Gaming Target - Xbox: Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller

Written by Gavin Wright on August 09, 2002

Full Review: If I were you, I'd take the bus!

The original Crazy Taxi quickly became a Dreamcast classic, offering an addictive and unique arcade-style experience that was unlike anything ever seen on a home console. Then came along the game's low-key sequel, the aptly-titled Crazy Taxi 2. CT2 brought us two entirely new cityscapes, a cast of new drivers, and the addition of the Crazy Hop, a technique that gave the player unprecedented freedom to explore the city and discover shortcuts. The game was well-received by many, but fans that were hoping for a reinvention of the series were simply given more of the same. Of course, an online iteration would have been the game's next logical step on the Dreamcast, but unfortunately that never happened. Now we have the Xbox-exclusive Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller. The game introduces nothing new to the series, and is more of a step back than anything else.

Crazy Taxi 3 is intended to be somewhat of a compilation of Greatest Hits rather than an entirely new game. Sure, there's a new level and a handful of extra cabbies thrown in, but it just doesn't feel like an entirely original creation. The Small Apple from CT2 and the Arcade level from the original Crazy Taxi, now known simply as West Coast, have both been included in the game in updated form. All 8 original drivers from the first two games are even there to be unlocked. Unfortunately, for those that have played the first two games to death, the levels aren't going to offer much more than a nostalgia fix.

The game's structure hasn't changed a bit. As one of four taxi drivers, you pick up customers and drop them off at their destination. You have a time limit that goes up every time you pick up a customer. Different amounts of time will be added depending on how quickly you deliver your customers. In addition to time, you'll also get different amounts of money from each customer based on the length of their trip. If you take too long with a fare, the customer will simply jump out, giving you nothing for your efforts. When you approach a potential customer, you'll see a circle around them which shows how close you have to park to pick them up and also indicates the length of their trip.

The game's basic controls are nearly identical to the Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi 2, and are still every bit as simple and easy to pick up as ever. As is the case with just about every driving game, the left and right triggers are used to brake and accelerate, while the left joystick is used to steer. As for the face buttons, A and B switch the vehicle between Forward and Reverse, while Y is used to Crazy Hop. It's also possible to control the headlights in the Small Apple and Glitter Oasis levels by clicking in the right joystick.

While the Crazy Taxi series is known for its pick-up-and-play gameplay, mastering the game and obtaining that elusive Crazy license requires an extensive knowledge of the various Crazy Moves. Most important of which is the Crazy Dash, a brief turbo boost that comes in two forms. The short Crazy Dash, performed by punching the Accelerate and Forward buttons, is used to get the car moving from a dead stop. The long Crazy Dash, performed by first flipping the car into reverse then using the aforementioned short Crazy Dash, is intended to be used continuously while moving at full speed. Then there's the ever-important Crazy Drift, a technique that allows the vehicle to make pinpoint turns, and is performed by holding the Forward and Reverse buttons while turning. The Crazy Hop uses the car's hydraulics to shoot the cab up in the air, and is done with a simple tap of the Y button. The timing for some of the moves is a bit different this time around, but you may find that the change actually helps to reduce the strain that the game tends to put on the hands and wrists.

While the familiar Crazy Taxi gameplay has been kept fully intact, the third installment has brought with it some refinements that make the game more user-friendly. As said earlier, the timing for certain Crazy Moves, particularly the Crazy Dash, has been changed slightly. Instead of mashing Accelerate and Forward together, there is now a slight delay between the button presses. The game is also a bit more lenient when it comes to dropping off customers, usually allowing the cab to park a full 2-3 feet outside of the drop-off zone. The changes are hardly noticeable, but they do make the game a bit more forgiving.

The new level in CT3 is the Las Vegas-inspired Glitter Oasis. The level consists of a central city surrounded by a large desert area with a deep canyon at the bottom. The city portion of the level is mostly occupied by casinos and hotels, while the surrounding desert area is thinly spread with restaurants and tourist locales. Everything that we normally associate with Sin City is here Ц neon lights, showgirls, and even the Hoover Dam on the outskirts of the city.

Most of the problems with Glitter Oasis stem from the layout of the level. The city portion, modeled partially after the Vegas strip, is far too small and unexciting to accurately replicate the real-life city of Las Vegas. Furthermore, there isn't a single shortcut inside of the city, making it a very straightforward area to navigate. Most fares take you to the desert area outside of the city limits or to the underlying canyon. But the area can be fraught with frustration and confusion for those that don't know the roads, and those that actually take the time to learn the intricacies of the level will soon thereafter lose interest in it.

The Small Apple, originally from Crazy Taxi 2, has seen only marginal improvements in its latest iteration. The most obvious of which is the large subway tunnel that now runs through the level, making for a rather nice shortcut going underneath a substantial portion of the city. There's an elevated railroad track running along the outskirts of the city as well. There are also a few visual changes to the level, like the addition of an area that looks similar to Times Square. The time of day has been changed as well, so that you're now playing at night instead of in the daytime. But in the end, the changes aren't enough to really make a difference for those that have played the level before.

The so-called West Coast level, which was known as the Arcade level in the original Crazy Taxi, actually turns out to be the most playable of the three cities. The city has gone through a major facelift to accommodate the addition of the Crazy Hop, with about a dozen new locations and shortcuts that make use of the technique. For instance, there is now a bus station across the street from the baseball stadium, and a theme park down the road. Once you hit the highway, you'll notice two unfinished overpasses that can be reached with the Crazy Hop as well as an irrigation ditch running underneath the highway. Fans of the original Taxi will find a lot to like about the redesigned stage.

One of the biggest complaints regarding Crazy Taxi 2 was the rather unwieldy arrow used to guide fares to their destination. The arrow works like it's supposed to most of the time, but in some areas it can be misleading to the point that it will actually end up leading you in the wrong direction entirely. It would be better if the arrow would simply point directly towards the destination at all times, rather than suggesting a route for which to get there.

The console-exclusive mini-games are back in Crazy Taxi 3, now organized into what's known as the Crazy X. The games range from the wacky (Crazy Disco, anyone?) to the insanely difficult. The mini-games are intended to stretch your abilities and teach you effective use of the Crazy Moves. Most of the secrets in the game are unlocked through the Crazy X. Maps of all three levels, new vehicles like the wooden carriage and bicycle, and even the original 8 drivers can all be obtained upon completion of different portions of the Crazy X.

New to Crazy Taxi 3 is the Replay Mode. This option allows you to record a session of your driving to the Xbox hard drive and replay it back at any time. While watching a replay, you can adjust the camera to one of six different angles, giving you a good chance to check out some of the game's detail (or lack thereof). It's not much of an addition to the series, but at least it's something to play around with.

While there have been some steps taken to improve the visuals over past games in the series, Crazy Taxi 3 still essentially looks and feels like a Dreamcast game. There are some cool new graphical effects, such as the neon light blurs in Las Vegas and some sweet-looking flames that billow from the car exhaust after a Crazy Dash. There are also some nice reflection effects on store windows and the cabs themselves that look somewhat reminiscent of the reflections found in Jet Set Radio Future. Other than that, the game could easily be mistaken for one of its Dreamcast predecessors. The textures have little detail (although it's not very noticeable at high speeds) and the character models of both the drivers and the passengers are blocky and lifeless. There are also spots of slowdown in Glitter Oasis (Small Apple as well, to a certain extent), that slow the game nearly down to a crawl, and are particularly unforgivable given the added power of the Xbox hardware. There's no excuse for an Xbox game looking like this, and the few impressive visual effects that have been thrown in almost don't look right against such a backdrop.

Offspring and Bad Religion are back yet again to provide the soundtrack for Crazy Taxi 3, along with a new group known as Citizen Bird. Their music sounds like a mixture of punk rock and Elvis, which is a startlingly nice fit for the Las Vegas theme of the game. Both soundtracks from the first two Taxis have been included as well, so there is no loss for tracks in CT3. But unfortunately, Sega made the immortal mistake of not supporting custom soundtracks in the game, a feature they've yet to make use of in any of their Xbox games.