Crazy Taxi on iOS is an almost perfect port from the Dreamcast. Of course, there have been some minor changes, but you can’t really complain much.

Crazy Taxi (Universal: $4.99) 

“Hey hey, come on over and have some fun with Crrrrrazy Taxi! Barrel through traffic packed streets, hurdle off parking garages, and crazy combo your way to crazy money in a wild frantic race to scare up the most fares. In Crazy Taxi, time is money, and only the craziest cabbies come out victorious.”

Presentation

The original soundtrack is all there, including the songs by The Offspring. And the graphics are all the same, so while the game won’t look bad, it’ll definitely show it’s age (draw distances can be pretty bad), the only difference being is that the licensed venus are gone. For example, KFC is now replaced with Fried Chicken Shack, Pizza Hut is also gone now, but that’s about it.

Controls

Surprisingly, the touch controls for the game work perfectly on the touch screen. The forward/reverse gear from  the Dreamcast version have been combined with the gas/brake controls, so it’s a lot easier to control. Left and right arrows control the direction you’re driving in, with the player being able to double tap on either of them to initialize a drift. There’s also optional tilt controls, but in this day and age who still uses tilt controls to drive their cars?

Gameplay

The game’s title literally sums up the game – Crazy Taxi. You’ll be playing as a taxi driver in San Francisco doing what taxi drivers do best: taking customers to their destinations as quickly as possible. The color over the head of the waiting customers tell you what kind of fare it is, which depends on how far their destination is, and how much money can be made. Depending on the game mode, you’ll either have a static timer for the whole time, or completing fares will add to it. Once the timer runs out, it’s game over. It literally is all there, including the Crazy Box challenges, which I was afraid would not make it to the iOS version. It is identical to the Dreamcast version, with all the modes included.

Conclusion

Crazy Taxi is the perfect arcade game to be ported to the iOS platform. The controls feel at home, it’s fun, and you can play it as long as you want. If you’re in a hurry you can do a quick three minute game, an if not you can choose to do a longer game, or see how long you can last. If you played the game before, you’ll feel right at home, as nothing has changed. Go buy this now. 9/10