Game Reviews

Crazy Taxi

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Crazy Taxi
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| Crazy Taxi

If the taxi drivers round your way are anything like the ones in my town, even a short distance in the back of them is comparable to a day at Alton Towers without the safety harnesses.

So it actually makes perfect sense to fashion a breakneck, high-speed racing game around the everyday experience of cab driving.

And for once it's a thrill ride you can enjoy, given that you're not as concerned about sailing through the windscreen in Gameloft's new 3D car chase extravaganza.

Eat my rubber

The premise is almost entirely explained within the title, but just in case you thought it was being cryptic, rest assured that this is a game putting you behind the wheel of a taxi - and your only motivation is to make the fares as fast as possible.

Customers hang around at the side of the road, waiting for you to screech to a halt and get them to their destination with minimum regard for traffic, road laws and safety - just like a real Red Bull-addled, sleep deprived taxi driver.

There are a couple of different modes, such as Arcade and Timed (requiring you to make as much money as possible within a set time limit) but the essence is always the same. It might sound limited, but that really isn't an issue thanks to the impressive speed and handling of your yellow and chequered road rocket.

Had a busy night?

Crazy Taxi is entirely 3D, and while the buildings are pretty simple and the textures a little rough, the truth is you won't have the time to study the game's imperfections. It's a blindingly fast racing game, with impressively slick manoeuvring for a mobile title.

The controls can tie your thumbs a little to begin with, as the heavy use of double presses for fast starts, power drifts and sudden breaking can sometimes be a bit difficult to put your finger on during the heat of a fare.

There's plenty of traffic to contend with, and the streets fairly twist, turn, peak, and dive (with plenty of opportunity for illicit shortcuts across parks and pavements) so Crazy Taxi provides enough reason to perfect your driving technique, and you'll be glad of these involved controls as the game progresses.

It's not a deep experience by any means, but as a raw arcade racer with a boot-full of good humour and super-slick 3D racing, Crazy Taxi is well worth its fare.

Crazy Taxi

Reasonable looking visuals are complemented beautifully by impressively fast game speed and a very entertaining concept. Perhaps not a particularly long thrill ride, but a thrill ride nonetheless
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.