Adv: Space Taxi 2 [by Twilight Games]

Game Review:  Space Taxi II
Release: May 2004
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Twilight Games
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/Nt/2000/XP, Pentium 2, 64 MB RAM, 32MB Video card, DirectX 8.0
Players: 1
Price: $19.95
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If I told you that Space Taxi II is a game where you pick up customers who need to be taken to various locations, and that you receive more pay for getting them faster, and if the passenger approves of the journey you receive extra money in the form of a tip, you'd probably think that this game was probably some sort of knock-off of Crazy Taxi. In fact considering the lawsuit by Sega in regards to the game Simpson's Road Rage, if you were Sega you might be getting ready to sue again. However, for Sega that would be a big mistake as long before Sega ever "pioneered" this type of game, there was a game called Space Taxi on the Commodore 64. As you might have guessed, Space Taxi 2 is a sequel to that game.

Of course there are quite a few differences between Crazy Taxi and Space Taxi II. For example Space Taxi II takes place in space, and your customers are often robots and aliens. In fact, a large amount of the charm of the game comes from the different customers and their well-represented voices.

In Space Taxi II you fly a taxi around to different landing pads to pick up your passengers. The game occurs one screen at a time in the traditional 2D fashion with you, in this case, moving around the screen to pick up and drop off each of your passengers. Of course things aren't quite that easy, and you'll quickly find that moving from pad to pad requires a good amount of practice and effort.

As you play through the initial levels you'll encounter the beginner's challenges of trying to land on the pads without coming in too fast and without killing your would be passenger (though killing a passenger you are supposed to pick up can lead you on a fun police chase for a moment though your car will end up impounded or more likely destroyed if you are me). On later levels there are a number of different objects on the board that increase the game's difficulty as you have to avoid them or find your car a smashed up wreck.

The real highlight to the game is the variety of different levels and graphic sets for the planets that you can play on. It is fun to just fly around and take a look at things, but I think that most people will find themselves rather frustrated by the precision with which you have to fly your taxi. Landing the taxi can be a bit tricky, and as you get to later levels, the challenge to avoid obstacles and fly into tight areas is a challenge that I think even seasoned gamers will have difficulty with.

Graphics: 9
The detail that has gone into this game graphically is amazing. It looks absolutely gorgeous for a 2D game, and the backgrounds and foregrounds are so varied you'll spend plenty of time wondering how the developers were able to get it all drawn up. Across the board this is one of the better looking side-scrolling games this year and I highly recommend that you download it and play through a few levels just to take a look at the detailed artwork.

Sound: 9
The sound is a perfect fit for the game, with a slightly mellow flavor to it that helps when you find yourself frustrated trying to land your taxi or trying to get through a tight space. The voices, as mentioned before, provide a fun addition and they are all flawless.

Game Play: 6
One of the big difficulties of the game is learning to play the game. I tried the game for several months in a row using my trusty gamepad, and time after time after time, found that I got frustrated trying to control the space taxi so precisely. A little frustration in this game goes a long ways as it tends to lead you to making mistakes that will cause your taxi to crash again and again while you are getting ever more frustrated. This game definitely requires an expert's touch to play. I wouldn't recommend playing with anything other than a gamepad as I found it all but impossible with the keyboard and just nearly impossible with a gamepad.

Value: 10
The amount of variety and sheer number of levels against the game's challenge means that your money will be well spent for the amount of time of game play in the game. I would expect that the most expert of players would play this one for no less than 40 hours to get through all the levels. That is a pretty good deal.

Concept: 7
Space Taxi is admittedly a sequel to an old Commodore 64 game. The main concept really hasn't changed much.

Fun: 7
The fun area is another spot where I found the game lacking and I believe it is directly due to the challenges in controlling the taxi. The inertia that that taxi shows when you thrust in different directions feels just right, so I don't think that is the area that is problematic. Rather it is that tightness of the controls. You have so little room for error in this game, and one little mistake leads to your destruction. That is definitely a frustration that becomes higher on the upper levels of the game as there are an increased number of obstacles that seem to plot your downfall despite your best efforts. I think that most gamers will find the game more frustrating than fun. Perhaps a solution would be to add bumpers to the taxi in either an easier game mode, or a selectable option that allows you to bounce off of objects unless you are really flying towards them, and a shield that keeps you from being destroyed by objects flying through the air.

Overall: 8
Space Taxi II is a game that I have been playing over and over for the last several months. I always have some stress when I turn it on because I always turn it off frustrated. However, every time I flip it on I'm amazed by how beautiful the game looks. I'll fight my way through several levels, being ever more impressed, until I start hitting some difficult levels and then it is back to the frustration. It is a bitter cycle that I think most people will enter, which is really too bad, because I think most people will find this game entertaining and quite appealing visually.
Added: October 18th 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
Score:
Hits: 5087
Language: english