Gaming Target - Xbox: Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller

Written by Ryan Smotherman on May 13, 2002

First Impressions: The only thing crazier than Mike Tyson!

No series in recent memory has provided as much intense driving action, originality, and plain old cheap thrills as Sega's Craaaaaaaaazzzzzzy Taxi! Everyone who plays games has eventually come across either the arcade or perfect Dreamcast ports of Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 (not to mention the PS2 and Gamecube versions of the original that Sega whored out to Acclaim). The developer, Hitmaker, created a fine piece of a gaming engine and very unique gameplay style that has since been copied by other developers looking to bank off of Sega's success (Simpson's Road Rage and Smashing Drive anyone?). While there might be a plethora of copycat titles out there, no one can do it better than the originators, especially when the Xbox gaming console is involvedЕ

That's correct kiddies, Crazy Taxi 3 and it's ever so clever High Roller subtitle is coming to your Xbox this summer. Promising to bring all that insane, and highly addicting arcade-style gameplay back into our boring little livesЕ well, mine anyways. If you've never played a Crazy Taxi game, *cough*burninhell*cough*, then you're probably wondering what all the fuss is about. The concept here is simple: you take control of one of four crazy taxi drivers, pick up some crazy passengers, drive all crazy to there destination(s), and in the process you earn some crazy money. It's in a word Ц crazy! Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds. There's a time limit involved here, and you must try to find the quickest way to your target in order earn time bonuses that allow you to stay afloat. And if you wish to earn that killer dough, one must rack up as many tips as possible by driving like a mad man. In a sense, you're just following the same pick up and drop off routine over and over again, however, it has a certain addicting quality to it that just begs for hours of your precious time. Crazy Taxi 3 is set to follow this same exact formula, along with a few subtle enhancements that unfortunately have yet to be announced. However, my psychic powers are telling me that new techniques are in store for us, adding to the already great magnitude of moves that can be pulled off by your taxi. Who can't but love the Crazy Dash, Drift, and Hop? Just some basic moves you're going to need to be successful in the game, unless of course you plan on making some chump change.

Needless to say, with a new Crazy Taxi come new insane drivers who each sport their own distinctive personalities and taxicabs. And boy do we have a line-up this time around. There's Angel, the 18 year-old male who lives life to the fullest and fears nothing. Bixbite, the ex-racecar driver who is a fanatical of speed. The overweight big bad mother of 7, Mrs. Venus, who wants nothing more than to be just like her pro stunt car-driving father. And last but not least, Zax, an obsessive car junkie who can't stop talking about his Super Hydraulics, which he installed himself I might add. It's looking like quite the line-up, and these new personalities will certainly carry the Crazy Taxi torch with pride.

Angel
"Life's not worth living if you don't have fun!"
Sex: Male
Age: 18
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 149.9 lbs
Blood type: B

Bixbite
"Some people think I'm obsessed with the road. I ain't obsessed, I'm dedicated!"
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 163.1 lbs
Blood type: AB

Mrs. Venus
"Crashing taxis is my destiny, I guess?"
Sex: Female
Age: 48
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 205.01 lbs
Blood type: O

Zax
"The heart of the Earth is mine. With my Super Hydraulics I can beat anyone!"
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 315.31 lbs
Blood type: B

This new addition of Crazy Taxi will also bring with it a new-fangled location to test out those driving skills in. You may have loved the steep hills of the West Coast and the traffic filled streets of the Big Apple, but prepare yourself for the bright lights and moral-ridden city inspired by Las Vegas, Glitter Oasis, which will offer both day time and night time driving. The new level will be centered around three popular American landmarks: The Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Red Rock Canyon. And as you'd expect, the game is full of Las Vegas-esque passengers, which includes boxers, cocktail waitresses, bunny mascots (who knows?), showgirls, and concert musicians. As in the second installment, the option to pick up multiple passenger fairs will still be available, keeping the game's challenge and potential to make the big money at the highest level. Fans of the series will be happy to hear that the West Coast level from the original and the Small Apple city from CT2 will be making a return in a graphically modified, enhanced form with level specific tweaks abound. Not much is known about the Small Apple remake, but the new West Coast level is supposedly going to feature brand new short cuts that take advantage of the Crazy Hop, the ability to use the original CT line-up (B.D. Joe, Axel, Gina, and Gus), and an all new line-up of passengers to pick up: skateboarders, muscle men, band geeks, baseball players, and a female volleyball team. Wowsers!

If all this isn't enough, it's also been announced that a huge variety of mini-games will be available to hone your crazy skillz, much like the Crazy Box and Crazy Pyramid challenges found in the previous iterations. Who could forget such classic challenges as the Crazy Balloon, Crazy Jump, and Crazy Golf? Not me! And I look forward to seeing a return of some old classics along with some new fresh games to try out.

While at its core Crazy Taxi 3 isn't changing too much from the Dreamcast titles, graphically the game is definitely being taken to the next level. Screenshots from the game, which you can find up above, showcase an environment far more expansive and detailed than anything the series has seen so far. Character models, vehicle models, and the landmarks and buildings throughout out the game feature high polygon builds that add up to some slick visuals you will only find on the Xbox (don't count on seeing any pop-up or slowdown that plagued the Dreamcast Crazy Taxis here). Accompanying this much-improved look are some nifty special effects like the sparks that go flying every which way and flames that now shoot out of your tires. Furthermore, with the series first entry into night time driving, Hitmaker has taken advantage of the new set up to allow for some very impressive headlight effects that come shooting from your taxi. So far the game is looking to be up to the Xbox's standards, as it should being an exclusive title and all.

Lastly, we can't mention Crazy Taxi with out talking about the rocking soundtracks that have graced the previous versions. Most noticeably the band called The Offspring. Will they grace a Crazy Taxi game for the 3rd time? At the moment this is not known, but there's always the chance that they'll join into the mix, and Hitmaker may very well even allow you to create your own custom soundtracks in the game. So whatever your musical preference is, you'll be satisfied.