The New Crazy Taxi’s Approach To Multiplayer Is So Insane, It Just Might Work
So unless you’ve been living under a rock over the past few months (given the state of the world, you might have reason to), Sega has been hard at work on a number of revivals of its classic games, including Golden Axe, Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi. And today, details have leaked out about what we can expect from the return of its Crazy franchise.
According to VGC, the reboot of Crazy Taxi is, according to certain job listings, aiming to be a ‘massively multiplayer driving game’, with a massive open world (with what appears to be San Francisco), with online functionality.
Immediately, this got some classic fans groaning. I can see why. Trying to adapt anything into ‘massively multiplayer’ can definitely have setbacks, especially if it goes for free-to-play and loads up with unnecessary microtransactions. I do hate those.
But…this is Sega we’re talking about. They’re not notorious for these microtransactions like Square Enix and 2K are. They’ve been catering to the fans as of late, and, provided they take the right approach here, the new Crazy Taxi could work.
Now I’m not going against the classic fans. I want to romp my way through picking up passengers as much as you guys. But the hint of footage we got from the game late last year kind of gives us an idea of what we might expect. I included it below if you want to give it a look.
As brief as the footage is, it hints at a competitive edge. There are police involved. There are other cars involved. So it looks like it’ll be objective based. Can we stop this particular “hot taxi” from reaching the checkpoint? Will taxis have to race to reach a certain customer, or perhaps race customers to one singular objective to see who gets there first? The possibilities are really endless here.
I can also see why Sega wants to take an approach like this. They want a Crazy Taxi game that appeals to both the nostalgic folks and the casual fans. As great as the original arcade game (and its sequels — yes, Crazy Taxi 3 was alright) is, there’s something that has to bump it to the next level, especially with the budget being poured into it.
The question is if they can pull it off. It’s a very big question. We’ve seen “massively multiplayer” games crash and burn because of the lack of consistency or, as I mentioned above, the unnecessary need to tack on microtransactions in an effort to make money back. It’s tiring.
But…judging by the footage, there’s a chance this could all work. Think about it. You could pick a role, hop into a race and then see how you fare. Provided the servers work and the game is designed well enough (which it should be, based on that early footage), we could be in for a real romp.
Now…that said…I do think Sega should include a single player component of some kind. We should have something that allows us to romp through San Francisco old-school style. Make it part of the tutorial or just give us a “coasting” mode to get used to the mechanics, whatever. But there’s a way to incorporate it while still making the multiplayer the draw of the package. It can be done, we’ve seen it in the past.
There is room for growth with any classic gaming franchise. We’ve seen it before. Now, some did go off the rails because of a lack of vision. But I kinda have faith here because, well, Sega loves their older franchises. And despite some fans questioning direction, it could all work out. Dare I say it’s, um, crazy enough to work.
I mean, look at the Golden Axe revival. It looks like something akin to Dark Alliance rather than the 2D rebirth that fans want, like with what Streets of Rage 4 did. But it also looks like crazy fun, and, if the right developer’s on board, I’m in.
So before we start freaking out and giving Crazy Taxi’s rebirth the bird, maybe consider that there’s a reason for the way it’s going. Sega wants to keep it fresh while keeping the vibes going. I mean, San Francisco is a great location. There will be jumps aplenty, along with opportunities for shortcuts.
Done the right way, this game could give us the Taxi right we’ve been waiting for. There’s hope here.
Plus, if I recall, the game doesn’t have a release date. I think Sega was aiming, what, for 2026? Maybe 2025? So they still have time to make sure the engine’s running smooth.
So relax. All is not lost, even if you think it’s shying away from the classic Crazy Taxi style. Maybe it’s embracing it for the better and Sega just wants to “make crazy money.”
Have a great week everyone, and thanks for reading!
