One of my favorite games for the Sega Dreamcast happened to be Crazy Taxi.  I had briefly played it in the arcade and I really didn't think much about it.  It was a lot of fun and that's where it ended.  But then as the Sega Dreamcast got closer and closer to its release date I started to see advertisements and previews show up in magazines.  Then I got pretty excited and finally made up my mind to pre-order Sega's latest console almost 6 months or so before it was to be released domestically.

I picked up Crazy Taxi within months of the Sega Dreamcast's release date.  On the surface you might think that it is just another driving game.  Crazy Taxi goes beyond the usual driving or racing game.  The basic idea of the game is to drive around the city and pick up passengers and take them to their various destinations.  You take on the role of one of four cab drivers all with their own personalities and vehicles to match.  The idea of the game is to drive around the city and pick up passengers.  Each passenger is standing in a colored (Red, Yellow, Green) circle representing how "hard" it will be to deliver that particular passenger.  A green circle means that the destination is close by with the red being further away.  The faster you get the passenger to their destination the more money you get.  Also flashy moves like power sliding and jumping off ramps excites your passenger which adds to the dollar amount you get when you drop them off.  If you go over the time limit, your passenger gets angry and you don't get as much money.

The game features a wonderful control system which takes advance of the Sega Dreamcast's analog "triggers" which allows for precise breaking and accelerating.  It's almost as good as using a steering wheel.  The Sega Dreamcast Standard Controller seems well suited for driving games.

Crazy Taxi takes place in a scaled-down version of San Francisco.  Sega did a great job in replicating the city from the row houses to the trolley system.  Sega even obtained licenses to use actual brand names like FILA Shoes, Pizza Hut, and even San Francisco's own Levi jeans.  The different stores and fast food joints are scattered throughout various locations.  The city is very realistic looking as well as the traffic that fills it. From the pedestrians to the vehicles, Sega again does a great job in replicating the look and feel of an actual city.  Sega even added a busy freeway through part of the city as well a crowded beach.  There is some minor slowdown in one of the crowded parks but for the most part everything is well replicated and runs smoothly even in the most "crowded" parts of the city.  The Sega Dreamcast version of the game also features an alternate city to drive in.

The graphics are well done.  The city is realistic looking like I said before and the people have a cartoony kind of look about them.  The lighting effects like shadows are nice looking and not jagged looking.  The overall feel of the graphics are crisp and clean looking.  I was kind of disappointed that there were no other weather affects besides the sun.  A rain shower or two and some thunder or lighting would have been cool, but for the most part there isn't really thing wrong with sunny San Francisco.

The sound effects are great but for the most part aren't really noticeable because you are busy listening to your passenger scream at you or praise you.  If you hit another car or drive into oncoming traffic your passenger hits you over the head and tells you to be careful and if you do something to show off (like drift, power slide, etc.) they get excited and say things like "wow! You're really good..." etc.  Also the music features songs from punk bands Bad Religion and The Offspring which happen to really fit in with the theme of the game.  A lot of people complained about the soundtrack, but I really like it.  You have the option of turning it off if you like and just listen to the sound effects.

The home console version also features a mode called Crazy Box which consists of several mini-games that test your cab driving abilities.  The usual driving tests you might also find at the Department of Motor Vehicles is power sliding into balloons, jumping off a ramp and flying as far as you can, and driving a whole course backwards are included.  Well, maybe the DMV doesn't include these tests but the Sega Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi does.

This particular version of the game is the best in the series.  Crazy Taxi 2 was a lot of fun but didn't have that certain "feel" to it.  Part 3 released a few years later on the Microsoft X-Box was pretty bad as was the later ports found on a number of consoles of the first two games in the series.  If you are able to find this game you might want to pick it up.  If you've only played the various ports and not the actual Dreamcast version, you are missing out big time.  No other version or sequel compares to the Sega Dreamcast version. Period.
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[TITLE]:
Crazy Taxi

[PLATFORM]:
Sega Dreamcast

[DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER]:
Hitmaker/Sega

[YEAR of RELEASE]:
2000

[GENRE]:
Racing/Driving

[ESRB RATING]:
T for Teen
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© Copyright 2009 Chris_Billings

*This review is part of my attempt t oat least once a month, write about the Sega Dreamcast.  Since 2009 marks the 10th Anniversary of the console I thought that this would be appropriate.

Recommended: Yes