Sega has launched Crazy Taxi: City Rush (first impressions)

Crazy Taxi: City Rush has appeared in the Canadian App Store, a full-fledged sequel to the “racing game” of the same name for Sega Naomi slot machines and the Dreamcast console.

The new Sega game is, in our memory, the first time when a project is transferred from consoles to “mobile rails” not “head–on”, but conceptually. The new and old Crazy Taxi, which, by the way, also appeared on iOS and Android, are about the same thing. In both games, we transport passengers around the city for a while. The main gameplay difference is the transition to a new control model adopted from third–person runners. 

The car is now controlled approximately as follows: we hold the smartphone in an upright position, we play with the thumb of the right hand, we use a swipe to move to the next lane, push at intersections to turn 90 degrees, swipe back to turn 180 degrees. That’s it. 

It is played at the first stages much easier than in the runners, plus, there is not enough dynamics of the same Subway Surfers.

Due to the mission structure, the duration of the session varies not by the skill of the player, but by the game designer. It’s hard for me to say whether it’s good or bad. The sessions themselves are short – from 45 to 120 seconds.  

As for the monetization “body kit”, then everything is standard: two currencies, a strip of energy, a fleet of 15 cars (five for each city, the latter, in turn, are divided into districts that you travel through). Cars can not only improve the characteristics (change the suspension, engine, and so on), but also decorate in various ways (put a TV on the trunk, paint, change exhaust pipes, and so on). Plus, there are still drivers (you can’t customize, but there are a lot of them).

It’s too early to talk about how the game will behave in the market.