An early game for the Xbox was Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, the third entry in the console series which started on the Dreamcast (and saw ports to the PS2 and Cube), then had an unpopular sequel only on the Dreamcast, and finally went to the Xbox as exclusive to that console. Yes, that may turn off most of you now, but for those of you who may own a Xbox, you may find this Review useful. This game is a driving game in which you pick up customers by stopping in their range and going to destinations, stopping there to drop them off, picking up money related to how fast you were. You collect money along the way. It is a simple concept, but it is a very fast-paced game which is non-stop action for the whole time. You may know I liked the original, while I was lukewarm on the sequel, so what about the third game?

This Review, like always, is on the usual 0-4 star scale. 0 is pathetic, 4 is excellent, blah blah blah.

Graphics: ***½

The graphics are of normal Xbox quality, which is to say, very good. The Xbox is the best console when it comes to graphics, and yet again I can see where the console beats the PS2 in this category, as the game looks really nice. The lights shine in a particularly effective way, looking very realistic. I really like the fact that the people look much more real than they did in the past. It's really a nice job in this category.

Sound: ***

There's a couple of songs from the original Crazy Taxi that returned for this game, and for some strange reason, I like them, even though they're from punk *shudders* bands known as the Offspring and Bad Religion. I guess that's partially because I sing different lyrics to one of the songs, turning it into a song where I make fun of whoever I feel like. As for the rest of the music, well, it's all right, at least good enough to listen to in about half the cases. I'm not going to even compare this music to the great music found in games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (at least on certain radio stations in those games), but at least I don't turn off the music, as I do with the absolutely horrible soundtrack in Madden NFL 2005 (I may like Green Bay, but not necessarily Green Day).

Characters: *½

The eight characters from the two previous versions return (four from each game), plus four all-new characters. Any character can be used for a mini-game, while for the courses, you must select one of four specific characters for the course (corresponding to what game the character and course first appeared in). I still like the original four characters (okay, there’s a red-haired girl, and I can’t help liking her…), while the other eight characters aren’t all that interesting to me. The characters themselves don’t make a difference, though their cabs have different stats, and those may be useful to you.

Controls: ***½

The Xbox’s L and R triggers are my favorite of any system besides perhaps the Dreamcast, and thus I was really comfortable with using them as my brake and gas pedals (whereas I changed the configuration on the PS2’s Crazy Taxi). The A and B buttons are used for the reverse and drive shifts, while X beeps the horn and Y makes your cab jump (very useful). The controls are very easy to use, and I really liked them. I wish the special moves were a bit easier to pull off, but once you get used to them, they really aren’t as hard as they seem when you first start playing the game.

Difficulty: *

Crazy Taxi 3 really isn’t all that difficult of a game. I’ll admit, some of those mini-games are really hard, but even some of those are about average difficulty once you get the hang of them. The actual cities in the game (based on San Francisco, New York, and Las Vegas) are big, involved places with some dead ends, but with the ability to hop (not available in the first CT, which had the San Francisco course), you should be able to find your way out without much difficulty. It’s that hopping ability which really opens up the courses, as both San Francisco and New York were in previous CT’s, but only New York had hopping before.

Courses: ***½

The courses are quite fun, in my opinion, being big and full of action. Sure, I know that this game is remaking two cities and only offering one new one, but that new one is an awesome one, while San Fran seems more fun with the hopping ability (plus I think there are new additions to the place) and New York seems a lot more fun compared to CT2 (I think this course as well has new stuff, but it’s been too long since I played the originals to remember). I just don’t like that sometimes there are dead ends, which are places where you start to drive down, and then realize that you’re stuck unless you pull off a great hop combined with a Crazy Dash (which boosts your speed). These don’t come around too often, but they are annoying enough to slow you down and probably make you too late to drop off your passenger(s) in time.

Individual Course Ratings:
San Francisco: ***½
New York: ***
Las Vegas: ***½

Gameplay: ***½

Crazy Taxi games have always been fun for me to play. While I prefer the more challenging taxi missions in the Grand Theft Auto series, Crazy Taxi relieves the pressure of having to drive smart and just lets you use as much speed as you want, without having to worry about hitting a policeman or damaging your car too much. The gameplay is very fast-paced, with your wanting to pick up another customer as soon as you drop off the previous one. It is the type of game where it may seem repetitive on paper, but when you actually play it, it is too addictive to get bored with. It is certainly a great way to pass time, with no real objective of “beating the game”.

Mini-Games: **½

The mini-games in this version are more fun than they were in the past. They aren’t as hard, while I found the cab flat-out easier to control in this game than in the past, and that makes them much more enjoyable. I won’t say they’re perfect; no, there are still quite a few of these mini-games which I gave up on. Why? They are too hard; they get on my nerves; you need to be superb at special moves to beat them. Nevertheless, I think these mini-games are better than past Crazy Taxis’ mini-games, and that gives this game yet another advantage on the other versions.

Replayability: ***

This is a pick-up-and-play style of game, the type I like the most. Games that don’t force me to have fun and play at my own pace are always ones I’ll come back to play again and again. Sure, the game gets a little old after a while, and it’s not like a Grand Theft Auto, but it’s still a lot more replayable than the average game.

Fun Factor!: **½

This game is a fun game to play, like its predecessors, though I can’t say it’s the type of game I’ll really get into, or really get excited about. Sure, there are times when it can be exciting, and of course it’s a fun game to play, but it’s more or less above-average in this category, as compared it to other games, it can’t rank as highly as them when it comes to real fun and excitement. Still, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun; that just means it’s not as fun as some of the greater games.

OVERALL: ***

Crazy Taxi 3 is a good game, one that I recommend for Xbox owners. It’s not the type of game that only appeals to those who are fans of a particular genre. It can be enjoyed by anyone, and it’s certainly worth buying if you can find it (being an early Xbox game, it’s not the easiest game to find). It’s the best Crazy Taxi I’ve played, and while that’s not like saying it’s the best Xbox game or the best game ever, it’s still at least an achievement, and it shows that the series did improve, unlike in the case of Crazy Taxi 2. Considering it’s probably for a cheap price ($25 or less), it’s definitely worth a buy.

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