The publisher had initially revealed at The Game Awards 2023 that it was working on fresh installments of the iconic Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and Shinobi franchises.
While the Shinobi title ultimately launched last year as Shinobi: Art of Vengeance to mixed critical reception, information on the remaining four projects has remained scarce, limited to sporadic teaser clips and terse one‑liner summaries.
Today’s Summer Game Fest presentation marked a significant step forward for the long‑awaited Crazy Taxi reboot, now christened Crazy Taxi World Tour. The new trailer highlighted a familiar West Coast map, reintroduced The Offspring to the soundtrack, and teased fresh gameplay elements beyond the classic taxi mechanics, including fishing and pizza delivery missions.
These developments suggest that Sega is actively broadening its strategy to rejuvenate legacy IPs while keeping the core appeal that made them beloved in the first place.
Sega’s newly formed Sapporo Studio, launched in December 2021, is spearheading the revival of the beloved Crazy Taxi franchise.
Earlier this year, the studio released a recruitment video that showcased Kenji Kanno, the visionary director behind the original title, highlighting the project’s deep roots in the series’ legacy.
The original Crazy Taxi first captured audiences in arcades in 1999, but its true breakout came with the 2000 Dreamcast home release, where it surged to become the console’s third‑best selling game in the United States.
While the series has spawned numerous sequels and spin‑offs, the last brand‑new mainline entry—Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller—was released exclusively for Xbox two decades ago, marking a long hiatus before this latest reboot.
News Source: VGC
Comments
Be the first to comment.