Product Description

In Crazy Taxi, you play a cabbie in an accurate yet comic version of San Francisco. As you might expect from such a game, your job is to identify possible customers in the crowd (known as "fares"), pick them up and get them to their destination as soon as possible. That's the Taxi part. The Crazy part is that traffic laws, pedestrian safety and property damage are all negotiable. Simply put, the game rewards offensive--rather than defensive--driving, and that's what makes it so compulsively fun. Also, unlike most race games, there are no traditional boundaries or predetermined tracks for you to follow. The game allows you to follow your own best way... even if that means driving over fences or under water.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11271 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Acclaim
• Released on: 2002-05-03
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: GameCube

Amazon.co.uk Review
The arcade version of Crazy Taxi was a massive hit, with its high speed driving and pounding soundtrack. Creators, Sega, ported it over to the Dreamcast where it sold by the bucket-load, and now it's available for the PS2, the Xbox and the GameCube. And it's superb. The aim of the game is simple. Drive a ludicrously fast taxi and make oodles of cash as quickly as possible--easy!

Choosing from one of four drivers, each with their own skill set, the player needs to locate and pick up potential passengers, all of whom are identified by the appearance of a coloured dollar symbol above their head. From that point on it's a race against time through crowded streets to get the passenger to their destination while picking up healthy tips for speed on the way. Tips can be increased through the execution of stupidly dangerous stunts and the cunning use of the shortcuts and back alleys the game offers.

There are three major modes of play, offering the cityscape of the arcade original, a world created especially for the console versions of the game and the oddly named Crazy Box mode, which sets a number of challenges ranging from high speed ski-jumps to water balloon popping--an interesting, if slightly unusual addition.

Graphically, Crazy Taxi is a treat. Big, bold vehicles fairly rocket around the streets of the sprawling city, which has environments ranging from shopping malls to freeways and beaches. Everything shifts along at a fairly steady 60fps and the only gripe is the pop-up at long distance, which is irritating but doesn't ultimately affect gameplay. Sound is excellent, with some thumping skate-punk tunes provided by The Offspring and friends plus comedy backchat from the cab drivers and their passengers. Prolonged play may take the edge off this hilarity, but only time will tell.

What's sadly missing is any kind of multi-player facility. Crazy Taxi is strictly single player. This isn't really an issue (especially after closing time when the living room's packed with prospective Travis Bickles all patiently waiting a turn), but the ability for a two-player vs mode would have been the icing on the cake.

This game certainly isn't a Gran Turismo or a Formula 1 2002. There's not even a hint of simulation and the real world never gets a look-in. Instead, this is pure, blissful arcade entertainment. --Chris Russell

Manufacturer's Description
Crazy Taxi is a mad race against the clock--and the traffic. As any of four fearless cabbies, players are driven by a single goal: to rack up the mega-bucks in fares and tips before their shift ends. Drivers pick up passengers and take them to their destination by any way possible. It's a comic cab opera of collisions and decisions where courtesy takes a back seat to coin.

Customer Reviews

THIS GAME TURNS YOU C...R...AZY!!!
THIS HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST GAMES OF ALL TIME! Sure, it's only good once you've learnt how to master it, sure there's no real way to complete the driviving part of it (you can complete the CRAZY box section), sure it's not everyone's cup of tea as it has no mario, and none of the taxis have hidden machine guns on them (if you find on eplease email me at 3628@lgs.leeds.sch.uk), sure it has none of these, but who needs any of them when you've got CRAZY Taxi!!! You can go around town, beating your personal best, staying on for as long as possible on arcade mode (anyone else got more than twenty minutes?) and making the highest combo you can (Combo30 anyone?). Don't read other reviews, READ MINE!!!

Crazy Taxi
This game is fast and furious and certainly lives up to its name. The game play is superb and is the only driving game to date that keeps me coming back for more. As a cab driver the aim is simple drive as fast as possible in the style of a complete maniac to keep your passengers happy. Jumping over car transporter ramps, driving across busy parks, shopping malls and the like adds points to your score and time to that ticking clock! Learn to pull off crazy drifts and the crazy dash cuts down on your journey time and ups the tips from your passengers. Overall the game is excellent, the only draw back is the city and passengers can become a little annoying, the game play more than makes up for this though. Sega may have a dying console but they certainly know how to make original and entertaining games, I cannot wait to see what else Sega have lined up for the PS2 console.

My Review Of Crazy Taxi by Liam
no don't get me wrong i love crazy taxi and i am not a sega basher. when i first got my ps2 crazy taxi was the first game i RENTED. Rented being the key word. although i must have spent £40 playing this in the arcades i wouldn't buy it. i have only had it a night and i'm bored already. with only two levels and little objectives it does get a bit dull. so to refer to another review i suggest that you just rent this game.
sega if you are reading make a new version but make it sort of like Gran Turismo, imagine being able to buy parts for your taxi and doing it up, and a multiplayer mode where you can race and earn in competition with u're mates.
oh well this version is okay i s'pose
enjoy (for about 4hours or less!)