The legendary Crazy Taxi returns: what is already known about the release of the crazy game

The creators plan to revive the cult Crazy Taxi/In-game footage

Late last year, Sega confirmed long-simmering rumors that it would be bringing back Crazy Taxi, among other classic franchises, in the coming years with a modern twist.

On Monday, the publisher published a Japanese-language interview with the game's developers. It partly resembles peeking behind the screen, and partly – an announcement about recruitment, writes The Drive.

The team behind the new Crazy Taxi say their work isn't done yet, but it needs to grow to reach the impressive scale it's aiming for. That is, the scale of an open-world, “massively multiplayer driving game,” according to Sega's job posting.

Crazy Taxi was never a multiplayer game in its heyday, at least in the literal sense. The challenge was to improve your own game and beat your personal best. Whatever bragging rights the game had, it was mostly limited to the leaderboard in the window of your local arcade. It's clear, though, that the reboot will send taxi drivers out in droves, and it'll look like a kind of free-for-fall battle royale for fares. There will also be cops roaming the streets, which we already saw a hint of in the previous footage of the film shot last year.

Snippet of an interview with the creators of Crazy Taxi: watch the video strong>

Other than that, the interview doesn't reveal many details, as it mostly consists of superficial talk about the general atmosphere of the game, as well as discussing how young and enthusiastic the development team is at Sega's Sapporo studio. Indeed, the group seems to have its head in the right place; a member of the art department talks about the iconic yellow cab (probably the one driven by Axel) popping up against a familiar west coast backdrop of blue water under a blue sky, in classic Sega fashion. The city is said to be realistic, but also set up “like an amusement park”,which is an apt description considering the classic Crazy Taxi already sent players through theme parks in cities. The developers are hinting at a variety of game types, and it's not hard to imagine a modding of the classic CT formula for team play or a new mode pitting the cops against the taxi drivers.

Every time a beloved game like Crazy Taxi returns after so many years, fans will likelybe cautiously optimistic. Sega's desperate driving game may not be widely known today, but it holds a special place in the hearts of those who immersed themselves in it for hours decades ago. Crazy Taxi strikes that delicate balance: it's highly addictive and competitive, but at the same time rarely demoralizing. Whether you topped the new leaderboard or not, it was hard not to have fun drifting through the hilly intersections of San Francisco to a cool punk soundtrack.

So maybe it's a relief that Sega isn't trying play those games, but better; it goes in a completely new direction that is obviously more modern and reflects the way people play together today.