After gaining quite a reputation in the arcade as an addictive quarter muncher, Crazy Taxi has finally been brought to the living room.  As with many of Sega's arcade ports, the question isn't if Crazy Taxi is fun (it is), it's whether or not there's enough game to warrant throwing down your hard earned money for an experience that lasts somewhere between 5-20 minutes per session depending on how good you are.  Straight arcade ports are often criticized for being fun, but not fun enough to justify a purchase. Crazy Taxi, however, is not simply a straight arcade port.  Even if it was, its addictive nature would likely be enough to keep people playing long after the luster of most arcade ports would have worn off.

Crazy Taxi's concept is incredibly simple: drive around in a big city, pick people up, and take them where they're going for money. Keep doing it until you run out of time. The more money you rake in, the better your rating at the end of the session. Sounds pretty lame, doesn't it?  Well, it would be, but thankfully the game lives up to its name and driving like a lunatic is heavily rewarded. Your fares tip you for risky driving that gets them to their destinations faster. Jumps, power slides and squeezing through the smallest of gaps in traffic will ensure you tips and a higher overall fare. Get there fast enough, and you'll get a healthy time bonus. In Crazy Taxi, you will be rewarded for all sorts of behavior that would normally be frowned upon in real life, landing you either in jail or the hospital. Got a craving to drive against the traffic flow, or to forget about the road and take the most direct route to your destination by driving through a park? This is your game.

The arcade mode of Crazy Taxi is pure videogame fun. As soon as the action starts, you've got to rush around to keep the clock running and the money coming in for as long as possible. The game moves at a breakneck pace, allowing you little time to stop and catch your breath or enjoy the scenery. If you're not focused on squeezing through traffic and shaving a few seconds off your time, your game will likely grind to a halt sooner than later. This, the game's core, is engaging enough to keep you playing, but on its trip to your living room, Crazy Taxi acquired a few extras.

The most impressive extra is a new, Dreamcast-exclusive map. If the original arcade version ever gets dull, this will give players a whole new city full of secrets to get familiar with. But the fun doesn't end there. Sega's added a bunch of mini-games in "Crazy Box" mode. These games include everything from basic skill tests, such as getting five passengers to their destinations within a set time limit, to more unique challenges, such as a bowling challenge, in which you use your car as a substitute for a ball.

The controls follow the standard driving game setup for the Dreamcast.  The analog stick is used to steer, two buttons are used for shifting gears, and the triggers are your accelerator and brakes.  It takes a while to get used to playing the game using the Dreamcast controller instead of a steering wheel, but it's a fairly painless adjustment.  The controller works well after you've figured it out.

The graphics look great. If there was a downgrade from the arcade version of the game, it's not noticeable. The environments are vibrant, and always packed with traffic and pedestrians. Very minor slowdown is present, but it only appears in the areas where it showed up in the arcade, and it never detracts from the experience. For nitpickers, there is some very minor pop up near the horizon, which shows itself a little more obviously in the original mode. But overall, everything is looking good in this game. The sensation of speed as you dash around the city is superb.