| Introduction
For those that don't know, the Taxi movies (which
are written and produced by Luc Besson - the French
equivalent of Steven Spielberg) are very popular in
the French-speaking world and although this is the first
Taxi game on the GBA, the previous movie did have a
GBC tie-in.
The movies themselves are about a speed crazy Taxi
Driver who inadvertently gets involved with the police
and the underworld. From the premise alone, it's not
hard to figure out the kind of trouble that this Taxi
drive gets into, and although the plots are hackneyed,
the Taxi movies do feature some of the most breathtaking
visuals and car chases ever seen on the silver screen.
With this in mind the movie and indeed the last game
involve a lot of racing around the roads of France in
order to collect and drop off fares in record time.
Obviously, this bears more than a passing resemblance
to Crazy Taxi but if that's the type of game you enjoy,
then Taxi 3 may be just what you're looking for.
GamePlay
Taxi 3 is a mission based driving game which not
only challenges you to pick up and drop off fares but
also to perform some rather odd and dubious tasks.
Every mission is preceded with a map indicating the
start and finish points and a detailed description of
your completion criteria. It's important to remember
these instructions as you will not be able to see it
again during the mission and failure will result in
starting again at the beginning.
The first mission starts with some surveillance jobs
where you must follow a scooter through crowded city
streets in order to discover a 'drop off' point. The
challenge here is to keep the scooter in sight and to
follow its route without getting too close and blowing
your cover.
Every successful mission is rewarded with a car part
or new device, which can usually be used in your next
mission. For example, getting a Radar detector is incredibly
useful on mountain roads that are littered with traps.
Things get a little stranger when you enter a snow
covered Rally Tournament and stranger still when you
race, still in your taxi, through a downhill slalom
against other skiers. Once you've completed the Rally
Tournament, it can be played as a mini-game and although
this is only a simple driving game with the objective
of being first to the finishing line, it's still fun
and also useful for practicing your cornering and overtaking
skills.
One new addition to this version of Taxi is the introduction
of garages. So when your car meter is running low it's
a good idea to pull into a garage for repairs. Obviously,
this allows you to drive for greater distances but it's
also time consuming and really isn't recommended when
you're in hot pursuit.
Saving, as with other aspects of the game, has been
kept simple with only four digits to enter which saves
your position and remaining credits. It's refreshing
to see a pass code recording everything required in
such an efficient manner and this is one of the few
cases were a battery backup isn't required.
Controls
As the taxi is the only thing you're driving here,
the controls are very simple, with 'A' for gas and 'B'
for brake. It is, however, very responsive so weaving
in and out of traffic to avoid damage is also very simple.
You'll be pleased to note that Taxi 3 has one of the
fastest reverse features I've ever seen in a driving
game. This is of course essential especially when you
overshoot a drop off point or garage, and when the clock
is ticking down you'll tend to do this more often than
not.
Graphics
Basically the engine that drives the whole game (pun
unintended) is an enhanced version of the one used in
SSX Tricky, a game which was released to varied reviews
late last year and while it's not as visually pleasing
as Atari's V-Rally, it certainly does a fine job in
its representation of urban France.
The various cut screens are also excellent and the
menu systems are intuitive and cleverly designed. As
with the GBC version, the real highlight in Taxi 3 are
the stunning FMV clips from the actual movie. They seem
to appear everywhere in the game and the quality is
outstanding with no noticeable pixilation.
Sound & Music
The music in Taxi 3 - best described as a mix between
Euro Pop and Hi Energy dance music - is indeed fitting,
and compliments well the fast paced racing action in
the game. The sound effects, however, are not as impressive
although they do the job well enough for you to hear
the difference between a tyre screech and a revving
engine.
Final Comments
If you enjoy driving games like Driver or indeed
driving games in general, then you won't go wrong with
a copy of Taxi 3. The problem is that unless the movie
is a huge international hit, it's unlikely to see a
release outside of France. Aside from that, the game
is also a little on the short side and anyone with reasonably
good driving skills will fly through the twelve missions
and handful of competition modes in no time at all.
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