text:
Crazy Taxi – FAQ
Arcade Games
FAQ by MKim
Version: 0.0.2e | Updated: 08/20/2000
Crazy Taxi Cabbie's FAQ and Manual Compiled by Mark Kim Version 0.0.2e Text Build 206 For the Sega AM3 Arcade Game Location of Final Assembly: Downers Grove, IL USA Date of Completion: August 20, 2000 (No Time Given) Date of Public Release: August 20, 2000 (No Time Given) Copyright Information --------------------- Unpublished work trademarked (tm) and copyrighted (c) by Mark Kim. All Rights Reserved. This document is basically based upon my Crazy Taxi FAQ HQ (http://www.verasnaship.net/crazytaxi). This document also shares the same ideas as with Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi) as much of my hardcore playing came from Kenshin's site. This file is SHAREWARE and is strictly for entertainment use. In addition, this file can only be HTMLized by the sole owner of the file (Mark Kim), regardless whether the content is good or bad. To top it all off, this file can only be shown at the following websites: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) * Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi) It is a criminal act to reproduce and/or retransmit this file in any way, shape, or form (regardless of the medium) and it shall be a criminal act to to use this file at a password-protected site where either user accounts are utilized and/or money is made through these accounts. It is a direct felony to use this file for any profitable (even if you fail to make any money out of it), promotional, and/or commercial transactional purposes (including but not limited to giving this file as some sort of bonus, gift, or any other means to generate any money out of this document). It shall be a severe criminal act to incorporate any or all of this file into any gaming guides, game sites, magazines, or any other profitable and/or commercial transactional means that exists (including reprinting, OCR-ing, and the like). To conclude about this, it shall be a direct criminal act to make any money out of this document. Currently, this document is being maintained and is the sole property of Mark Kim, and this file is protected by all applicable copyright, trademark, and patent laws in addition to all International Treaties. Any breach of copyright, trademark, and/or patents (which includes but not limited to plagiarism, stealing, laming, pirating, or otherwise) and/or using this document for any other purposes other than personal and private purposes, and/or illegal mirroring of this file (other than the five aforementioned URLs as described in the beginning of this disclaimer) is a direct violation of all applicable copyright laws, International Treaties, Patent Laws, US Title 107, and the Berne Copyright Bill of 1976. Violators and Transgressors shall face severe civil and criminal penalties through the maximum extent possible by law. Mark Kim acknowledges and respects all copyrights, patents (pending or not), and trademarks whether if it's mentioned or not somewhere in either the FAQ Text File and/or site as no copyright infringement was intended. If for any reason I MUST USE any copyrighted resource, then credit will be given at the Acknowledgements Section for the common part. Note that whenever I give credit, I WILL NOT REVEAL ANY E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND/OR OTHERWISE in order to protect the privacy of the people for whom I give credit to. This file has been carefully written by Mark Kim in respect to all copyrights, patents, and trademarks. THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY. MARK KIM ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR ANY INCIDENTIAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH, OR ARISING OUT OF, THE FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENT. Crazy Taxi, Axel McDermott, Joseph "B.D. Joe" Blackson, Gena Turner, Gus Mancini, the cab vehicles, the landscape, and all other related material pertinent to this game are respective copyrights, trademarks, and patents of Sega Enterprises Ltd. All I Want, and Right Down the Line were performed through the rock band Offspring and these songs are registered trademarks and copyrights of the Offspring Band. All Rights Reserved. Ten in 2010, Them and Us, and Inner Logic have been performed by Bad Religion, and all the lyrics from Ten in 2010, Them and Us, and Inner Logic are registered intellectual copyrights and trademarks of Bad Religion. All Rights Reserved. The Tower Records Shop that appear in the actual gameplay is a registered trademark and copyright of Tower Records. All Rights Reserved. The Kentucky Fried Chicken location that shows up during gameplay is a registered trademark and copyright of Kentucky Fried Chicken. All Rights Reserved. The Pizza Hut location that appears during actual gameplay is a registered trademark and copyright of Pizza Hut. All Rights Reserved. The FILA Shop which shows up during gameplay is a registered trademark and a copyright of FILA. All Rights Reserved. The Original Levi's Store destination that appears during gameplay is a registered trademark and copyright of the Levi Strauss and Company. All Rights Reserved. This file was created by Mark Kim under respect to all properties as no copyright infringement was intended. I'LL MAKE THIS SIMPLE: THIS FILE IS MINE AND THERE IS NO UNAUTHORIZED USE OF IT!!!! I DIDN'T MAKE THIS FAQ SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE A LIVING OUT OF THIS WORK!!! I DIDN'T MAKE THIS FAQ SO THAT SOME CRAP FREELANCE WRITER OF ANY INFAMOUS COMMERCIAL PUBLICATION CAN INCORPORATE SOME OR ALL OF THIS WORK, SLACK OFF, AND GET PAID FOR IT!!! AND I SURELY DIDN'T CREATE THIS FAQ SO THAT SOME COPYCATTER CAN STEAL/PLAGIARIZE THIS WORK AND CLAIM CREDIT FOR IT!!! Only seven websites can mirror this FAQ and that's the bottom line. It is to remain free of charge, in its original state, and in one whole piece at all costs. ======================================================================== IMPORTANT GAME DATA Make: Crazy Taxi Developer: Sega's AM3 Publisher: Sega Platform: Arcade Genre: Occupational Driving Number of Players: 1 Available Cabinets: Stand-up and Sit-Down 27" Cost: $1.00 US for sit-downs, $0.75 cents for stand-ups AAMA Parental Advisory Warning: Suitable for All Ages ======================================================================== HISTORY OF THIS FILE August 5, 1999 -------------- After playing the game several times at Great Odyssey at Naperville, maybe I better give out some guidelines to those who love to generate a record amount of sales in one game. August 10, 1999 -------------- Richard Uyeyama caught a copyright error on my work. Accident. =) There should be a ton of Crazy Taxi links at the following website as outlined like these: * http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/ * http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/game.html I _WILL_ ONLY PLACE LINKS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN ENGLISH AND NOTHING ELSE! I highly recommend one of the two links if you want some great links to Crazy Taxi. Still http://www.sega.co.jp, and http://sages.ign.com are the best links for Crazy Taxi, though (even though it's only in Japanese). Richard Uyeyama is the one to be thanked since he made me browse through the following two links. Please BE WARNED that I WILL ONLY POST LINKS if I find the information at the website useful. REMEMBER I DETEST PLAGIARIZING and I WILL ONLY post strategies that I have tested and/or find useful. Credit will be given ONLY IF I FIND THE INFORMATION USEFUL and if the chunk of info is posted in this text. Lately, I've seen several "Negative Million Point Winners" at GameFAQs for plagiarizing reviews. Face it. Plagiarism is against the law. You could get into trouble, get boycotted, or even worse, get fined and/or get placed into jail. When will the plagiarizers learn that Original Work is the ONLY WAY AROUND?! Enough of that. Let's get going. September 12, 1999 ------------------ By way of update, there is YET ANOTHER English Crazy Taxi Site on the Internet!!! Visit http://members.aol.com/crazytaxi7/index.html right after you read this today. In order to help people become crazy drivers in this game, I have included some new sections that *should* help you get through some of the roughest fares in the game. If this was your first update in quite a while, then I recommend that you read this document over and over again as there has been several changes since the last update. Notice that this document assumes that you are playing the game on a 4/4 machine or easier. I have announced a good-sized update of resources that you can use for the real-life web. It should be somewhere at the end of the file! Enough of that. Let's get going. At the time of writing, the Kenshin World of Crazy Taxi is now in English at long last!!! http://come.to/crazytaxi to visit Kenshin's Crazy Taxi Page. October 31, 1999 ---------------- Non-update. Please feel free to check out http://talk.to/hellziarth, which is a mirror to this FAQ. Notice that I WILL NOT open up any Message Boards, which has a tendency for bandwidth abusage. Mainly all the legalese have been updated. January 2, 2000 --------------- To uphold the integration between the HTML and Text Pages, I have updated this FAQ in order to make sure that integration is tightly made. However, I will still be ORIGINAL as much as I can. Most of these ideas were taken from Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi. You can now find the latest version of this FAQ at Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi, since I'm now sharing the same ideas as some of the "hardcore" CT Drivers (Kenshin, Exodus, Rex, et. al.) from this point on. According to Sega, the Dreamcast Version of Crazy Taxi will contain the Arcade Cityscape and a Dreamcast-exclusive Cityscape which may or may not be more difficult than the original Arcade Cityscape. Also on the Dreamcast Menu (for a possible February/1st Quarter Release for the US Dreamcast) are some training grounds that will help you improve on those crazy driving skills. Please don't ask me too much about the Dreamcast version of CT yet--I don't have a Dreamcast. I'm dying to get a Dreamcast, though. If you don't want me to get a Dreamcast, then please use this E-Mail Form and rant why I shouldn't get it. REMEMBER THAT THE E-MAIL MUST BE POSITIVE AND YOU MUST HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE WITH THE DREAMCAST BEFORE DOING THIS. If it's a silly chit-chat, then I will assume that you are spamming me. Here's the Form Mail URL (You are granted permission to e-mail me on this FORM ONLY, NOT DIRECTLY TO MY MAILBOX): * http://www.verasnaship.net/emailme.html A note about Sega AM3's "Occupational Series": There are now 3 of these kind of games available: Crazy Taxi, Brave Firefighters (Real Life Heroes), and Emergency Call Ambulance. Crazy Taxi is the most enjoyable of the three because of the humor during gameplay. Brave Firefighters is just LA Machineguns replaced by a Firehose (You use water to fight a series of arson during gameplay but you have to watch how much water you use because innocents need to be rescued in this game). Finally, Emergency Call Ambulance plays like Sega Rally Championships 1 and 2, doubling as a race to the hospital to get your patient to a Chicago Hospital safely and quickly. January 29, 2000 ---------------- A new website, Al Amaloo (http://vgstrategies.about.com) gets my Seal of Approval to mirror this FAQ. Now there are seven ways to get the latest version of my FAQ. Either way, I still recommend coming down to my own website (http://www.verasnaship.net) since you always get the latest versions of my FAQ from this location first. Al Amaloo's website is a promising one: It's much like Cheat Code Central as far as its FAQ Mirroring policies is concerned. This website keeps it's FAQ Mirrors fresh, checks all its "contractors" for its updates, and keeps all its FAQs free of charge, in its original state, and in one piece. Keep up the good work, Al. January 30, 2000 ---------------- Just to let you know that Al Amaloo has two websites. Added his domain site for your convenience. April 21, 2000 -------------- After having to decide whether I will permit 5-6 sites to mirror this work or not, I have made the toughest decision in the history of this file: I have narrowed the number of sites that are permitted to mirror this work to 4. That means from this update on, this FAQ can only be shown at the following addresses: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) * Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi) The reason why I had to narrow down the amount of sites that can mirror my FAQs to 4 is because you'll know why in the Newsflash section. I had to change my cyberhandle once again, thanks to an overdose of a respective Konami Light Gun game series. From now on, these FAQs will be carrying the Agent Falcon brand instead. Although I use a different cyberhandle when visiting certain Crazy Taxi sites, you are to be advised that from this point on, I will be using Agent Falcon as my universal Video Game Cyberhandle from now on. To warn you, I have not played Crazy Taxi for a long time. If you want to see me play Crazy Taxi at Brunswick Zone Naperville, and if you live at the Chicagoland Area, please contact me by using this address: * http://www.verasnaship.net/emailme.html August 20, 2000 --------------- Added the DIP Switches for the game as far as Game Options are concerned. Updated the Frequently Asked Questions in order to reflect that Crazy Taxi is now out for the Dreamcast. An important rant from the author: CRAZY TAXI WILL NOT BE COMING OUT FOR THE PC OR THE MACINTOSH. Crazy Taxi is a 100% Dreamcast Exclusive since it is released by Sega and it's a Naomi Product. Any Sega-made Arcade Products and/or Naomi and Hikaru powered products will be Dreamcast Exclusives GUARANTEED. No if's, and's, or but's. ======================================================================== CONTENTS OF THIS FILE * Newsflash * What is Crazy Taxi * My Crazy Taxi Review (Shared with Jeff Veasey's GameFAQs and Fernando Mosquera's Seganet) * How to Play This Game * The Drivers * Some important things to know * Places that you will be prompt to drop people at * Can't break the record, try this! * How to get the CRAZY TAXI rating * Know thy fares * Tips, courtesy of GameSages (http://sages.ign.com) * The Crazy Ranking System * Frequently Asked Questions * Afterthoughts (Under Construction and not shown, will be here in the future) * Do's and Dont's * Suggesting Fixes and other Tralala * Resources and stuff * Acknowledgements * One Final Warning ======================================================================== NEWSFLASH I will have to repeat this once again. This FAQ can only be displayed and/or stocked at the following locations: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) * Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi) If you find this FAQ on another site other than the ones listed above, then please notify me ASAP. Thank you. I can no longer give OKs to any webmaster who attempts to mirror any of my FAQs. As always, newer versions of this FAQ can be found first at my own web site located at http://www.verasnaship.net. If you have any fixes or any other tralala you want to share with me, then use the convenient e-mail form at http://www.verasnaship.net/emailme.html. I grant you permission to e-mail me at the aforementioned URL as described herein. E-Mailing me directly to my mailbox using an E-Mail Client is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. This document, like all Video Game FAQs on the Internet, must be viewed in a monotype font or the alignment will not be correct. If the alignment isn't correct for any reason, then please follow these procedures: 1. On Netscape Communicator, click on Edit, then Preferences. 2. Click on Fonts at the Appearance Section 3. At the Fixed Width Font, select Courier New, and select size 10 point font. 4. If you see this sample bulk of writing aligned correctly, please proceed: 1234567890 ********** It is strongly advisable that you *do* view this document through the DOS Application Edit.COM or through the Apple Text Viewer SimpleText for alignment purposes. If you are planning to view this through the Windows Interface, then you are highly advised to open up WordPad and then open up the Text File. Set the font face to Courier New and set the font size to 10. ======================================================================== WHAT IS CRAZY TAXI? Crazy Taxi is a Generation X-oriented, Alternative Music-encompassing amalgamation of real-life Taxi Cab Driving and a popular PC Game called Carmageddon created by the rivals of Toshihiro Nagoshi's acclaimed racing games, AM3. Special thanks goes to Fernando Mosquera for pointing this out at his SegaNet Site. As the name suggests, Crazy Taxi is supposed to be a Taxi Business Simulator. The objective of the game is to complete as many fares you can within a short amount of time. Unlike real-life Taxi Businesses, this game demands that you try to attain a record-breaking amount of both sales and fares within a short amount of time. One of the many features that made Crazy Taxi a successful game is that the gameplay itself booted out the blood and guts found on most fighting and shooting games and placed all the major laughs IN during gameplay. This could mean driving over a park, trespassing through a Kentucky Fried Chicken Drive-Thru :), jumping from the Parking Lot, going through the wrong side of traffic, slamming over a Pizza Hut billboard sign, and other stunts that I don't want to explain in full until later on in my explanation. Each customer have their own time limit, and they have their own reactions whether you go too slow or if you are driving too dangerous or not. With Naomi's Stereo capabilities comes an opportunity to fit in as many well-known Offspring and Bad Religion songs during attract, demonstration, and gameplay. You will be able to listen through the sounds of All I Want (from Ixnay on the Hombre) during attract, Ten in 2010 during demonstration, and some gameplay-exclusive songs by the Offspring and Bad Religion during gameplay. To be more specific, here are the following songs that you may be able to listen: * All I Want (Offspring) * Ten in 2010 (Bad Religion) * Them and Us (Bad Religion) * Way Down the Line (Offspring) * Change the World (Offspring) * Inner Logic (Bad Religion) Crazy Taxi features controls that are simple to get used to. A clutchless Reverse/Forward enables you to move the cab forward and backward. The gas and brake pedals have their own potentiometers dependant on how far you press the pedals down. The vehicles are a lot more nimble than much of AM2's racers, though the cabbies have different cars that react differently to the player's driver attitude. Crazy Taxi features an affordable standup cabinet with stereo speakers near the coin slots and a sit-down cabinet with an adjustable seat. Since the game runs under the "affordable but just as powerful as Yu Suzuki's Model 3 Step 2 board" Naomi System, it isn't restricted to high-end arcades such as Dave and Buster's, Jillian's, or GameWorks just to name a few. Not a stranger to Advertising, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Tower Records, FILA, and Levi Strauss and Company provided Sega's AM3 the financial tools needed to tune this game to perfection. In return for their financial support, AM3 agrees to show the likelinesses of these five well-known chain stores in its originality in the form of the actual destination you may need to take a customer to during gameplay. The promotional destinations you may need to take a customer to could be either Kentucky Fried Chicken, Tower Records, a FILA Shop, an Original Levi's Store, or a Pizza Hut, all of these promotional destinations are mirrored in their glory and in their originalty. The only other game that had financial support from well-known companies was Top Skater, a skateboard simulator also created by AM3 (Although only Ads showed up and not the actual likelinesses of the locations). ======================================================================== MY CRAZY TAXI REVIEW This is my review that is shared with GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and with Fernando Mosquera's SegaNET (http://www.seganet.com). For those of you who are going to Seganet, go to Reader Reviews, and click on one of the Crazy Taxi RR's. For those of you who are in GameFAQs.com, go to features, contributor recognition, click on "VFauransy", and then click on the Crazy Taxi Review that I have submitted On-line. AM2 has always been the king of Sega Racing Games. You name 'em. Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, and Super GT. They created some acceptable racing games throughout the years mainly because of the gameplay and the multiple View Change Buttons. However, it becomes apparent that two of Sega's AM Departments have been competing for the "finest Sega Racing Game Creator there is". Such case would be Crazy Taxi. The task fell to the Taxi Cab concept, where you try to complete as many Taxi Cab Fares within a short amount of time. Crazy Taxi is different from other racing games as far as gameplay and controls are concerned. You drive the Taxi like you would in Real Life: You either reverse the direction of the car or just drive forward. The movements of the Taxi is responsive, and turning hard won't cause an understeer in the car, much of the reason why people have been dreading most of Sega's Racing Games. Even you go full speed, the controls are excellent. As with much of Toshihiro Nagoshi's racing products, the gas pedal and brakes have potentiometers which monitor how far you press them. Remember the higher the pressure, the more gas/brakes you will apply. But what sets Crazy Taxi apart from the common Sega Racing Game is that you need to pick up a customer and drop a customer up (to complete a Cab Fare) to places such as a Harbor, a Fila Department Shop, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, a Baseball Stadium, and Tower Records just to name a few of the many destinations you will be required to stop at throughout the game. Your key enemy in the game is the clock, which will pressure you continuously to complete a record amount of Cabbie Fares within a short amount of time. Also, to make things worse, the customers have their own time limit depending on the distance from the pick-up point to the Destination Point. Crazy Taxi is a demanding game because the Time Limit won't give you much time for error and you do have to find ways to get the customer to the destination area within the shortest possible time. You have to figure out the best driving pattern to get from start to destination. Even that means driving through sidewalks, using a Parking Lot to avoid a time-costly chicane, jumping from one grade to another, or the like. You obey road rules in real life, do you? This is not the case in Crazy Taxi as the clock requires you to perform driving stunts that you should never try in a real Taxi Cab for the best possible peformance and the shortest possible route from Pick-Up to Destination (and for a record-breaking amount of successful Customers in one game). The Sound Effects are fluid from the Cab's tire squeal to the Customer's remarks such as "HEY, WATCH IT!!!". The Alternative Music BGM may be the recipe to much of Crazy Taxi's impressive sound. Several American Bands have dedicated their voices and their albums to create a Generation X, Alternative Music Environment. The Animation is fluid and smooth, with only minimal slowdown in between the graphics. The Polygons are minimal, and the special effects are highly detailed in their full grace. Crazy Taxi is a fun game because the time limit forces you to perform stunts that you would never do in other racing games or in real life. Even though the game can be highly-challenging (mainly because you're pushed to complete as many fares within the time limit, which is the roots to the challenge and replay value of the game), it's well worth the $1.00 or so at your local arcade. Since Crazy Taxi runs under the affordable but as powerful as the Model 3 Step 2 Naomi System, it isn't restricted to high-end arcades like GameWorks, Jillian's, and Dave & Buster's. Crazy Taxi is definitely an event of Comic Relief for many players who have been dreading Sega Racing Games in the past. And BTW don't try any stunts that you will try in Crazy Taxi in a real Cab or you could get fired instantly. Graphics: 9/10 (Some slowdown in some cases, but the animation is still fluid) Sound: 9/10 (Enjoy the Alternative Music during Gameplay) Challenge: 10/10 (You're pushed to complete a record-breaking amount of fares in a short amount of time and you need to perform stunts that you shouldn't do in a real taxi cab to cut the amount of time required to drop Passengers from one place to another) Fun Factor: 10/10 (This could be the Sega Racing Game that could spell relief for many who has been dreading Sega's Understeer Roots and favor plenty of accidents in Racing Games) Replay Value: 9/10 (You choose your own outcome and you have to figure a lot of things out to shave off time from one fare to another) ======================================================================== HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME This section basically runs through the Instructions on the Cabinet and through GameSages (http://sages.ign.com). The objective of this game: To complete as many fares by picking up customers and dropping them off at their desired destination within a given amount of time, and to achieve a kick-ass amount of fares and sales at the end of the game. The Controls: Steering Wheel (used to steer your vehicle from left to right), Gas Pedal (gives the gas to Taxi so the vehicle can move), shifter (Forward and Reverse, shift depend on the direction you are going), and Brakes (used to cut your speed in a jiffy). When you see a customer who's ready for his/her ride, be sure to stop within the mark. The color of the Customer Mark depends on how far it will take from pick-up to drop-off. When you see a destination, stop within the mark. You will be graded on how long the fare took to complete, and depending on how fast or slow the fare was, you may be given a time bonus for the ever-ticking clock. When you pick up a customer, time will be extended. Here's how you will be graded during your "business game": * Speedy: 5 second time bonus. The customer will either pat you in your back, give you a high-five, or give you a remark that they have never reached their destination so fast in their life before. * Normal: 2 second bonus. Not as plentiful as a Speedy Fare but it's better than nothing. You can do better than this. The customers just thank you for dropping them off on time. * Slow: No time bonus, but you still get cash from the fare. The customer will kick your car, throw dust at you, and/or yell at you for being a "lousy driver". You need improvement. Next time, do better. * Bad (HORRIBLE): No time bonus, plus the customer will jump out of the car (even while you are moving). You get no time bonus and no money for this kind of performance. Next time, be fast and valorous. The initial amount of the fare depends on the distance from pick-up to drop-off. You can have your customers tip you by performing a stunt and/or action which is called a "Crazy Hit". Here's a description of the Crazy Actions you can perform during gameplay (note that the combo will reset if you touch a car): * Crazy Through: Pass through a car. * Crazy Drift: There are many ways to do a crazy drift, but the most common way to do a Crazy Drift is to shift to R, then hold D while turning. More on this as we go along. * Crazy Jump: Perform a daring jump from a ramp or whatever. Here are some techniques to learn in order to boost up your sales during your "Business Game": * Crazy Dash: Both pedals must be released. Now all you have to do is to do a quick D~Accel On. It takes time to master the timing but it's an easy technique to learn. * Crazy Drift: There are many ways to do a crazy drift, but the most common way to do a Crazy Drift is to shift to R, then hold D while turning. More on this during the Hints Page. * Limit Cut: At a straight line, release both pedals and then do a quick R~D~Accel On. This only works if your car is at max speed. More on this as we progress. * Crazy Backdash: Release both pedals, and then do a quick Crazy Dash~R. * Stop At A Dime: Do a Crazy Drift and then release the pedal. Do a quick R~Brake. Possibly the most difficult technique to master. Note: Don't do the Crazy Dash and the Limit Cut too quick otherwise you may jump high and you may be wasting a bit time, so try to give a second transition in between Crazy Dashes and Limit Cuts. Limit Cutting also redlines your engine and/or meshes up your torque so that your car can go faster. Enough said, let's get radical! ======================================================================== DRIVERS From a recent trip to Great Odyssey at Naperville, IL USA, proof is the drivers use different cabs. At first, I thought that the cabbies are identical. Later on, I found out that the cabbies have their strengths and weaknesses. Special thanks to PRISONER for stating that out. For a better description of the cabbies, please look up at the following pages: * http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/game.html Axel ---- While Axel McDermott has not built his car to focus on a specific property, whether it's handling, speed, competency, quick stops, or the like, he has built his car for one purpose: balanced cabbie abilities. His car is quite fast, but it doesn't accelerate as well as Joe's or Gena's cab. Please keep in mind that Axel's cab is quite prone to unsurfaced areas and speed cuts even though Axel has built his cab for balanced abilities. Despite the speed cut and the tire reliability problem, Axel can rival Gena's hopes of creating record-breaking sales through the hands of the expert player. At first, I thought that Axel was to be an expert's player because his car doesn't focus on a single attribute but later on, finding out from Prisoner's and Kenshin's CT sites (http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/ and http://come.to/crazytaxi respectively), beginners should make Axel their first choice since he's faster than Gus but more forgiving than either Joe or Gena. BD Joe ------ Joseph Blackson has built his car so that his car achieves speeds of at least 120 mph through normal driving. He can achieve speeds as high as 150 mph (approximately) through the use of limiter cuts. Joe has placed such a low downforce level on his car so that his car can achieve blatantly high top speeds but please be warned that this car tends to be slippery when sliding or driving through unpaved areas since Joe placed slippery whitewalls and about 30% downforce on the front and rear. Despite the downforce and tire problem, Joe can use the advantage of added speed he configured his cab to pick up green customers. You may want to try out B.D. Joe one time and try to pick up any sidewalk customers in between the Cable Car Stops: These people usually want a ride to either Pizza Hut, FILA, Popcorn Mania, The Original Levi's Store, Tower Records, or Kentucky Fried Chicken. A lot of Limit Cutting is required while driving on the pavement to make up for the slippery performance on the non-paved surfaces, and a lot of technical driving is required on certain curves. However, with the 30% downforce on his car, Joe can mesh up his cab's engine to a jiffy to go really fast. Gena ---- Gena Turner's car is probably the most nimble in the game. Deriving her cab from a 1964 Ford Mustang, Gena's car also has the most low-end torque, providing great acceleration. Crazy Dash after picking up someone and after dropping off to complete a fare to really get a kick out of her car's engine. Gena also placed four 32-bit Carbon Brakes on each wheel, providing confident braking so that she can pick up and drop off as fast as she can. Lighter weight also means impressive handling, though her top speed is less-than-perfect. However, Gena needs to be careful not to hit other vehicles and/or obstacles as her car's weight can't withstand a lot of abuse. Despite the lack of withstandment problem, as long as you learn how to do Crazy Recovers (combination of Crazy Dashes and Limit Cuts), then the low weight handicap shoudn't be a problem. Gus --- Gus Mancini's car is derived from an antique Cadillac, the smallest and heaviest form of Cadillacs in the history of General Motor Corporation's Cadillac Motor Division history. Granted, Gus has the heaviest and smallest car in the game so his car won't accelerate too well unless the player can do Crazy Dashes and Limit Cuts like crazy. What Gus really focuses on is hardcore handling. The front and rear downforce of his car is set at a robust 100% so that means you may need to be easy on the steering wheel at times. Even with the Caddy's weight problem, Gus has fitted 18-inch tires on the car so that the cab isn't slippery while handling or riding through unpaved surfaces. An old-fashioned Caddy like Gus's was tailored for driving competency rather than speed. With a curb weight of 4500 pounds, Gus's car does not stop too easily, so you may need to prepare to shift to R, Brake, and Gas-On in order to stop as quickly as you can. Even with the braking problem, the weight of Gus's car allows it to withstand a lot of abuse, even in crappy traffic conditions, and in arcades with traffic congestion levels set up so high. ======================================================================== THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW * Your starting point is at the University and you will see at least three customers waiting for their ride. Pick a customer up right away and try to drop them off the quicker the better. * Sometimes the green arrow does not point to the fastest route from starting point to destination, so the best way to become faster is to find ways to reduce travel times by a high margin. For example, if you are starting from the Kentucky Fried Chicken area and working your way towards the Police Station, then the best way to go faster is to travel right in the grass at the S-Curve, and when you get to the Railroad Hairpin, take a huge jump by descending down through the low road. * There is no need to obey road rules here in this game: The objective here is to get as many fares within the alloted Game Time. You can reduce time at the S-Curve by driving right through the grass if you are travelling from the Heliport Area to the Kentucky Fried Chicken Area. * The destination distance are graded by colored Money Signs from Green (Farthest) to Red (Nearest). Try to pick up as many Red Money Sign Customers as you can because even though you won't earn a high score for a short fare, you can build a steady amount of fares in one game by grabbing as many Red Money Sign Customers as you can. When you become better in the game, you can pick more Green Customers. * If you are planning to pick up a Green Money Sign Customer, then make sure you know the terrain that you are going before taking that risk. Although Green Money Sign Customers net the highest possible money for fare success, it can do more harm than help if you don't know what to do in a certain area. This is true when you are trying to travel from the Baseball Stadium Area to Downtown since you will need to use the Freeway for travel. If you get lost, chances are that you won't be able to complete the long fare. * Try to memorize the way you travelled from one place to another (i.e. from Pizza Hut to Kentucky Fried Chicken). Also, try to memorize how you got from one place to another the quickest possible way (i.e. From The Church to the Baseball Stadium). Not only will you play longer, but you will play better every game you play. * To make a "Crazy Stop", brake hard and shift the stick to Reverse. If you want to make a complete stop, then make sure that your foot is off the gas as you get the car to a complete stop. * Every time you do a crazy trick (through, jump, drift), you begin or continue a combo. Depending on how daring it is, you get more money. Specifically, the customer will tip a colored coin: * Bronze = $0.25 * Silver = $0.50 * Gold = $0.75 Dween thinks that there is no Dollar Coin but I have seen a $1.00 coin being tossed up. If you got a "50-Crazy Hit", then the Dollar Coin would be worth $50.00!!! Depending on how daring your travel becomes, sometimes the Gold Coin will be worth $1.00! * This coin is then multiplied by the combo number. So, a "Crazy Through (combo 10)" that nets a gold coin tip is worth $7.50. A Crazy Through scores basically like this: * Going with traffic, or passing a stopped car: .25 or .50 * Going against traffic: .50 or .75 The faster you're going, or the faster an opposing car is going vs. you, the more the tip is worth. * There are two good places to rack up on tips: #1: Going down the trolley hill, opposite side of the road. If you stay on opposing traffic side, between the trolley lane and the normal lane, you will get bigger tips. #2: Going on the expressway from the Stadium to Downtown, going against traffic. You will most likely pass large gas tankers. They score two tips! Passing the front end is worth whatever it is worth, and passing the back end is worth a bronze tip (.25). You can score 30 or 40 combos, with the passenger tossing $20 and $30 dollar tips. I have scored a $1,000+ fare this way. * Hint for the expressway: To ensure no collisions, stay between the lanes on that dark strip of road. * About combos: They start at 1 at the beginning of every passenger. They reset ONLY if you have a FRONT END collision. If you are hit from the side, it's ok! So when going down the large S-curve hill, or down the trolley hill, avoid cross traffic, but keep in mind they can hit you on the side with no combo-reset! * When the passenger is dropped off, they tip you based on your remaining time. Each one-second time measurement in thie Sega game has 60 parts - time is measured by one-sixtieth of a second (The technical term for 1/60 of 1 second is a "Jiffy"). When a customer is dropped off, you get $0.10 per Jiffy, or $6.00 for every FULL second of time left on their individual clock. So when you see "10" left on their clock, you will get $60.00, plus random change up to $5.90 for each jiffy left (that of course you don't see displayed). This roughly translates to $100.00 for every 16 seconds. * Dumb trick: Of course, pressing the start button while driving will display where you need to go, plus the distance left. But if you shift into Drive and hold the stick shift in the up position when picking up a passenger, the location and distance display remains on the screen until the stickshift is released. * If you fail to make a successful fare, then the fare will start out for free. You have to make some crazy hits in order to make the Fare worth something. If you can get the customer somewhere fast enough, then the Fare will be worth something, though the Fare Amount won't be that high. Remember the sooner you get the customer at their destination, the more money you will get for one fare. ======================================================================== THE DIP SWITCHES This section mainly explains the Game Options that will effect your playing habits throughout the game. In Crazy Taxi, the key DIP Switches are as follows: Starting Time Limit, Customer Time Limit, and Traffic Congestion. Staring Time Limit ------------------ This switch determines how much time you will start at the beginning of the game. The more seconds you are issued at the start of the game, the more room for error you will have as a beginner. Please keep in mind that higher staring times doesn't equate to better scores as your score depends on the style of your driving. The options are 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70. The factory setting (also known as the Default Setting) is 50 seconds. Note that it's adjustable to multiples of 5. Customer Time Limit ------------------- This switch determines how much of a time extension you will get after "picking someone up" and how much time you will be given to transport a customer from pick-up to destination point. There are 8 levels of Customer Time Limits. Level 1 is the easiest because you're given a lot of error while Level 8 is the hardest because you need to hussle if you want to go very far on this game. The factory setting for this is Level 4. Traffic Congestion ------------------ This switch determines how much traffic congestion there will be during the game. There are 8 levels of Traffic Congestion and the higher the level of congestion, the heavier the traffic will be. In Level 8, the traffic can become EXTREMELY CONGESTED so you really need to drive really carefully if the Traffic Congestion is set up rather high. The factory setting for this one is Level 4. Having the Traffic Congestion set to Level 6 is OK, but if I were the operator, I *personally* wouldn't set this one any higher than Levle 4. Author's desired settings ------------------------- Sit Down: Starting Time Limit at 65 seconds, Traffic Congestion at Level 4, Customer Time Limit at Level 4. Stand-Up: Starting Time Limit at 70 seconds, Traffic Congestion at Level 3, Customer Time Limit at Level 3. Default (Factory) Settings: Starting Time Limit at 50, Traffic Congestion at Level 4, Customer Time Limit at Level 4. ======================================================================== PLACES THAT YOU WILL BE DROPPING OFF AT Not a stranger to advertising, Sega has been given financial support from many famous organizations. Throughout the game you will be running through several familiar name brands and franchise corporations, in its usual entirety in a fantasy setting. Additional points were confirmed by Rex (firstname.lastname@example.com). * Kentucky Fried Chicken * Pizza Hut * A Church * Heliport * Baseball Stadium * Tower Records Shop * Boarders Paradise * Police Station * Fire Station * FILA Department Store * Cable Car Stop Top and Bottom * Sail Street * Freshtree Street * A University * Tennis Court * Seaside Market * A Beach * A Hospital * Bus Terminal * Mall-N-Gate (Two Points) * Hotel * A Bank * Look-Out Tower If there are anymore destinations and/or destination fixes, please drop me a line with the subject of Crazy Taxi. ======================================================================== CAN'T MAKE A RECORD AMOUNT OF FARES? TRY THIS!! * Try to park near the customer. This is the case when you are going to pick up Yellow, Orange, or Red Customers since they have a large pick-up area. The farther you park, the longer it will take to have the ride start, and the more time you will be wasting (HEY!!! Can't you park a little closer?!). * Try not to scare off the customer. They will sway either left or right (HEY, HEY, HEY!!!) and once you stop, you will suffer heavy time loss since they have to dodge your car for their safety (WATCH IT!!!! YOU NEARLY KILLED ME!!!!!). So in this case, always try to avoid scaring a customer off when trying to pick them up. * When you are making your transition in between the Business District to the Bus Terminal, choose the High Speed Narrow Strips. These strips leave out ALMOST NO ROOM FOR ERROR. There's heavy traffic and if you crash, then you may lose a lot of time so drive really careful when you try to drive there. You can drive through the Technical Strip during the Transition, but you need to slow down in order to avoid hitting the wall at the Technical Strip. If you tilt a bus, then the fallen bus may block your way, wasting lots of time. You will need to back up and then try again just to get the bus out of your sight. * Green Customers have the most priority amongest all the customers. The order to pick someone up is outlined as Green -> Lime -> Yellow -> Orange -> Red. Reds travel the shortest while Greens travel the farthest. Remember, the farther you need to travel, the higher the fare value. To make a Green Trip become a quickie, all you need to do is to do Crazy Dashes and Limit Cuts with 95% accuracy. * Try to pick up the nearest customer. This way you won't have to worry about losing so much time on the clock. You will always have time extended on your clock and having some peace of mind when picking them up. * It's best to pick up customers who are willing to go to the direction TOWARDS the University since you can extend your gameplay this way. Remember abusing customers on two areas (overtaking greens at both the RB Station/Baseball Stadium/Downtown) may mean less customers and a longer time loss. Always take customers who will travel the farthest and their willingness to travel to the direction to the University. * Most customers will change colors. Be sure to take them ONLY if they are willing to travel the farthest possible. Some customers will be static. Save the static customers for later use--You'll need them if you run short on customers! * You can slam into crushable objects like Telephone booths to cut your speed down even more when commencing to drop customers off. Trying to Crazy Stop may take time and the best way to stop at the mark is to ease up as you are approaching the destination. This helps you avoid any occurrences of passing the stop mark by accident. * If you get stuck by the wall, then steer the car to the opposite farthest direction of the wall. Now change gears and slam into the brakes. This takes practice since higher speeds may take longer to get you out of a wall cling. * You should always be speedy in your fares, whether it's short or long. You will get lots of time for speedy fares. Also, your time will be extended every time you pick up a customer, so keep that in mind. * Find various shortcuts from one point of the city to another. For example, if you are going from the Popcorn Mania to the Kentucky Fried Chicken, you'll want to drive right into the Parking Lot to avoid a time-costly chicane and drive right through a walkway to shave off time. I know you can't do that in real-life but since Sega has given us their answer to Carmageddon (in a time-pressing manner), anything goes. * Always know the shortcuts if you have to make return trips. For example, if you are going to Kentucky Fried Chicken to the Heliport and back, then you would have to travel through the grass to save time as opposed to driving right through the S-Curve. Remember crazy speed involves cutting through corners like you have never did in a Sega Racing Game. * If you need to turn around, use either crazy slides (D-R-D, then turn the wheel hard) or watch the amount of gas you are feeding while turning the wheel. If you press the gas too hard while trying to launch the Cab after a stop, then you will only see Burnt Rubber and no real acceleration until you travel at a straight line. * After stopping, always do a Crazy Rocket. Not only this will result in faster fares, but this will make you a better player overall. Wheelspin will only waste time so avoid spinning the rear wheels at all costs. * Avoid contact with cars and stay away from Commercial Vehicles at all times. Contact with other cars will violently cut your speed down and Commercial Vehicles can force you into a violent stop. The cars can be knocked down (but they will lower your speed). However, they tend to get in your way so be sure to avoid them at all costs. * The best way to turn long trips into crazily fast fares is to abuse the Limiter Cut. Be careful that you do not do the Limiter Cut while on a rather *sharp* turn or you may lose control. * The advanced version of the Limiter Cut is to do a Crazy Dash, and then do a R~D~Gas-On, and then do another Crazy Dash. It's pretty much tap-tap-tap-tap, etc. The only way to see that you have done the Limit Cut correctly is to hear the engine roar REAL LOUD. * If you are in some turn in the middle of the Freeway, then try to stay at the extreme outside of the turn. Avoid Limit Cutting while scrapping the wall or you may lose control and possibly hit commercial vehicles by accident. * Really be careful if you are going too fast in areas with heavy traffic. The speed will more likely do more harm than help. If you are going in an area with sharp turns and heavy traffic, then don't go bonkers on Limit Cuts (THAT WAS TOO DANGEROUS!!!!!!!! DRIVE CAREFULLY!!!!!!). If you need to do limit cuts, the do them only on a straightaway and make sure that you cut the apex as much as you can. * Stay in total control of the car at all times. At higher level machines, you will need to watch your speed since the time limit and traffic shortage might compel you to drive technically and carefully. Remember being careful and cautious in heavy traffic situations is always good. ========================================================================
HOW TO BECOME THE CRAZY TAXI Note: This one is courtesy of Exodus (firstname.lastname@example.com for the NNTP Newsgroup rec.games.video.arcade). This is possibly the most frequently asked question. Hopefully, by the time you finish reading this, you should be able to create Crazy Taxi Games at your own arcade. To conclude, this section assumes that you are playing on a machine with the following settings: * Starting Time Limit: 50 Seconds or more * Customer Time Limit: Level 4 or easier * Traffic Behavior: Level 4 or easier 1. Pick up the nearest customer and make sure that you hussle up like crazy. Try to limit cut with 100% accuracy (as well as Crazy Dashes). 2. If you want to stop with some tips, do a crazy slide followed by a quick R~Brake. 3. Make sure that you pick up Green Customers first (since they net the most money). Try to go for all Green Customers. 4. Make sure that your game time reaches at least 90-100 seconds by the time you reach $40K of income. This way you can net $50K+ when time runs out. However, if you want to reach Japan's standards, then your Game Time needs to be at least 350 seconds when you hit $60K of income. 5. Try to face the direction your customer want to head to ahead of time. This will reduce the amount of unnecessary turning you have to commit and will save time. A sliding stop is best for this case. If you are not sure where your customers want you to head to, then try to point halfway in between so that you minimize any unnecessary turning around. 6. There should be a good chunk of Green Customers in between the Fire Station and the Tennis Court and in between the Two Cable Car Stops. The customers in between the Fire Station and the Tennis Court will ask you to either take them to the Mall West/North Gate, the University, or maybe at one of the Cable Car Stops. The green customers in between the two Cable Car Stops will ask you to take them to Pizza Hut (for the most part), the FILA, or Popcorn Mania. Try to grab all of them since they net you lots of income alone. More on this later. 7. Try to keep your time above 100-150 seconds ALMOST ALL OF THE TIME. You will play better and eventually have about 500 seconds of playing time on the long run when you reach about $50K of income. 8. You can minimize the amount of time loss looking for a Green Customer by avoiding frontal collisions for 100% of the time and you continue to do *accurate* Limit Cuts. 9. Avoid abusing Limit Cuts while hugging the outside of the turn. You may lose control by doing this. Also, try to avoid Crazy Jumps since you tend to lose control by this way as well. 10. It's best to point yourself straight through the University. Make sure you know who to take and who not to take. 11. While making your transition in between the Osmous Hotel/Crown Arena to the Bus Terminal Area, the track is rather narrow, making it easy to front up any vehicles. Don't take the left side as you will be jacked REALLY HARD. 12. There will be some Yellow Customers at the Hotel/Crown Area who will ask you to take them to the Police Station. Try to stay away from them. If you need to pick up any customers that will require you to perform an insanely long trip, then pick up a Light-Green Customer who will ask you to take them to the Fire Station or a Yellow person who will ask you to take them to the Lookout Tower. There is a hidden Green Customer (a Tennis Player) who will ask you to take him to the Tennis Court. Go to the all-way Intersection and locate a sector walkaway where a Tennis Player is waiting for you at. 13. BEWARE OF ANY CUSTOMERS WHO WILL CHANGE THEIR COLORS!!!!!!! There will be customers at the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Tower Records, Sky Bank/CT Hospital/Clock Towers Theater/Boarder's Paradise, RB Station, Baseball Stadium, Bus Terminal, and other areas that need some verification who will change their colors depending on where they need to go. For example, the old lady near the Stop Mark at the Baseball Stadium may change to either Yellow (Heliport) or Light-Green (Police Station). Make sure that you pick them up ONLY IF THEY TRAVEL FURTHER. 14. There are AT LEAST 4 HIDDEN CUSTOMERS IN THE GAME. The first one is underwater in the West Side Beach Area. Drive inside the water and pick her up. She will ask you to take her to the Kentucky Fried Chicken. The second one is at the rooftop at the Parking Lot Area. Drive at the Parking Lot and slow down as you jump. Hug the left and come to a complete stop at the rooftop. She will ask you to take her to the Police Station. The third hidden customer is at the rooftop at the downtown sector following the Police Station. Take the ramp (right of the Hospital) and try to land directly at the rooftop. The spikey-headed gangster will ask you to take him to the Fire Station. The final hidden customer is at the Hotel/Crown Area. Locate him somewhere in the walkway in between two buildings (near the all-way Intersection). You should be able to see a Tennis Player. You will be asked to take him to the Tennis Court from this point. With these four customers, you should be able to earn in between $2500-$4000 alone. Thanks to Exodus for posting a message (it has been edited for this FAQ) which should help people generate CRAZY TAXI-rated games. Please visit the Crazy Tactics Message Board at the following address: * http://forum.s-one.net.sg/forum/297/list.pl * http://kenshin.hypermart.net/crazy/index.html ======================================================================== KNOW THY FARES It is really important to know where you are going from time to time. If not, then chances of netting a Crazy Taxi Rating is all for naught. Note: Why not visit Kenshin's http://come.to/crazytaxi for a description of the "Start to Destination" expectations? Kenshin also has a map on his Web Presence Account so it's worth the visit. Basically speaking, this section basically runs through Kenshin's world of Crazy Taxi Crazy Business and Customers sections with the exception of some descriptions as defined by the FAQ Author. A note from "Ves": I would like to thank Kenshin, Rex, and Exodus for pointing their *useful* analysis in the Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi BBS. For stronger details and analysis, please visit Kenshin at http://come.to/crazytaxi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The University Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Technical curves following the Tennis Court up to the University Drop-Off Area. Destinations: University of S.G.C.P. If you are starting the game and after the announcer says, "Here we go!!!", just pick up the woman with the red shirt and orange skirt. Don't bother picking up any other customers when you start the game because from the start and depending on how much time the arcade owner grants you from the start, you may not have enough time to spare. You will only lose about 2 seconds trying to reach her mark for the most part. Don't scare her off or you may waste even more time. Park as close as you can so that you can reduce the pick-up time. If you are just coming back from a trip to the Lookout Shore, and if there is any more Orange Customers, pick any of them up. If there are no more Orange Customers here in this area, then go forward (after dropping someone off) and pick up either a Lime or a Yellow Customer. It's best to refrain from picking up a Green Customer since most experts would say that the safest customers to pick up reside at the Cable Car Area. More on this later. To conclude, the precedence of the customers here would be orange, then yellow, then lime, and then Green. Greens are pretty much high-risk since you go farther than the Seaside Market/Beach, but if you need to pick someone up (to go the farthest possible), then don't go any further than the Seaside Market. This way you can pick up someone from the sidewalks of Sail Street, Freshtree Street and the Cable Car Wire Street. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Cable Car Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Graphical Terrains: From the first medium right up until the Cable Car Stop Bottom Destinations: Cable Car Stop Top, Cable Car Stop Bottom, Freshtree Street, and Sail Street From the first medium right, there are Yellow, Lime and Green Customers. Don't pick any of these guys at the Medium Right up unless you have emptied all the customers behind the University first, and then in between the University and the Medium Left. Typically, the Yellows may elect to go to the Seaside Market, the Limes may choose to go either to the Beach or the Cable Car Stop Bottom, and the Greens will guarantee a trip to the Yacht Harbor, which is relatively far away from the Cable Car Vicinity. As always, take the nearest customer since you may not have some time to spare. If you are dropping someone off at the Cable Car Stop Top, you may need to slow down starting from the Medium Right or you may accidentially pass through, wasting some time. Hit any knockable objects aloft but avoid the poles since that's actually a barrier in disguise. If you are planning to pick someone up at the upper hill of the Cable Car Vicinity, don't pick up any of the customers at the side of the Cable Car Stop Top since you need to do some unnecessary turning-around. Instead, look for someone at the sidewalks and make sure that the customer is next to you. The closest customers are just before the intersection and the downhill dip. From the first intersection, if you are going to Freshtree Street, then turn left. If you are going to Sail Street, go right. Otherwise, just enjoy the steep jumps out of this spectacular hill stunt. If you drop off a customer who required you to go to Freshtree Street, pick up the Red close to the Freshtree Stop (OK, so I made you turn around!) and drop him to Sail Street. Do the same thing to the other guy, and then pick up any of the two Freshtree Sidewalk customers (both are green) as you descend down the hill. The Erin (girl with blue shirt and jeans) will ask for a ride to the FILA and the woman after the second jump will ask for a ride to the Kentucky Fried Chicken. If there are no more customers at the sidewalk before the first jump at the Cable Car Wires or if you want a higher average per fare, then the customer right after the first jump at the Cable Car Wire Street will ask for a ride to Pizza Hut and the Mark (guy with Red Jean Shirt) after the second jump will ask you for a ride to the Original Levi's Store. Follow the same strategies that you've underwent with Freshtree Street if you drop someone off at Sail Street. If you think that the Reds don't do much justice to your earnings, then if you have dropped someone off at Sail Street, pick up a customer after the first jump. She will ask you to take her to Popcorn Mania. There should be a Tim (a punk) waiting for you after the second jump. He wants a ride to Tower Records. There are also Lime Customers at the end of the Third Jump. The Freshtree Street Lime will ask for a ride to Square Park, the Cable Car Wire Lime will ask for a ride to Pizza Hut, and the Sail Street Lime will ask for a ride to the Cafeteria. Customers who are waiting for a ride at the Cable Car Stop Bottom may change colors from Orange to Lime. Pick them up ONLY if they are Lime since you want to travel farther. If you are dropping off someone at the Cable Car Stop Bottom, I personally would face the headlights right so that I would do a slide stop and after I drop off a customer, I would go uphill a bit until I run into an Ashley who will be a green customer at the termination of Sail Street. She will tell you to take her to Kentucky Fried Chicken. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Beach Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Terrains: From the Seaside Market until you reach the Yacht Harbor. The Cafeteria starts out the Quad Area. Destinations: Seaside Market, West Side Beach, Yacht Harbor Seaside Market: There should be some yellows, limes, and reds near the Seaside Market, and they all change color. If your skill level is Beginner or if you are playing on a machine higher than Level 4, then pick up Nicole who's just right of the road (she's a red-shirted lime) since you may not have some time to spare. The two customers near the front of the Seaside Market Stop Mark should only pick up if they are willing to travel through the area the farthest possible. I would save the customers near the Seaside Market Stop for later use, even though it's kind of risky. If you want to impress the audience, then just drive down the water to find several customers who's waiting for their ride underwater. There are Yellows at the shore of the Beach but underwater there should be three customers who's willing to travel the distance. The Mark underwater will ask for a ride to the Original Levi's Store (He's that red-jean shirted guy with a Lime Mark), the Tim (the punk) will always go to Tower Records, and the Danielle (the woman with the Blue Shirt near the Beach Stop Mark) will always ask you to take her to Kentucky Fried Chicken. There are also Yellows underwater but since $80K is our goal, you may want to tell the audience how crazy you are by picking up the one lime and two greens underwater. :) Most of these customers along the street change color overtime so pick them up ONLY if they are lime or if they are willing to travel the farthest possible if they can't turn lime within time. At the Yacht Harbor Stop, there should be a Tim waiting inside the Yacht Harbor Stop Mark. If he is ready for his ride, then take him out with you!!! He'll always ask you to take him to Tower Records, so take the chance. Right before the Yacht Harbor, there is a Medium Right. Ease up and cut the apex but don't slam right into the barrier at the right. If you are coming out from the water, then you may need to slide through the turn. Drive carefully here because traffic volume is kind of high right in this area. This is important to know if it's your subsequent lap aloft. Traffic can get heavier as you earn more later in the game. Also, the divided highway after the medium right provides less room for error since the lanes are quite narrow leaving less room for error. To conclude, limit cut this area with care since it's really easy to get jacked in the middle of a rush hour. Left of the Yacht Harbor Stop but before the Cafeteria signifies the Quad Area Start, there is a Mark who may change color. Take Mark with you ONLY if he's lime: He'll be hungry for some Kentucky Fried Chicken, or he may want to buy some new music at Tower Records. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Quad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Terrains: From the Cafeteria before the Parking Lot Destinations: Cafeteria, Pizza Hut, Popcorn Mania, Square Park, and FILA While this is not an area where you have to make up your mind about decision-making, you need to sharpen up your judgment skills right over here since most of the customers are scattered throughout the area. The game will start to get hard once you cross the Cafeteria. If you are at the Cafeteria, then there will be customers within the Sidewalks and within the Grass Area. The limes will ask for a ride to either Tower Records or Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Yellows may ask for a ride to what the Limes may be asking for, the Oranges may want a ride to FILA, Popcorn Mania, or the Original Levi's Store, and the Reds will definitely be asking for a ride to either to Square Park or Pizza Hut. Dropping off someone at the Cafeteria, I personally would try to pick up someone at the forest. If you think you can't afford any time to turn around, then you may want to reach for a customer closer to the Cafeteria. You can slide-slam right through a Pizza Hut billboard sign if you are dropping someone off at Pizza Hut. There is a Mark who will change colors. Pick him up only if he's yellow. This way you can go to either Kentucky Fried Chicken or Tower Records. If there is a Fabian (The white-haired pastor) and if he's ready, then pick him up: He'll go to the Church. The Church is where you'll have to start making all of your critical pick-up decisions, but more on the Church later. Note: Around the Quad there may be a lime and green customer wandering around the grass. Pick them up only if they are either lime and green since they always want a ride to the Heliport. Unless you see any around the Quad, always look for a Fabian who's ready for his/her ride. Otherwise, try to take someone who's willing to go to as far as Kentucky Fried Chicken or Tower Records. If you have dropped off someone at either Popcorn Mania or FILA, don't bother wandering around the Quad as that wastes time. Just drive forward and you should see two customers waiting for their ride. Pick Mark up ONLY if he's Orange (Tower Records/Kentucky Fried Chicken). I personally would pick up the Fabian (Yellow) first since he will always go forward to the Church. If there are no more customers left near the Parking Lot, then look for a Fabian at the Quad, but try to minimize time loss by picking someone up as fast as you can. If you are dropping someone off at the Square Park, you may need to ease up starting from the crossing of Pizza Hut since there are no stopping support at the Park. Start easing up at the Pizza Hut drop-off and come to a complete stop at the Square Park destination area. Fabians have the highest priority in this area since they always want a ride to the Church. If there is a Green or Lime lurking around somewhere, then TAKE HIM!!! He'll ask for a ride to the Heliport! Save the oranges and reds in the Quad for the last unless you need to gain some more time and/or to boost up your Speedy Percentage Rate. In Level 4 Machines, you need to pick up customers as fast as you can since you don't have time to spare. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Original Levi's (R) Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Parking Lot and terminating from the start of the Tower Records Area (close to the Tower Records Stop Mark) Destinations: The Original Levi's Store Comments: At the Picnic Brick Quad close to the Tower Records Stop Mark, there will be three green customers, two of them will change colors. The guy with the vidcam will be either red, yellow, or green. Pick him up only if he's green. The green guy near the Levi's Stopmark can either change to Yellow or Green. He'll ask for a ride to the Cafeteria if he's yellow, and to the Baseball Stadium if he's green. The fat guy near the tree (the guy with the white baseball shirt) will always ask for a ride to the Baseball Stadium. The guy with the flowers (next to the Levi's Stopmark) will ask for a ride to Kentucky Fried Chicken if he's red, to Square Park if he's Orange. Save this guy for later. The pastor at the right sidewalk (near the Levi's Stopmark) will always ask for a ride to the Church. If there's no green customers or any customer who's at least Yellow-class, then take this guy. Don't take the lady wearing the white hat unless she's yellow, as if she's yellow she'll go to the Heliport. If she's red, then she'll ask for a ride to the Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is way too short. You already know how to get the hidden customer just before a Crazy Taxi site came into power a long time ago: Drive right into the parking lot and SLOW DOWN. Hug the left side of the track and start slowing down a bit more. Come to a complete stop and land on a rooftop at the same time. You should be able to land at the old lady's stopmark. She will give you lots of time and ask you for a ride to the Police Station. Don't take her out with you until you've accumulated about $80K of income. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Area of the Tower and the Colonel ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the point you picked-up the vidcam man (near the end of the Levi's Area) until you reach the Grass Area. Destinations: Tower Records, Kentucky Fried Chicken Comments: Near the KFC Stop Mark, you've got a pilot (guy with the sunglasses) who may ask for a ride to the Heliport if he's orange, RB Station if he's yellow, or the Baseball Stadium if he's lime. Pick him up if he's lime as this will generate more income. Right after the KFC Drive-Thru, you will see a guy with the reading glasses waiting for his ride to the RB Station at the right side of the sidewalk. However, before he shows up, there's a girl with the blue shirt who should be reserved for the last since she may ask you for a ride either to FILA, Popcorn Mania, or the Heliport: in other words, she's pretty much a Wild Card customer. There are two pastors at the left and right side of the Kentucky Fried Chicken. If for any reason the pilot is not lime just yet, pick up the Pastor and head towards the Church. Driving right through the Kentucky Fried Chicken, make a left before the Kentucky Fried Chicken Stopmark and head a right, and you should see a baseball-shirt guy at the right side of the street. If he's orange, then he'll go to the Heliport. If he's lime, then he'll go to the Baseball Stadium. Pick him up ONLY if he's definitely lime. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Area of the Grass ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the termination of the sidewalks until you reach the Motel 6-esque buildings. Destinations: Heliport and the Church. The Church is the where all the fate-decision begins once you approach the Church for the first time. The Church: This is quite possibly the place where you will have to play "Critical Taxi" as there are customers who loves to throw you back to places you don't want to go, and there are also customers who will be willing to the direction the RB Station is facing. You need to pick your customers really carefully as a mistake could mean a backtrack back into the Kentucky Fried Chicken area and loss of precious time if you couldn't tilt your car halfway in between the directions of either the Heliport or the Kentucky Fried Chicken Area. At the Church, the oranges, yellows, and limes are your safest bet. The Heliport: This area is only second in cruciality to the Church. Any customers who are orange and are waiting for you before the Heliport Stop Mark (not next to and sideways and not beyond) should be picked up right away. There are two customers at the hills who will be either Lime (a trip back to FILA and Popcorn Mania which pisses me off) or Orange (a trip right to the RB Station). Be careful not to take the orange or yellow customers on the Heliport Area who will ask for a ride back to KFC or even worse, The Original Levi's Store. The red customer near the orange customers at the left sidewalk will definitely take you to the RB Station. Otherwise, she'll throw you back to the Kentucky Fried Chicken area. There is a green customer at the right side of the track who will change to lime if he wants a ride to FILA. Take this guy ONLY if he's green. Here, you will need to choose your customers VERY CAREFULLY if you want to avoid a trip back to the Kentucky Fried Chicken direction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The RB Station ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: This location has two straights with different grades and the outside of the Hairpin is usually the stop mark. It's noticeable: The RB Station makes up the Hairpin for this area. No need for explanation here. Destinations: The RB Station Comments: There are plenty of Green Customers right here but you need to choose your customers very carefully right over here. Avoid taking any Orange or Yellow Customers (from the start) as they will always drive you back to the direction KFC is at. The Green Customers at the side of the hairpin turn are the safest bets as they will ask you to take them to Downtown. They may ask for a ride either to the Bank, Theater, Hospital, or Boarder's Paradise. At the middle of the hairpin, you'll have to play some problem-solving in order to avoid a trip back to the Quad Area. Here's what you can do to avoid this mischief: * If the Robert (guy with the white T-Shirt) is lime, and if the guy with the Maroon FILA clothing is green, BUT if Tiffany (the pregnant woman) is not going for her ride, then take the Robert--he'll take you to the Police Station. * If the Robert is Green, and if Tiffany is ready for her ride, BUT if the guy with the Maroon FILA Clothing isn't waiting for his ride, then you might want to take Robert. This one needs some confirmation as this is the first instance where you have to select your Green Customers carefully. * If Tiffany is ready for her ride and if the guy with the Maroon FILA clothing is also green, take Tiffany--she will be able to take you to the Hospital. This one also needs some confirmation. * If all are green, try to take Robert--this one also needs some confirmation. * If Robert is lime and if the guy with the Maroon FILA Shirt is green, take the guy with the Maroon FILA Shirt. I need your help on this so please drop me a line if you have any confirmations. Don't take a Red Customer unless you've used up the side greens first and if there's no way any of the Inside Hairpin Greens will take you to the Commercial Area. If you have a customer on your cab and if you are taking someone to the Baseball Stadium and beyond via Kentucky Fried Chicken and earlier, then jump through the slope by crazy-sliding and jumping through the slope and by landing directly to the Parking Lot to save time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Baseball Stadium ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Parking Lot until you see the entrance to a Freeway. Destinations: The Baseball Stadium Comments: There should be three Green Customers at the back of the Stadium Stop Mark. Take them if they are ready for their ride as they are safe bets. The Lime Customers near the entrance to the Freeway are also safe bets as they will always ask for a ride either to the Police Station or to the Clock Towers Theater. Regarding about the Old Lady inside the Stop Mark, don't pick her up unless she turns lime--This will maximize your income (but in my words, she's safe to pick up if she's willing to go TOWARDS the University). Try not to take any Red or Yellow Customers right here as they will always drive you back. About the Freeway: Entering the freeway, hug the outside of the turn to maximize your speed. Now at the straightaway, try to get as many Crazy Throughs as you can for a higher fare. At the long Medium Right (assuming that you are taking someone to the Commercial District): you should not overdo Limit Cuts over here because if you wheelie through the outside of the turn and if you hit any commercial vehicles, then they may tilt and block your way, causing an OUTRAGEOUS time loss. Even at a Level 4 Machine, you should try to drive a bit slower (keeping Limit Cutting to a minimum) so that your car's stability is maximized. Remember the sharper the turn, the less room for error you have if you limit cut like nuts. The Freeway is somewhat of a Technical drive because the long Medium Left is really sharp and unforgiving at times and traffic may persist during the Turn. Also, Commercial Vehicles makes passing this area very difficult so watch your speed during this turn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Downtown ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Police Station Stop Mark until the intersection that leads right into the Mall Westgate Entrance. Destinations: The Police Station, Sky Bank, Crazy Taxi Hospital (CT Hospital), Clock Towers Theater, and Boarder's Paradise The Police Station: If for any reason you have to drop someone off at the Police Station, notice that there will be three Red Customers. In a Level 4 Machine and higher, you will need to take one of these "Static" Red Customers as your next customer (and pick them up as quickly as you can) since you don't have time to spare. On a Level 3 Machine and easier, you can just save these people for later use and go to the Intersection and take either a left or right to find either a Lime or Yellow Customer (Limes and Yellows right over here will always take you towards the Business District). Regarding about the Sidewalks outside the Statue Intersection: There are a lot of Yellow Customers right over here--some are static and some are dynamic. If the Yellow Customer is Dynamic, then take him ONLY if he/she is Yellow. There are four Lime Customers at the back of the Boarder's Paradise and Theater Stop Marks (and at each side) that will ask you for a ride to the Bus Terminal. Take them ONLY if they are Lime. Don't take any Red Customers in the sidewalks (with the exception to those at the Police Station) unless you are hurting for some bonus time. Regarding about two females near the start of the Mall Westgate Road: They will be green if they want a ride back to the RB Station and they will be lime if they are ready for a ride to the Lookout Tower. Pick them up ONLY if they are lime. They are Amanda (the chick with the white hat and the shades) and Daphne (the girl with the turquoise shirt and the strange-looking pants at the CT Hospital side of the Commercial Area Exit). Inside the Statue Intersection, don't take any Green Customers at the sidewalks as they will always ask for a ride back to the Stadium or back to the RB Station. Don't take any Red Customers here unless you are hurting for some time. Now here's a way to fool the logic at the Statue Intersection: There should be four green customers inside the statue. Now follow what you need to do in order to avoid the "backtrack blues": * For the Statue Logic Customers facing towards the direction of the Boarder's Paradise, Clock Towers Theater, and the Sky Bank: If the customer inside the statue is green and if the neighboring customer near the Bank, Theater, and Boarder's Paradise stopmarks are also green, then there is a high chance you'll be able to go to the Lookout Tower. * For the Hospital: Try to avoid them as much as you can. I can't recommend taking any one of these two tough customers until later on the game. To get to the hidden Tim (the punk), take the ramp on the right side of the Theater on the middle street. Now jump over the ramp and you should be able to land on the rooftop. Make sure that you come to a complete stop on the Rooftop and land accurately because it's easy to miss. Save this Tim for later use. The Clock Towers Theater: There is a confirmed bug in the game. If you o a slide stop and if you slam right into the wall of the stop mark of the Theater, then the customer won't get off. Avoid slide stopping to drop off a customer at the Theater. Come to a complete stop INSIDE the Theater Stop Mark and try to avoid slamming into the walls of the Theater to minimize the time needed to drag the customer out of the taxi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Business Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Westgate entrance to the Mall and concluding to the Narrow Bridges Destinations: Mall Westgate, Mall Northgate, Crown Arena, and Osmous Hotel. The Mall: At the Westgate Entrance, definitely pick up the turquoise-bloused woman ONLY if she's lime--she will then ask you to take her to the Lookout Tower for sure. Pick up the woman with the Walkman only if she's Red as she will ask for a ride to the Crown Arena. Now we have the Northgate Entrance. Pick up the old lady ONLY if she is lime--she will guarantee a ride to the Lookout Tower. Pick up the Atlas (guy with blue suit) whenever he's orange as he will ask you to go to the Bus Terminal. WARNING: IF THE OLD LADY IS YELLOW AT THE NORTHGATE ENTRANCE, THERE IS A HIGH CHANCE THAT SHE WILL FORCE YOU BACK INSIDE THE POLICE STATION. THIS IS THE CRABBIEST TRANSIT IN THE GAME BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF TRAFFIC AS YOU MAKE YOUR WAY BACK FROM THE BUSINESS DISTRICT ALL THE WAY TO THE POLICE STATION. AVOID PICKING UP ANY YELLOW CUSTOMERS IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WHO IS SEEKING FOR A RIDE TO THE POLICE STATION IF YOU ARE PLAYING A 4/4 MACHINE OR HIGHER AS YOU MIGHT BE SLAPPED WITH A SLOW RATED FARE FOR THE MOST LIKELIHOOD. The guys on the same street as with the Mall are usually orange--sometimes they may ask you to take them back to downtown (Boarder's, Sky Bank, Hospital, Clock Towers Theater) and sometimes they may ask you for a ride to the Bus Terminal. I personally would save these people for later use, though. Crown Arena: There will be a Red Customer at the Crown Arena Stop Mark who will always want a ride to the Osmous Hotel. On the side of the Crown Arena, there are orange customers who may ask for a ride either to the Boarder's Paradise or the Bus Terminal. Don't pick up any Red Customers on the Crown Arena Street. Near the intersection involving the Crown and Osmous Streets as well as the Westgate Mall Street, there is a yellow guy at the intersection who will guarantee a ride to the Lookout Tower. There will also be a lime customer (occasionally) who will always ask you to take him to the Fire Station. At the right turn after the Crown Arena Stop Mark, there will be two orange customers. The guy with the flowers whenever he's orange will always take you to the Bus Terminal. The other customer whenever orange will always ask you to take her to the Boarder's Paradise. Osmous Hotel: As with Crown Arena, there is a Red Customer at the Stop Mark. She will always ask you for a ride back to the Crown Arena. On the left turn after Osmous Hotel, be REALLY conservative with the yellow customers lurking around this street before the narrow strips of road as there may be times when a Yellow Customer may ask you for a ride back to the Police Station. Avoid this at all costs as from the Business District to the Police Station is the harshest transit in the arcade version of the game. Here are the ways you can minimize this mischief near the Osmous Hotel: * If both the Old Lady and the guy with the cap are yellow, and if the guy with the red jean shirt is Orange, take the guy with the red shirt. * If all customers right there are Yellow, try to take the guy with the cap. * If only the Old Lady and the guy are ready, try to take the Old Lady Please let me know of any corrections. Thank you. Within the four-intersectionary with the subway entrance dips, there should be yellow and lime customers who are a lot safer to take than the yellow customers at the street before the Narrow Strips of the Road. Yellows on the four-intersectionary area will ask for a ride to the Lookout Tower and limes will ask for a ride to the Fire Station. There is a green customer who will ask you to take him out to the Tennis Court. Save him for later use. I personally would take him and go to the Tennis Court only if my income is at least $65K. There is another instance where you might be asked to take customers to the Police Station. It's the three Yellow Customers near the narrow bridges. Here's how to avoid the Police Station Blues: * If the Punk, guy with glasses, and salesman in blue suit are ready for their ride, then try the punk. * If only the Punk and the guy in Blue Suit are ready for their ride, take the Punk * If the guy with the glasses and the guy in the Blue Suit are ready for their ride, then take the guy with the blue suit. Again, please let me know of any corrections. Thank you. If you are going into the Narrow Bridges, then you will encounter a lot of traffic at the bridge at the same side the Osmous Hotel is located. Try to avoid that bridge at all costs as traffic is extremely heavy. Try to go to the wrong side of the traffic (if you are taking somewhere to the Lookout Area and beyond) going out of the Business District and at the right side of traffic if you have to go back inside the Business District. Always avoid the middle, technical strip of the road as you have to do a lot of slowing down, which wastes a lot of time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Lookout Seashore ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Bus Terminal up to the Fire Station Destinations: Bus Terminal, Lookout Tower, Fire Station Vesther's Note: The traffic is kind of heavy in between the Bus Terminal Fountain up until you reach the Fire Station Stopmark. About the Bus Terminal: There are a lot of Red, Orange, and Yellow Customers right over here. At the left side of the fountain, there are three Lime Customers (one of them is a dynamic lime). Here the reds are the safest bet since they always lead you right directly to the Lookout Tower. The three orange customers are usually dynamic and will go to the Fire Station only if two of them are orange and one of them is Yellow. Regarding about the Limes, if Nicole and David are lime but if the guy wearing the FILA clothing near the fountain is Yellow, then take the guy with the FILA clothing. If all are Lime, I personally would take Nicole first, and then the David, and if he's yellow, the guy with the FILA Clothing. Around the Fountain Quad, try not to take any Yellow Customers since they will ask for a ride to as far as the Mall Westgate. Lookout Tower: Most of the Yellow Customers should take you to the Tennis Court if you are good at logics. Don't take any Lime Customers because they'll take you back to the Mall Area (for sure). The Reds are really hard to anticipate because there are some customers who want to go to the Lookout Tower and some customers who are willing to go to the Fire Station. The Daphne (just near the stopmark) should never be picked up unless she's yellow--she'll guarantee a ride to the Tennis Court ONLY if she's Yellow. There is a Nicole and an Erin at the left side of the street. Whenever they are yellow--they will ask for a ride to the Tennis Court, guaranteed. A little bit after the Stopmark, if David is Yellow, and if the neighboring customer at the back of him is red, then he will go to the Tennis Court. If you have any fears that you might be thrown back to the direction towards the Bus Terminal, then drive an empty cab to the Fire Station, but only if you are playing on a Level 3 Machine or easier. At Level 4, it's really important that you take someone right away because you don't have time to spare. About the Fire Station: The guy inside the stopmark will always take you towards the University whenever he's ready for the ride. The Mark (guy with red jeanshirt) near the stopmark will definitely go to the University if he's lime. The Erin (at the lower-right hand) will also guarantee a ride to the University if she's lime. The woman next to the Erin and Mark will ONLY take you to the Tennis Court if she's orange. The two customers at the left-hand street are even trickier. These guys are pretty much wild cards but if you can take the guy with the flowers whenever he's lime, you will have a high chance of going to the University. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Uphill Residence ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Fire Station Stop Mark until the uphill dip that leads to the Tennis Court and the completion of one "lap". Destinations: No destinations. HOWEVER, it's worth explaining because there's plenty of Green Customers in this area. While there are no stop marks within this area, it's worth talking about since there's plenty of Green and Lime Customers within the Sidewalks. The Middle part of the Uphill Residence have 3-4 Random Customers so I personally would save the upper-middle customers for the last. For the Middle Slope, if the Ashley (the woman with the walkman) is lime BUT if the neighboring guy at the left sidewalk (on the lower slope) is Green, then she will definitely take you back to the Crown Arena. Don't pick her up UNLESS she is lime AND if the neighboring customer isn't green. The Left and Right slopes have green and lime customers. Here Lime Customers have the highest priority since they are always safe bets (they will always take you back to either the University or the Cable Car Stop Top). The Greens might either take you to either back to the Commercial District (Yuck, and it's either the CT Hospital, Sky Bank, Boarder's Paradise, or the Theater) or right into either Sail Street, Freshtree Street, or the Cable Car Stop Top (better). Be careful that you do not pick up any customers who will drive you right back into the Commericial Area. This chunk of the city is much like the Church as far as a game of "Critical Taxi" is concerned. A wrong decision could cost you while a right decision can save you. And that is the end of the Uphill Residence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Tennis Court ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geographical Locations: From the Parking Lot terminating the Uphill Residence Area up until you have completed a Technical strip of road. Destinations: Tennis Court The Tennis Court is filled with lots of customers who will try their best to drag you back to the direction of the Fire Station. Try to avoid this at all costs since longetivity of the game is what you are shooting for. Avoid picking up the limes and Yellows for sure since they will drive you back to the Bus Terminal and the Lookout Tower. The Oranges may be willing to drive you right to the University but some of them might ask for a ride back to the Fire Station. Either way, you're caught in the middle in this section because there are so many *reluctant* customers who will do their best to ruin your perfect game. There is an Ashley at the right-hand side of the road near the Tennis Court Stopmark. She will guarantee a ride to the University if she's orange. Next we have a guy with the flowers who will guarantee a ride to the University if he's also orange. Now we have a Jessica (girl wearing a Maroon Business-Suit) who will guarantee a ride towards the University if she's orange. These three aforementioned people are the only known safe bets in the area. If there are no safe bets, then pick an Orange who will be willing to go to the Fire Station or refer to the Uphill Residence Page. At Level 4 Machines, pick up anyone as quick as you can and don't waste too much time looking for a customer at the Uphill Residence Area since you don't have time to spare. If you are heading to the University, take the left side of the divide. This divide has less turns and if you can hug the outside of the turns, then you can limit cut as much as you can. Don't over-limit cut since both of these strips are technical strips. Watch your speed on these turns. At times there will be a lot of traffic on either road so use extreme caution when approaching the University. Once you dropped someone to the University, or if you are dropping off someone to the Cable Car Stop Top or at the Sail and Freshtree Streets, you have completed one Business Lap. Now remember everything for the next lap so that you don't goof-up in the middle of a game that will net cold-hard crazy cash. Well, that's it!!! Have a radical time in Crazy Taxi and I hope this helps!!! Feel free to address any bugs, fixes, and suggestions and definitely look up at Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (The URL is http://come.to/crazytaxi) and Exodus's "Analysis Forum" (The URL for this forum is http://forum.s-one.net.sg/forum/297/list.pl) since these two sites are LOADED with KICK-ASS tactics. ======================================================================== GAMESAGES TIPS Note: This section basically explains all the tips that have been explained somewhere at http://sages.ign.com or http://www.gamesages.com. Most of these "cheat codes" are taken from Secrets of the Game Sages and through the instructions on the Crazy Taxi cabinets. I have taken these tips from Secrets of the Game Sages first. However, there are some additional tips that Rex, Exodus, Kenshin, and Richard Uyeyama told me that I have forgot later on. Please remember that Game Sages does not have all the cheats for this game, and I WILL NOT POST ALL CHEATS from Secrets of the Game Sages. Exodus has an excellent "mirror forum" tailored for hints, recommendations, and all other tralala you need to read carefully in order to become a mighty cabbie in Crazy Taxi. Please take some time to read Exodus's "mirror forum" by pointing your browser's "GO TO" Text Bar to http://forum.s-one.net.sg/forum/297/list.pl. Enough ranting. Here are the cheats: Hidden Passenger ---------------- When you drive up through the parking garage, stay to the left and slow down as you come to the ledge. When you jump on off, you should be able to come to a complete stop at a rooftop. The customer will tell you to take her to the Police Station. From the rooftop, hug the left walkway and take the first left (past through the Kentucky Fried Chicken). Once both chicane corridors intersect (The Church Area), hug onto the grass and jump over the heliport. Stay at the right side of the screen until you see the gates at the left terminate. Do a crazy slide and jump over the grade to avoid the Railroad Station Hairpin. Cut as many apexes as you can and you should be on the freeway. Once you exit the freeway, the Police Station should be at your right. Be careful not to hit any Commercial Vehicles. The Bicycle ----------- Insert your tokens and then step on both pedals. Press START and then select your driver (Note: You MUST hold on both pedals as you press START and while you are selecting your driver). Press UP on the shifter and release both pedals. Press DOWN on the shifter and then press START. The bicycle accelerates faster and brakes quicker but gets bumped around more often. According to Kenshin, the Bicycle is geared toward professional players. Crazy Dash (Again) ------------------ At any time right after a complete stop (or if you find out that your car is going too slow), release both pedals, and do a quick D~Gas-On. The timing of this technique takes time to master, but it's easy to learn. Limit Cutting (Engine Overheating): After a Crazy Dash (or at any time right after your car peaks up Top Speed), release both pedals and do a quick R~D~Gas-On. This is a lot harder to master than the Crazy Dash as the success of this technique depends on the timing of the D~Gas-On Input Command. Note that this one will ONLY WORK if your car is at top speed. If the car isn't at top speed yet, do a Crazy Dash and then re-do the Limit Cut. Jumping Stop (Also known as STOP AT A DIME) ------------------------------------------- This is a tough technique to master. Do a Crazy Dash and follow that with an immediate R~Brake-On. Special thanks goes to Kenshin for posting this on his site. This one takes a lot of time to get used to so don't get pissed if you don't get this mastered within your first couple of times. Drifting Stop ------------- Do a Crazy Drift followed by a quick Gas-Off~R+Brake. This one works best just before you drop your customer to their desired destination. Higher Crazy Combos ------------------- Perform a combination of Crazy Jumps, Crazy Drifts, and Crazy Throughs without hitting any cars. The amount of the tip depends on how daring the "Crazy Hit" was multiplied by the number of successful Crazy Hits done in a row. This number ONLY resets if you hit a vehicle. You get 25 cents for each Bronze Coin, 50 cents for each Silver Coin, and 75 Cents for each Gold Coin. Dollar coins are given ONLY if the Crazy Hit was EXTREMELY DARING. Each Coin is multiplied by the number of successful "hits" in a row. Underwater Customers -------------------- Drive underwater and you will find two Green Customers, one Lime Customer, and about two Yellow Customers. The Yellow Customers may ask for a ride to either Pizza Hut or the Cafeteria, the Limes may ask for a ride either to FILA, Square Park, Popcorn Mania, or The Original Levi's Store, and the Greens will ask you for a ride either to Tower Records or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Hint: It's somewhere at the West Side Beach Area. See the End Credits ------------------- Finish playing Crazy Taxi with a score of $5,000.00 or more. More Difficult Track -------------------- Insert the amount of tokens required to play the game (If you are playing the game at GameWorks, swipe the card and press the flashing Green Button) and then pull back the lever in Reverse. Press the start button. While still holding the handle, choose your driver with the Start Button. Less Wheelspin Turning Around -----------------------------
Since the gas has potentiometers, if you have to turn around from a stop, step on the gas LIGHTLY and then turn around. Now at a straight line, floor the car. Not as useful as the Crazy Rocket technique but it works. If you have anything to contribute to this rather incomplete file, please drop me a line. ======================================================================== THE CRAZY RANKING SYSTEM As you should know by now, the goal in Crazy Taxi is to achieve a record-breaking amount of fares and to achieve a kick-ass total in one game. To let you know how the "Crazy License Rating" system works, you will be given a license depending on how much money you earned when the Timer runs out. Here's how you will get graded as outlined by the "Total Earned" Marks: * No Money at all: "Whoa! A NO License! All you have to do is pick someone up...You'd better try again!" * $0.01-$999.99: "A Class E License. I can't believe it. Was that your best? I don't think so." * $1,000.00-$1,999.99: "A Class D License. I can't believe it. Was that your best? I don't think so." * $2,000.00-$2,999.99: "A Class C License. You don't belong over there. You better try again." * $3,000.00-$3,999.99: "A Class B License. Decided to play it safe, huh? Come back next time and show me your best." * $4,000.00-$4,999.99: "A Class A License. You did pretty good, but there's one more step up to the top. Think you can get there?" * $5,000.00-$9999.99: "A Class S License. And that was amazing driving. You're gonna come back and show it to me again, right? HERE WE GO!!! (Begin End Credits)" * $10,000.00-$19,999.99: "AWE-SOME. And that was amazing driving. You're gonna come back and show it to me again, right? HERE WE GO!!! (Begin End Credits)." * $20,000.00 and up: "CRAAAAAAZY TAXI!!!!! And that was amazing driving. You're gonna come back and show it to me again, right? HERE WE GO!!! (Begin End Credits)." And here are my highest scores (These scores are all from the Brunswick Zone at Naperville, IL USA--The address is Aurora Ave just *a little* east of the Ogden Ave Intersection, Naperville, IL USA. * $102,884.54 (That's Gena with the Normal Cab. I've netted about 221 Customers on a standup 65/3/4 Machine). When I played this $100K Gena game, I've got a reaction of swear words from this one guy that he can't believe his eyes. * $101,466.97 (That's Axel with the Normal Cab. I've netted about 247 Customers on a standup 65/3/4 Machine). I don't know if Kenshin, Rex, or Exodus has been able to reach $100K with Axel on the Normal Car for the least, though, but I know that I was the first person Kenshin probably knows who reached $100K with Axel's Normal Car. Closing Tip: You need to earn at least $5000.00 in order to see the end credits. I think that Sega's making things a bit too easy in this case. I think the minimum required to see the end credits _SHOULD_ be at least $20,000. ======================================================================== FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: Will Crazy Taxi come for the Sega Dreamcast? A: CRAZY TAXI IS ALREADY OUT FOR THE DREAMCAST!!! I've done several test plays of the Dreamcast version of Sega's first occupational arcade hit. The Dreamcast release has the Arcade Cityscape plus a really difficult Dreamcast Cityscape, bug fixes from the Arcade Version, training exercises that will force you to improve your Crazy Driving Skills, Time Trials that will help you improve your Crazy Driving Skills, and more that I just don't want to reveal. The real beef that I had when test-playing the Dreamcast version is that the controls take MEGA AMOUNTS OF TIME to get used to as you are forced to adjust from the steering wheel nature of the game to the complex commands from the Dreamcast Controller. If I were you, then I'd rather play Crazy Taxi at the Arcade than for the Dreamcast (because the controls at the Arcade is a lot better to get used to than with the Dreamcast Controllers). Q: Will Crazy Taxi come out for either the PC or the Macintosh? A: Hell no. Stop asking me this stupid question. Q: Doesn't Sega have any plans to create Crazy Taxi for the PC or the Macintosh? A: Reportedly, Sega does not have any plans to create a PC or Mac version of Crazy Taxi. If for any reason Sega _HAS_ to do this, the final decision will be up to Sega HQ at Japan. Don't insist on Crazy Taxi to come out for the PC or Mac any sooner because Sega has no plans as of now. Q: Will Crazy Taxi come out for other consoles such as the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, etc.? A: You know the answer to this. NO!!!! CRAZY TAXI IS A SEGA DREAMCAST EXCLUSIVE. Any Sega-branded Arcade Game that gets released to the Home Consoles will be Sega Dreamcast exclusives. NO IF'S, AND'S, OR BUT'S. Period. Besides, any Naomi or Hikaru powered Arcade Game that gets converted to your sofa will be RESERVED FOR THE SEGA DREAMCAST only (I don't know if there are any plans to released any Hikaru Powered video games to the Dreamcast, as Dreamcast is basically a Naomi device for your sofa). Let's take Marvel Versus Capcom 2 by Capcom (powered by the Naomi Board) for example. The reason why MVC2 is a Sega Dreamcast Exclusive is because it was Naomi-Powered. No matter who creates which arcade games, anything that is powered by either the Naomi Board, the Hikaru Board, or if it's published and released by Sega at the arcades will be Dreamcast Exclusives guaranteed. Q: What is the default settings for the machine? A: Starting Playing Time at 50, Customer Time Limit at Level 4, Traffic Congestion at Level 4. Japan was able to make $100,000 with the default settings last year when the home version was not out. I thought that American Defaults were a bit more lenient than other versions of the occupational arcade hit. Later, I found out that the Factory Settings applies to _ALL_ versions of the occupational arcade hit. Q: What do you mean when you say 55/4/8 or et. al.? A: The question that you asked me is a good example of this. 55 would be the Starting Time Limit, 4 would be the Customer Time Limit Level, and 8 would be the Traffic Behavior Level. If I say that A Machine is set at 60/5/6 and B Machine is set at 70/6/7, then that means Machine A has a Starting Time Limit of 60 seconds, a Customer Time Limit of Level 5, and traffic at Level 6. Machine B has a starting time of 70 Seconds, but has a Customer Time Limit Level set at Level 6, and Traffic at Level 7. Q: Where are the cheats? A: This is an OVERLY ASKED QUESTION!!! *yuck*. The cheats for CT is located at http://sages.ign.com, where all the beginner-level cheats are located at. Browse around at Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi for more advanced Cheats and at the Crazy Taxi FAQ HQ (The URL for the cheats is http://talk.to/hellziarth and by clicking on the Hints and Codes button respectively) for FAQ-oriented cheats. Not just cheats. I got pissed at some of my visitors urging me to post nothing but cheats for PSX Time Crisis (by Namco) so I just decided that I needed a little revenge on this. Q: How do I know if the Limiter Cut (Engine Overheating) is done correctly or not? A: While some people stated that whenever you see a customer's head (or the driver's head) duck down to get the cab "streamlined", I would say when your engine overheats and/or when the engine sound whistles to a complete Soprano. The Limit Cut ONLY works if your car is already at Max Speed. If not, do a Limit Cut followed by a Crazy Dash and then re-try the Limit Cut. Q: In the future, are you planning to motivate both your FAQ and your FAQ-oriented CT Site so it can cover the Dreamcast Cityscape? A: I don't think I can because it looks like that the Dreamcast and the upcoming PlayStation2 will be really expensive. I have to pursue a Bachelor's in Computer Information Systems and I also have to focus on getting a brand new car. IMO Cars are a lot more important than getting a new Video Game System. If I have to play Video Games then I will be playing at the arcades more often since I frequent quite a few arcades. To tell you the truth regarding about the Dreamcast Conversion of Crazy Taxi, I think the controls are quite a perversion to get used to because you have to use complicated controller commands to do this and that, and also the Limiter Cut is a lot harder to perform with the controller as opposed to a Crazy Taxi Cabinet. You can try to get used to the Dreamcast Controller in your spare time but nothing is easier to pull off kick-ass scores than the Cabinet Controllers because the Limiter Cut and other Crazy Techniques/Routines are easier to perform with the Steering Wheel and the Shifter (alongside the Brakes and the Pedal). If you want to master the game, then IMO I would spend my quarters/tokens (or take the risk of maxing out a Platinum MasterCard Credit Card if you are playing the game at GameWorks) at my local arcade that has a CT cabinet. ======================================================================== FINAL WORDS I have received a couple of tips by the almighty Lord C through my email accounts. I might have to ask for his permission before posting these tips on my website because I don't want to jump the gun without letting him know. However, keep in mind that I don't post tips right away without verification of the tips because I am not sure if the reader can find whatever useful or not. Both Lord C and Exodus are good players and have good patterns that will help you get the best out of a 4/4 (Using the X/Y formula where X is Customer Time Limit and Y is the Traffic Congestion) cabinet. Maybe I will use Lord C's advice through my e-mail on my next game of Crazy Taxi. I haven't played Crazy Taxi for a long time so I might be a bit rusty on this game but I'm hoping that I will rebound from it after such a long hiatus. I will try to make sure that with Lord C's strategies, I will be able to reach $80K (maybe $100K if I'm good enough) on a 4/4 machine. The only problem is that I procrastinate too often that I waste a lot of precious time. Rest assured, if I have to place his tips on this FAQ, then I'll let Lord C, Exodus, and Kenshin do a test-read for legal considerations. ======================================================================== THE DO'S AND DONT'S Again, this FAQ can only appear in the following sites: * Verasnaship Interactive (http://www.verasnaship.net) * GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) * Secrets of the Game Sages (http://www.gamesages.com) * Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi) * Nemesis (http://www.faqdomain.cjb.net) Why? Because I trust these sites and I'm pretty sure that they keep all original work updated, up-to-date, and true to my own beliefs. You can always get the latest version at my website (Verasnaship Interactive at http://www.verasnaship.net) since I run that website and I always post them instantly right at my website first. GameFAQs does a good job keeping the files up-to-date at all times and is regarded as the most visited "stable" for FAQ-related walkthroughs, original work, and the like. Secrets of the Game Sages is a "Code-related" partner to GameFAQs since both GameFAQs and Secrets of the Game Sages share the same information, links, and tricks-to-date. From time-to-time, I might elect to do PDFs on certain games. You can always get the latest version at Verasnaship Interactive (that's my website) and I'm planning to give GameFAQs my permission to mirror my PDFs in the near future. Finally, Kenshin did a kick-ass job with the World of Crazy Taxi. Not only he has the best CT tips in the Net, but his site will help you out on just about every ounce of the city which requires "tricky Critical Taxi" decision at times. Actually, it is Lord C who should I be thankful to because he gives out the best strategies amongst all professional CT players. OK, OK, so I have not played Crazy Taxi for a long time but with all the attachments that I have received from Lord C, maybe I would benefit because he gives out clear directions on how to get at least $80K on a 4/4 machine, since IMO 4/4 machines don't give enough room for error as opposed to a 3/3 machine. Author's Note: If you see this FAQ listed at another site other than the four that I have listed, please notify me ASAP so that I can take legal action against that webmaster. Thank you. Rules: * DO NOT place this file in your web site directly. Only the five aforementioned sites have an exclusive right to mirror this file. * You can make a link to my FAQ Library Page. The only rules that I would like to enforce is that you link ONLY to an HTML or an Interactive Web Page. The link to this page is: - http://www.verasnaship.net/text/arcade.html * If you are planning to link to the six other sites that I have mentioned on this reminder, then you are to be advised that your linking rights are heavily limited as foretold on the webmaster's fine prints (depending on where you plan to make your link to). If I'm too vague on this, then please visit the following URL to see why more and more webmasters are restricting links: = http://www.templetons.com/brad/linkright.html (Brad Templeton's Linking Rights Essay). ======================================================================== HOW TO SUGGEST ANY FIXES, BUGS, OR ANY OTHER TRALALA Sending UCE to any of the mailboxes that I have is not tolerated. Period. I report any incidence of spamming by checking the header on where you originated the message at and then report the incidence to the server you originated your message at (which is more likely to get you in deep trouble) or I can just slam you by sending complaints to the following: The server you originated the message at, to your provider, or possibly the Free-Mail Service that you use. Don't spam me. It's not worth it. I will only tolerate e-mail in regards to Crazy Taxi. See http://spam.abuse.net to see why it's bad. ======================================================================== RESOURCES OF THIS DOCUMENT * http://sages.ign.com * http://www.gamesages.com * http://www.seganet.com * http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/game.html * http://come.to/crazytaxi (There is now an English Version) * http://members.aol.com/crazytaxi7/ (This site needs updating) * Richard Uyeyama (firstname.lastname@example.com) * Rex (email@example.com) * http://www.sega.co.jp * http://forum.s-one.net.sg/forum/297/list.pl * http://kenshin.hypermart.net/crazy/index.html Please post new records at news:rec.games.video.arcade, which is the only newsgroup worth visiting. Again, this FAQ is derived from both my own Crazy Taxi FAQ HQ (http://www.verasnaship.net/crazytaxi) and Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi (http://come.to/crazytaxi). It is highly recommended that you browse around Kenshin's Crazy Taxi Site since that site is CRAMMED with the best Crazy Taxi tactics around. ======================================================================== ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS * Sega and AM3 for finally listening to the majority of the American Audience what they really want from a Sega Racing Game: Hard Turning at Full Speed Style without limits. * Fernando Mosquera's Seganet for mentioning that AM3 is the team behind Crazy Taxi. * Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Tower Records, Levi Strauss and Co, and Fila for their sincere support to AM3 during development of the video game. * GameFAQs for being the finest site for the best Video and Computer Game FAQs on the Internet. * GameSages for the finest collection of Tips and Tricks. * Kenshin, Exodus, Lord C, Rex, Kent Keltner, Deoxy, Dween, and the Tedster for being the major forces behind the September 12 Update. * Kenshin, Rex, Exodus, Dween, and Lord C for bringing in the most reliable Crazy Taxi Info-to-date. Visit Kenshin's World of Crazy Taxi at http://come.to/crazytaxi. * Offspring and Bad Religion for dedicating their albums and/or soundtracks to help AM3 create a Generation X, Alternative Music Video Gaming Environment through a crazy driving manner. * http://www.sega.co.jp for confirming the soundtracks used in Crazy Taxi. * Axel McDermott, Joseph "BD Joe" Blackson, Gena Turner, and Gus Mancini for their commitment to get customers at their destination the quicker the better. TO MY READERS: DON'T TRY THIS IN A REAL CAB. * Kao Megura for being the first FAQ Author * Great Odyssey at Naperville for the stand-up version * GameWorks and Enchanted Castle for the sit-down version * The Naomi Board for making Crazy Taxi an affordable game to stock * Richard Uyeyama for catching an error on my copyright and for mentioning a good chunk of Crazy Taxi Webpages. * Rex for two additional Destination Stops * http://www.tcp.com/~prisoner/taxi/game.html for (AT LAST) an English Language version of a great Crazy Taxi Page! * Kenshin for being able to open up an English Version of his already impressive World of Crazy Taxi * Finally, myself for giving Al Amaloo my seal of approval to mirror this FAQ. This document is dedicated to the loving memory of Princess Diana of Wales and Fashion Designer Gianni Versace. We need to stop destroying people for a stupid reason right now. ** END OF DOCUMENT AND ONE LAST WARNING ** This Electronically Published Document is copyrighted (c) 1999 Mark Kim. All Rights Reserved. This document is protected by applicable copyright laws and international treaties. Unauthroized reproduction, retransmission, and/or a breach of copyright, partial or full, may result in civil and criminal penalties and is subject to maximum punishment and prosecution to the highest extent possible by law. This document is the sole property of Mark Kim. Crazy Taxi (c)1999-2000 Sega. All Rights Reserved The songs are respective copyrights of its respective artists. Crazy Taxi has been created by Sega in respect to all copyrights as no infringement was intended.
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