Sega, once again displaying its inability to make anything new, is shedding the Sonic mindset it’s become so accustomed to, to focus on other reboots like Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe (ok, we’re less mad about that one) and of course, Crazy Taxi. That isn’t news. Sega released a trailer showing all that off at the end of last year. What we didn’t know was that the Crazy Taxi do-over will be an open-world MMO. Because of course it is.
Where is the Shaq-Fu reboot, cowards?
We’ve kicked things off here with sarcastic energy because we’d honestly prefer to see something new come out of Sega’s brain that isn’t Sonic Frontiers (and we think we speak for everyone on that front). Despite all that, we’ve been won over by the idea of an MMO-ified Crazy Taxi because, well, it sounds awesome. The game’s producer, Kenji Kanno confirmed the series’ new direction in an interview over on YouTube. Beware, it’s all in Japanese.
According to Automaton’s translation, Sega wants to staff up like crazy to build the Crazy Taxi of the future which Kanno describes as being “completely new” and can be played by multiple players at once. How that’ll exactly work remains to be seen, but there’s real potential for an amazing and active online scene if done correctly. Or, it could be Hell-on-Earth. There’s really no in-between.
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There’s going to be a new “theme park-like” map taking inspiration from the US West Coast, all while introducing new mechanics that won’t interfere with the vibe brought about by the original. Oh, and it’ll be running in Unreal Engine, with a full-on ‘AAA’ label attached. Don’t be surprised if Sega asks customers to shell out $60 when it eventually releases. On that, Sega has yet to announce any hard release dates for any of its reboots.
If you aren’t all that fussed over a (probably) $60 Crazy Taxi MMO, the original can still be picked up on Steam for only R115 or for free on Android and iOS if you don’t mind the stodgy mobile controls. It still holds up surprisingly well for a pre-2000s title and features tighter driving controls than most.