Taxi Chaos

It’s amazing how a concept so simple could turn into such a beloved game. Yet, that’s exactly what happened 20 years ago when Crazy Taxi hit the arcades. In Crazy Taxi, players were tasked with picking up passengers and driving them as fast as possible to their desired locations. It was a constant race against the clock. Since then, there have been a number of Crazy Taxi sequels, but none have found their way to home consoles since the early 2000’s. Now, it’s time for a new contender to the taxi driver throne. Which brings us to Taxi Chaos, a game that has been very much inspired by the Crazy ...

The spirit of Sega's legendary Crazy Taxi returns in Taxi Chaos, a game that manages to capture the shallow fun of the coin-op classic.

Is Taxi Chaos going to blow you away? Of course not, but it is pretty decent. You won’t care for its soundtrack, its visuals won’t wow you, and its handling is as simple as can be. Blasting around New Yellow City while picking up passengers and dropping them off at their desired locations is fun though, while pro mode is highly rewarding for those who learn the ins and outs of the game’s map. So, if you’re after something to scratch that Crazy Taxi itch, Taxi Chaos may well be of interest to you.

Who doesn’t love Crazy Taxi? That franchise is easily one of the best series Sega has ever created. It’s an addictive arcade game featuring crazy stunts, fast-paced action, and most importantly, one of the best licensed soundtracks in the history of gaming. Whether you were playing it on a Dreamcast, PS2 or GameCube, you most certainly have great memories of that game. We haven’t seen a new game in the franchise in years, as Sega just simply can’t be bothered to make a new one. You kn...

Taxi Chaos is fine in short bursts if you want to chase high scores, but for $30 to $35 depending on your platform, there just isn’t enough content here to recommend this. Especially considering you can still buy Crazy Taxi on Xbox Live for a third of the price.

I love Crazy Taxi so I was looking forward to playing Taxi Chaos but does it live up to Sega's classic? Unfortunately, it definitely does not.

While some additions to the old formula provide value, particularly the ability to leap onto buildings to shave time on fares and online leaderboards, falling short on all the other parts of the experience drags the entire game down. The lack of Crazy Box-style minigames further reduces any replay value. Crazy Taxi succeeded by offering players the feeling of chaos and excitement, either through its then-novel gameplay mechanics or its untouchable sense of style. Taxi Chaos brings neither to the table and offers only minimal appeal to folks who might have missed all the hoopla twenty years ago...

Taxi Chaos wears its inspiration on its full-print shirt's sleeve, but lacks the understanding of what made said inspiration so compelling. There's almost nothing of worth here: A poor imitation of a game that's literally free these days.