SEGA’s Upcoming Crazy Taxi Reboot Will Be A Triple-A Game

The upcoming reboot of Crazy Taxi is being described as an “AAA game” by one of the SEGA studios involved in its development. SEGA first revealed its plans for a long-awaited new Crazy Taxi title in December of last year, as part of an initiative to revive several of its classic game series.

An interview conducted by Japan Times has provided additional insights into the ongoing development of Crazy Taxi. It was revealed that the project is being spearheaded by Sega’s relatively new Sapporo Studio, which was established in December 2021 in the capital of Hokkaido, Japan. In the article, the studio president and Sega senior executive officer, Takaya Segawa, shed light on the studio’s role and the games it has been collaborating with.

“We’re responsible for titles such as Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! in cooperation with the bases in Tokyo and overseas,” Segawa says. “We are also participating in the development of Triple-A titles, including Crazy Taxi (a recently announced reboot of the arcade classic).”

SEGA unveiled its plans for the development of new entries in the Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Crazy Taxi series. However, it was uncertain at the time as to how substantial the allocated budgets would be for these projects.

Crazy Taxi made a memorable debut as an arcade video game in 1999. It was later released for the Dreamcast console in 2000, resulting in widespread acclaim. The game’s success was evident as it surpassed the milestone of selling over a million copies in the United States alone. The innovative gameplay and distinctive soundtracks provided by The Offspring and Bad Religion further contributed to the franchise’s worldwide recognition.