September is the month that the Sega Dreamcast was released in North America, it had plenty of original titles that were great (though not well received for the most part in the marketplace). One of these great original titles that came out on Dreamcast first is Crazy Taxi (originally an arcade game). Dreamcast saw two releases in this entertaining series and both are presented here in one PSP release called Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars.
You still have licensed music here and it sounds just as good as the sound from the Dreamcast versions (though music in the PSP edition is different and plays the same in both games) so if you like the music, turn it up. More than likely though after you have heard the same songs 5 or 6 times in your first hour, you will be turning down the music. It is great but it is like listening to a music CD over and over again, might be fun the first 3 times but it does get old. You can add MP3’s to your memory stick and they will play in the game (this option was not used for reviewing).
Graphics are quite good, pedestrians are all over the place, boxes are still piled on the side of the road, ramps are still there, traffic is just as hectic as it was before. You won’t be mad about crappy graphics with Crazy Taxi 1 or 2.
The gameplay is well, firmly set in arcade style. These are games designed for you to fail fairly often (so that you would put in more quarters to keep playing). Nothing wrong with it, just don’t expect to get far until you learn the little tricks of the trade so to speak. It is addictive, going for one more fare, or to top a high score though so be prepared for that, just take it in small lumps (maybe a car ride across town or on the subway, just something you can pick up and put down real fast if need be).
The big difference between Crazy Taxi 1 and 2 is that 2 has more of everything, mulitple passengers, bigger cities and more stuff to complete in the challenges. There is some slowdown and such when there is a lot going on (this is more evident in CT2). Another difference is there is a adhoc multiplayer and gamesharing two player modes (which the Dreamcast versions didn’t offer-though it would have been fun to be able to play online with CT2 with several other people).
The games are not perfect but you will definitely get your moneys worth with Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars, just be warned, it is not an RPG and not nearly as deep either.
7 out of 10
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars Official Site
Sega for PSP
Released in 1997
#1
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