Sega announced a new entry in the Crazy Taxi franchise today, and it will be both free to play and exclusive to the mobile platform. Called Crazy Taxi: City Rush, this new game is a collaboration between original Crazy Taxi creator Kenji Kanno and Hardlight Studios, who have helmed a bunch of games for Sega but most notably Sonic Dash (Free) on mobile. Crazy Taxi: City Rush will feature a “one-touch" control scheme which will have you tapping and swiping to maneuver your taxi. It will also feature a heavy social component, allowing you to connect to Facebook to compete against your friends.
So, we’ve got 1) free to play, 2) simplified controls, and 3) social components. All the ingredients for a mass-appeal, casual mobile gaming experience. I’ve got to say, as a huge fan of the original, this scares the hell out of me. However, I did really enjoy Sonic Dash for what it was, and if Hardlight can bring the same high production values and fast-paced gameplay to their Crazy Taxi offering, I think I can get on board. Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic.
On the flip side, there are some new features to Crazy Taxi: City Rush that sound really cool. You’ll be able to upgrade and customize the look of your taxi, there’s some brand new playable characters in addition to some of the classic characters from the original games, you’ll be able to create your own soundtrack using your device’s locally store music, and–perhaps best of all, considering this is a mobile game–you’ll be able to play in either portrait or landscape orientation. Feel free to do whatever you want with that free hand of yours!
If you’re not convinced just yet, well, there’s always the original, and Sega has made that original Crazy Taxi (Free) mobile port free for the time being to celebrate the announcement of City Rush. Everybody should go grab the original while it’s free, it’s a total classic. As for Crazy Taxi: City Rush, it should be soft launching in limited regions in the very near future, so we should have a better idea of what to expect when it does.
Shaun, I just want to say, Thank you for such a great in depth review. Unfortunately the forum thread had none of this and you've successfully given me the clarity I was looking for before buying. Now that you've come through, I'm off to the App Store to pick this up.
Uh, this is pretty retro. Are you happy you went for it? There's a lot of more contemporary awesome games which are more exciting for me... And I love retro -- but I've discovered I have my limits (figured that out when I got slay'em (slayers!??!) 2 based on TA review, and insta-delete).
I'm enjoying my time with it. I guess it really depends on what you're looking for in an iOS game. If you want a meatier retro RPG very different from the norm, it's a solid title. I agree it won't be for everyone. But I've been interested in this series for a long time but never picked one up, so it works great for me. Also, Shauns reviews tend to hold more weight with me, especially with RPG's as he's been sharply accurate in the past.
Huh. I don't usually go for graphics over depth, but I'm loving Darkstone re-release. :D
I only have an ipad. What to do?
I use an ipod touch(4th gen), if it helps. 2nd or 3rd will NOT be able to run it, the OS has to be 4.31 or higher.
I play it on my iPad mini and it works fine. The text is easier to read, too.
I remember playing the first persona game back in the late 90s, never realizing it was part of the SMT series.
When I got my 3DS, Atlus had a ton of games on sale, and it was pretty much a given that SMT4 was a must have. While it was nothing like persona, I found it a whole crapload of fun and it's easily one of my favorite RPG series. Unfortunately, due to some significant hand issues, I can't play my 3DS much and the running/camera turning of SMT4 has been problematic. Having this game on my phone might solve that problem and I am super excited to give this a shot.
For those who have played smt4 and this, Shaun included, is it going to be really strange without having the added features of 4? I'm all about things being easier, though, which would give me the time to just enjoy the experience.
Also, Shaun, this is possibly the longest review I've read on TA. Scot hits it on the nose about the depth of the review, and your love of the genre/series shines through like crazy. Comparing to the worthless 148 review, this was a true RPG lovers review. You were the right person to do it, and for that we all thank you ;)
Great review. I am a fan of the SMT franchise, so I think I'll check this out!
Those graphics does NOT look appealing at all, I still find it ironic that after so many years we got "retinal" and "HD", people still making pixelized games.
If this is a direct port then a star should be taken off as principle because it mean they're just lazy.
Better graphics don't make better games.
better graphics make already good games great. There is no reason why THIS particular game can't get a graphical update, it's just the developer being lazy.
And how much would you pay for that? $30? $40? Because that's how much Vita and 3DS owners would pay for a full remake of this game. $6-8 gets you a PlayStation Classic on PSN, which is what this is, more or less. You want to motivate publishers to put in more resources? Money talks.
Oh is it's a problem of financial for you, I guess I didn't looked at it from that perspective since I just want great games regardless of what it cost, not cheap ports.
I give you 5 stars for your elite trolling.
graphics make the game!? so... a star should be added, because a game has nice graphics, if not, taken off?!
this is a port of a classic. has more gameplay and deserves every star it got... more than some goodlooking hip games that got released in the last months
I'm saying it's lazy to make a worst looking game when they can make a great looking one.
Dude. You can polish a turd.
Toucharcade seems to be the only ones who gave this a good review..The fact that the controls take up almost %80 of the screen and the controls are bad make me think this isn't worth 4.5 stars.
I bought it for my ipad and its playable. I liked the introduction and so far really like the game's structure. There's just something about it that feels fresh and inviting. It seems to pull you in immediately and you want to get right into the game.
I was iffy about this one at first. I don't have much experience with the series but I played SMT IV last year and enjoyed it, despite some unfortunate design decisions it sports. But I also spent 80 hours on it, so hearing the at that SMT is only 25 has me interested again. And I do love a good story :)
I was an avid fan of Shin Megami Tensei 2 on the SFC back in the days.
(Yes, born and raised Japanese here)
But I have hard time believing that game to ever be ported to English community until I see it actually happen.
SMT2 is even more risque than the first one, or the previous Namco games (original Megami Tensei). You can literally choose to side with the Judeo-Christian God "YHVH", or choose to side with Satan, or go "scrwe all you deities leave humans alone" and decide to kill God, Satan, and even Buddha.
The major reason why the game never got ported here isn't just because of the possible market, but because they feared it would be banned over here. And quite frankly, I don't think the West is ready even now.
Good game. I will download this game to my phone. Thanks
Finally picked this up on sale tonight! Been wanting to play this for ages and I'm stoked to dive in! Thanks for the excellent review Shaun!