Crazy Taxi 2

"Almost as good as gravy..."

Indeed, I do like gravy. You could call this a Gravy Taxi of sorts...

Crazy Taxi. These two words singlehandedly describe one of the greatest arcade games to ever grace a console with it's presence. The Dreamcast was the first to receive the wonders of the Taxi, then the PS2, and now on to the rest. It's tried and true gameplay make it easy to pick up, hard to put down. Naturally, a sequel had to come. Crazy Taxi 2 is that sequel and it retains all of the fun and addictive qualities of the original, while adding some more to keep the gameplay fresh. Luckily, those amendments to the game don't take away from the original feel, in fact, they build on it. What are these additions you say? First, and most noticeable, is the simple yet effective Crazy Hop. With the touch of a button (Y to be exact), the car leaps up into the air as a result of sophisticated and powerful hydraulics wired into your car. Not only does this add money to your combo meter, it adds a vertical element to the driving as well. Shortcuts can be taken by jumping on roofs, and over obstacles. Not only does it add to the city slickin' mode, but to the Crazy Pyramid as well. The Crazy Pyramid is this year's version of the insanely maddening yet uniquely addicting, Crazy Box. Fortunately, the Pyramid still retains what was great about the first one, and, like Kroger, presses the ''More'' button. The second improvement found in CT2 is the ability to pick up multiple customers. You don't get to pick and choose your customers, rather, spread throughout the city are groups from two to four people that are all going to different destinations. They are much harder to complete than the single passengers, but the reward is much greater. It adds an element of risk as picking one up and completing it will net you loads of cash, while failing to complete it will result in a wasted minute or two as you don't get any fares unless you drop off everyone in the group. All in all, the improvements wouldn't be enough to save a terrible game, but lucky for us, the original Crazy Taxi is not terrible. Consider CT2 almost an expansion pack, all the fun of the original, but with MORE. And really, since the first was so bad, can you blame them for not creating an entirely new game?

For those who've never played Crazy Taxi...(I pity your soul)

The premise to Crazy Taxi is simple. Pick up passengers and get them to their destinations in the shortest amount of time possible. You earn fares for each of the people you drop off, the harder ones giving you more money for your troubles (but also take more time to complete and run down the clock). To aid you in getting where you're going, you are capable of performing several ''tricks'' with your vehicle.

The Crazy Dash gives your taxi a sudden burst of speed, useful for going from stopped to full speed in minimal time. This will be what you use most prominently in the game as going fast means getting your customers there in less time. You can also perform this move in reverse, which will keep you from running your front bumper up a tree or into a wall.

The Crazy Drift whips your car around corners faster than you can say ''gravy''. This one will be useful for making those last second U-turns or keeping your speed up while whipping your car around a building. This will be a technique you will want to master if you want to get anywhere in the Crazy Pyramid as many rely on strategic use of this skill. Like the Crazy Dash, this one can also be used in reverse to whip your car 180 degrees and proceed in the new direction faster than you can say another ''gravy''.

The Crazy Hop is the newest addition found only in Crazy Taxi 2. With the touch of a button your car is launched skyward. Very useful when the Sunday afternoon traffic is blocking your way, or you want to pick up that odd person who expects a taxi to pick them up on the roof of a building. This is also used greatly in the Crazy Pyramid, and is even coupled with the Crazy Drift to perform a Drift Hop, which turns your car as you hop in the air.

Crazy is the name of the game (well, half of it) in Crazy Taxi and mastery of these moves is necessary to get anywhere in the game. Not only do you get money for dropping your passengers off, but they reward you for being crazy as well. Whenever you perform one of the above moves, they'll pay you a small amount of cash and your combo meter will increase. The higher the combo meter, the more they'll pay you, unfortunately, the combo meter restarts each time you hit something. You better hope you can drive good if you want to get the best payouts. You don't want to completely avoid all cars, in fact, the best way to get your combo up is to pass extremely close to them. You'll get money for a Crazy Through which happens everytime you come within inches, but don't hit, a car. The whole game is deceptively simple at first, but once you start working at the finer intricacies of the game, it becomes a complex, and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The Crazy Pyramid: No, it's not the new nightclub, but it's the most fun (and frustration) you can have this side of gravy...

While the arcade game is one section of the game, the Crazy Pyramid is a whole new burrito. This section will challenge your driving skills, make you go bald, and probably is the sole responsibility of animosity towards the Dreamcast. This thing is HARD. Each challenge uses your car in a different way, you'll go from golfing, to riding arches in the water, to long distance jumping. Each is imaginative and will push you to do things with your car that you never thought possible. It will also take some time to clear, as many will have you stuck for hours trying to complete them. The levels are all difficult and it isn't long until frustration sets in. The frustration comes not from inability to beat it, it's that you can get so close, so VERY close to winning, only to have the time run out/you fall off the building/a bus jump out from nowhere. It almost taunts you by getting you closer and closer to victory each time, which is one of the best aspects of the Crazy Taxi, it pushes you. Yes it's frustrating, yes you want to smash something, but you keep on going back for one more try. You can get it with just one more try. Giving up never happens, because you never get discouraged. You know that victory is within your grasp, you just have to reach out and get it. The rewards are worth it too. You can unlock maps of the cities, even some new vehicles. It's quite a feat to make it up the pyramid, and you WILL get a good feeling of accomplishment when you finally reach the peak. The Crazy Pyramid adds a more to an already great core arcade game.

Go Taxi Go!

I've never played a game so good that it hurts. Crazy Taxi 2 was my first experience with this. It's not that the controls are bad (In fact, they're perfect). The game uses the back triggers for things like Accelerating and Braking (pretty common activities in a racing game) and the A and B buttons for shifting from Drive to Reverse, and vice versa. Hopping requires only a press of the Y button, while steering is performed with the analog stick. The layout is perfect and your fingers have to be exceedingly coordinated to pull off some of the more complex moves at just the right second. This is where the whole pain issue comes in. You will be jabbing at the controller with all your might, wrenching your fingers to pull of that Crazy Drift in the precious few seconds left, and pulling your fingers out of their sockets to try and get your taxi to make it to the stop zone in time. Cramps are abundant, fingers are pained, all from the greatness that is Crazy Taxi 2. The gameplay is so intense that you can FEEL it. The pain in your arms lets you know that you're playing the game the way it's meant to be played, crazily.

It plays like a dream, it looks like a dream, but I'm not dreaming, I'm in gaming heaven

Not only is Crazy Taxi great in every aspect of it's gameplay, it's graphics are quite a doozy as well. Pop up has been reduced in this version, and the graphics are as crisp and clean as they were in the first. It's beauty to the eyes. The cities are all well rendered, with tall skyscrapers in the pseudo-New York motif. Other cars, the less crazy ones, are littered throughout the streets, all following the traffic rules (pesky conformists). Smaller obstacles, such as phone booths and benches, can be run over and knocked out of the way. The whole environment has a very lifelike city feel to it. You'll see opposing taxis roaming the streets, and people lining the sidewalk. It's all great looking and you'll hardly find a complaint in the graphics department.

How do you rate music? It's all opinion. Wait a minute, so is reviewing...

If there's one bad thing about Crazy Taxi, it's the music. While it will appeal to many out there, my tastes are not hard rock. It's entirely subjective and you may very well love the music, but I dislike the music. I can see what they wanted to do, with bands like the Offspring and Methods of Mayhem. The hard rock/punk will appeal to many and suits the style of the game, Crazy. It's simply my opinion on the music, and you can turn it off if you dislike it as I do. You can see that this small gripe didn't affect my score, so it's really not a big problem, especially when the rest of the game is nearly flawless.

Crazy Taxi 2: The Definitive Gravy Experience

Crazy Taxi 2 is one of the best games I have played in quite a while. Wait, scratch that. Crazy Taxi 2 is one of the best games I have played, EVER. It's that good. It combines a wonderfully unique and addictive arcade experience, with the puzzle/endurance style tests of the Crazy Pyramid. It's graphics are beautiful, and the controls are excellent. The only thing left to be desired is the music, which could be better. Aside from that one small aspect however, CT2 is nearly perfect. Bravo Sega.

Overall 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/01, Updated 12/17/01