Crazy Taxi is, in layman's terms, a masterpiece of a video game. I remember the first time I saw it in the arcade; the year was 2009, me and my family were at Dave & Busters for one reason or another (it was so long ago, forgive me for not remembering exactly why) and of course we were all having a blast playing all the arcade machines around the venue. Eventually, we were all on our last tokens, and only had a few more games we could play before we had to leave. I went off on my own to find something that I hadn't already played, as well as something I could play alone so that way I could avoid being forced to play it with my brother. I go to some corner of the arcade, only to be met by the classic "SEGA" logo accompanied by the MIDI choir singing the tune alongside it that I was oh-so familiar with on the bright CRT, guaranteeing my attention for at least a minute or so. I sit down on the chair that was attached to the arcade machine, and upon further glancing at it, it appeared to be some kind of racing game. Even to this day, racing games typically don't hold my attention, as they're not really up my alley, yet I was willing to give this one a chance. The developer's logo eventually dissipated, and the gameplay demo was about to begin. The screen now bore the perfect shade of yellow, when all of a sudden "HEY HEY! COME ON OVER, HAVE SOME FUN WITH CUUUHHRAAAAYZY TAXI!" the speakers belted. Oh, if only my synapses had been prepared for what they were about to endure after those eleven words were spoken. As soon as it appeared, the yellow screen vanished, and punk rock (presumably The Offspring's "All I Want") began blasting as a myriad of dramatic driving scenes flashed in rapid succession. "INSERT COIN" Well, after that, how could I say no? I drop my remaining coin in, picked B.D. Joe, and the rest was history. Ever since then I knew that Crazy Taxi was a phenomenal game, but enough about me and what I think. Now that we're rational adults (more or less), we can take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture at hand. This poses the question; Does Crazy Taxi hold up today, or was it one of those games that's only fun as a kid? The answer, without a doubt, is the former. Crazy Taxi is everything a video game should be. To prove my point, imagine that you've never played a video game in your life, and you're about to play Crazy Taxi. Well, without any explanation needed, you already know exactly what your goal is; to accumulate money by driving people around. You know what a taxi is, you're currently looking at the arcade cabinet that has controls that are clearly modeled after the run-of-the-mill car, and based on the "crazy" in the title, one can infer that this will be more fast paced or action packed than just driving around as a regular taxi driver. Naturally, once you're ready to play it, you'd be prompted to put in your coin, and press start. You're now presented with a quick and simple example of how to pick up customers, as this is truly the only part of the game that needs explaining in order to dig your teeth into it. Then, the game begins after a swift countdown. Of course, you already know how to drive a car, and even if you're a kid, you'd have enough semblance of how to drive a car in order to play. Essentially, the game was rigged from the start, but in a good way. Once you have control of whichever of the four characters you chose at the beginning, as I've basically already stated, you already have more than enough context in order to know how to play the game. Now that I've prefaced how the game has a nearly flawless start by design alone, let's discuss the gameplay itself for a bit. To start off, there are four drivers to choose from. Axel, B.D. Joe, Gena, and Gus. At first, choosing at random seems inconsequential, but each character actually has a different taxi cab, and in turn has different driving "stats". This offers plenty of replay ability each time you run a new game. This upholds the notion of player diversity, where, say for example, one player wants to play the game by gunning for high scores as just one character, whereas another wants to experiment with every driver while analyzing their strengths and weaknesses along the way. Thanks to the way the characters are set up, the game is able to avoid deterring either type of player. Next is the driving. Personally, I prefer the way the Dreamcast version's controls compared to every version, however, each version (including this Steam version) controls remarkably well. Seeing as there's four drivers however, it's hard to go into detail about the driving as a whole without contradicting myself due to the difference in driving. What I can say though is that nothing is out of place, and the Crazy Dash mechanic, where the player shifts gears and accelerates in order to gain a speed boost, is a clever and innovative way to keep gameplay from feeling sluggish every time you need to stop to get a customer, only to slowly regain speed. The high-risk high-reward tipping mechanic is also a welcome inclusion, as it challenges and encourages the player to be more daring during gameplay sessions, making it more fun and rewarding, while allthewhile implying a higher score can be attained with practice. Another amazing high point of Crazy Taxi are the maps. Although there are only two maps to drive around in, they're not only much more vast than initially meets the eye, but expertly designed. They both feel very lived in and alive, and sometimes even real. This is accentuated by the fact that real-life stores and whatnot inhabit the world, rather than phony knockoff stores like Shmeevi's Jeans Store. No! We have LEVI'S ORIGINAL DENIM JEANS! THE REAL DEAL! Aside from that, there are plentiful amounts of subtle yet logical enough shortcuts littered throughout in order to get maximum efficiency while driving. Every time you find a new shortcut, you get that wonderful feeling of gratification where you slap yourself and think to yourself "Ohhh!" And of course, the world (as well as really everything else in the game) has no shortage of that nostalgic late 90's/early 2000's spunk and charm to it. Unfortunately, as much as I may try, words simply don't do this game justice as to just how remarkably incredible it is. A new feature that comes with console versions of Crazy Taxi (or in this case, the Steam version) is the inclusion of different gamemodes. There's arcade mode and original mode, main difference between the two being the two different maps. Once you choose either of those, you're given the option between arcade rules, 3 minute mode, 5 minute mode, and 10 minute mode. Personally, I think 5 minute mode hits the sweet spot perfectly. Arcade rules are, well, the arcade rules where time is more stacked together rather than just being a timer ticking down. 3 minute mode is great for fast paced, rapid sessions, perhaps during competitions between friends. 10 minute mode is great for experimentation, getting more familiar with the maps, and grinding out your customer's precious money. Aside from that, there's also the Crazy Box gamemode, an assortment of short, fun, and challenging puzzles based on the game mechanics. The only major thing you'll be missing out on by buying the steam version of this absolute pinnacle of gaming is the unaltered soundtrack. From my short experience with the steam version compared to my experience with every other version is that the soundtrack is completely different. It honestly isn't a huge deal breaker, and besides I'm sure there's a mod out there somewhere that can restore the old soundtrack, but man you don't realize how much you miss something until it's gone. The original lineup of punk rock music from bands like Bad Religion and The Offspring captured and escalated the game magnificently, whereas the new soundtrack is just serviceable. Ah well. Not much you can do.

IN CONCLUSION, buy this game. I guarantee that you will not regret it one bit.