If only Sega could've earned this much money. - by The Mad Giraffe
Remember Crazy Taxi? That game where you assumed the role of a crazy taxi driver and proceeded to drive people around a city for money for ludicrous amounts of money? Just about everyone who played this game (for the three of you who didn't play it, I suggest you go buy it now) became very addicted to it's fast paced arcade-style gameplay. It had everything needed in a good game; beautiful graphics, awesome gameplay, and even an extremely catchy soundtrack. Now, just as people are beginning to lose hope in the Dreamcast, Sega and Hitmaker are taking us for another hair raising ride in a sequel to one of the most enjoyable Dreamcast games available.
As far as gameplay goes, Crazy Taxi 2 will be about the same as the first, and this, my friend, is definitely not a bad thing. You will once again take the role of one of Crazy Taxi 2's four new original characters (Hot-D, Slash, Iceman, and Cinnamon) which will replace the four from the first game. Each one of them will have their own unique set of wheels and different attributes (some cars are better in certain areas than others). You then frantically speed around a giant New York-like city to pick up customers willing to pay for a taxi ride from hell, and then you try your hardest to get them to a certain destination within a set time limit.
Behold the new Crazy Jump! Behold it! Behold now! |
The wacky warped world of Crazy Taxi hasn't changed a bit. |
New to the sequel is the ability to pick up a group of people at once. Group fares mean more cash for your driver, but not all of them will necessarily have to go to the same destination. All of your favorite Crazy moves (Crazy Dash, Crazy Drift, etc.) will make a return, including an all new Crazy Jump (some could pull it off in the original, but now it's more accessible) that will make Ice Cube's hydraulics look like kid stuff. Finally, new to this sequel, is something that is sure to keep all night Dreamcast parties bumpin' -- a split screen multiplayer mode which will allow up to four gamers to compete against each other for cab fares.
The games graphics are basically the same as the original, but this is definitely not a bad thing. The original game was simply gorgeous in terms of graphics quality. Every little detail, from the fleeing pedestrians to the personalized license plates, helped establish a great realized world to drive through. We should expect nothing but the best from Crazy Taxi 2, as it is more or less a slightly enhanced version of the original's amazing graphics engine. Along with the games "New York" setting will come more traffic, but you can bet your left big toe that this will not affect the game's blazing frame rate which will be running at a perfectly consistent 60 frames-per-second. The level design look to be just as spectacular as the original city, with multiple ways to get to a single destination. The city will also be massively large in size, so expect to get lost your first few runs around the city. The graphical style will be exactly like the original, which utilized realistic vehicle and character models, mixed with bright, colorful textures. (Apparently the people at Hitmaker have never been to New York.)
It's about time we saw a red car! Actually, the variety is nice. |
A swerve like that in the real city would kill at least a dozen pedestrians. |
Just when you thought that this game couldn't possibly reach a higher status... it does. One of the things I enjoyed most about the original Crazy Taxi (beside the addictive gameplay and awesome graphics) was the game's perfectly done sound. This new installment promises to be equally as pleasing to the ear as the original game. The first thing we can look forward to will be the game's top notch sound effects -- the screeching tires, cha-chinging of money, yelling customers, smart-mouth drivers, and so on. For those of you who do not like playing games with just sound effects and no music, you to are in luck. Crazy Taxi 2's soundtrack, like the original, will be done by The Offspring and Bad Religion, and of course they'll be putting in some more fast catchy tracks into the mix (I still can't get that "Ai Ya Ya Ya Yahhhhh" out of my head).
Crazy Taxi 2 is cracking up to be on heck of a game. It has the three main factors (graphics, gameplay, and sound) in its corner for the delivery of the 1-2-3 combo. I can actually say that I am excited and looking forward to playing the game until my thumbs hurt (fans of the original know what I'm talking about). What Sega and Hitmaker have created in Crazy Taxi is an incredible franchise which can really be expanded upon. Fans of the original should be counting the days until the scheduled May 29th release. I hope all of you will be ready to make some serious ccccrrrrraaazzzzyyy money!
Next: More screenshots!
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