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Crazy Taxi High Roller Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Its time to jump back aboard for some more crazy action, as we take a look at the new Crazy Taxi game...
Crazy Taxi came from nowhere at a time when interest in arcades was at an all-time low. Itās mixture of OTT gameplay, flashy visuals and gruelling time limit produced one of the most addictive short-term games in years. The game was subsequently ported with excellent results to the Dreamcast, and unsurprisingly a sequel was announced.
Unfortunately the sequel failed to have the same impact as the original, a new move was added; the āCrazy Hopā however itās implementation was nowhere near as good as either the Crazy Drift or Boost. Perhaps the biggest problem was, in making the game appeal to the home-market, the levels were massive sprawling affairs, and so lacked the immediacy and recognition that made the first game such a success.
That hasnāt stopped Hitmaker from jumping aboard the yellow cabs once again, this time Crazy Taxi: High Roller is set in Las Vegas and doesnāt feature any new ideas or features. Yes you read that correctly, no new moves to master, no new modes to try out. Whilst this could be considered lazy, Hitmaker, who themselves were unhappy with the second game, have taken the opportunity to develop the idea behind the Crazy Hop and implement it with hopefully more success.
To this extent the actual Las Vegas environment will be a large affair, however there will be more direction with definite routes throughout. Players should be able to recognise the different routes on offer and not be daunted by the size, a tough task, but if they achieve it this could be the true successor to Crazy Taxi.
It seems that Hitmaker are placing all of their efforts into tightening the gameplay, a quick glance at the screens shown thus far reveal nice enough visuals, if a little under-whelming. In a move that could be considered as staying in touch with the fans or just bone-idle, Crazy Taxi 3 looks very similar to its Dreamcast predecessors. Sure thereās some of the Xbox effects that Segaās machine couldnāt have a hope of recreating and the environments are larger affairs, but on the whole this a) replicates the Crazy Taxi look wonderfully or b) looks a tad shoddy compared to what weāve come to expect, depending on which side of the coin you sit.
So what can we actually expect to be different from this version, well thereās a new cast of characters to pick from and itās set at night! But I can hear what youāre saying; āSurely the use of the Xboxā HDD will come into play?ā Well yes but only for longer replays it seems, āHow about the network adaptor?ā Nope no online plans and itās currently unknown whether the game will feature multiplayer in any shape at all.
Itās believed that the game will feature another area to drive in, though this hasnāt been announced or confirmed by anyone. The Crazy Pyramid is set to return with a new selection of crazy challenges, welcome news to the Crazy Taxi fans out there.
