There are these moments when you read a piece of news and are immediately catapulted twenty years into the past. When we saw the trailer for the new Crazy Taxi, it was exactly one of those moments. Suddenly, they were back, those memories of the annual summer holiday with our parents in Spain. There was this loud, flashing arcade hall on the promenade, and right in the middle of it stood it: the massive Crazy Taxi High Roller arcade machine. I still remember exactly how I threw all my pocket money into that machine. I was absolutely addicted to whipping passengers through the crazy traffic under time pressure, pulling off completely absurd jumps, and soaking up that pure, unfiltered arcade feeling.
When the official confirmation for 2027 flickered across the screen at the Xbox Games Showcase, there was no holding back here in the office. After 24 long years without a real new console title, Sega is bringing the cult classic back. The thought of soon no longer playing this game on a greasy arcade machine in Spain, but in our own high-end rig at home, is simply absolutely surreal. Just imagine it: You strap yourself into your aluminium rig, grab your wheel mounted to a powerful direct-drive base, press the load cell brake, and throw a bright yellow, Cadillac-inspired tank through the streets. It will be such an absurd, but at the same time incredibly brilliant change from the serious everyday sim racing routine.
Old heroes and a worldwide chase
The trailer, overseen by mastermind and original creator Kenji Kanno, presses exactly the right buttons. It opens with a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and takes us straight back to San Francisco. Cult driver Axel is also back at the start. And because Crazy Taxi simply would not work without the right soundtrack, The Offspring’s «All I Want» blasts out of the speakers. This is fan service in its purest form. Interesting for us tech nerds on the side: Sega has confirmed that generative AI is being used as a supporting tool during development to bring the world to life.
But the new game, which carries the fitting title Crazy Taxi: World Tour, does not just want to rest on old laurels. The familiar gameplay, picking up completely unhinged passengers and getting them to their destination in record time so you can immediately chain on the next customer, is being massively expanded. The name says it all, because the game is going global. At launch, five different worldwide locations are set to be playable right away. This time, the developers are integrating a real narrative campaign in which we set off on a worldwide chase for taxi thieves. The trailer already hints that the madness reaches completely new dimensions when passengers have you literally navigate over giant fish or through completely absurd obstacles.
The perfect cool-down for your rig
Alongside the campaign, Sega has thankfully also confirmed a classic arcade mode for everyone who simply wants the high-score thrill of the old days. The absolute game changer for our community, however, is likely to be the announced online multiplayer. Hanging out with friends on Discord and smashing through big cities online in bright yellow taxis is guaranteed to create countless laughs.
Of course, we should not kid ourselves: We are talking about a pure arcade game here, where physical accuracy, tyre temperatures, or weight transfer play absolutely no role. But that is exactly the point. After an extremely demanding, highly focused league race in Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRacing, your head sometimes simply needs a “palate cleanser”, a taste neutralisation. Just switch off your brain for once, let the force feedback of the base transfer the pure arcade chaos into your hands, and jump over ramps to the finest pop punk.
For us at SimUltimate, one thing is clear: Even though this game has nothing to do with serious motorsport, it will be an absolute must-buy for our rigs in 2027. We are already getting the old skate shoes out of the cupboard and turning the speakers all the way up.
See you on the Golden Gate Bridge!
