Crazy Taxi driving its way to iOS devices

One of the most fondly remembered cult hits, Crazy Taxi, will be released on iOS devices, according to an  announcement by Sega. The company has also released a short trailer for the announcement of the game. The trailer doesn’t give much information about the game except for that it will feature at least one song from the original version of the game on the PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, and on arcade machines. The trailer also tells us the devices that the game will be available for – iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch – and the release window for the game, which is this month.

Crazy Taxi was originally released in 1999 for arcade machines back when those things were famous. The game was then ported on to Dreamcast in 2000 and PC in 2002. The game focuses on four ’extreme’ cab drivers – Axel, BD Joe, Gena and Gus – each having his or her own special car and attributes, which gave the game a unique replay value in trying to get the highest scores with all four characters. The main aim of the game is to pick up random pedestrians looking for a taxi ride, and find the most exhilarating and insane route to their destination within the time limit; insane routes meaning it didn’t matter if you went off-road, through a mall, through a picnic or even underwater. All this is done for tips, which add to your high score.

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Crazy Taxi is violently making its way to iOS devices this month

This is another in a series of re-releases of classic games by Sega, the most recent being the HD re-release of Jet Set Radio on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Jet Set Radio is set in a dystopian world where street gangs are comprised of kids wearing ‘nitrium-powered’ roller blades, which allow them to achieve great amounts of speed. The main aim of the game is to take over the city by spray-painting graffiti on certain spots all over the city to battle off the other gangs, while at the same time surviving increasing escalating police action against you. Police initially starts off with trying to arrest you by themselves, but eventually, the SWAT teams are called in, along with tanks and attack choppers.

Sega has been trying to get its older intellectual property (IP) back into the limelight and this seems to be the latest attempt to do so. Last year, the company had released its latest attempt at making its brand mascot – Sonic the hedgehog – relevant again with the release of Sonic Generations. The game was met by much acclaim by critics as a return to form for the blue hedgehog after a string of unfortunate games.