New job, new hair (shorter anyway, maybe I'm balding) new dogs, I'm back. Hopefully...
New job, new hair (shorter anyway, maybe I'm balding) new dogs, I'm back. Hopefully...
Member since:30.01.2001
Reviews:69
Members who trust:35
So SEGA have quit the hardware scene. They will no longer produce consoles like the Dreamcast, instead they will be concentrating on developing games for other platforms like Playstation 2, X-Box and Gamecube.
Well all I can say is this...if the games are going to be anything like Crazy Taxi 2, then PRAISE BE!!!
SEGA has always made great consoles, and stunning games to go on them, now they can really concentrate on the games, and Crazy Taxi 2 seems to be the way they are heading.
If you don’t know, Crazy Taxi is pretty obviously the follow up to Crazy Taxi. That was originally an arcade game ported to Dreamcast, and more recently to Playstation 2. It was massively popular, with the aim being to drive your cab round one of 2 cities collecting passengers and delivering them to their destinations as fast as possible. The frantic nature of the game along with the tricks you could pull and excellent visuals made it a sure fire hit, now we have the second coming.
Mainly sticking to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” formula, SEGA has made Crazy Taxi 2 a masterpiece of a fun game. It is better than its predecessor in every way, and that can only be a good thing. The aim remains to bomb round the cities (New York this time) and get as much cash as you can.
However there
have been one or two little changes that do make it significantly different from Crazy taxi 1. A new move has been added, and the bonus challenges section has been totally overhauled. More on those later.
Plot (?)
The idea as I said is to get cash by picking u fares, but Crazy Taxi 2 has more options to offer than that. As well as the 2 cities, playable in arcade, 3, 5, or 10-minute modes, you can play the Crazy Pyramid.
The pyramid is a set of challenges designed to train your skills, as well as set a few records. These range from getting to a destination along a very bendy road in the fastest time, or popping balloons. One of the best is where you have to smash into a giant golf ball and send it as far as you can. Great fun.
There is also the Crazy Driving option, where you can have 80 seconds to drive around a city without the pressure of looking for fares. As well as using this to get your bearings, you can use the 80 seconds to pull as many tricks and stunts as you can, before recording the session and I think you can upload it to the Internet too.
Graphics.
The Dreamcast may be dying but it is going in style, games like Sonic 2 and this are truly showcasing the console’s abilities. Crazy Taxi looked good but this is superb in every detail.
The animation on the passengers and vehicles is as smooth as ever, and the backdrops of the city look totally amazing – you can definitely tell where you are. Slowdown from the first game has been virtually eliminated and this results in a smoother and more frenetic game overall, little cosmetic touches and background issues like popup have also been taken care of..
The speed of the game is terrific, and the depiction of that is well done on the game, you really feel like you’re zooming along, all that’s missing is the wind in your hair.
Soundtrack.
Welcome back The Offspring. The manic punk/rock band have returned to add their fast paced guitar tracks to this sequel. I’m not a particular fan of theirs generally but their music suits the game down to the ground. The tracks blare out at you and add a real pace to the game, and whilst the selection is limited as opposed to the likes of Metropolis Street Racer, they more than do the job.
The sounds from the cabs and passengers are pretty similar to game one, but the insults have changed for when you fail (happens to me a lot)
Gameplay.
Immensely addictive is the term best used for this game, Crazy Taxi 2 (like the first) has that “one more go” factor in its favour. You just have to have another crack at getting a few dollars more, or completing one more pyramid challenge.
The controls and style of play are extremely intuitive and the game is very easily picked up. This again makes for a fun time as there are no massive things to learn, just slot it in and start playing.
The difficulty curve is also nice, anyone can get the lower licence awards for earning a few thousand dollars, but the best drivers are the only ones who will see the elusive A-licence. The pyramid has a similar difficulty curve, all the challenges at first are quite easy, but they get harder and harder and the records harder to break as you go on.
So What’s New Here ?
I said CT2 had a few new tricks to make it different, and here they are.
The Crazy Hop move is the first major change, basically this is the ability for your cab to jump, a quick tap of the button sends your cab upwards (dependant on speed.) This is a really useful trick for avoiding head on collisions and brings a new meaning to the word overtake. The Crazy Hop is very helpful, but at times it can make the game a little easy.
The other major change is the ability to make multiple pickups at once, you can get up to 4 people in the cab at any time and then you have to take them all wherever they are going. It is more challenging as you have more destinations but they all tip you for tricks so the cash can rocket up.
These new additions keep the game fresh but it’s nice to see the main parts of the game that we loved are still there.
Manual.
For a game this basic in premise there isn’t a need for a massive manual, but the book you get tells you everything you need to know, however I recommend leaving it and learning through playing.
Overall.
A fitting finale to the Dreamcast, or at least part of it. SEGA has a bright future if the games are going to be as good as this, and while CT2 will not last forever, you’ll always dig it out for the odd o once you think you’ve seen it all. It’s that addictive.
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Jul 7th, 2001
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