Sometimes the most simple formulas make the best games. Many examples come to mind, from the classics such as Pacman to more recent games such as Return Fire. Crazy Taxi is one of the most fun games I've ever played. It's pure and simple fun too, yet deceptively deep, one of those games that's easy to pick up but hard to master.

So, what's the premise? For those that have played the Naomi version of Crazy Taxi in the arcades (it's been out for quite some time), skip this paragraph. For everyone else, the gameplay goes like this: pick up a customer by stopping within that customer's zone (there's a circular line going around them). The customer jumps in, tells you where he/she wants to go, and you bring them to the location as quickly as possible. Locales vary from a Fila Shop to KFC to a baseball stadium. There is a handy arrow at the top of the screen to guide you, but knowing shortcuts through the city really helps. Once you spot the destination, stop inside that area's zone to drop off the customer and recieve your payment. Immediately pick someone else up, and repeat the procedure as many times as possible before time expires.

The key to Crazy Taxi is learning shortcuts and mastering a number of special moves. Anyone can sit down and pick up the play immediately, but to be any good at it, hours of practice mastering various moves is necessary. An example of a move is the crazy dash. You switch into reverse, then idle, then hit the throttle exactly when you switch into drive to do a big speed dash. This particular move shaves off many seconds at a time throughout the course of a play attempt.

Speedy driving awards a player with time bonus's, and customers are color coded to show how near their destination is before you pick them up. So to stay in the game, it's best to pick up passengers with a green circle around them (green marks the farthest destinations), use all the shortcuts you know of, and be quick about it to get a good time bonus (5+ seconds are awarded to really fast drivers) and a lot of cash. Doing stunts along the way increases the tip money.

A simple formula yes, but watching a vetaran at the game is really exciting, as the game really does reward the best drivers with the best scores.

The soundtrack helps along the game's frantic mood, with songs from The Offspring and Bad Religion. The customers will stand up and cheer if a good stunt is done, or say funny stuff like, "Ow, that hurt, be more careful!" after you nail a car head-on. The voice overs are hilarious and of high quality. The sound of a group of bystanders screaming as they dive out of the way really adds to the light-hearted humor of the game.

The graphics are also very nice, sharp, detailed, and blazingly fast; the framerates rarely drop (in fact, I can only think of one place in the city where they do).

If you like arcade-style games, Crazy Taxi is one of the best. Gran Turismo it is most certainly not (the polar-opposite in fact), but it is one hell of a good time.