In August 2006, London Cabbies, armed only with "The Knowledge" of the city won the race against taxi drivers using a GPS unit. So how, then, does London Taxi: Rush Hour do in the race for a great taxi game?

It's been a while since I played Crazy Taxi on my Dreamcast. That was a decent game and a lot of fun. It had personality, destructible environments, and an immersive experience. 8 years later, London Taxi is no Crazy Taxi.

You begin with one cabbie and one car with the possibility of unlocking new cars and cabbies by collecting bulldog coins. Drive around London, pick up passengers, deliver them safely and on time to their preferred destinations, and collect your fare and tip. Along the way, collect power-ups to keep your cab clean (Yes, this is London, not New York City.), nitro boost, and the most important: the clock, which gives you extra time to deliver your passenger, and the more time remaining, the more money you collect in tips.

The game has three different modes available. In Time Games, you need to make a certain amount of money within a set time period. In Money Games, you need to make a certain amount of money within a set time period. That's not a typo. The main difference is that, in Money Games, once time runs out, you can keep going until you get your limit. The Perfect Day mode is a "survival mode." It has no time or money limit, continuing until you fail to deliver a customer. (Tip: The Perfect Day mode is a great place to just go around collecting bulldog coins to unlock cars.)

Controls follow the scheme established in Excite Truck, holding the Wiimote sideways and tilting to turn. Control takes some getting used to, and you could get more precision from an analog stick, but this control scheme adds to the immersion--it's a Wii game, after all.

 

The most disappointing aspect of this game is the graphics. While good graphics don't necessarily make a good game, muddy graphics on a mediocre game create a disappointing experience. Scenery is boxy with low-resolution textures wrapped around them, making London look completely generic and muddy. Passengers are no exception and look even worse. (You expect buildings to look squarish, but not people, and even the tree trunks have noticeable corners.) I've seen better graphics on the N64. Destructible environments are limited to some boxes and road obstacles, while the hedges, potted plants, and signposts must be made of titanium, because hitting them will stop you in your tracks instantly. Lacking any voices at all, the sound is limited to mediocre looping background music and car sounds that sound like the motor is underwater--no squealing tires, no crashes, only Big Ben chiming every time you go past instead of on some kind of timed schedule--very annoying when turning around in front of it and hearing it over and over. Load times are about 23 seconds before a level.

While control is decent once you get used to it, "Rush Hour" in the title is not just a name. The roads are clogged with traffic, and I'd often find myself literally stuck in gridlock. It didn't help that cars and double-decker buses collide with each other and create pile-ups even when I'm a block or 2 away from them.

 

If you take Crazy Taxi, hold it in front of a mirror (They drive on the wrong side of the street over there, you know!) and reduce the quality like a store-brand loaf of bread, you get London Taxi: Rush Hour. And while it's only $20, you can get Crazy Taxi for the GameCube used for about $10, pop it in your Wii, and enjoy the experience more. (Note: Crazy Taxi is rated "T", but London Taxi is rated "E", so that will be a major factor for some families.) It's not that London Taxi is no fun; it's just that, for $20, there are so many better options out there, and as a Crazy Taxi clone, it's like comparing the original Star Wars trilogy with a Sci Fi Channel Original Movie. 8 years later, you'd expect improvement, not a technical downgrade. For most families, London Taxi lacks "The Knowledge" or at least "The Budget."