A garage covered in stickers with a strong street style, walls painted yellow, and a yellow taxi bursting through the wall... These elements formed the biggest surprise at Sega's booth during Tokyo Game Show 2026. Every time you passed by this setup, you could hear exclamations from nearby attendees: "Is that Crazy Taxi!?"
Some of them might not have actually played the game, but they certainly have some level of understanding and recognition of the series. In many ways, "Crazy Taxi" is one of the best symbols of Sega's glory during the console era. It features an interesting concept: players take on the role of Axel, a crazy taxi driver who earns money through "reckless driving." It also offers engaging gameplay: you need to deliver as many passengers as possible to their destinations within the shortest time, earning more tips by performing various driving stunts along the way.
In fact, if you've ever played or watched this game in an arcade, you would undoubtedly be captivated by its pure "fun." It's no wonder players reacted so strongly upon seeing that yellow cab. Now, the return of Crazy Taxi: Global Rush after many years has undoubtedly become the key to awakening players' dormant memories.
In fact, the Crazy Taxi: Global Rush booth does give you that feeling, not just because it retains the series' consistent street-style visual design, but also because the booth itself evokes a sense of nostalgia, easily reminding people of old arcades—small, yet perfectly compact. In the most prominent area of the booth, an old-style arcade cabinet was specially set up, featuring controls that best fit arcade logic: a physical steering wheel, accelerator, and manual gear shift. This allows fervent series fans to experience this latest revival of the franchise in a way that best captures the original flavor of "Crazy Taxi."
Unfortunately, since the arcade cabinets were custom-made, the number of playable units was extremely limited. With everyone eager to try it out, we couldn't directly experience this special version on-site. Fortunately, the standard demo version didn't differ much from the arcade version in terms of content, so we still managed to get an early taste of the game's new feature—the "Story Mode."
Of course, if you're also curious about another new feature of the series, the "Multiplayer Mode," feel free to check out our other preview report dedicated to the online multiplayer content, where I will specifically introduce the game's two multiplayer modes.
Let's return to the content of this offline demo itself.
As you may have already learned from various sources, since Crazy Taxi: Global Rush was developed from the ground up to "console game" standards, targeting many new-generation players from the post-arcade era, it never intended pure "time-trial racing" to be its core gameplay. Instead, it introduces the series' first "Story Mode," complete with plotlines and character development.
For players unfamiliar with the "Crazy Taxi" series, here's a brief explanation: previously, the series focused on transporting as many passengers as possible and performing as many stunts as possible within a limited time. The experience was relatively simple and pure, closely tied to its origins as an "arcade game," which meant there was no need to design a dedicated story. Players' impressions of the protagonist, "Axel," mostly remained that of a crazy taxi driver wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
But starting with this title, "Crazy Taxi" finally has its own story—a highly skilled taxi driver will travel across multiple cities around the world, experiencing different landscapes and tracks.
This demo begins with a map from one of the previous cities that series fans are all too familiar with.
Although we were experiencing the "Story Mode," we didn't actually see much that felt like a traditional "story" or had specific objectives during this demo. Instead, it felt more like free exploration content within the Story Mode, allowing players to enrich their taxi driver careers without restrictions.
Specifically, you can follow the core gameplay of previous titles by picking up passengers on the roadside and delivering them to their drop-off points as quickly as possible. The game will then evaluate your performance based on your speed between the two points.
However, as a new addition to the game's "Story Mode," players will also encounter some less "conventional" passengers in the city. These characters often have unique identities or hobbies and wear distinctive outfits—the "Pizza Delivery" and "Fishing" gameplay features shown in previous trailers originate from here.
In actual gameplay, however, the missions are even more diverse and absurd. Due to time constraints, I could only randomly select and experience two of them: one came from a ballet dancer who wanted to combine drifting with ballet to create a new art form; the other came from a wingsuit flyer who hoped to use the taxi's emergency stop feature to launch himself off a hillside...
Although these tasks might sound unreliable, they truly capture the essence of "Crazy Taxi." Previously, we thought the taxi drivers were "crazy," but the NPCs in this installment are even crazier than the drivers.
Aside from their eccentricity, these two tasks share another crucial commonality: they both require players to be thoroughly familiar with the game's special "control commands" and execute them precisely. The first task demands proficient use of "Crazy Drift," while the second requires skillful application of "Crazy Stop." Mastering these two "control commands" is a fundamental requirement for becoming a qualified "Crazy Taxi Driver."
Players familiar with previous entries know that the biggest difference between the "Crazy Taxi" series and typical racing games lies in the controls. In "Crazy Taxi," simply holding down the accelerator won't maximize your speed; players must use "Crazy Dash" to trigger an effect similar to instant nitro boosts in other games. Similarly, "drifting," "braking," and "reversing" in "Crazy Taxi" are tied to specific control commands. You can certainly play it like a standard racing game, but that would be far too slow.
"Crazy Taxi" is all about urgency: accelerate urgently, turn urgently, and stop urgently. There's no room for hesitation. The game's various commands assist players in achieving this; only by inputting the correct commands can you perform the corresponding actions.
Taking the ballet dancer as an example, he requires the player to maintain continuous "Crazy Drift" in specific areas. Points are only calculated if the drift state is maintained. In the wingsuit flying mission, the game requires players to accelerate as much as possible before a ramp and then execute a sudden stop right before a cliff. The greater the prior acceleration, the farther the NPC in the back seat will be thrown. Both scenarios perfectly align with the common sense of the "Crazy Taxi" worldview—namely, that no one has any common sense.
You have to admit, these mission designs are genuinely interesting, keeping me laughing throughout the fifteen-minute demo. Although many players on-site struggled to achieve ideal results due to insufficient time to familiarize themselves with the game's unique controls, this didn't prevent them from experiencing the humor and fun characteristic of "Crazy Taxi." When you find the characters' outrageous behavior amusing, the spirit of the game has already been largely conveyed.
More importantly, although our experience was only superficial, Crazy Taxi: Global Rush has indeed become a game that feels both fresh and nostalgic. It's truly fun—so much so that I can't wait for the official release.
