Crazy Taxi - Reception

Reception

Most versions of Crazy Taxi were generally well received by critics. The Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi was critically acclaimed, averaging 90.27% at video game aggregate site GameRankings based on 36 reviews. Subsequent ports of the game have suffered a trend of declining average scores. The PlayStation 2 port averaged 79.07% at GameRankings and 80/100 at Metacritic, respectively. The next port for the GameCube scored lower, with aggregate scores of 71.09% and 69/100. The PC port was the poorest rated of the initial ports, scoring an average of 55.67% at GameRankings. Sales for the game were generally high, with the Dreamcast version being the second largest selling Dreamcast game in the United States in 2000, selling nearly 750,000 units, and both the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions selling in excess of one million units overall. Xbox Live Arcade sales for 2011 were high with the game moving nearly 100,000 units.

Critics generally praised the overall gameplay. An IGN staff member said "I can't stress enough how addictive this game is." Of the Dreamcast port Game Revolution's reviewer stated "a great arcade game became a good home game." They further noted the game's high difficulty, and added that while the game was difficult it was not frustrating. Micheal Goncalves of PALGN added that the game was either a "love or hate" title, adding "if you love it, you will cherish the game and play it to your hearts content." Goncalves also pointed out that the game featured occasional pop up and clipping. Reviews were split across the releases in regards to the game's soundtrack. PALGN cited Bad Religion and The Offspring as a high point of the game, while Game Revolution felt that the tracks were repetitive. GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann felt that the soundtrack was subjective to personal preference, stating "you'll either want to crank the volume up or turn the music all the way down." In a review for the PC version's altered soundtrack, fellow GameSpot reviewer Andrew Park felt that the new music was fitting for the game.

IGN's Hilary Goldstein called the Xbox Live Arcade release "a mad dash of fun", adding "there's almost no depth to Crazy Taxi, but that's just fine." Goldstein praised the fact that the port stayed true to the original source. However he felt that the lack of the original soundtrack "kills half the reason to pick Crazy Taxi up again." Criticism also pointed to the lack of visual updates such as higher resolution models and textures. GamePro's Dave Rudden also lauded the fact that the port played faithfully to the original. Rudden echoed Goldstein's comments in regards to poor visuals, stating it had "ugly character models and boxy traffic cars." Robert Workman from GameZone praised the game for sticking to its Sega roots; he stated "Crazy Taxi isn’t just a nostalgic trip, but also a wondrous stress reliever and an all-around entertaining game."