Crazy Taxi originally came along at a time when many video arcades were beginning their inevitable decline - er, transformation into flashy family fun centers. Arcade-goers sick of the banks of ticket-dispensing, quarter-stealing Whack-a-Mole soul-suckers flocked to experience the wild physics and irreverent attitude of Sega's latest masterwork. Consider that an up.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before Sega announced the game for its home system. Playing at home on the Dreamcast with the addition of a new city and a training/mini game mode was definitely an up. Crazy Taxi was near the top of the short list of games I recommended to Dreamcast Doubting Thomases or prospective purchasers who wanted to see what the console was capable of. The blend of speed, style, megapoints, and accessibility was attractive to casual gamers, while more advanced drivers delighted in discovering new techniques, hidden shortcuts, and cross-town travelers. Up, up, up.

"It's time to make some cra-a-azy money!"

Then came the first big dip: rumors of a Sega sellout dominated the video game headlines. While Sega managed to stay off the auction block, it had to make some compromises. One of the things it had to do to remain independent was allow its former exclusives to be published on competitor platforms. The first title to make it over to the PlayStation 2 was Crazy Taxi - published by Acclaim! I wanted to see Sega stay afloat just as much as the next guy did, but I considered having one of Sega's best Dreamcast titles go over to the PS2, ported by the guys that brought us WWF Attitude, to be a rather large downturn in gaming history. True to form, Acclaim went for a straight port and failed slightly - the PS2 version was inferior to the original home version in displaying some textures, and there were even some reports of the game locking up on occasion.

To add to the insult, reviewers gave the PS2 version a much lower score than it deserved, because they had played it before and they were expecting new bells and whistles in the port. You can imagine how many potential buyers looked at the score without reading the review and passed on the game. This was definitely a down period.

Today, the wild ride continues. Now that the GameCube is out, the lure of a quick buck is stronger than ever, and so Crazy Taxi sees the New Releases shelf once again. (Up.) It's still a straight port. (Down.) Oh! Some of the voices are different. (Twist.) Well, you get the idea.

Taking the wheel

The name says it all. The purpose of Crazy Taxi is to pick up fares, drop them off, and make mad money in the process. Since this is based on an arcade game, things are a little different from the real world.

For starters, taking the scenic route to a destination is a major no-no. The longer you keep a customer in your cab, the less your tip. The more shortcuts you take and the faster you drive through those shortcuts, the better off you'll be. And if the quickest path is up a ramp, between two lines of cars, and out the second floor of a parking garage, so much the better. The game richly rewards risk taking, so the more adept you get at sailing through the air and weaving in-between moving vehicles, the fatter your wallet will bulge.

Secondly, the stakes are huge. One person will pay you hundreds of dollars to take him across the street to KFC. A reverend will tip you a week's worth of collection plate money to get him to the church on time. The insane fares you earn add to the excitement and larger-than-life quality of the game.

Thirdly, you and everyone in your cab are impervious to injury. Don't worry about any Outrun-esque flaming wrecks in this game. Go ahead, ride on two wheels around a hill, cut through the lake, play Chicken with a semi. Do what it takes to deliver your passenger to Taco Bell ASAP - we wouldn't want the Chalupas to get cold.

The controls are deceptively simple. You can map the buttons a couple of different ways in the Options menu, but one button accelerates, one brakes, one puts you in reverse, the other shifts you into drive. There are several techniques to master, each involving some combination of button presses that causes you to travel faster or turn more precisely.

Players that are worried about a steep learning curve or have a low aptitude for racing games can take heart that the primary game mode doesn't require the player to master any difficult techniques to have fun. When the time limit runs out, the player's performance is evaluated by the computer, and one of eight licenses is issued. Your main competition is yourself, as you strive to earn the game's ultimate reward, the Crazy License.

To help you polish your moves and add to your repertoire, Sega added the Crazy Box, a collection of challenges ranging from jumping off a ramp to knocking down giant bowling pins by sliding into them. The contests grow increasingly difficult but are highly entertaining, so that you don't mind going back again and again to try to top your old record. The game describes the technique you should utilize for best results in each case, so there is no guessing and no running to the manual.

Driver has no change

The GameCube version of Crazy Taxi is nearly identical to the others in graphics and sound, and the controller offers no significant advantages, so if you already own the game for a different console, there is no reason to buy this version (unless you plan on mothballing your Dreamcast/PS2). Some of the voice samples have changed, most strikingly those of Gus, who sounds a lot less smooth and a lot more dopey this time around. I suppose the voice actor who originally portrayed him held out for a better deal.

The songs remain the same: high-energy jams by groups like the Offspring and Bad Religion, complete with lyrics. If the song repetition and selection in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater didn't bug you, chances are you will be okay with the songs in Crazy Taxi. Personally, I find the constant repetition of lyrics a little more annoying than the constant repetition of music, so the musical background began to grate on me after a short time. If it were Black Sabbath's Paranoid, maybe I wouldn't mind so much.

As always, this is a must-own title for gamers with non-gaming friends. If you've played it before elsewhere, you know what to expect. If you never got around to buying it, get in the car already. Crazy Taxi is a classic.

· · · Nick