Crazy Taxi is a series of racing games developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It was first available as an arcade video game in 1999, then released for the Dreamcast console in 2000. It is the third best-selling Dreamcast game in the United States, selling over a million copies. as stated by the IGN staff for their review of the Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi:
Starting with Crazy Taxi 2, the gameplay included the ability to pick up a party of passengers, each having a different destination. The number of passengers in the car multiplies the tip bonuses earned from stunt driving, while the total fare can only be earned once the last passenger is dropped off in time.
Development
The original arcade game was developed by Hitmaker as a variation from then-current arcade titles. Crazy Taxi producer Kenji Kanno noted that the time extension on gameplay was a breakaway of the current "100 yen for 3 minutes" that persisted at the time for arcade games, and rewarded players with longer playing times by performing well in the game. In addition to providing a game that could be played in short sessions, Kanno wanted a game to explore the "daily life and routine" of a taxi driver. In the development of the Dreamcast version of the original arcade game, the developers included a larger map in addition to the arcade one, as to create a feeling of "being lost" and allowing home console players to have fun "learning the town".
Hitmaker had tried to develop an online version of Crazy Taxi, to be called Crazy Taxi Next exclusively for the Xbox, which, besides multiplayer game modes, would have included night and day cycles, each with a different set of passengers and destinations, while reusing and graphically updating the maps from Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2. Ultimately, both multiplayer and day/night cycles were dropped and work on Crazy Taxi Next was transferred to Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, which included some of the nighttime driving concepts suggested by Next.
Kenji Kanno has noted that the gameplay in the Crazy Taxi series has otherwise not "evolved" with each new game "because basically the whole point of the game is to have a lot of fun in a short period of time, and it's a very concentrated game. So instead of trying to evolve the series necessarily, it's more like taking that concept and putting it in different places – seeing how it works". Kanno considered bringing the title to newer consoles, but wanted to include multiplayer features and having a time cycle within the game that would affect passengers' attitudes and the environment of the game.
Setting
Through the series, the cities used within the Crazy Taxi games have been influenced by real-world cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Las Vegas. Certain versions of the Crazy Taxi game include in-game counterparts of real-world businesses, such as Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, FILA, and Tower Records; these were often destination targets for the passengers. Although this is one of the most prominent examples of product placement in video gaming history, it is generally looked upon relatively favorably amongst gamers, perhaps because it gives a sense of realism to the fictional cities in the game. These establishments are replaced with generic businesses in later games due to licensing difficulties.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the Crazy Taxi series has typically been licensed hard rock and punk rock music. The arcade and initial home console versions include selections from punk rock bands The Offspring and Bad Religion, though these have been removed in both the Game Boy Advance and the PlayStation Portable remakes because of licensing issues.
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Crazy Taxi
- "All I Want" - The Offspring
- "Change the World" - The Offspring
- "Hear It" - Bad Religion
- "Inner Logic" - Bad Religion
- "Ten in 2010" - Bad Religion
- "Them and Us" – Bad Religion
- "Way Down the Line" – The Offspring
Crazy Taxy PC version'
- "Fingercuffs" – Pivit
- "Middle Children" – Pivit
- "The Distance" – Too Rude
- "Let It Roll" – Total Chaos
- "What You Gonna Do" – Total Chaos
Crazy Taxi 2
- "Americana" – The Offspring
- "Come Out Swinging" – The Offspring
- "Crash" – Methods of Mayhem
- "No Brakes" – The Offspring
- "One Fine Day" – The Offspring
- "Walla Walla" – The Offspring
- "Who the Hell Cares" – Methods of Mayhem
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
- "All I Want" – The Offspring
- "Boom Boom Boogie" – Citizen Bird
- "Crash" – Methods of Mayhem
- "Empty Causes" – Bad Religion
- "Hear It" – Bad Religion
- "Hotrod Girl" – Brian Setzer '68 Comeback Special
- "Ignition" – Brian Setzer '68 Comeback Special
- "Inner Logic" – Bad Religion
- "King Of The Line" – Citizen Bird
- "No Brakes" – The Offspring
- "Punk Rock Song" – Bad Religion
- "Special Delivery" – The Offspring
- "Ten In 2010" – Bad Religion
- "Raw Power Angel" – Citizen Bird
- "Want You Bad" – The Offspring
- "Who the Hell Cares" – Methods of Mayhem
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars
- "Another Beautiful Day" – Oneofthesedays
- "Black Radio" – Jonny Rumble
- "The Chase" – Theron Day
- "Escape Artist" – Burn the Fields
- "Farewell to a Friend" – Oneofthesedays
- "Fire Puppy" – Thomas Lunch
- "Get Out" – The Hooks
- "No One Hears Me" – Oneofthesedays
- "Orange Wednesday" – One Light Out
- "Red Eyes" – Ming + FS
- "Spy Chaser" – We Are Invisible
- "Yellow Dotted Lines" – Ming + FS
- "Your Mouth is a Guillotine" – The Vicious Five
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Legalities
thumb|200px|right|Sega patented the core gameplay mechanics of Crazy Taxi to prevent cloning by third parties.
Sega applied for and was awarded U.S. Patent 6,200,138 – "Game display method, moving direction indicating method, game apparatus and drive simulating apparatus" – in 2001. The mechanics in the "138 patent" describe an arcade cabinet similar to Sega's previous arcade game Harley-Davidson & L.A. Riders (1997), but also describe the arrow navigation system and pedestrian avoidance aspects that were used in Crazy Taxi.
In 2001, Electronic Arts and Fox Interactive released The Simpsons: Road Rage, which reviews identified as being clearly inspired by the gameplay of Crazy Taxi. In this game, the player controlled one of The Simpsons characters as they drive around Springfield, bringing passengers to these destinations in a way like in Crazy Taxi. In December 2003, Sega brought Fox Entertainment, Electronic Arts, and developer Radical Games Ltd. to court over this infringement of the 138 patent. The case, Sega of America, Inc. v. Fox Interactive, et al., was settled in private for an unknown amount. The 138 patent is considered to be one of the most important patents in video game development.
Games
Crazy Taxi
right|thumb|The Crazy Taxi arcade cabinet
The arcade version of Crazy Taxi was released in February 1999, and featured only the San Francisco-inspired map (known as "Arcade" in the first console game, and later as "West Coast" in sequels). The "Standard Version" arcade cabinet included a cockpit seat, steering wheel, a gear shift lever (for forward and reverse gear) and a brake and acceleration pedal; a more compact "Naomi Cabinet Version" also existed without the cockpit seat. The arcade game was one of the first to use the Sega NAOMI hardware processor, which is based on the Sega Dreamcast and was unveiled as part of Sega's exhibition at the 1999 Amusement Operators Union exposition in Japan.
The console/home version of Crazy Taxi was released for the Dreamcast on January 24, 2000. The Dreamcast and the cabinet arcade version share nearly identical processing hardware, and porting the game to the home console was only made difficult due to the limited internal memory size on the Dreamcast. and GameCube on November 18, while Activision and Strangelite ported the game to the PC in 2002; only the PlayStation 2 port was more successful than the Dreamcast version, and the rest didn't do as well. The Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi was also playable through emulation via GameTap on PC systems.
Crazy Taxi 2
Crazy Taxi 2 was released for the Dreamcast on May 28, 2001. The game introduced four cab drivers as well as two new maps based on NYC (called "Around Apple" and "Small Apple"), and added two gameplay features: the mechanics of collecting multiple passengers from a single spot, and the "Crazy Hop", allowing the taxi to clear traffic and certain obstacles with short jumps. Additionally, the "Crazy Box" mode in the first game was expanded into a "Crazy Pyramid" mode. one of the maps from Crazy Taxi 2, and a new map based on Las Vegas ("Glitter Oasis"). The game adds an additional four characters to select from. The game allows the player to unlock other modes of transport besides the taxi, including a stroller, a pedal bike and a carriage. The mini-games in Crazy Taxi 3 are featured in a "Crazy X" arrangement.
Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride
Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride was ported to the Game Boy Advance by Graphics State and distributed by THQ, and released on April 8, 2003. This version is fundamentally the same as the Crazy Taxi console versions, featuring the San Francisco and Los Angeles-themed maps but with a smaller selection of mini-games, adapted to play on the portable device using the Graphics State "Rush" engine. Richard Whittall, creative director for Graphics State, noted that Catch A Ride was "about the most technically challenging game you could do on a handheld machine" at the time of its release. and released for the PlayStation Portable on August 7, 2007. The game effectively is a port of both Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 to this system without any changes to the gameplay, The player can also record up to a minute of gameplay footage that can then be shared with friends. The game includes a multiplayer feature over the PSP's ad-hoc wireless system, allowing players to vie for fares within the same map, including the ability to steal passengers from another player. Multiplayer games such as time trials or "C-R-A-Z-Y" runs (a variation of the game "Horse") can also be played sharing a common PSP, with each player taking turns within the game.
Crazy Taxi Tycoon
Crazy Taxi Tycoon, previously known as Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire, was another mobile spin-off game developed by Demiurge Studios and released in 2017 for iOS and Android. Unlike other games, this is a top-down endless business management simulator and idle clicker where players run a taxi business and hire drivers to defeat a ridesharing megacorporation called Prestige Mega Corp. The game was delisted from both app stores in April 2020, with servers going offline the following month.
Untitled Crazy Taxi game
During The Game Awards 2023, Sega released a trailer featuring many upcoming games based on dormant franchises, one of which being a work-in-progress Crazy Taxi game. It is set to be the first major game since 2002's Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller. Series producer Kenji Kanno referred to it as a “large-scale, open-world, massively multiplayer driving game." Sega is building the game in Unreal Engine.
Reception
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; text-align:center;"
|-
!Game
!System
!Metacritic
!GameRankings
|-
!rowspan=4|Crazy Taxi
|Dreamcast
| —
|90% (41 reviews)
|-
|PS2
|80/100 (15 reviews)
|79% (46 reviews)
|-
|GameCube
|69/100 (20 reviews)
|70% (39 reviews)
|-
|PC
|
|56% (6 reviews)
|-
!Crazy Taxi 2
|Dreamcast
|82/100 (18 reviews)
|83% (36 reviews)
|-
!rowspan=2|Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
|Xbox
|69/100 (33 reviews)
|69% (59 reviews)
|-
|PC
|
|49% (1 review)
|-
!Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride
|GBA
|48/100 (14 reviews)
|47% (15 reviews)
|-
!Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars
|PSP
|65/100 (20 reviews)
|67% (16 reviews)
|-
!Crazy Taxi: City Rush
|iOS
|66/100 (8 reviews)
|65.83% (6 reviews)
|}
The original Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi was one of the best-selling games for the console. The game was the second largest selling Dreamcast game in the United States in 2000, selling nearly 750,000 units, and is the third bestselling Dreamcast game in the United States with over a million units sold. The game was praised for capturing the arcade flavor, and possibly exceeding it by making the controls and execution of the crazy stunts easier to perform.
Crazy Taxi 2 was well received by reviewers with the new features helping to expand play from the original game, though some thought that more drastic changes could have been made in the sequel. Despite the addition of new maps, the lack of new gameplay elements caused Crazy Taxi 3 to be panned by reviewers.
The ports of the original game to the PS2 and GameCube platforms are not considered as strong as the Dreamcast game. Both were noted to suffer from more "pop-up" than the Dreamcast version, as well as poorer controls, despite having the same gameplay features. Graphic problems plagued the Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride port to the Game Boy Advance; as IGN stated, "it's painfully obvious that the hardware just was never meant to push so much".
The PSP ports of Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars have had a somewhat better reception than other ports. Reviews have complimented the game on the multiplayer additions and the ability to add a custom soundtrack – which led IGN to comment that "including this should be a no-brainer, but many PSP titles don't" – but have noted some graphical glitches, the long loading times, and the lack of the original soundtracks for the games. The reviews of the controls of the game have mixed, with some praising the scheme on the PSP,
A Crazy Taxi segment is featured in the "Sega Carnival" track in Sonic Riders, including a hidden shortcut allowing racers to receive a ride from taxi driver Axel; a Crazy Taxi extreme gear can be unlocked as well. There is also a minigame based on Crazy Taxi in the EyeToy game, Sega Superstars, in which players move around and shout to call one of the taxi drivers. B.D. Joe, who has appeared in most games in the series, appears as a playable character in the cross-series racing game, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Sumo Digital's Steve "S0L" Lycett had to get approval from SEGA AM3 to use B.D. Joe in the game. He also appeared in the sequel, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Beyond video games
right|thumb|The Crazy Taxi Redemption Game arcade cabinet
Sega has attempted to branch the Crazy Taxi franchise beyond the realm of video games, with mixed results.
In addition to the video arcade games, Sega Enterprises, Inc. (USA) created a Crazy Taxi themed redemption game which was released in 2003. The player had to roll their coin or token down the sloped playing surface past a moving taxi model in the center of the playing field to hit one of eight targets (representing passengers) at the far end. Passengers were worth different points, from which the operator would then set the number of tickets to be won. The game incorporated music and sounds from the video games.
150px|left|thumb|Crazy Taxi GearHead RC car with Axel driving
There have been two attempts to create a movie based on the Crazy Taxi franchise. In 2001, Goodman-Rosen Productions acquired the rights for the movie, with Richard Donner lined up to direct the film. Donner said that he loved playing Crazy Taxi and thought it had the potential to be a big summer event movie. The movie would have been tied with other merchandise items such as T-shirts and toys, according to Jane Thompson, director of licensing for Sega of America. However, this initial attempt stalled due to an "absence of plot elements" according to Movie Insider. After this option expired, Mindfire Entertainment acquired the rights to a Crazy Taxi movie based on the game franchise in 2002, with an then-expected release date in mid-2003.
In 2003, Sega entered a contract with DSI Toys to produce a remote controlled car in their "GearHead" line based on the Crazy Taxi franchise, but DSI filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy later that year.
Sega has formed the production company Stories International and teamed up with Evan Cholfin for film and TV projects based on their Crazy Taxi games.