Originally published in volume 5 of Nice Games (2000), this interview has Crazy Taxi‘s director, Kenji Kanno, going into detail about the development of the arcade and Dreamcast versions of the game. Crazy Taxi was later ported to the PS2, GameCube, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and was eventually followed up by multiple (mostly terrible) sequels. The game can still be purchased through the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live marketplaces, as well as for the PC, albeit with all the licensed content (locations such as KFC and Pizza Hut and hip tunes by the Offspring) removed. I also cannot recommend the PC version in good conscious, as it does not support analog control (meaning you cannot actually steer your vehicle–you can only make hard lefts and hard rights) and is therefore virtually unplayable.

This interview (and many others) was included in volume 0 of Video Game Craftsmen (ゲーム職人第０集), published by MicroMagazine Publishing Co. If you enjoy this manner of content, please support them however you can.

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Nice Games – Crazy Taxi Interview

Developer Profile:

Kenji Kanno

Sega Corporation
AM Research and Development
Sega AM3 R&D, Producer
Game Design, General Manager
(“Hitmaker Development Division” at the time of this interview)

Joined Sega in April of 1993, and worked on such titles as Funky Head Boxers and Top Skater. He served as both Director and Producer for Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2, including console and PC versions. He also acted as director for CRACKIN’DJ around the same time. At the time of this interview, he was working as General Producer for Dinosaur King, a card-based arcade game for younger audiences.