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Crazy Taxi  prototypes Release:

Crazy Taxi is a video game developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega, released in arcade on Naomi in 1999 and on Dreamcast on January 24, 2000.

In Crazy Taxi, the player plays a taxi driver among 4 available, each having their own vehicle, not to mention an unlockable bike. He must, in a limited time, get customers to their destination as quickly as possible. The stake is to accumulate the maximum possible gains, the cost of the race according to its speed.

The customer also gives a tip each time the taxi performs spectacular tricks, such as jumping, skidding, grazing other vehicles. We must dazzle him with our conduct !!!

Two game modes are available:

  • Arcade: the city corresponds in every way to the arcade version of the game.

  • Original: a new town which is exclusive to the console version.

Both cities resemble San Francisco.

There is also a "Crazy Box" mode, a tutorial output, which allows players to take up challenges each more delusional than the other (a series of skids, a long jump ...).

The soundtrack is known for these hard rock and punk tracks which include songs from Offspring and Bad Religion.

Yeah, yeah, yeah ....

Crazy taxi corver
Crazy Taxi prototype dreamcast, GD-R.jpg
Crazy Taxi dreamcast prototype Camera mode

The particularities of the Dreamcast build (1998.09.16 version 1.000 ):

"I think the IP.BIN date for Crazy Taxi is incorrect. The dates of the files are 10/30/1999, which makes more sense to me. The dates of the files for the final version are 11/14/1999. This version is a few weeks younger than the final version. "

“The final US and Japanese versions of Crazy have the exact same file dates, all files are 100% exactly the same except for a few bytes of difference in 1ST_READ.BIN. I think if it is. is a beta of the two, US / Japan. "

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype intro
  • The window with the Sega logo is different, it lacks the "Presented by".

  • The game loads oddly. It takes between 3 minutes and 5 minutes to start. It goes from the message "Loading Crazy Taxi (15 k)" to "Setup Data C1", "C2" then "C3" to finally boot.

  • The "ADX" window is not yet implemented. We also notice a small difference on the title screen with "@sega 1999" and not "@Sega Entreprise, Ltd, 1999-2000"

  • The intro cutscene is buggy. The bugs also appear while playing (on the emulator, they are less present). There are problems with the late display of the decorations, the textures that are missing.

Crazy Taxi prototype rond point
  • It is possible to change the camera in game with Y (6 different cameras), they can also be modified during the introductory sequence:

Normal or replay GTA mode

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast beta camera GTA mode

Remote mode

Crazy Taxi GD-R dreamcast mode caméra éloignée

Front hood mode

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype Camera capôt

Replay mode

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast beta mode camera replay

Nothingness mode

Crazy Taxi protoype dreamcast mode caméra néant
  • By plugging a controller into port D of the Dreamcast, you can access additional options for cameras. By pressing A on the 4th pad, the game is paused, the music continues. With the directional cross, you can turn around the vehicle. By repeatedly pressing A, it will zoom in on the vehicle. By holding B, we will zoom out.

  • In GTA replay camera mode, by holding the left or right trigger, we unlock the Free Camera. With the directional cross, it is possible to move, the triggers being used to move forward or backward.

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype Free Camera
  • The display of some texts is in Japanese.

  • The color, in the option menu, of the level of difficulty or of the music is red and not blue.

  • "Work by" and not "Work for" in the Arcade or Original Mode selection menu. Note also that it is possible to play 15 minutes and not 10 minutes for the last choice.

  • No credit cutscene when you run out of time, there is a "Game Over" screen before being redirected to the main menu.

Crazy Taxi prototype Dreamcast original
  • Select mode and not Selection in the main game menu.

  • We start with our taxi to another place in "Original" mode.

  • The Crazy Box menu has differences including the "Select Cabie" and " Records" windows present from the start. By choosing a character and an event, these windows remain black. When creating his name, there are options for Dev while choosing letters.

Some differences in "Crazy Box" mode. We should really dig into this game mode to find other:

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype dev option
  • In the long jump (1-1) of the "Crazy Box" , it is snowing and the springboard has no roof.

  • In test 1-3 of the "Crazy Box" , there are not yet the elements of scenery such as trees or buildings in the background.

  • In the 2-1 test of the "Crazy Box", there are not yet the decorative elements such as the grandstand or the hot-air balloons.

  • In the 2-2 test of the "Crazy Box", barriers replace the walls, the buildings on the right are non-existent.

  • In test 2-3 of the "Crazy Box", the arrow painted on the jump is not present.

  • In the 3-1 "Crazy Box" event, the buildings in the background have not yet been established.

  • In the 3-2 test of the "Crazy Box" , the buildings are blurry.

  • In the 3-3 test of the "Crazy Box" , above the symbols for the number of people to bring in, it is written "Remain Customers" and not "Remaining Customers".

Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype crazy box
Crazy Taxi prototype texture bateau
Crazy Taxi dreamcast prototype crazy jump
Crazy Taxi beta dreamcast crazy box sans décors

If you like out of the ordinary prototypes, check out Guilty Gear X , Sega Marine Fishing or Skies of Arcadia for their incredible debug menu. They are definitely worth a visit like this Crazy Taxi .

The particularities of an undated Crazy Taxi Dreamcast prototype:

Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast prototype).jpg
  • This Crazy Taxi prototype  could be 6 days older than the final PAL version since the IP.BIN and the executable are different.

The particularities of the Gamecube Prototype (Sep 21, 2001 GCCTER03)

This Crazy Taxi Gamecube prototype will be part of part 2 of the "Duffy's Dreamcast Collection" project. This release is in a way a taste of the rest that will follow in the course of 2022.

  • The game starts directly at the save and load window, just before the title screen, without the SEGA and ACCLAIM logo animations.

  • On the title screen, the copyright is written differently "Sega Corporation, LTD, 1999, 2000" instead of "Sega Corporation, 1999, 2000". The copyright is displayed incorrectly, it is almost unreadable, it may be due to the emulator used. The "Press START button" annotation should read "PRESS START". It is also visible in other menus, such as for example for "Crazy Box" where it is written "START button" instead of "START" next to "ADVICE" located in the black frame.

  • In the "Options", "Vibration" should be named "Rumble Feature". This difference repeats when opening the in-game pause menu.

Crazy Taxi Gamecube Prototype Main Title.jpg
  • The layout of the "Controller Setting" window differs between the final version and the prototype. Here, the Y button has no attribution while the X button confirms the destination when it should be used to honk.

prototype

Crazy Taxi Prototype Gamecube Controller Setting.jpg
Final Version Crazy Taxi Gamecube.jpg

Final

Crazy Taxi prototype GC Pause.jpg
Crazy taxi - GC.png

Vous pouvez télécharger la build de Crazy Taxi Gamecube ci-dessous

Crazy Taxi (Sep 21, 2001 Gamecube Prototype (GCCTER03))

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