Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars

August 14,2007 - The PSP is certainly no stranger to ports of Dreamcast games, with Crazy Taxi being the latest Dreamcast series to make its way to the Sony handheld. Instead of just a straight port of both Crazy Taxi Dreamcast games, Sega’s made sure to add some new stuff to make the whole package feel like an improvement overall. Is Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars an honorable remake of the Dreamcast classic, or does it spit on their graves?

Before talking about what’s new here, it’s important to talk about what’s stayed the same. One iconic part of the original Crazy Taxi games were the destinations disguised as in-game advertisements, such as Pizza Hut, KFC, and Tower Records. Those are now gone, replaced by generic record stores and chicken shacks, which hurts the game’s nostalgic appeal, but doesn’t affect the gameplay one iota. In fact, everything else seems to be the same as it ever was--the same people want to go to the same destinations and it’s as fun as ever. The same single-player modes are all here along with the great mini-games that kept you replaying “just one more time” in the hopes of passing that hard Crazy Bowling mini-game. Even the PSP control scheme is the same as the Dreamcast control scheme, which would certainly mean that it’s as easy to pull off Crazy Dashes now more than ever. Unfortunately, that’s not quite true. It still requirement precise timing to pull off, but Crazy Dash masters, along with any of the other Crazy moves, will have to spend some time relearning them once again. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was when they appeared on the Xbox as extras in Crazy Taxi 3. The PSP’s analog nub works well for steering, but it’s maybe just a smidge harder to control than the original Dreamcast’s analog stick.

As for what’s new in Fare Wars, there’s plenty here that makes the game nearly a requirement for Crazy Taxi fans to pick up. Not only are there new multiplayer modes, Fare Wars happens to be one of the first PSP games to fully support custom soundtracks. Just add anywhere up to 100 mp3s to your memory stick, turn on the custom soundtrack feature in the options menu, and you’re ready to make some crazy money. The multiplayer modes here are good, clean fun that are not really going to blow anyone away, but considering the originals sorely lacked multiplayer modes, so it’s a welcome addition that adds to the value. The new multiplayer modes consist of just competing against friends in a time trial mode, a HORSE-like game called C-R-A-Z-Y, and the head to head mode that lets two friends fight for the fares to crown a champ. The first two modes can be played with just one PSP, as they’re both turn-based, but having two PSP’s opens all three up for some wireless fun.

Where does Fare Wars stack up graphically against its Dreamcast originals? It doesn’t look nearly as clean and detailed, but the rampant slowdown in the originals has been fixed in Fare Wars, along with being in widescreen. The graphics are a little rough around the edges, but it doesn’t hurt the game. The pop-up is still around, which is amplified when you play Crazy Taxi 2 or head into the city in Crazy Taxi. The Crazy Dash now has a motion blur effect to signify when you’ve performed the move properly, as it would be rather hard to tell without it. Load times are pretty much the same as they back on the Dreamcast, which means you'll mostly see the loading screens before mini-games and before picking your cabbie.

The Crazy Taxi series is probably most famous for the Offspring and Bad Religion music that perfectly captured the craziness that the game contained. Fare Wars unfortunately lacks the iconic music and instead shoves generic rock music that doesn’t have the same oomph. Luckily, the custom soundtrack feature fixes that by allowing you to play have all the Offspring music you have blaring the entire time, or whatever else you want to listen to while driving a crazy taxi. Unfortunately, your custom tunes are only limited to when you get into your taxi, so you have to listen to the game’s music while navigating menus. The crazy announcer is still around, though not as prominent as he was before, as well as the amusing chatter of your customers as they display their hatred of your reckless driving.

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.

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