Crazy Taxi Review
The goal in the game is simply to get the highest score possible within the game's time limit, and you can compare your score to your personal best or to other gamers on the online leaderboards. If you want to make a name for yourself on these boards, you're going to have to master the game's special driving moves such as boosts and drifts. Each of these requires some sort of combo which generally uses the game's forward and reverse gear buttons, and while they may not be the easiest or most ergonomic way to kick in special moves you'll get the hang of it with a little practice.
The game comes with the two cities that came with the Dreamcast version � one from the original arcade version of the game and the other introduced in the Dreamcast port. You'll always start off in the same spot and drive the same streets in games that will last for minutes, so there's a heavy dose of repetitiveness that kicks in pretty quickly with the game. The arcade mode was originally designed to munch people's quarters, so it's difficult to get a lot of play out of a game in that mode. There are additional modes that give you a longer set time limit that can't be extended, but these mostly serve to further expose the game's repetitive nature. There's also a challenge mode that has you doing things like jumping off a ramp for distance or using your cab as a giant bowling ball, but these are only interesting on the first play through, if that, and some rather tight pass criteria can make some of the challenges more frustrating than fun.
Even with nostalgia working in my favor I found Crazy Taxi to be disappointing. The game looks ugly and sounds poor by today's standards, and the gameplay hasn't held up all that well over the years. In Crazy Taxi you've got a game that will be a bit of a diversion for half an hour or so and then will be quickly forgotten. There are just too many XBLA games available that are more fun to play and that make for better use of your Microsoft Points.
Final Rating:
58%. Nostalgia alone is all there is to drive this
lackluster game port, and it's not enough.
Final Rating: 58% - Nostalgia alone is all there is to drive this lackluster game port, and it's not enough.
Note: A review code for this game was provided by the publisher.