PSP

Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars

If you carry around your PSP in a case that allows for extra UMD's then Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars needs to be one of those discs. This is just one of those games you can pick up and play on a whim for two minutes or two hours. The game can get quite addicting as you try to shave seconds off your delivery time while sneaking in an extra jump or a few more yards of crazy drift. I've been wanting to play Crazy Taxi for the longest time and was just too lazy to dig my Dreamcast out of storage. Now I don't have to. Fare Wars gives me both core games, 32 mini-games and some fancy new multiplayer modes and custom soundtrack support. This is truly a remake done right.

Crazy Taxi is an eight year old game, and even though the formula hasn't been corrected for errors and whatnot for this dual port, it doesn't matter. Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars doesn't have nearly enough issues for it to be considered anything but a great value. For $30, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars is an insane deal, one that should not be looked over. You are getting a feature filled package that includes two fantastic games. You'd be pretty foolish to pass that up.

Overall, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars has its flaws, but remains a smooth running ride, one that'll certainly satisfy fans of the series and newcomers alike. Sure, the new soundtrack may be a slight bummer, but having a custom one on hand more that suffices. It's also good to have so many multiplayer and mini games on hand just in case the single player driving runs its course...although we can't see how it would. Yeah, those high-pitched customer noises can be a little too bitchy for their own good, but that's when you crank up the music and show them what crazy driving is really all about.

Overall, Sega did a good job with this one. Once you get used to the controls and master the trick moves, you'll rediscover your addiction to this arcade classic. Only this time, you won't have to keep digging around in your couch for quarters.

The main factor here in deciding whether to buy Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars or not is how much of a Crazy Taxi fan you are. If you still play the originals on the Dreamcast and want to take the game on the road, this is definitely a must buy. If you weren’t blown away by the games eight years ago, Fare Wars is not going to change your mind. Regardless, these are the best versions of both Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 out there that are not the original Dreamcast versions, so having both games in one neat and tidy package is certainly a great value.

Since the game is a direct port of the Dreamcast titles, all the same problems remain untouched. Braking, repetitive gameplay, and some graphical mishaps still haunt this version. However, Sega does add in some new content with the multiplayer modes and customizable soundtracks. Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars gives you two solid titles with new multiplayer content at a decent price point of only $30. Crazy Taxi is a fun game and will keep fans of the genre happy with this compilation. This is a solid handheld title with an impressive features list, despite its problems.

Re-releases are never easy to review. Sure, a title might have been awesome when it was first released, but times change and game engines age. For a compilation to succeed, it needs to bring something new to the table that warrants a repurchase. For my money, Crazy Taxi: Fare Ware does this. You're getting two solid games with brand new multiplayer content, the ability to save gameplay footage and a customizable soundtrack for $30. There are tons of games out there with larger price tags and smaller feature lists.

Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars proves once again that a good game is still a good game no matter when it’s released or on which platform it’s released. While the allure of the original Dreamcast versions has worn off by now, the game is still a nice collection of two fun games. Just remember to take your Crazy Taxi in small dosages or you might get a little indigestion.

Whilst Crazy Taxi has a number of technical issues, they don't add up to anything more than a minor inconvenience to the majestic mayhem, especially with a second player along for the ride.

Like the various mini-games, these multiplayer modes are fun, but they have little lasting impact. In fact, the same could be said for the entire game. Due to the repetition of the gameplay, as well as the locations and the characters, it's best played in small doses. Otherwise it could drive you crazy.

Voilà une compilation qu'on aurait bien aimé découvrir plus tôt, la réunion des deux premiers Crazy Taxi et l'ajout tant attendu du mode multijoueur étant sans doute les meilleurs arguments de cette version PSP. Si le principe est toujours aussi bon, la réalisation accuse le coup et les sensations tiennent difficilement la route à côté d'une série comme Burnout, même si cette dernière ne serait sans doute pas ce qu'elle est sans l'inspiration du jeu de Sega. Un titre à placer dans sa collection à côté des épisodes originaux, mais auquel on ne jouera probablement qu'à de rares occasions.

"Crazy Taxi" é um game descompromissado, ideal para a agilidade de um portátil. A fórmula de "vale-tudo" nas ruas e certa profundidade de estratégias formam a base de sustentação da diversão. Mas, também é inegável que se trata de um título curto, com apenas alguns mapas. Há minigames e modalidades multiplayer para tentar estender sua vida útil, mas ainda assim não é o suficiente para compensar o investimento.

Ultimately, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars is mostly a fan service to devotees of the series. While it can be great fun in multiplayer, single player experiences are short-lived bursts at best, and after a few jaunts around the city you'll likely be done playing on your own. Even without some of the visual issues, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend it to someone who's not a longtime fan of the series, especially since you can get this game and about a zillion percent more in either of the Grand Theft Auto PSP titles. Sega hardcore followers should check it out; the rest should just take the bus.

Even though you can't call Crazy Taxi or Crazy Taxi 2 great games anymore, these games could still have made for a decent little handheld release if it weren't for Fare Wars' sluggishness and control issues. Fiends for Sega-brand nostalgia might still be able to take away a bit of enjoyment from simply being able to play Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 on the go. Anybody who experiences the series for the first time playing Fare Wars will probably just wonder why this series was so popular in the first place.

Fans of the series who absolutely must own every Crazy Taxi game will find several new ways to play on this UMD, and the music substitution feature is a welcome usage of the hardware's abilities. This does not redeem the game's flaws; no matter how shiny the car's wheels, no matter how diligently you clean out the ashtray and how often you wash the exterior, it's just a big lump of metal unless you've got the engine running smoothly, and Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars fails in that regard. I had such high hopes for this title, but it just ran out of gas.

Fare Wars packs the original Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2 games onto one nostalgia-filled disc. Add the ability to record your amazing cabbie runs and use a customized soundtrack of songs stored on your PSP and you would think this is a cab to be hailed, right? Unfortunately, these new features don’t overcome the horrible driving controls, laughable braking, poor draw distances, and the complementary pop up. Only die hard fans of the Dreamcast series should give this game a look. The rest of us are better off walking.

Fare Wars would be a respectable conversion of the arcade and Dreamcast classics had the developers managed to keep the speed -- and thus, the excitement -- in the game. Now Crazy Taxi just feels slow and clunky, and all the minigames and extra cities to explore in the world can't fix that.

That's pretty much it. If you've played Crazy Taxi and its sequels, then you've played this new version. It controls well, looks fine, sounds good...but it's Crazy Taxi, a game that is better off remembered instead of regurgitated.

If you don't fondly remember the first wave of Crazy Taxi games, steer well clear of this. However, if you fancy a taste of some retro driving action, this may be worth a purchase, but approach with caution and low expectations or prepare for a shock.

Even huge fans of the originals are likely to be disappointed by Fare Wars. You can pick up both Dreamcast games on eBay for less than half the price, and you'd be better off doing so. Maybe Crazy Taxi simply isn't as good as we remember, maybe we've just played better games since, maybe this is a bad conversion. Probably all three. In any case, don't bother.