That Crazy Taxi reboot will apparently be a “triple-A” game

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That Crazy Taxi reboot will apparently be a “triple-A” gameYa-ya-ya-ya-yAAA

Ya-ya-ya-ya-yAAA

Image credit:Sega

Sega’s upcoming reboot of ‘90s arcade classicCrazy Taxiwill be a “triple-A” game, according to the head of one of the Japanese studios working on the driving game’s return.

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Crazy Taxi was among the slew of Sega games revealed to be making a comeback during a rapid-fire trailershown at the Geoff Awards in December, alongside the likes of Streets of Rage,Golden AxeandJet Set Radio.

While Crazy Taxi has seen - like all series with at least a crumb of public recognition - a more recent mobile game spin-off, the franchise’s last original PC entry was Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, released 20 years ago. Really though, I’d wager that most peopleonly really remember the first entry- even if its PC port excised the iconic Offspring and Bad Religion-dominated soundtrack of the arcade and console releases for a new playlist.

Speaking toJapan Timesfor a profile of the relatively fledgling studio, who were established in the Hokkaido prefecture capital only a couple of years back at the end of 2021, Takaya Segawa said that the team were “participating in the development of Triple-A titles, including Crazy Taxi”. (Thanks,Eurogamer.) While Sega Sapporo aren’t leading development - Segawa clarified that the team are contributing and don’t have any independent projects of their own just yet - they are collaborating with the likes of Sega’s Tokyo and international studios.

Image credit:Sega

The use of “triple-A” here should be taken with a mountain of salt, of course, given the way that major developers like tochuck the letter A at their gameslike I chuck sriracha sauce at a pile of chips: without restraint, despite inevitably knowing the heat it will deliver.

Still, it’s perhaps an interesting sign of what a modern-day Crazy Taxi might be like, especially taken alongside the news that fellow turn-of-the-century DreamCast favouriteJet Set Radiowill be rebootedas a fully open-world gamein the vein of pretty much every triple-A game that comes out nowadays.

The snatches of Crazy Taxi seen during that reveal – again, all we’ve seen so far - certainly look sharp, but “triple-A” implies far beyond visual fidelity. Could it end up being another open-world game with missions to take on beyond “go here”, collectibles to find and, uh, car-park towers to “climb”? Maybe it’ll go theElden Ringand Breath of the Wild route and require you to mark your own destinations on a map rather than conveniently laying out the best route for you. Who knows, maybe we’ll be racing around in a shared online world where we can leave our cars to gather resources, emote at passing drivers (middle finger and “wanker” motion unlocked via Road Rage battle pass) and questionwhether we really needed so much world to explore anyway.