Crazy taxi is a video game that appears to have been inspired by a rather imaginative fellow, one who was obviously struggling to present his bosses at sega with a viable design concept. So when this man hopped into a taxi, and arrived at work safely despite the incredibly dangerous driving displayed by the maniac in control of the wheel, he discovered, quite unintentionally, that he had stumbled onto a very cool idea. And crazy taxi was born!

At its core, the gameplay mechanics of crazy taxi are akin to thoe of racing simulations, as you are required to drive frantically around city in order to pick up customers and drop them off at the destinations that they specify. The object of this game is to drop off the passengers as quickly as possible. The faster you drive, the more money you make, which is surprising as most taxi drivers that I have dealt with believe that such a strategy applied to real life would force them out of the industry. This may sound simple enough, but the excellent difficulty curve will mean that even a hardcore gamer will find it impossible to call this game a pushover. But that said, once you get into the game and discover all the shortcuts, you will be pulling in a level of cash that only upper echelon drug dealers have the ability to reach.

But unlike the criminal mafia organiations, the death of people who stand in your way doesn't occur. There is a temptation that develops as you play the game which impulsively compels you into an attempt to drive down pedestrians. But the game wont let you. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything, besides I suspect that sega is anxious to avoid any negative press that a carmagedon inspired roadfest would create. That insignificant gripe aside, Crazy Taxi is a very impressive game. This is one of those games that really help to express Sega's flair for creating top notch software. It deserves a score of 91%.