Classic Corner One

Welcome to the second new feature of the blog this week, Classic Corner.

To balance the equilibrium after crap corner I thought I would take a look at those games that fill me with pleasure and joy and remind me just why I like gaming so much. So for classic corner number one I present to you...

Crazy Taxi

There are two reasons why I chose Crazy Taxi as the first game of the feature, the first being that It's a damn fine game, the second being that it was the sole reason for me buying a Dreamcast.

I first played Crazy Taxi on the original arcade where due to having to use a steering wheel and pedals I didn't do very well at all, but I still had a couple of tries before admitting defeat. A little while later I found out that the game was being ported to the Dreamcast and despite only playing the arcade for roughly six minutes I had played enough to really want the game.

So what particularly makes it stand out as a classic game? Well quite a few things, the game play being the obvious thing. It's just generally a fun game, you can just stick it on drive around picking up customers for a bit and then turn it off again and sometimes you need games like that.

A big plus for me personally is the music especially with it featuring one of my favourite bands Bad Religion, it's just a shame that between them and The Offspring there are only four song in the main game (seven in total including credits and menus). Top marks must also go for naming characters across the series after members of Gun's 'n' Roses, another favourite band of mine.

The game does look a little dated now, especially with the pop-up for the backgrounds, but it is still a really good and fun game to play and despite being looking like a simple game on the surface there is quite a bit of depth to the game. There is a choice of four characters to take control of (Gena being my personal favourite due to the lightness of the car) all with different attributes to them. A mini-game section is included that can take some skill to complete and which upon completion can offer up new cars/bikes to drive and there are two cities to drive around, the first being the original city in the arcade and the second being a new bigger city created for the game.

Though the game can be easily picked up and played it takes skill and dedication to fully realise the maps and how to perfect routes, customers and tricks to be able to maximise the tips and score. For me, that's what raises Crazy Taxi from a good game to a great game and who can forget desperately trying to drive through a car park to get to Pizza Hut.

Let's make some crazy money.