Crazy Taxi: City Rush (iOS, Android)

[Willsy]

Crazy Taxi: City Rush has been revealed by SEGA.

Designed from the ground-up for mobile devices, the new free-to-play entry in the arcade driving series features simplified one-finger touch controls for movement through four new city districts.

Acceleration is automatically handled so a flick left or right will switch lanes, while holding and swiping will slide round corners.

Players can weave in and out of traffic and jump over trucks for score multipliers, providing cash bonuses which can be spent on cosmetic and engine upgrades.

The free-to-play business model allows players to buy in-game currency with real world money, but SEGA states all content can be accessed without having to pay.

Meanwhile, a fuel mechanic means players will be unable to play after a certain set of missions until enough time has passed.

The campaign structure takes players through story missions, set to last around five hours, as well as side content with time trial checkpoints and events themed around difficult vehicles, including police chases, flattening traffic in a tank and avoiding collisions in a limo.

New content can be provided every 24 hours with a Daily Challenge, while new districts are set to be added for free post-release.

Developed by Sonic Dash studio Hardlight, Crazy Taxi: City Rush has been overseen by series creator Kenji Kanno.

Crazy Taxi: City Rush will be available on iOS and Android in mid-March, with a soft launch in Canada expected this week.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a555360/crazy-taxi-city-rush-announced-exclusively-for-mobile-devices.html

Very interesting. It's like Sonic Dash, just Crazy Taxi. I enjoyed Sonic Dash, so I'm excited for this. Seems like SEGA are bringing back their older franchises though mobile games.

[Badnik Mechanic]

*Read the following in the crazy taxi 1 annuncer voice*

 

Hey! Hey! Hey!

 

its time to make some crazy money!

 

Thanks to the new fuel mechanic we can charge £9.99 to refill your car!

 

That way you can keep playing, instead of waiting!

[Cola]

This just in - Sega ruins another beloved franchise.

[Willsy]

I hope that the fuel thing is only for story mode. An arcade mode would be nice too.

[redhellc]

I don't know why people are being so negative, shouldn't we wait to see the game first? I actually think that arcade type games fit small mobile games.

Also talking about the free to play style, while at the beginning Sonic Dash was abysmal now it's actually enjoyable. Maybe Sega learned with their initial trials.

[Willsy]

Just so you guys know, the original Crazy Taxi is free on the App Store for one week only.

[mikeblastdude]

Wow, I definitely wasn't expecting to see a new Crazy Taxi game anytime soon. Sounds like it will work well for a play-on-the-go mobile game. I may have to check this out when it's released.

[Da Blu Hedgie]

Just so you guys know, the original Crazy Taxi is free on the App Store for one week only.

It's also free on the google play store as well. I'm having some trouble downloading it though, as my network is slow and my phone seems to like to check it like every few seconds. Another thing to note is to be patient with the initial download. Kinda wish you could keep the apk file on a pc, so it's easier to download. 

 

Edit: This is kinda hard to play on a phone

[Jolt_TH]

Wait wait wait.

How can it be free for a week? I thought it was free to play?

[Willsy]

Wait wait wait.

How can it be free for a week? I thought it was free to play?

The original Crazy Taxi is free for a week.

[Jolt_TH]

Oooohh yeah I completely missed that oppsies

[Gabz Girl]

Already downloaded it! =3 Might play some Crazy Taxi later, if the controls don't end up pissing me off. I hate touchscreen controls.

As for the new Crazy Taxi, eh not sure if want. It looks nice but if it's going to end up like Sonic Dash I'm not getting it.

[Blue Blood]

I've not really played Crazy Taxi in the past, but this looks fun enough. The reason I kind of refuse to buy it though is that horrendous time limit on the amount of time you can actually play the game each day. Absolute shit, that.

For the life of me I can't understand why the F2P model has taken off so well. Why are people content to pay menial things in games? 'Lite' versions are fine, if not a bit deceptive. They're essentially just demos. But this is so so so bull.

[JAiRO]

Oh boy, gameplay.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuywFZpvCpQ

 

Free original Crazy Taxi on PlayStore/iTunes is the better deal folks.

[Fletch]

Eh... I don't think the game looks too bad... It actually still looks fun to me. I'll try and download the original Crazy Taxi, but I'll still keep an eye out for this one.

[#AR]

...game actually looks a taaaaaaaad bit fun I suppose.

Also I REALLY like the song in the first session.

[Tornado]

Have to say that the psuedo-cel shading style is something that suits the series very well.

 

 

 

The game itself looks horrendously dumbed down, though.

[Mr Loopone]

Hmm... The gameplay does seem dumbed down however without add on controllers, having the game play just like the original 3 is not going to work as well since people who do play on mobile games wants something simple to play but difficult to master. The new set up is more easier to control though despite being limited. No idea how the original plays on a phone [borrowed a phone and the game doesn't work, crashes before the 3D graphics load up but it was free] but it is probably easier to adapt than say GTA 3 or Vice City where they were designed for a console and reduced down to a touch screen that might have an extra button or two.

 

Looking at that gameplay video though, the graphics wouldn't say good or bad but fit more towards a casual style, sort of like The Sims a bit mixed with semi cel-shading. By comparison, the first 3 Crazy Taxi games were like a light yet a bit gritty at the same time style with the 3rd one being more darker and grittier due to the Las Vegas style theme. Thinking about it Crazy Taxi 3 could be also be ported again for the modern consoles/re-release on Steam since not as many people got to play that one. Plus that Your Ad Here sign means that there is going to be advertising in this game as well however the original Crazy Taxi had product placement with some of the locations that were replaced in later versions [starting from the PSP release].

 

The one bug bear seems to be the limited fuel that you're allowed to play per day and while the cost for a refill hasn't been given, it does seem to add up. It depends how bad Sega goes with the microtransactions (not keen on the F2P method personally and makes a game artifically longer unless the F2P mechanics don't meddle with the gameplay that often seems to be the case where it feels like grinding or pay to win to play a game). Then again Crazy Taxi was originally an arcade game, where you have a time limit and once its up, its Game Over unless you have another coin.

 

For some reason, the intro to the missions reminds me of Smashing Drive [arcade version]. As in the other taxi game that came out the same time coincidentally in the arcades [that weirdly was going to be called Crazy Taxi as well but obviously had to change the name] that for some reason got console ports in the US only even though ironically it was made in Spain. Also noticed that the hearts seem to reference OutRun 2/SP/2006 as in the heart attack mode where you do missions to get as much hearts as possible and could possibly be a reference, well considering Sega published both games... Plus the mission mode could apply to OutRun 2 again and also Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing or non-Sega example Midtown Madness 3 with its story mode [that had a sense of humour].

[Tornado]

Hmm... The gameplay does seem dumbed down however without add on controllers, having the game play just like the original 3 is not going to work as well since people who do play on mobile games wants something simple to play but difficult to master. The new set up is more easier to control though despite being limited. No idea how the original plays on a phone [borrowed a phone and the game doesn't work, crashes before the 3D graphics load up but it was free] but it is probably easier to adapt than say GTA 3 or Vice City where they were designed for a console and reduced down to a touch screen that might have an extra button or two.

 

I was messing around with the Android version of the first game on my tablet after I was made aware of it being free earlier. The touch screen controls are pretty shit as expected, but it does have tilt controls which surprisingly do work pretty well.

 

 

 

Though it doesn't support me using my DS3 with it for some stupid reason.

[Fletch]

I was messing around with the Android version of the first game on my tablet after I was made aware of it being free earlier. The touch screen controls are pretty shit as expected, but it does have tilt controls which surprisingly do work pretty well.

 

 

 

Though it doesn't support me using my DS3 with it for some stupid reason.

Woah, woah, woah... Let's back this up a bit... 

 

 

 

but it does have tilt controls which surprisingly do work pretty well.

I... I never noticed that the Android version actually had tilt controls... All this time I was playing touch screen controls (which were okay for me). I certainly have to try out these tilt controls now that you mentioned it. 

[RustyRick]

I just hope this game will be all right so SEGA will have some confidence in getting other IP's back on track, really.

[Gatestormer]

We have gameplay...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r03UGPscXqI

 

...and I am so disappointed. Doesn't feel anything like Crazy Taxi and It's totally lost what made the game so fun. A lane changer? Really?

[Willsy]

You can apparently play songs from your device on the in game radio.

I'm so playing Modern City Escape and Modern Rooftop Run.

[Jolt_TH]

..so this was the secret other SEGA IP game Hardlight were working on?

Are they basically reduced to lane switching games? (After the flop of Jump)

[Willsy]

It's not really just lane switching. It's kind of a hybrid between free roam and lane switching from what I've seen.