Sega’s Crazy Taxi was widely popular in ’99 and beyond, immediately gaining popularity upon its release that same year. Initially launched as an arcade cabinet game, it later skyrocketed to household fame with its release on the Dreamcast console, hitting the market almost simultaneously with the game’s debut.
And now it’s being reported that it is going to be released as a full AAA game soon.
The game was forgotten as a once-classic but the name suddenly started to resurface along with many other Sega classics such as Shinobi, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage franchises. During Game Awards 2023, when Sega announced that they are working on classics. They released a video trailer to showcase small snippets of gameplay of all the mentioned classics, including Crazy Taxi.
However, everything went quiet for some time again, but a recent article in Japan Times pumped the gas with the news about Crazy Taxi, but this time, as reported, it is something more than your regular Sega classic game. It’s now a AAA game.
Speaking to the reporter for Japan Times, Takaya Segawa, who runs Sega’s support studio in Sapporo, said, “We’re responsible for titles such as Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! In cooperation with the bases in Tokyo and overseas, we are also participating in the development of triple-A titles, including Crazy Taxi.”
He further went on to say, “At present, we don’t have any titles developed independently by the studio, but we intend to do so in the future.”
Now, it is uncertain how they envision Crazy Taxi to become an AAA game. They may be incorporating new game mechanics and elements to increase the scale and magnitude of the game, but obviously, these are all just assumptions. What they do with the game to elevate it to AAA status remains to be seen.
However, the snippet showcased at Game Awards 2023 does not reveal anything regarding any major changes in the game or its narrative. It simply features gameplay similar to the classic version, with obvious major visual improvements and advancements to match today’s standards.
Crazy Taxi Journey
Crazy Taxi became widely popular for its Grand Theft Auto 3D universe-styled crazy car-driving-around-the-city mechanics even before Rockstar Games introduced it in their first 3D Universe game released in 2001, Grand Theft Auto III.
As mentioned above, the game mechanics include driving a car, especially a taxi, to pick up and drop passengers within a ticking time limit appearing on the screen. Players are given the choice to drive recklessly or to drive properly, abiding by traffic rules, and the game rewards players accordingly.
Throughout the years, Crazy Taxi took various turns, being incorporated into and with various platforms, from arcade cabinet machines to Dreamcast, PlayStation, PSP, PC, GameCube, iOS, Android, and Xbox. The franchise expanded to include multiple sequels and editions of the game, totalling 6 titles. However, after 2017, the franchise hit the brakes, and everything went quiet for a while until now.
Fans of the classic will be eagerly awaiting the release of the new Crazy Taxi game, eager to relive their nostalgia with current-gen technology as promised.
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