Review: Crazy Taxi

[Archemetis]

Music alteration asside.

'How does this 10 year old game hold up against its modern counterparts?'

It bloody shouldn't, that's how!

Why do these games need to be reviewed?
They're old and not as good as modern games, because they ARE OLD.


You're not telling us anything we don't already know...

Rant over.

Summary:
"This ten-year old game is still ten years old. It hasn't changed at all. I'm going to say crazy a lot because that's cool, right? Also, they changed the music, sadface."
No offence, Russ... But what was the point of this review?

The point of this review is that it just came out on Xbox Live Arcade. I'm sure anyone who played this game and loved it and doesn't still have a working Dreamcast and this game would be willing to pay for it again just because of the nostalgia factor. He does a great deal of people a big favor here by letting us know that one of the most important parts of this game isn't there. Old games do not equal bad games. Bad graphics do not equal bad games. These games were some of the best during their time and thats where nostalgia comes in. Point being, you didn't have to watch this review if you have already passed judgement on it. This review was not posted to change your view on a ten year old game, it was posted to inform people who might be interested in it.

And who exactly would be interested in a game from 10 years ago, if not the people from 10 years ago who already know what it's like?

It just goes against my personal idea of what a review does, informs us of things we may not have seen yet to give us insight from a more 'professional angle'.

What this 'review' has done has taken something that the majority of people on this site have at least heard of and told what we already came to expect:

The soundtrack has changed for copyright reasons

The advertisement has changed, due to copyright reasons

It's a ten year old game, if it was better than modern driving games, then the developers were probably from the future and robots...


It just didn't need to be done.

 

[Jester00]

i loved that game.

 

[Russ Pitts]

No offence, Russ... But what was the point of this review?

No offense taken.

The point of this review is to provide purchasing perspective for owners of modern consoles who may be wondering if this newly-released game is worth their dollars.

Anybody with an internet connection could figure out this is an old game, but I buy plenty of old games, as do a lot of gamers. Some are games that I played in the past and would like to play again, but no longer own (or own the systems they came out on). Some are old games I never got around to playing and am now considering purchasing at a bargain price just for hoots. In either case, having some idea of what I'd be in for would definitely be useful to me, as I hope it would be to our audience.

That's not even to mention newcomers to gaming who did not get the chance to enjoy these older games when they were first released. If they are looking at their "newly released" list on XBLA and PSN and seeing Crazy Taxi, they're definitely wondering if that game would be worth their ten dollars, and I'm happy to help them out with that decision.

As you'll note, this review is not based on the arcade, Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2 or PC version of Crazy Taxi. It's based on the version that was just released for XBLA. So, in essence, it is technically a review of a ten year old game, but it is also technically a review of a brand new game that has not been available in its current form until now. And those are the games we review.

 

[Tarrker]

We've had the arcade console version of this game in our basement for almost six years now and just last year the display started failing. I build computers so I've been trying really hard to fix it, but I think the video card is just dead. This makes me REALLY sad because this games is still just CRAZY fun when you use the console to drive it. However, if you're going to play it on the XBox console, or on a PC, or whatever, there's a Simpsons game for the original XBox that is just a ZILLION times better than any of the Crazy Taxi games. I forget what it's called but I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that know the game I'm talking about. If you're thinking of shelling out cash for the original Crazy Taxi on XBL you should probably just get the Simpsons version. It's just a better game all around.

 

[Tarrker]

Oh! I forgot to mention this in my post and I don't think Russ said anything in his review, but, the original Crazy Taxi is just CRAZY HARD. My father enters this Zen-like trance when he plays it and, (after six years of basement parties) he is still the best person I know at this game. That being said, he very rarely even gets the second highest rating on this game. The top three high scores are also STILL intact from the factory. Keep in mind, this is a game be bought from an arcade, too. Sorry to make a double post but I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this and, I think, it's a pretty important thing to note if you're gonna buy a game

 

[Falseprophet]

Heh, the background noise of my local arcade was so high I barely noticed the music (if I remember right, Crazy Taxi was wedged between the Terminator 2 rail shooter and the mecha combat simulation Virtual On. So Arnie bellowing "Hasta la vista, baby!" on one side, and "ROUND 1--GET READY!" with blaring J-pop on the other.) Between that place and my teenaged love for heavy metal, it's a wonder I'm not deaf today.

$10 for a game where I get to drive recklessly and crazy isn't too bad a deal compared to $60 for a game where I get to drive recklessly, but also have to call my cousin and take him bowling and get into horrible cover-based shoot-outs.

 

[Tharwen]

I once found an arcade version of this in a hotel in France, which had two extra maps and three extra drivers on it.

Where did they come from? Why aren't they on my PS2 version? Did the original game have Give it All by Rise Against on it or is my memory lying to me again? What does grade 'S' mean? Why did I never have enough speed to jump that river in the middle and still make it to the rooftop on the other side?

I may have to start the game up again...

 

[lacktheknack]

Your overuse of "crazy"...



...is driving me crazy.

 

[lacktheknack]

I'm sorry, the video was a little vague, I thought.

What would be the best adjective to describe this game?

Ummmm... I see what you did thar.

 

[proghead]

Yeah, nostalgia is a *****.

 

[Moon_Called]

No offence, Russ... But what was the point of this review?

*snipped for length*

Fair enough.
I'm not really sure if you mentioned that it had come out on the XBLA... *goes to check*
Oh, so you did. My bad, I somehow missed that bit.
Well defended, Russ. I concede.

 

[duchaked]

huh...I've heard of the infamous Offspring song... (off to look it up)

 

[wickedwizzard01]

oh well i downloaded and played the Demo on XBLA but it sure missed the offspring tracks
so i did not buy it
instead i dusted off my Dreamcast and put the disk in and it still is as much fun as it was 10 years ago
i might still get the XBLA version but the omission of the original soundtrack is a Big disappointment maybe even a dealbreaker

i am not sure if i will get it on Xbox
but hey my DreamCast won't last forever is it?

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

Oh boy, I remember wasting a lot of tokens on this at the arcade. In fact, it was pretty much the only arcade game I ever got in to. One night we played so late the arcade staff pulled out the cord of the machine while I was still going. I think the version I was playing was CT3, it had a Las Vegas map and one more... can't remember. But it still had the awesome soundtrack.

"IF YOU COULD ONLY READ MY MIND
YOU WOULD KNOW THAT I'VE BEEN WAITINGGGGGG
SO LONG"

 

[Tarrker]

I once found an arcade version of this in a hotel in France, which had two extra maps and three extra drivers on it.

Where did they come from? Why aren't they on my PS2 version? Did the original game have Give it All by Rise Against on it or is my memory lying to me again? What does grade 'S' mean? Why did I never have enough speed to jump that river in the middle and still make it to the rooftop on the other side?

I may have to start the game up again...

Grade S is Special. It means you found a secret or beat a high score... I think. Also France may have been outside of the original copyright for the game. Especially if it's the English or original Japanese version. Because of this, local developers can safely add whatever they want to the game without any nasty lawsuits or anything. I once saw one of the original Contra arcade console that came from Germany. They had changed the name to "American Fighting Men" and it was four players instead of just two. The game was all in English too.