Kenji Kanno, director of Sega’s legendary driving game Crazy Taxi, remembers the exact moment he knew the game had made a seismic impression. “I was going to Las Vegas for promotional work,” he says. “I got into the taxi and the driver drove me very fast, arriving at my destination quickly. At the end, he laughed and said: ‘I am the real Crazy Taxi!’ It was a strange experience.”
Initially released in arcades, the zany, pop-punk drive-em’-up celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Crazy Taxi was an addictive coin-swallowing thrill ride, the game’s eccentric cabbies continually yelling “Ready to have some fun?” and “Time to make some crazy money!” in the faces of perturbed-looking normies who simply wish to be chauffeured over to Pizza Hut. Driving green-haired Axel’s 1960 Cadillac Eldorado-inspired yellow taxi so fast that its front bumper smashed into sunny San Francisco’s concrete hills was a memorable experience for all who played. (Gena with her Ford Mustang-inspired taxi was my mum’s character of choice.)
