Crazy Taxi 2

Crazy Taxi 2 is a 2001 racing video game and the second installment of the Crazy Taxi series. It was released for the Dreamcast and was later ported to the PSP as part of Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars in 2007. It is the last Crazy Taxi game to be released for the Dreamcast after it was discontinued on March 31, 2001.

Crazy Taxi 2 introduced several new features not found in the original, including two new cities, “Around Apple” and “Small Apple”, both somewhat based on New York City. The new cities share four new drivers as default, bringing the total playable characters to eight but it started with 4 new characters.

Gameplay

Gameplay is very similar to the original Crazy Taxi, and centers around picking people up at destinations which are highlighted with colored rings, and dropping them off at stated destinations.

Unlike its predecessor, Crazy Taxi 2 allows the player to carry multiple passengers. The game also saw the introduction of the “Crazy Hop” feature, which allows the player to jump over certain surfaces to save time, as they ferry taxi passengers around the locations. By performing moves such as the “Crazy Hop” and the “Crazy Dash”, the driver accumulates tips from their passengers, which increases the total score.

Each customer will have a different color appear above him or her with money sign according to the color. Green means long distance, yellow means mid range and red means short distance. The longer the distance, the more money the player can earn. There is a time limit when driving each customer to the destination. If the time limit expires before reaching the destination, the customer will jump out of the cab. The game has no restriction to players aside from a time limit, allowing players to drive as fast and as recklessly as they wish.

This sequel includes a modified soundtrack with rock bands The Offspring and Methods of Mayhem. The game also has some online modes in the form of a scoreboard, and replay-sharing. Also there are some unlockable items and maps which players need to beat in the mini games to unlock it.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 82/100 Review scores Publication Score AllGame Edge 8/10 EGM 8.33/10 Famitsu 35/40 Game Informer 8.75/10 Game Revolution B GamePro GameSpot 8.6/10 GameSpy 8.5/10 IGN 8.8/10 X-Play The Cincinnati Enquirer Maxim 8/10

The game received “favorable” reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.