C+
		Title	Crazy Taxi 2
		Publisher	SEGA	Graphics	B-
		Developer	Hitmaker	Sound	C-
		Released	May 28, 2001	Gameplay	B
		Platform	Dreamcast	Longevity	D+
	ESRB Information
	Mild Lyrics, Mild Violenc
	Highlights
	Fun to play for short periods of time, but limited soundtrack and shallow gameplay makes this game a better fit for the arcade.
	Full Review

Crazy Taxi 2 on the Sega Dreamcast, offers an entertaining arcade driveing experience. If it wereCra not for the absurdly small soundtrack and limited longevity, Crazy Taxi may have been one of my favorite games on the Dreamcast.

When you boot up the game for the first time, you have access to four characters. But can unlock more by completing challenges and earning high scores. It seems that the difference between the drivers is solely cosmetic. So there does not appear to be any advantages to using one character over another. There is some variety in the personalities of the characters, but they all feel like overexagerated stereotypes. The surfer dude white guy, the slutty party girl and the blinged out black dude, to name just a few.

The controls in Crazy Taxi 2 have a very arcade feel that is fitting for this type of game. At first it seemed that steering was too twitchy. But after a few play throughs, it was easy to get the hang of it. The game unfortunately lacks a hand brake. Which means you are left to use the normal brakes, which feel underpowered. Making it sometimes difficult to stop quickly to deliver passengers, or make tight U-turns. The game also supports the Dreamcast wheel, but this play through was just on the Dreamcast controller.

Because it is an arcade game, Crazy Taxi does not offer much in the way of depth. But will still keep you entertained when you want to play a quick game. The game gives you two areas to play the arcade mode in and also has a selection of challenges. Ranging from hitting a giant golf ball with your car. To driving on rooftops to deliver passengers to their destinations. The variation on the core game play helps give it some legs. But you likely will not want to play for more than an hour or so at a time.

One of the reasons you will not want to play for very long, is that Crazy Taxi 2's soundtrack consists of two songs. The first, which can be heard in the title sequence video (see below) and the second, which contains explicit language. Neither song is fantastic in my opinion and after hearing each of them 30 times when preparing for this review, they did not sound much better. It may be worth while to turn the music off in the options and turn up your own stereo.

So there you have it, Crazy Taxi 2 is a good arcade racer on the Dreamcast. But has an insanely small soundtrack that will drive you crazy. It is worth picking up if you liked the game in the arcade. Or have the Dreamcast wheel. But don't expect too much from Crazy Taxi 2.

Download this video as WMV FLV

Download this video as WMV FLV