Ben Veress is a Contributing Features Writer at DualShockers based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been covering games professionally since 2021, with experience writing features, lists, reviews, and news across gaming, tech, culture, and entertainment.
Before joining DualShockers, Ben wrote for Kotaku AU, Gizmodo AU, Vice AU, Pedestrian.TV, Quest Daily, Blunt Magazine, Impulse Gamer, and Inkl. At Pedestrian.TV, he served as the publication’s sole tech and gaming writer, leading coverage of major gaming releases and events for one of Australia’s major youth publications. He holds a Bachelor of Communications in Media from RMIT University and was nominated for Best Branded Content Journalist at the Australian Samsung IT Awards in 2025.
It feels surprising that Crazy Taxi hasn't had a console release in over 25 years. It's an IP that's felt so popular with even casual gamers that I could have sworn it had released new games over the years to keep an audience. My gut instinct isn't entirely wrong, as Sega has released a fair few spin-off titles on mobile. But now, after such a long wait, the franchise is coming back to console with Crazy Taxi: World Tour, and it's shaping up to be a joyful return.
I had the opportunity at Tokyo Game Show this year to try out the game early, completing a few missions in Germany and Japan, and I won't lie, this game is delightfully weird. It's got that classic Crazy Taxi loop you'd expect: drifting through crowds to rack up extra cash while delivering passengers, special missions to test your driving skills, eccentric NPCs with outlandish quest lines you can't help but laugh at, and of course, The Offspring.
After Tony Hawk Pro Skater's recent remake proved that a dedicated audience is still ready to turn up for these nostalgic revisits, and the growing resurgence of all things nu-metal and pop punk, Crazy Taxi seems primed for a return. And after spending 25 minutes playing the game, I think the team have risen to the occasion.
I think one of the biggest surprises with it being 25 years since the last Crazy Taxi mainline game is that World Tour feels so much like the original. Of course, there are some new additions here, like a nitro boost and the world map. But if you were to drop into this game 25 years later without having played any other game since then, you'd still feel right at home.
Of course, the big change for this game is its increase in scope. Instead of taking place on one map, Crazy Taxi: World Tour will take players across five different locations. The premise behind the game is that the playable character Alex's taxi has been stolen, and now we're traveling all around the world to recover it. It's a silly premise, but one that suits the tone of the game.
After spending 25 minutes playing the game, I think the team have risen to the occasion.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.dualshockers.com/tgs-2026-crazy-taxi-world-tour/
