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GCN Review by: Kazooie

Crazy Taxi was awesome in the arcades and on the Dreamcast, and the 'Cube continues the solid gameplay. Crazy Taxi is really worth considering, especially if you haven't played it before.

Playing Crazy Taxi is a breeze, even for the first time. The idea is to pick up people you see standing around trying to catch a cab, and take them to their desired destination. And you must do this the fastest way possible, and if that means driving through parks, on sidewalks, or through shopping malls, then so be it. There aren't any complications to this game at all, and if that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. I love taxis. I really do. As soon as you enter one, you are hit with the smell of over thousands of people, all wanting to get to their own place as

to those unfamiliar with CT, go out and get it. CT has you working for the “Crazy Taxi” Cab Company, whose motto is “Get them there fast or don’t get them there at all!” At the start, you choose from four hip cabbies. We have Axel, the green haired punk, B.D. Joe, the hip hopping cool dude, Gena, the hot babe, and Gus, the trash talking New Yorker. Each driver presumably has his or her own special traits, and you should practice with each one to find one that suits your style. Now, once you pick your cabbie, you are tossed out onto the map you chose, and you must hunt for fares. You can till who is a fare and who isn’t due to the large money sign above their head. You pull up next to the fare, and he/she hops into the cab and tells you where they need to go. Once they get in, a timer appears next to their head. You must get the fare to wherever they want to go before the timer runs out, and they hope out of the cab. Now, a large green arrow appears at the top of your screen.

Crazy Taxi doesn’t throw all new modes of play at you, and that suits me just fine. CT doesn’t need new modes and schmutz to make it great. CT sticks to its arcade roots by offering the New York map you play in the arcade version, and the specially designed map of San Francisco that was in the PS2 version. “Just two maps?” you say in disgust. These two maps are all you’ll need. New York and San Francisco are HUGE. Really huge. I mean, as huge as yo’ mama. You can play these maps by working a set time (3, 5, or 10 minutes), or playing by arcade rules.

CT also shoves the Crazy Box mode at you, which is actually very challenging. Think of the Crazy Box mode as you first day on the job training. There are 9 levels in Crazy Box, and each give you a challenging to complete, such as jumping past a point and taking fares to different stops. In order to complete these challenges, you must master the “Crazy” moves like the Crazy Drift and Crazy Dash. The Crazy Box is a challenging mode that slaps on replay, and if you complete all 9 levels, maybe you’ll get something in return…

There are 4 different drivers you can take your pick from, each with there own taxi. Each taxi has their own style of turns and speeds, and each driver has their own attitude, which shows when you're driving. There are only 2 courses to choose from, which I find a bit disappointing, but at least the 2 that are there are very large and still offer a lot of variety.

The graphics in Crazy Taxi are really incredible, in fact, they're almost flawless. No pop up or fog really makes the game look great, but the speedy frame rate is my favorite part of the game's graphics.

The sound is really good too, with clear and humorous lines from the drivers and passengers, and the crash sound effects are quite nice. If you're an Offspring or Bad Religion fan you'll like the background music, and there isn't a way to turn it off.

Crazy Taxi is instantly playable thanks to it's easy controls. You use the gas and brake, and that's all in this game, and that's fine. Nice analog support gives you full control of your vehicle, and won't get frustrated with any part of the controls.

if you're looking for a game without a lot of complications and are just fun to pick up and play, there's no question that Crazy Taxi is right for you. Give it a try; you won't want to put the controller down. This is one awesome game, if you like it you might also try Simpson’s Road Rage too.

Presentation Crazy Taxi was, and still is, an extremely fun game in the arcades and on the Dreamcast. The Gamecube does an excellent job as well with the title.	7.5
Graphics While the graphics don't excel in any special area, the speedy framerate is great.	7.0
Gameplay The controls are easy to learn, and the idea of the game is extremely fun. I has hours of arcade style excitement packed into it.	8.0
Overall Crazy Taxi will definitely supply you of all your entertainment needs. From the normal play mode, to the many mini-games, the game is extremely fun.	8.5