Sega has been working to revitalize several major franchises from its glory days, and alongside nostalgic names such as Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe and Ecco the Dolphin is another longtime fan favorite: Crazy Taxi.
The original Crazy Taxi was released in arcades in 1999 and distinguished itself from conventional racing games by putting players behind the wheel of a cab. After selecting a driver, players picked up waiting passengers and raced to deliver them to designated destinations across an exaggerated version of San Francisco, including restaurants, stores, churches and parks.
A taxi getting some air in Crazy Taxi: World Tour/Sega
The twist was that dangerous driving was actively rewarded. The faster players reached a destination, the more money and points they earned. Additional tips could be gained by narrowly weaving through traffic, driving into oncoming lanes, launching off hills and ramps, drifting around corners and discovering shortcuts through parks, plazas and even buildings.
The game was followed by Crazy Taxi 2, released for the Dreamcast in 2001, and Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, released for the Xbox in 2002. Each sequel added new maps, more outlandish mechanics and increasingly chaotic obstacles.
Now, more than two decades later, Sega is preparing to bring the franchise back with Crazy Taxi: World Tour. The new installment aims to preserve the series’ frenetic arcade energy and pop-punk attitude — The Offspring’s “All I Want” was featured in its official announcement trailer — while introducing five cities, additional vehicles, car customization and the franchise’s first major venture into online multiplayer.
Series creator and game producer Kenji Kanno believes that although the last main entry was released more than 20 years ago, the series’ core gameplay and more importantly, its chaotic sense of fun has been sorely absent from the modern gaming landscape.
“A lot of what’s in the news nowadays makes you feel not very excited to live in the world,” Kanno said during a presentation at Summer Game Fest 2026 in Los Angeles. “So, I feel personally that I want to have this new Crazy Taxi out there to maybe help people smile and have fun.”
Kanno said Sega’s broader effort to revive its legacy properties helped create the opportunity for Crazy Taxi to return, but he also believes the series is particularly well suited to the present moment.
“One of the reasons we’re bringing Crazy Taxi back is because Sega is trying to revive our legacy IPs,” he explained. “As for my personal feelings, for me, Crazy Taxi is a game that you can play and have all these positive emotions and positive feelings, without anything negative in the game. With how the world is right now, I think it’s the perfect time to bring it back.”
The expanded scope of World Tour will also give the developers an opportunity to explore the game’s characters and setting in ways that were not possible in the original arcade release.
“The basis for this Crazy Taxi: World Tour is that originally Crazy Taxi was just a game at the arcades, so you couldn’t really expand much,” Kanno said. “But now, with this new Crazy Taxi, we are able to expand the world of Crazy Taxi even further, flesh out the backgrounds of the characters and give them more backstory and lore as well.”
Fans of the original games should not be discouraged by the world-tour premise, the new locations or the addition of online multiplayer. Although the controls have been updated, Kanno said Crazy Taxi: World Tour can still be played in much the same way as its predecessors.
“We were able to recreate the original 3D taxi map of West Coast and really pay attention to recreating that old Crazy Taxi feel while also making it fit with the new generation of gamers,” he said. “Although the controls may be a little bit different from the original Crazy Taxi, you can still play the game the same way.”
Beachside driving in Crazy Taxi: World Tour/Sega
While online multiplayer may initially seem like a major departure from the franchise’s traditional play style, Kanno explained that fans have been requesting the feature since the original game’s arcade heyday. Even so, the new installment will continue to place a strong emphasis on its single-player experience.
“Even in 1999, a lot of players were saying, ‘Hey, I want to play this game with my friends,’” Kanno said. “But at that time, we had technological limitations. Here in 2026, we have staff members on the development team who are very experienced with multiplayer games, so we were able to build out that area this time. The main focus is still single-player, but multiplayer is there for those hardcore or endgame players who want to spend more time with it.”
With Crazy Taxi: World Tour, Sega is aiming to preserve the fast, chaotic fun that made the original games memorable while expanding the formula for a modern audience. If the new cities, deeper character stories and multiplayer modes can complement the classic arcade gameplay, the series may be poised for a successful comeback.
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