Taxi Chaos is not Crazy Taxi. But it tries to be, and it succeeds in some important ways, while in many others it fails utterly. Consider this a warning: do not buy Taxi Chaos. But if you do, I can help make the game a little better.
I understand why some people maybe tempted to buy Taxi Chaos, especially if you’re like me, a fan of Sega’s fantastic Crazy Taxi series. It’s been over 12 years since the release of the last Crazy Taxi game (I do not count it mediocre mobile spin-off games), and the last entry was a gateway from the arcade games to the PSP. A take-off can therefore be attractive
But it costs $ 30, and that’s way too much for a game that’s so small and bad. A price of $ 10 or even $ 15 would be more reasonable. Yet there are some things buried under the bad.
The management is the real star of the program, and to give credit to those left behind Taxi Chaos, they mostly nailed it. Weaving in the non-New York City streets of the game feels fun. You can even do a big bunny hop, in which I do not remember that I was Mal taxi, but is a cool and useful step. Every time I encountered a huge mess of cars and buses, I could just jump over it. It almost felt like cheating, but it also saved me time. And in Crazy Taxi…I mean Taxi Chaos, time is money.
G / O Media can get a commission
Taxi Chaos also looks beautiful. It works pretty well, at least it did on my Xbox Series X. It has styled footage that works so fast for a game. There are some pop-in issues and textured buildings in the city that stand out, but there is nothing too gruesome.
However, this game has the most annoying dialogue I have ever encountered. And repeat it. Over and over and over and over and over. During one session, I heard the same rule repeated four times. After playing just 20 minutes, I heard at least a dozen times every line of dialogue in this game. On top of that, it has terrible, generic “rock” music, one small map to ride on, and only two faint drivers to choose from. It adds to make Taxi Chaos feels like a super-cheap budget title.
If you do buy Taxi Chaos (which you should not do either), here are my tips to improve your experience. First, lower the sound levels in the game and the dialogue to 0. Next, play a little Offspring of Bad Religion with your preferred music service. Suddenly, Taxi Chaos becomes more playable. Still not worth $ 30, but better.
Of course, you can also save $ 20 and the XBLA port of Mal taxi, which costs only $ 10. Some of the original music is missing and does not look as beautiful as Taxi Chaos, but it’s backwards compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S and is a much better game.
And who knows, maybe if a bunch of people buy Mal taxi, someone at Sega will remember how popular the series is and give a studio the chance to make a new, real one Crazy Taxi game. Until then I will play more Taxi Chaos.