21/04/2021
Strap in, put the pedal to the metal, and prepare for a ride like no other! Crazy Taxi isn't just a game; it's an adrenaline-fuelled odyssey through bustling cityscapes where the only rule is to get your passengers to their destination as fast as humanly possible, traffic laws be damned. As a fearless cab driver with attitude, your singular goal is to rack up mega-bucks before your shift ends, navigating busy streets and hidden alleys in a thrilling race against the clock. This comprehensive guide will equip you with all the knowledge, tips, and secret cheats you need to become the ultimate Crazy Taxi legend, ensuring your meter is always collecting cash.
The Thrill of the Ride: What is Crazy Taxi?
At its core, Crazy Taxi is an exhilarating arcade experience that perfectly captures the chaotic joy of high-speed urban navigation. Players take on the role of one of four distinctive cab drivers – Axel, B.D. Joe, Gus, or Gina – each with their own personality and unique cab. The gameplay loop is simple yet addictive: pick up a passenger, note their destination marker, and then race against a ticking timer to drop them off, earning cash based on speed and style. The faster and more daring your drive, the bigger the payout! From dodging oncoming traffic to leaping across rooftops, the game encourages a no-holds-barred approach to taxi driving, rewarding audacious manoeuvres and clever shortcuts. It's a test of reflexes, spatial awareness, and a willingness to bend (or outright break) every rule in the highway code.
When Did the Meters Start Running? Crazy Taxi's Legacy
Many fans often ask about the specific release date of Crazy Taxi. While the provided information doesn't pinpoint an exact calendar date, it's widely known that Crazy Taxi first burst onto the arcade scene, captivating players with its vibrant graphics and iconic soundtrack. Its immense popularity quickly led to successful ports on various home consoles, including the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and PC, solidifying its status as a beloved classic. Each version brought the same high-octane gameplay to a wider audience, allowing a generation of gamers to experience the thrill of breaking every traffic law in pursuit of the highest fare. Its enduring appeal lies in its simple premise, addictive gameplay, and the sheer fun of causing delightful chaos on the virtual streets.
Mastering the Streets: Essential Driving Techniques
To truly excel in Crazy Taxi, you need to master more than just steering. The game offers a range of advanced driving techniques that, when executed correctly, can shave precious seconds off your journey times and significantly boost your earnings. These are your bread and butter for achieving those coveted 'Crazy' ratings:
- Crazy Dash: This is your primary speed boost. While moving forward, release both pedals, quickly put the car in 'Reverse', then immediately back into 'Drive' and press the accelerator. If done correctly, your taxi will instantly reach its top speed, making it ideal for quick getaways after picking up a fare or recovering from a crash.
- Crazy Stop: Essential for precise drop-offs. While driving, press 'Reverse' + 'Brake' simultaneously. Your car will come to a screeching halt, allowing you to stop exactly on the destination mark for maximum bonus.
- Crazy Drift: Perfect for tight corners and maintaining speed. While driving at high speed, press 'Left' or 'Right' (depending on the turn direction) while shifting into 'Reverse' then immediately into 'Drive'. This allows you to slide around corners without losing much momentum.
- Jump: A less conventional but sometimes useful move. When driving down a straight road, build speed, then quickly press 'Drive' + 'Brake'. Your car will jump up, as if it has hydraulics, which can be useful for clearing small obstacles or simply adding flair.
- Crazy Speed (Warp Speed): Similar to the Crazy Dash but described slightly differently. While driving forwards, let go of both pedals, hit 'Reverse', then throw it back into 'Drive' and hit the gas. Your car will instantly reach top speed.
- Limiter Cut: An advanced technique for long straightaways. Perform a Crazy Dash, then immediately after, let go of the gas, put it in 'Reverse' gear, and quickly put it back into 'Drive' again before stepping on the gas. If done right, you'll hear a loud rev and see a violent jolt forward, potentially lifting your front wheels. This can save significant time on long stretches.
- Crazy Rocket: For an explosive start or restart. While stopped to pick up or drop off a customer, hit the brake. Pull the gearshift back to 'Reverse'. As soon as the animated sequence finishes and you regain control, put the gearshift back into 'Drive' while holding down the accelerator.
Crazy Taxi is packed with hidden gems, from alternative game modes to secret vehicles and bizarre customers. These cheats and tips, often entered at the driver/car selection screen, can dramatically change your gameplay experience:
Cheat Mode Activation
Many cheats are activated at the driver/car selection screen by pressing specific key combinations. For PC versions, these often involve keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F[number].
Another Day Mode
For a fresh challenge, activate 'Another Day Mode'. This code (often Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F8 on PC, or holding R and selecting your driver on Dreamcast) changes fare locations and altered starting positions, keeping the game feeling new.
The Elusive Bike Taxi
Ever wanted to deliver fares on two wheels? The Bike Taxi (or cycle-rickshaw) is a hidden vehicle that offers a unique gameplay twist, with customers even paying more! To unlock it, complete all Crazy Box games with one character. To use it:
- PC: Enter Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F9 at the driver selection screen.
- Dreamcast: At the character selection screen, quickly press LEFT TRIGGER, RIGHT TRIGGER, LEFT TRIGGER, RIGHT TRIGGER, LEFT TRIGGER, RIGHT TRIGGER. Then, select a character. Alternatively, complete all sixteen Crazy Box levels to unlock the Special Taxi for each character. In Crazy Box mode, scroll right of Gus. In Arcade or Original mode, press Up at the character selection screen.
Expert Mode and Visual Aids
For a true challenge, you can disable helpful visual cues:
- Expert Mode: Removes both destination markers and arrows. On PC, Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F7. On Dreamcast, press and hold L+Start and R+Start before the driver select screen.
- No Arrows: Removes directional arrows. On PC, Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F6. On Dreamcast, press and hold R+Start before the driver select screen.
- No Destination Marks: Removes the destination markers. On PC, Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F5.
Camera Views and Speedometer
On Dreamcast (with a controller in port 3), you can toggle views and display a speedometer during gameplay:
- Press Start on controller 3.
- Press B for first-person view (A to switch back).
- Press Y for an alternate viewing angle.
- Tap X five times for a speedometer display.
Maximising Your Money: Fare Strategies
Earning big bucks is the name of the game, and there are several tricks to boost your income:
- Passing Other Drivers: Your passenger will get excited and give you more money when you pass other drivers on the road. Weave in and out of traffic on the freeway for easy tips.
- $700 First Fare: At the start of the game, drive in reverse instead of forward. Pick up the client who will pay $700 for a ride to the bottom of the hill.
- $975 Fare: Drive up to the roof of the parking garage (via the ramp on one of the corners). To the left, an old lady standing on a giant umbrella will offer $975 to go to the police station.
- $99,999 Combo: Execute a Crazy Drift, wait until you have spun 180 degrees, then press 'Reverse' + 'Drive'. You can earn as much as a 450 combo and $99,999!
- Extra Time: In arcade mode with a ten-minute limit, pick up a customer, then go under the water and remain there for two minutes. You will surprisingly get ten extra minutes!
The city is full of peculiar passengers waiting in unexpected locations:
- Rooftop Customer: Drive off the freeway (with high and low lanes), go past the police station, take the first right, then the first left. On the next right, there's a ramp. Drive up it to get on the roof of a building with a customer.
- Underwater Passenger (Snorkeller): In 'Another Day Mode', there's a hidden customer in the water by the pier. Alternatively, follow a specific sequence: pick up the first orange person, drop her off at the cable car stop, make a sharp left and pick up the yellow person with a large hat (who wants to go to West Side Beach). After dropping her off, drive straight into the water to find a green marker for someone under the water.
- Subway Station Customer: There's a subway station downtown. Drive down the stairs to enter and find a customer who wants to be taken to another subway station. Follow the railroad tracks to the next station for extra cash.
- Parking Structure Rooftop Customer: Drive up the ramp of the parking structure and slowly fall off the far left side. You'll land on a roof with a green customer who wants to go 2000 yards to the police station for $975.
- Strange Beach Customers: Drive down to the beach and into the water in arcade mode. You might find three or four customers who usually want to go to Pizza Hut and have unusually big ears!
Strategic Shortcuts and Other Tricks
- Find the Highway Easily: Simply follow the big blue bus to get to the highway.
- Baseball Stadium Shortcut: Instead of going around the hill, cut through the small hill and go through the parking lot with buses.
- Side Ram Combo: Sometimes, when you have a customer, you can go against a wall or a solid straight side and ram side by side against it. If done correctly, you can get a Crazy Drift combo even if you didn't do one, up to an 8-combo! This works well near KFC with Gus or B.D. Joe.
- Car Aisle Scream: Pick up the girl waiting at the car store and ride through between the car aisles. She will scream 'Yeah!' and cash symbols will surround your car.
- First Place Strategy: Start with your fastest character, reverse to a passenger, then stay to the centre of the road for Crazy Through combos. At the rail car station, go straight down the middle, avoiding crashes. Drop off the passenger, then pick up Red, Orange, or Yellow customers to increase time, passengers, and money.
Customisation and Other Quirks
- Change Music: For PC users, you can change the in-game music by replacing files in the 'SoundData/music' folder within the game's installation directory. Remember to back up original files! The game only supports up to four tracks.
- Flip Over Trucks and Buses: On the highway, drive on the high lane. Then, knock a truck that says 'wow' off the high lane onto the low lane, into another truck or bus.
- Reset System: On PC, Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F2 can reset the system during the game.
The Crazy Taxi Licence System
Your performance in Crazy Taxi is ranked through a licence system, rewarding your skill and earnings:
| Licence | Earnings Required |
|---|---|
| No Licence | £0.00 |
| Class E Licence | £0.01 to £99.99 |
| Class D Licence | £100.00 to £199.99 |
| Class C Licence | £200.00 to £299.99 |
| Class B Licence | £300.00 to £399.99 |
| Class A Licence | £400.00 to £499.99 |
| Class S Licence | £500.00 to £999.99 |
| Awesome! Licence | £1,000.00 to £1,099.99 |
| Crazy! Licence | £2,000.00 and over |
Conquering Crazy Box: Advanced Challenges
Beyond the main Arcade and Original modes, Crazy Box offers a series of unique challenges designed to test your mastery of specific techniques. Completing these can unlock further content and truly hone your skills:
- Crazy Jump: To achieve maximum distance, start with a Crazy Dash. Perform another Crazy Dash in the middle of the ramp, and one more just before leaving the ramp. This can result in jumps over three hundred and high two hundreds.
- Crazy Pole: For Crazy Pole, execute a Crazy Drift to hit the pole. This allows you to stop precisely at both destination points for each person.
- Crazy Parking: In Crazy Box mode, complete levels 1-2, 2-2, and 3-2 to receive a bonus.
- Crazy Pins: Drive slowly down the middle lane of pins. At the end, use a Crazy Dash drive and accelerate. When 'Go' appears, put your car in reverse and do a Crazy Dash. When you reach the pins, use the back of your car to knock down all the pins for a strike.
- Extra Crazy Box Levels (Japanese Version): In the Japanese version, achieve an 'S' licence with each of the four characters in Arcade mode to unlock 'Crazy Party'. Clearing the standard Crazy Box levels also unlocks three new levels, including 'Crazy Bowls'.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Where can I find Crazy Taxi News?
For a classic game like Crazy Taxi, 'news' typically refers to comprehensive guides, detailed cheat lists, gameplay tips, and community discussions rather than breaking updates. This article aims to be your one-stop hub for all the essential Crazy Taxi information, covering everything from core gameplay mechanics to hidden secrets and advanced strategies. Online gaming communities, retro gaming websites, and fan forums are also excellent resources for delving deeper into the game's rich history and uncovering even more obscure tricks.
How do you drive a bike in Crazy Box?
To drive the bike in Crazy Box mode, you first need to unlock it. The primary method is to complete all sixteen Crazy Box levels with one character. Once unlocked, at the character selection screen within Crazy Box mode, scroll to the right of Gus, and the bike option should become available. The bike offers a different feel and can be surprisingly effective for certain challenges, and as mentioned, customers sometimes pay more for a ride on it in other modes!
How to play Crazy Dashes?
Crazy Dashes are a fundamental technique for maintaining high speed and quickly accelerating in Crazy Taxi. To perform a Crazy Dash while moving forward, release both the accelerator and brake pedals. Then, quickly shift the gear selector into 'Reverse', and immediately back into 'Drive' while pressing the accelerator pedal. If done correctly, your taxi will instantly reach its top speed with a distinctive sound effect. Practice this manoeuvre until it becomes second nature, as it's crucial for achieving high scores and completing fares within the tight time limits.
Whether you're a seasoned cabbie looking to refine your skills or a newcomer eager to dive into the chaotic fun, Crazy Taxi offers an endlessly entertaining experience. With these techniques, cheats, and insights, you're well on your way to dominating the streets, racking up those incredible fares, and becoming a true legend of the asphalt jungle. Now, get out there and show them what a crazy cabbie can really do!
If you want to read more articles similar to Crazy Taxi: Your Ultimate Guide to Mega-Bucks, you can visit the Taxis category.