town. There are more twists and turns and a lot more traffic, making it a lot harder than Around Apple. Both are pretty daunting at first for CT newbies, because unlike the original, there are no time and traffic difficulty settings – what you see is what you get.
The big gameplay difference is the addition of the Crazy Hop. A tap of the Y button will send you flying in the air, to either hop buildings or cars. This changes the basic element of the game around, because now you can/will be looking for low roofs to hop onto, in order to find a shortcut. Hitmaker obliged in that case, with plenty of places to hop around. Hopping the cars is also useful – it translates into extra tip money and is useful in tight spots when just swerving through traffic isn’t possible.
A new strategic element is the addition of multi-person fares. No, it’s not pick one person up here, pick one up here; you pick up a set at one time. Then you have a set amount of time to get all of them where they want to go. If you don’t get ALL of them to their destinations in time, you get no money. Simple as that. Strategy is required here, mapping out where everything is and what order to do it in. If not, you won’t get very far. And in some cases, the fares are almost undeliverable – the infamous Hospital/Fire Station/Stadium locale is known for some nigh-impossible tasks. Thus in some ways it’s important to know which fares to pick up and which not to, in order to get the most money. Using your head in an arcade game – whoda thunk it?
The Crazy Box is gone – replaced by the Crazy Pyramid. I’d say CP is a little easier than CB, but there is definitely an emphasis this time around on the Crazy Hop. The games are as bizarre as they are useful – the Crazy Golf level is surreal, but it teaches you how to make your car hop at its best. Simply put, if you don’t know how to jump, you won’t get far in the Pyramid nor in the regular game. You’re awarded prizes for beating each part of the Pyramid – maps to start off, then the bike from the original CT, then a baby stroller. Yes, a baby stroller. Nobody said this game was realistic. And last but definitely not least, beating the seemingly impossibly hard 1-1 and S-S CP games will unlock the original 4 cabbies (complete with hatchet-job voices that marred the PS2 version of Crazy Taxi. At least Axel is the same). This is a good thing because..
There are 4 new drivers, and they’re all really uninspired. Each one is sort of a copy of the first game’s drivers – Slash is like Axel, Iceman is like BD Joe, Cinnamon is like Gena, and Hot-D is like Gus. All four are rather shallow and nowhere near as personable as the drivers from the original. The ability to unlock the old drivers saves this factor and brings personality back to the drivers.
Refresher Course - The premise of Crazy Taxi 2 is simple – pick up a passenger and help them on their way to wherever they want to go, in a set period of time. If you don’t get them there fast enough, you lose whatever money you would have earned, as well as any time bonuses. Thus, you need to learn the various techniques to deliver your fares in the quickest period of time, such as the Crazy Drift, Limit Cuts, and the Crazy Hop. Just driving won’t get the job done; skills are required to achieve maximum success.
And remember, this is far from a simulation of reality – far from it. Thus you can ram into other cars, buildings, signs, etc, and never once take any damage. It will slow you down and ruin any chance at winning the most money. Everything goes hand in hand at giving you optimal success.
However, it’s admittable that on the surface it looks very much like a shallow game. And to an extent it is. After a while, doing the same old thing, picking up passengers over and over can get tiring. It’s especially noticeable when you realize that you did it before with the original CT. But, as I said, it’s one of those games that you can play after a month of not playing it, and still have as much fun as you did when you first got it. People who remember the good old days of high scores will feel right at home. However, Hitmaker left out the score tracking, initial putting-in of the original, which is very disappointing. You can see your records in the main menu, but you can’t track scores for separate people. That’s a major strike in my book.
There isn’t much changed from the original besides the new moves and drivers – you can jump right in as a CT veteran. The absence of difficulty levels is not a bad idea..but the game is hard at first and might frustrate some players. The maps are also trickier than the original, despite the locations being closer together. Some stops are harder than others, and tack on the added variable of the multi-passenger fares things get even stickier. Most of the time sequels are for experts, and CT2 fits in that category.
Controlling the cabs is the same as the original, however there is a little difference in the way the cars control. It seems a little bit looser than before, which can be good or bad depending on the situation. Also, the Limit Cuts seem a little tougher to execute. Besides that, everything is the same, except the addition of the Crazy Hop.
Missing from the sequel is both online and regular multiplayer. Unfortunately Hitmaker decided to not go ahead with it due to time constraints, but it's missed. Head to head cabbie action would have been a riot.
Sega does save the day a bit in terms of variety – if you use your DC to go online, you can download some customer data and play “another day” mode. The placement of the fares are different, and the time of day changes – a sunset in AA, and early morning in SA. These kind of things keep the game fresh if it ever becomes stale.
Graphically Speaking - CT2 was built from the ground up for Dreamcast, thus it’s using pretty much all the power it can muster from it. That said, the game is really nice looking. It’s not too much of a leap from the original, but there is a difference. Again, real destinations are included – GAP, FAO Schwartz, Burger King, and Hard Rock Café among them. Each is detailed exactly to what you’d think they look like. Each area is different – the Stadium area (seemingly the Bronx), it’s somewhat brown and gloomy with dark fog..the Uptown area is full of grassy areas and typical urban destinations, and the downtown area is loaded with skyscrapers, banks, courthouses, and that sort. All are unique and fresh. There’s even Central Park included! No muggers if you’re wondering.
The same passengers return from the original game – there are a couple new ones but most are retreads from the San Francisco edition. That’s the only letdown graphically really – the rest is pretty nice.
However, the game feels a little slower than the first, due to the graphical enhancements. Comparing the first CT to the second, there is a noticeable difference in speed, which is disappointing.
2 Sided Sound Card - The original CT was marked by its pumping, yet repetitive soundtrack and wacky voices. CT2 for the most part is the same. The Offspring return, but Bad Religion does not. Instead, Methods of Mayhem (ugh) appear, and you’d barely notice. Their music only is played on the selection screen and the end credits. The rest is all Offspring, all the time. Only 4 songs loop, and of course, after a while they get repetitive. However the songs are better in CT2 than the original, so the toleration level is a little higher.
The voices however are hard to handle. They’re the same wretched ones from the PS2 version of CT, which weren’t good in the first place. The voices of the original 4 cabbies have been butchered, except for Axel. The passenger voices are almost sad and annoying. Though hearing mimes talk is pretty funny. Eventually you get used to it, but if you’re like me you’ll be begging for the old voices back (which weren’t all that great in the first place).
Still.. - Despite the faults mentioned, Crazy Taxi is still a great game. Really, the flaws are pointed out because the tried and true gameplay is still there, just with a couple new twists. It’s essentially the same as CT1, just with those new features, which is good. It might be more of the same, but any Dreamcast owner looking for a lot of fun would be making a big mistake to overlook Crazy Taxi 2.
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