Posted Aug 09, 2007 at 12:55PM by Ryan C. Listed in: Videos, Games, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars Tags: Sega
Ó

It seems that there's a bit of a hub-bub with the recent coming of the high-octane passenger-ferrying game, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars on the PlayStation Portable. A poster by the name of zeo_max on the GameSpot forums recently wrote up a mini-review of the game, stating that the game was allegedly a crippled version of the original title on the Dreamcast with long, painful loading times and frame rate issues. His post, verbatim:

I just picked this up from my local EB. I'm sorry to say that there are serious frame rate issues, the image looks stretched out on the PSP's widescreen, and it takes about one minute to load each level.


Another thing I don't like is that for the custom soundtrack you have to convert your MP3's to that weird format that they used in GTA: Liberty City stories for their custom soundtrack.


Needless to say, many Sega fans waiting for their own copy of the title felt disappointed by the news that Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars wasn't as good as they had hoped. Things seemed dire, until some other posters (with copies of the game themselves) said that the game ran fine, with quick loading times and a decent frame rate.

Poster snakeboy (thanks for the tip!) also made two actual gameplay videos, in order to disprove zeo_max's statement, and you can check them out from the video embeds below.

This serves as an important lesson - while it may be great to find out how a certain game is like from those who have already played it before purchasing a copy yourself, sometimes there's no real way to tell unless you do play it on your own.






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20 Comments


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   by snakeboy - 2007-08-09
 » Game is great!

There are no frame rate issues with this game, it plays just fine.

Perhaps because of the cult following this game has on the DC, the haters just want to shoot it down before even giving it a chance.

Check out the vids! Gameplay is awesome and you can easily add the original soundtrack to the game by placing the mp3's from the DC version on your mem stick and choose "Custom Soundtrack".

Time to make come crrrrrazy money! :)


   Re: punkauto (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » yeah

"Another thing I don't like is that for the custom soundtrack you have to convert your MP3's to that weird format that they used in GTA: Liberty City stories for their custom soundtrack."

I just dropped some mp3s into my MUSIC folder and bingo bango. DONE
   by poopy (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » Mp3 from dreamcast disc?

no more of the offspring thanks.


   Re: Sr_Moska - 2007-08-09
 » are you crazy!?

the offspring is the best music to play crazy taxi with :)
   by Sketch (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » .

Hmm thats odd. as with the ISO of the USA game, running under custom firmware 3.40 OE-A and settings at 222MHZ mode, the game runs FLAWLESSLY with no stretching nor framerate issues. AND, i dunno what the hell your talking baout with CONVERTING music...all 50+ of my .mp3 files work in the custom music option. and the other thing, loading each level takes about 3-6 seconds lol. now naturally, running the game off your memory stick is faster...but come on....none of this news post adds up. as besides SPEED of the game, there is no difference from me running a USA iso from this guy running UMD.


   Re: JD (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » Runs fine

Ditto what Sketch said -- running ISO on 3.40 OE-A, 222, seems to run fine, pretty smooth, though they seem to have changed the voices of the cab-riders, alas. At one time I did seem to outrun the display, resulting in a half-second of black texture on the road, but otherwise, it's good so far.
   by Mister Common Sense (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » I too bought this game

There are no framerate issues, no stretching (but I did notice anti aliasing) and no converting files. It plays MP3s straight out of my MP3 directory.

   by ixat yzarc (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » Controls

When i started playing this, I realize that there's a problem with the control option B. When I shift from R to D and gas with the X button, the x button actually shifts down back to R, just like control option A.

Anyone experiencing this problem?

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   by Darth Trekster (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » MP3 Support

Is there any specific folder you have to copy the MP3' to?
I copied mp3's to the music folder but custom music says inactive?
The game plays smooth, it might be lightly slower than the DC, but it plays great. I have been a long time fan of the DC version of this game, and now I can play it anytime anywhere! Now bring on Hydro Thunder!


   Re: MP3 support (Unregistered) - 2007-08-10
 » MP3 support

Put the songs in X:MUSIC. not X:pspmusic

   Re: Darth Trekster (Unregistered) - 2007-08-10
 » Thank you

Appreciate it, that worked great!
   by Matt S. (Unregistered) - 2007-08-09
 » What an idiot...

If you read the thread further, the idiot who posted the original slam of the game admitted that he made it all up because "sega was taking too long" and he was "bored."

Fricking idiot.

The game runs just fine, although the control scheme is a bit crap... they don't let you assign your own controller buttons, only offering 2 different pre-set schemes.

   by dark420bishop - 2007-08-09
 » why bother?

Who cares about the frame rates (which seem to be flawless anyhow)? I played this game and it was freaking horrible. The graphics are poor and the game play is sloppy and mediocre at best. This is a sad port of what I remember as being a really fun game (albeit for short periods of time).


PS. Don't bite my head off, fanboys, I'm only expressing my opinion.


   Re: Matt S, (Unregistered) - 2007-08-10
 » This *IS* Crazy Taxi

Not a fanboy, but this isn't a "sad port"... this is Spar... I mean, this IS Crazy Taxi. Maybe you just have rosy memories from the past, because this is how the game has always been. The graphics are the same, the missions are the same, and gameplay is the same.

   by WHY? (Unregistered) - 2007-08-10
 » Why do sites like GameSpot allow people...

...to post such blatant lies? This is why PSP owners can't have nice things.

   by M-Lin - 2007-08-10
 » Great fun

plays great and looks great f u haters :P

   by Sketch (Unregistered) - 2007-08-10
 » .

Well just so you all know, remember PowerStone Collection on PSP? well this is Crazy Taxi Collection. sure, it has a FEW new additions, but you get to choose to play either Crazy Taxi 1 or 2. which are the exact same as the Dreamcast versions, only with a few changes and additions/removals. but its the same damn game. which is GOOD if you liked the DC versions.

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   by Stefan (Unregistered) - 2007-08-11
 » Great game but there ARE slowdowns.

I loved playing the game on PC, and so i do on my PSP - it's great to see a 1:1 port. But there are indeed slowdowns, on 3.40OE-A with 333mhz...strange, isn't it? Now i have 3.52M33, and i yet have to try it with that new firmware, let's see. May be the problem is just my european PSP, but i don't think so.


   Re: Stefan (Unregistered) - 2007-08-11
 » same problem with 3.52

3.52M33 changes nothing, it still lags. Anyway, it's a great game, hehe.
   by wwwqwerty (Unregistered) - 2007-08-12
 » Why is my name showing up as wwwqwerty?

Yes. I want to ride a crazy taxi.



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