Open world Crazy Taxi? We’re in but hoping that modern inventions such as Uber’s surge pricing aren’t implemented

A lot has changed in the world since Sega debuted Crazy Taxi in 1999. The chaotic cab-driving arcade racer landed at the perfect time and its soundtrack by bands such as The Offspring fit the time period perfectly. A year later it came out for the Dreamcast and easily became one of the best-selling games on the format.

But where does a game like Crazy Taxi fit in the gaming landscape today? The original was unashamedly an arcade conversion – short adrenaline hits designed to make you put more coins into the slot. It worked on the Dreamcast because 3D games running at that speed were new, and having a near arcade-perfect conversion was something to shout about.

But other than nostalgia – which, don’t get me wrong, I am a sucker for – what can you do with a modern take on the Crazy Taxi universe?

The original had you screeching around corners to pick up fairs before speeding to their drop-off points a minute or so later – the better you drove, the more cash they gave you. But it wasn’t a game you played for hours on end. It wasn’t meant to be.

Now Sega is recruiting devs for a new Crazy Taxi game and it looks like it is expected to be Open World and multiplayer. This sounds interesting, lots of players all vying for fares, doubtless trying to smash into each other.

The video with the devs above is entirely in Japanese but is interesting to flick through even if you don’t speak the language, for the amount of Crazy Taxi memorabilia in it that shows just what an important franchise it was for Sega.

If Sega can pull off some kind of taxi Battle Royale here this could turn out to be a lot of fun – some kind of Crazy Taxi musical chairs where you are out if you don’t complete a fair in time could be an interesting concept.

The game will be developed by Sega’s Sapporo Studio and had previously been described as a AAA game. Interesting times for classic games.

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