Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars review

The breakneck arcade racer is reborn, but it's burning less fuel

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    The formula still works

  • +

    Crazy Box

  • +

    Picking up twins

Cons

  • -

    Fairly unforgiving difficulty

  • -

    Moves more slowly

  • -

    No Crazy Taxi 3? Bummer

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Aug 29, 2007

How on Earth did it take us until now to realize that Crazy Taxi’s arcade-style speediferous driving provided the entire blueprint for the mega-successful Burnout series? Sure, Burnout dumped the idea of schlepping customers to and fro and replaced it with metal-shearing crashes, but the whole idea of screaming down the highway, coming as close as you possibly can to the other cars on the road without actually hitting them? Pure Crazy Taxi.

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Of course, that’s about all there is to this collection, which gives you both the original Crazy Taxi and its first sequel, Crazy Taxi 2. You pick people up in a city loosely based upon San Francisco (CT) or New York (CT2), then stomp the gas and follow the giant green arrow to their destination, earning extra tips for near-collisions, drifts and (in CT2 particularly) exciting leaps. There are no engines to tune, and only a few new cars and courses to unlock. This is the entire thing, except for some minigames and “Crazy Box/Pyramid” - a mode that finds you hitting a giant golf ball, popping balloons, jumping hurdles and so on.

Eric Bratcher
Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.