The update/port rests on new modes and a modernization of the licenses. Unfortunately, at Sega's preview event yesterday very little was actually ready to confirm, let alone play. The game I played yesterday was the Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi running on a PSP debug kit, which was at least a good proof of concept for the game itself. One analog stick isn't a real issue on a Dreamcast port, and I was easily peeling across the game's nostalgic cityscape as soon as I picked up the PSP. The right and left shoulder buttons are brake and accelerate, the analog stick steers, and the face buttons switch between drive and reverse. The visuals should look substantially better than what I played yesterday in the final product, but what I played yesterday was fun. It wasn't new or gorgeous, but it was fun and a good fit on the PSP.
The bite-sized game modes that both Taxi games originally shipped with (in which a five minute play session can be a marathon) are perfect for the PSP by default. The meat of the new release should come from the addition of multiplayer modes, but unfortunately, the details on these modes are currently up in the air. Competitive play and co-op play are definite, with more modes taking precedence over getting leaderboards put together, but expect two-player ad hoc only. Having no infrastructure wireless is forgivable, but it's hard to imagine any reason for excluding it on Crazy Taxi beyond just not wanting to spend the money on development. This isn't a game that requires timing your play to the frames of animation, so the occasional lag bump from being actually online wouldn't be a serious issue. I'm excited about slamming a friend's cab into one of those trolleys in multiplayer, but it would be even better if I could do that with all my now-distant friends I used to actually play the Dreamcast with.
Another important addition is to the sound of the game. The multiplayer announcer's voice is going to be re-scripted and re-recorded, as well as a great deal of the passenger dialogue. It's inarguably a bit dated, these days, as is the extremely limited (although excellent) set of original soundtrack tunes. Although "which bands?" is still undecided, the Taxi team is looking to add 5-7 bands to the soundtrack lineup. Whether they'll be able to retain the original tracks as well is an open question, as is the status of the iconic product placement. Tower Records isn't around any longer, but will it really be Crazy Taxi if you can't take the young punk passengers to Tower? Those big questions being floating in the air like a potential fare's marker, I'm still excited to take my Taxi on the go when this releases this summer.
