SEGA’s arcade classics receive a slightly wobbly port to the PSP, but provides a brilliant dose of handheld action all the same.
| Developer |
SEGA; Sniper Studios
|
| Publisher | SEGA |
| Franchise | Crazy Taxi |
| Genre | Arcade; Racing |
| PSTV | No |
| PSN | EU/NA |
World-building & Story
Ah Crazy Taxi, a game from a simpler time. As a title built for arcades, there’s no real story here – you choose a cabbie from a lineup of four and drive around one of a number of cities (based on San Francisco; New York etc.) picking up fares and pulling off stunts. That’s all there is to it, and that’s all there needs to be.
As these are based on real locations rather than actually being them, you’ll encounter familiar landmarks and brands but just… slightly different. The familiar red dome of Pizza Hut is here, but named Pizza Shack, for example; but this isn’t really an issue due to the charisma of the places you’ll be driving in. These cities are brimming with life – rammed with traffic and citizens jostling for attention with bright, bold colours everywhere. The world SEGA have crafted here is unforgettable to anyone who played it, even all these years later.
There’s a unique humour to everything here too, despite the lack of dialogue. You might be tasked with taking a businesswoman to a fast food restaurant or an old lady to a snowboarding shop which always manages to raise a chuckle; while the yelps of passengers as you narrowly miss oncoming traffic is only surpassed by them moaning “hey watch it, you nearly killed me!” when picking them up. They certainly love a thrill, but only up to a certain point!
Presentation & Sound
Fare Wars is a collection of two Dreamcast entries in the Crazy Taxi franchise – 1 & 2, and thankfully both have come off quite well in the transition. Downgrades obviously had to be made due to the tech they were running on, but most everything has stayed in tact making a very good-looking package. It’s worth just initially noting that, bizarrely, Crazy Taxi 1 comes off best in the conversion, with the second game somehow having a worse framerate and draw distance; although neither have it so bad to be a problem.
Obviously, you’re going to spend most of your time staring at the taxi you’re driving – which is well modelled, skidding and drifting around each city in style. Characters are general low-poly, having blocky features and very little detail – but this rarely matters with the speed you’ll be flying around the city. It does detract from the experience that you’ll often be picking up the exact same passengers over and over from different locations in each area, but this is only a minor point.
The cities themselves are the starring part of the presentation though, crammed with details that really make them feel alive. They feel designed to show of aesthetic beauty – whether it be the sloping streets of the ‘Original’ track or the winding streets and skyscrapers of ‘Around Apple’, you’ll be at a loss to take in all the sights even with multiple playthroughs under your belt. Landmarks are scattered throughout and are cleverly used as destinations for the passengers you pick up, meaning you’ll get a better sense of each city every time you play.
Yet there’s a constant arcade feel overseeing everything you do in Crazy Taxi, which very much works in the game’s favour. Whether it be the giant arrow in the middle of the UI or the ticking clock to remind you that you’re chasing a high score, the game’s arcade roots are obvious – which managed to evoke a nostalgic feeling for me that I really loved. It’s helped by the excitable tones of the announcer telling you to go or hurry up alongside the cheers of passengers as you drift around a corner – all voices manage to capture that cheesy 90’e vibe without being embarrassing which is fantastic.
The other element of the sound is music. Purists will be disappointed at the removal of Bad Religion and Offspring songs and indeed if you’re used to the originals, the iconic “Yah yah yah yah yahhhh” upon starting a shift will be a noticeable omission. For everyone else, the new songs picked retain the upbeat rock feel and fit the tone of the game perfectly – personally I loved the new songs just as much as anything from the originals.
Gameplay & Content
Mixing arcade-style driving mechanics with a unique objective-based structure, Crazy Taxi is a proven good time that’s as good now as it ever was. Due to the simple controls everything is easily manageable on the Vita and it manages to shine as one of the standout backwards-compatible PSP titles out there.
Across both games (which are accessed from a menu upon booting up) you’ll be able to choose from two different modes. The lesser of these is ‘Crazy Box’ (or ‘Crazy Pyramid’ in Crazy Taxi 2) which gives you a number of driving tasks to help hone your skills. It’s worth checking these out early on as they’ll teach a number of central mechanics such as drifting; boosting and jumping which help you get by in the main chunk of the game as well as earn extra tips from customers.
In general, Crazy Taxi‘s driving is pretty fun. It’s very loose and arcade-y – there’s little in the way of realistic mechanics here as the back end of your cab will often hurtle out of control and collisions with other vehicles normally results in bouncing off then continuing on your way. In particular learning to boost and drift is quite difficult due to relying on shifting in and out of the drive gear, but with a little perseverance you’ll get there. It’s not for everyone, but works very well for this type of game and helps you effectively navigate each city to maximise the possible fares you can get without being burdened by difficult control.
The main meat of the game sees you driving around cities and taking passengers to their destination for money, which is tallied up at the end and compiled into a high score. You can choose to play for 3, 5 or 10 minutes and there’s also an ‘arcade’ option that works by giving you more time based on the difficulty of the fare you pick up. It’s a unique idea that’s almost unrivalled in videogames and manages to be extremely well pulled off by the team at SEGA.
Potential fares show as people with dollar signs above their head, the colour of the dollar being an indicator of how far they want to go (red = near; green = far). By stopping close to them they’ll get in your cab whereupon an arrow will pop up to show you the way to your destination, as well as a timer (the faster you get there, the more tips you’ll collect). Sadly the arrow sometimes becomes schizophrenic, flitting about the place or leading you the outright wrong way, but this is just a minor grievance.
And so the game becomes a mad dash to raise as much money as possible within the time limit. The more distance you travel for a fare the greater reward (and tips) you’ll earn, but you risk getting lost and losing out entirely (passengers will jump out and pay nothing if you don’t reach the destination within the time limit). You’re also encouraged to drive dangerously – narrowly missing oncoming traffic; jumping and drifting all earn extra tips, which help reach higher scores. It’s an addictive formula and will lead to you coming back time and time again for just another go.
There are four cities available here and each are a joy to explore – ‘Arcade’ and ‘Original’ from Crazy Taxi 1 feel modelled on San Francisco with sloping hills; trams and sea-side views while ‘Around Apple’ and ‘Small Apple’ from Crazy Taxi 2 are an interpretation of New York with blocks of skyscrapers as far as the eye can see. All have their fair share of annoyances but thanks to the 10 minute mode you can pretty much explore these at your leisure to get a better feel for them.
The only problem with Fare Wars is content. Even with four cities, you’ll eventually grow tired of them and despite the fact that they’re such big areas, you’ll always start in the same place meaning any given playthrough will likely follow a very similar route. However, this is the type of game I can see myself coming back to time and time again in the future to chase new high scores, meaning for the price you can get it for it’s an excellent proposition.
Conclusion
Two brilliant arcade classics in one portable package, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars was a fun title on PSP that’s just as enjoyable to re-visit on Vita. The high-score chasing gameplay will keep you addicted and thankfully there’s plenty to see across the four cities on show here, although things do wear a little thin after repeated play. Issues with the porting and changed soundtrack do take some of the lustre away, but overall this is a brilliant package that’s well worth re-visiting and keeping on your Vita for some time.
8.5/10
kresnik258gaming 