For a player who grew up and lived in the millennium, Sega and its "Crazy Taxi" series represented the purest joy—it had no rule restrictions, required no complex thinking, and didn't force you to adhere to existing rules... The only consideration was how to transport as many passengers as possible in the shortest time to earn as much fare as possible.
Perhaps due to these reasons, I remained full of questions about the true nature of the series' latest work, "Crazy Taxi: World Tour," curious about what form it would take to reinterpret that pure joy.
And during this year's "Tokyo Game Show 2026," this question was finally answered in a wonderfully surprising way—we were invited to participate in a demo event for this title. After the demo, we were honored to meet Mr. Kenji Kanno, producer of this title and the entire "Crazy Taxi" series, as well as Mr. Yo Momose, the director of this title. In the limited time available, I conducted face-to-face questions regarding aspects of the game's development and design that sparked curiosity.
Below is the organized version of this interview:
Kenji Kanno (Left) and Yo Momose (Right)
Q: First, could you share what inspired the development of this title? Why did you choose this specific moment to revive the classic "Crazy Taxi" series?
Kanno:Since "Crazy Taxi 3," we indeed hadn't developed a new entry ourselves for some time, interspersed with various other projects. But I always had a thought in my heart—could we bring "Crazy Taxi" back to everyone in a different way?
Coincidentally, just as I started seriously considering this, the company also set a direction: to rediscover past classic IPs and bring them to current players. Our ideas aligned perfectly, leading to an immediate agreement and the project's launch.
However, there is another layer to this reason—during that period, news about the pandemic was frequently in the headlines. I thought, if we could make a game that makes people smile just by looking at it and enjoy playing it, that would be great. "Crazy Taxi" itself is a work that brings knowing smiles, so this time I wanted to create a solid title worthy of the name "Crazy Taxi."
Q: The subtitle of this title is "World Tour," and promotional materials mention five different maps. Why did you decide to make a world tour the theme of this work?
Kanno:There are too many open-world games now. Many titles often feature exceptionally large maps where players explore freely or share the same area with friends. This type of experience is already quite saturated.
What I want to bring to everyone is a different kind of joy, the feeling of running back and forth between different places, flying all over the world. If this joy can hold up, I believe it will attract a different player base. This is why we established the "World Tour" theme.
As for why five cities... we calculated the production volume and resources available, finally settling on five. After determining the "World Tour" theme, we began selecting representative cities globally. Switching between different countries, sceneries, and atmospheres is inherently tied to the worldview of "flying across the globe."
Q: Regarding these "five cities," the new "Japan" map was recently announced for this title. Honestly, I was quite surprised because when people think of "Crazy Taxi," they often imagine the American West Coast. Why did you choose to include a Japan map this time?
Kanno:Actually, when initially selecting cities, we naturally considered which ones had the most "Crazy Taxi" vibe, and Japan was included for this reason. Additionally, we cared about one point—when players hear a country's name, can they immediately visualize what it looks like?
Driving in a completely unfamiliar place is certainly fun, but if upon arrival you can think, "Ah, so this is the feeling," and as you play more, your understanding of the place deepens—I believe this experience offers greater immersion.
For instance, in Germany, we included Cologne Cathedral. Players see it and think, "Ah! I think I've seen this." Then, driving through the streets, they realize, "Oh, so this is what it's actually like," delving deeper step by step. It's the same for Japan; landmarks like Mount Fuji and Tokyo Tower immediately convey, "So this city feels like this," leading to continuous new discoveries based on this foundation—I think this structure works well, which is why we chose Japan.
Momose:Since the theme is traveling around the world, we wanted each city to have its own personality; they couldn't all look the same. Differences in scenery, experience, and driving feel were also criteria for our city selection.
Additionally, being Japanese ourselves, we are more familiar with Japan's road environment, allowing us to create finer details. Elements like Japanese highways and interchange designs are also easier to characterize.
I felt these details, which only Japanese developers could create, should be utilized. So, I proactively suggested to Mr. Kanno, "We must include a Japan map," which ultimately led to its inclusion.
Q: The series features a "Story Mode" for the first time. Considering that previous "Crazy Taxi" titles were more akin to arcade games, some might wonder, "Does Crazy Taxi need a story?" This makes us very curious about how the story mode is presented this time.
Kanno:I wanted to add a "Story Mode" to help players become more immersed. We aimed to seriously reconstruct the worldview of "Crazy Taxi," allowing players to truly feel they are within that world while playing. The story mode is one of the ways to achieve this goal.
In the past, as an arcade title, we couldn't implement these deeper elements. Since this is a console-oriented project, we wanted to develop it thoroughly.
Q: So, the story mode in this title is also intended to give characters like Axel more depth and personality?
Kanno:We intentionally structured it this way so players might think, "Oh, Axel has this side to him." However, I can't reveal too much specifically right now; I hope everyone discovers these aspects while playing.
Of course, many members of the development team were fans of the arcade version from the start, and they initially questioned, "Why add a story mode?" But after playing it themselves, these individuals expressed, "Yes, this is the 'Crazy Taxi' I wanted." So I believe old players will also feel, "That's right, this is the flavor."
Q: During the demo at the booth, I noticed that besides transporting passengers, this title includes numerous missions unrelated to taxi business, such as fishing and delivery. How did these somewhat bizarre gameplay elements come about?
Kanno:Actually, we observed that players engaging in these missions laughed the most. Because we genuinely want more people to play with smiles, willing to get in the car even if they aren't skilled drivers. Therefore, we needed a natural connection—passengers are strange, missions are outrageous, but linking them through the story mode makes it less abrupt. What everyone sees in the demo are individual missions, so it's normal to feel they have little to do with taxis, but upon actual play, you'll discover they are connected.
Momose:The core feature of "Crazy Taxi" is the passengers. This time, we wanted to add more depth for the console version, so when discussing design direction with Kanno-san early on, we decided—it shouldn't just be about transporting people; we need to take a step further.
Although these missions might seem unrelated to taxi business, they share a common point: they all stem from interactions between passengers and drivers. Whether listening to passengers' wishes or simply picking up fares in standard gameplay, the core is the relationship between passenger and driver. I believe this is the greatest commonality.
Q: So, how do these mission ideas usually come about?
Momose:Basically, the whole team brainstormed together, gathering to discuss: "What kind of experience counts as crazy," "How can we make it fun," "This is definitely interesting," or "This is too ridiculous," and so on.
We start by throwing out various gameplay ideas, and then colleagues responsible for characters and scripts add personality and weave stories around them to bring them to life. Of course, sometimes it works the other way around—someone wants to create a specific character, and then everyone builds gameplay mechanics around them.
Q: The visual style, vehicle rendering, and backgrounds in this title lean towards realism. How was this direction decided? How do you balance this realism with the series' characteristic chaos and absurdity?
Kanno:First, this is a car-themed game, so we absolutely needed car enthusiasts to recognize and approve of it, thinking, "Hmm, the game understands cars." This was the absolute baseline, so we decided on a realistic approach for the vehicles first.
On the other hand, since characters in the game perform many outrageous actions, adopting a realistic style for them would be too incongruous. Therefore, we applied stylized designs to the characters, making their滑稽 (comical) actions more acceptable to everyone.
For the backgrounds, since we are driving realistic cars, the environments correspondingly lean towards realism. On this basis, we fine-tuned details and sought balance. For example, effects weren't made overly realistic but used intuitive, easily understandable symbolic representations—players must instantly know what happened when using skills. In short, we repeatedly polished various elements to find a balance point.
Q: The series' music is also a major hallmark. The track "All I Want" we heard during the demo is a classic among classics—does its return imply that other famous tracks from previous entries might also reappear in this title?
Kanno:The tracks heard in the current demo are all from the first generation. Actually, fans have always been saying, "We must have The Offspring!" and "Bad Religion is a must!" Because everyone expects this, we are currently negotiating with various parties to strive to include these tracks.
The good news is that when we communicated with the relevant rights holders for the tracks, they were very positive. However, we cannot disclose specifics yet, so please wait a little longer.
Q: Since we're on the topic, I'll also ask—will this title include a "car radio"-style system that allows players to select songs, edit playlists, and enjoy their favorite music while driving?
Kanno:Sorry, we can't reveal that yet (laughs). Actually, not just you, but many media friends have asked the exact same question, and we can only say, "Really sorry, please wait for further announcements."
Q: Looking at it from today's perspective, not just "Crazy Taxi: World Tour," but the entire "Crazy Taxi" series' "command input" control scheme is quite rare among racing games. Rather than resembling a racing game system, it feels more like a fighting game system—could you share the reasons behind this design choice?
Kanno:The original "Crazy Taxi" was an arcade game where people would enthusiastically press buttons. What I wanted to capture was the feeling of driving through streets, taking corners stylishly, and pulling off cool drift stops. There are cars and obstacles on the road; crashing through them is fine, but with skill, you can zip past or stop sharply with flair. I wanted players to physically feel: "Look! Aren't I cool?"
To achieve this, I pondered what controls would be best. A physical steering wheel is the optimal choice for simulating vehicle driving, allowing intuitive turning. But that alone isn't enough—what I truly wanted was a combination of simulated driving and digital inputs, seeking responsive handling that lets you turn immediately when you want to and dash instantly when you wish. Hence, the two core actions: drifting and dashing.
Combining these elements: use analog controls to drift sharply around corners, then dash out at that precise moment. Repeating this allows the car to jump spectacularly. I wanted to create this slightly fantastical driving performance, distinct from ordinary racing games.
This foundation has been used up to the present day. When new members first joined, it was quite a headache, but once we clearly explained the original design philosophy, they said, "I see," and then used new technology to express it even better.
Q: So, for the new development members joining this time, this system is also quite unique, correct?
Kanno:That's exactly right; it has been this way from the very beginning.
Our obsession at the time was to create a driving action game, not a car simulation—the emphasis was on the word "action," so we had to create unique driving physics.
I may not have mentioned this much externally—the programmer responsible for driving physics was truly struggling and couldn't achieve the desired feel until the very end. Arcade game development includes a phase called "location testing" (roketesuto), where the game is placed in regular arcades to gauge player reactions for final adjustments. Just two weeks before location testing, the lead programmer came to me and said, "Sorry, could you let me rewrite the entire source code?"
I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I finally figured out what true 'crazy driving' should feel like."
Honestly, my heart skipped a beat—rewriting at this stage? That spells trouble. But I kept a calm exterior, saying, "Alright, if you've figured it out, go ahead and change it." He indeed rewrote Everythinggj, and we used that version for location testing.
I believe it was from that point that the lead programmer truly defined the driving feel of "Crazy Taxi." Upon seeing that version, I was certain it would succeed, so I told him, "Don't hesitate, go for it."
My experience is that a project succeeds when everyone on the team looks in the same direction. There were many difficult moments during this development, times when the team's direction wasn't unified, but ultimately everyone came together, resulting in the work we have today.
Q: Will the controls in this title be moderately simplified compared to previous entries?
Momose:Yes. We want to make it accessible to more people, including those who have never played the "Crazy Taxi" series before. This aligns with what Mr. Kanno emphasized from the start: "Make it easy to pick up first."
Therefore, our design philosophy is: don't treat successfully executing commands as the goal, but rather consider mastering the controls as a given prerequisite. On this basis, players can pursue more advanced action techniques.
Q: Does this mean that the barrier to entry for this title will be lower and the controls simpler?
Momose:Exactly. But it's not so simple that you can just mash buttons and play. We retained the series' signature "command input" design, giving it a genuine action game feel. However, anyone can master it with practice. We are confident in this aspect.
Q: Actually, I saw an arcade cabinet demo station for this title at the Sega booth during the event. Will these cabinets be placed in arcades or other public venues in the future so everyone can play?
Kanno:Unfortunately, there are no plans for this at the moment.
Q: Does this mean there will be no opportunity to play except at this exhibition?
Kanno:Currently, that is the case. However, this title does support steering wheel controllers, and the upright arcade cabinets seen this time were specially made for the exhibition. If enthusiasm truly rises to the point where billions of people simultaneously shout, "We want to play!", perhaps we could make it happen in the future—specifics depend on everyone's response (laughs).
Momose:After adding support for steering wheel controllers, everyone in our internal tests said, "This is super fun." Although the controls are simplified compared to before, pairing them with a shifter, steering wheel, and pedals creates a strong sense of action and is particularly enjoyable. Players who have the setup should definitely try playing this title with these devices.
Q: Finally, please say a few words to the players in China.
Momose:I believe that since its first installment, "Crazy Taxi" has been a title offering a unique experience, completely different from other driving games. Nowadays, there are many high-quality games in China as well. In such an era, we aim to create a work that stands out and offers a distinctly different experience. We hope players will laugh heartily while playing.
Kanno:We truly hope that players in China can widely enjoy this game—this is not just our team's desire but also the company's expectation. Therefore, we have implemented Chinese localization for both text and voiceovers, allowing even players less proficient in English to enjoy the game more easily. Please give it a try first; I won't let you down. Thank you for your support!