Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride

"Craziness on a smaller scale"

My friend had told me about how he had found Crazy Taxi on the GBA at Target. He told me all about it, and I was actually quite interested because I didn't even know the game existed on GBA until he said something. He said he was hooked right as he popped the game in, then changed his mind and said he was hooked after seeing the back of the box. Being an avid fan of the arcade Crazy Taxi, I had to pick this up after he had built it up so well. So how did it stack up?

Graphics- 8/10

Of course, it's to be expected that the graphics on the GBA are of course going to be significantly worse than their console cousins. Having originally premiered on the Sega Dreamcast, it never saw the days of inferior hardware on the PSX. So if you can imagine what this game would look like on the PSX, then you pretty much have a good idea of how it looks on the GBA. The framerate is a choppy and the graphics are very polygonal and boxy. However, it's extremely well done given the hardware limitations and it's the only GBA game I know of with a loading screen. The cities are huge and it's not very hard to tell the difference between the road and the curbs and walls and such. Everythings clearly defined.

Sound- 10/10

One word: Amazing. The sound card really gets a nice workout from this one. The voice overs are ported straight from the console versions, however each person only has about 4 lines. It can get a little old, but for some reason whenever Gus yells out at a customer "You suck" it makes me laugh (partly because I hate my customer base at work too >_>) . The music tracks are high energy, much like it's arcade brother, and there's just little if any flaws witht he sound aspect.

Gameplay- 7/10

Gameplay is what makes the Crazy Taxi series amazing in the first place. So how did it stack up to the rest of them? Fairly well I'd say. The fact that there's VERY little to unlock is kind of a downer, but the basic gameplay of rush and go is still there. The replay is great, you can always see if you can do better than the last time. Have your friends play it a few times to see if they can beat your record and so on. It's a solid game, and would be great for long car trips.

Replay - 8/10

There's no doubt that occasionally this game can get a little frustrating. However, no matter how mad you'll get at it, you'll always come back for more later on. Replay has always been a strong attribute for the series and the GBA version holds true to it. I say buy this game however don't spend too much on it. It's not a must have however it's a solid addition to any gamer's library.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/17/04