Crazy Taxi and Death Stranding | Understated Concepts 

Crazy Taxi, the first Strand type game

Crazy Taxi helped me find my profession. I hate it.

I get your point but you kinda sold some of those concepts short. Ace Attorney isn't really described as a lawyer simulator but a mystery adventure game which isn't really a weird concept at all. As for Crazy Taxi arcade racers were already a staple of the arcades so an over the top taxi game isn't the weirdest thing. Most games aren't really simulators of the real world thing that influenced them. Like I guess you could describe Dustforce as janitor game but it's hardly analogous to what that job is like in reality.

Games like Crazy Taxi do not start as concepts, they start as gameplay experiments. In the case of Crazy Taxi, you can even see how Sega arrived at the final concept. Racing games have been a staple of videogames practically since day 1, and Sega has produced some of the greatest ones. They jumped at polygonal racing games early with Virtua Racing. That eventually led to Daytona USA, one of the best racing games of all time. Where did they go from there? Once the hardware became powerful enough, they started creating open world driving games. They didn't get it quite right at first, Harley Davidson & LA Riders looked stunning in 1998, but it had you driving around LA for no particular purpose. They tried adding a purpose with Emergency Call Ambulance, now you're driving people to a Hospital, closer but not quite there. Then they struck gold with the concept of the taxi driver. It was all about giving you a reason for the gameplay basics they already had. Crazy Taxi polishes the concept to perfection, from the insane gameplay and scoring system, the colorful design, the frantic music, the city design and the humorous, but wholesome tone Crazy Taxi is a masterclass on game design, but one that did not start as "Lets make a game about driving a Taxi" but one that arrived at it.

I genuinely love Death Stranding, mainly due to the gameplay because the movement is so unique and reminded me so much of hiking back when I was a kid. But also because of the existential dread in the background, Hideo really put himself in the game and the entire game felt like him questioning what his life was going to be, man's 50 years old, been making one franchise for 30 years, and then gets shafted after all that work. Really excellent game despite the Princess BEACH scene.

the Yakuza series is the real taxi driving simulator

Quarantine on the 3DO was a taxi game not related to Crazy Taxi, set in a blade runner distopian future, you not only have to get them to their destination, but also protect them from other taxi drivers trying to kill them. Oh, also Rogue Trip Vacation 2012, surprised you missed that one as you're a Twisted Metal fan! :P

I love the idea that games, more so than any other media, can start with such bland concepts. Because in games you're taking a part in the action. Just look at simulator games, like farming sim or driving sim. Suuuuper basic concept and basic execution but sometimes a magical and cathartic experience that is perfect for video games.

This reminds me that my favorite part of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was just driving place to place buying and selling drugs.

Glad to see a fellow one-trip grocery Chad

I'm glad you focused on the gameplay for Death Stranding, I actually liked the story a lot myself but it seems like most people say "the story makes the boring gameplay worth it". Always felt like a cop out answer.

That's crazy, was just wondering if you had made a video on Death Stranding, and was looking for it on the channel like two hours ago but didn't find anything till you uploaded just now.

Single trip grocery chad fucking got me good great vid king

Crazy taxi is the dark souls of death stranding

Love the video, talked about two games I like, had me hooked at the title

Love the vids man keep it up👍🏾

Death Stranding will have the same love that MGS 2 eventually got, now it's hated but later people understand

Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 is kind of like Crazy Taxi, but you have to take tourists to photo ops while fighting other weaponized tour cars that want to snatch your fair.

2:00 Oi oi oi, I have not seen that game in so long. That really was a fun one. I actually got to play it in a arcade a few times.

I've been waiting for this

Taxi driver is one of my favorites of all time. Truly open world lol that city is so awesome.

I've been a longtime watcher of your videos as you talk about a lot of games that I am personally interested in, but something you should look into improving is the focus of your writing. It seemed like what you really wanted to talk about in this video was Death Stranding, but you spent roughly half the video talking about Crazy Taxi, Phoenix Wright, and a series of indie games. In general, your videos can be very interesting when you are discussing the history of games as your research gives you a certain through line to follow from beginning to end (Ex: Shadows of the Damned, Twisted Metal). However, when you attempt to analyze the subjective merits of a game your scripts seem less focused and therefore less entertaining. I would recommend crafting a basic research question to guide your writing each time you sit down to analyze a game. For instance, "How does Death Stranding use its game play and visual presentation to make the act of carrying things engaging?"

wow, great video man.

Damnit, you got my subscription with that grocery chad quote.

Video reminds me I still need to play Crazy Taxi 3

Very thoughtful video mate. Keep up the good work 👍🏻 Death Stranding kinda saddens me. Game devs will be afraid to try new concepts, and take risks.

Difference being that CT delivers and only does the one thing it promises, while DS only cares about getting through the story (and it is effective) it also aims at an open world and your interactions, with a whole lot replay value, there the concepts become pointless, painfully repetitive and downright contradict each other. Scope, one oversells and the other doesn't.

1:08 cant believe they were gonna make that

I see the point you are trying to make with those two games; but I must say that, while Crazy Taxi is a funny concept, it wasn't the first driving arcade game ever. Death Stranding, on the other hand, it's a genre of its own.

Good job

How about a game with battling tamagotchis mixed with Animal Crossing

That always sunny edit lmao

SSS ranking everything was my goal when replaying it on pc. The normal difficulty falls off once you get some equipment, on very hard, i actually died. Was in a boss fight though. Very hard managed to keep the tension thoughout the game, even after the chiral cuff knife. Plus you can get more chiral crystals from the enemies that spawn when caught. Fastest way to build all the roads for those linked to me.

9:58 Me. Buying games.

I’m interested in you reviewing Gregory Horror Show. A anime, with a surprisingly fun tie-in game made by capcom, that is a KIDS show during in the ps2 era.... That features a lusty lizard lady... The anime is worth watching and it’s FREE online. Emulator of ps2 is possible, but it is kinda rough. Hope you get a chance to try it out!

Up next: killer7 and peppa pig adventures

I was about to listen to some Bad Religion right before I saw this video, must've been a sign or something.

Check out SnowRunner. It is a new Strand type driving game !

Did I hear the hell yeah soundtrack?

You should review Jericho I like most people remember it fondly, another great game was Spartan Total War. Also most Fromsoft games from Gamecube those card games were bad ass

YA YA YA YA YA!

It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who remembers smashing drive love that game to death

Outro music plz brosquito 😋

I fucking love Death Stranding.

3:14 gameplay over concept, then? 9:48 I agree with your opinion. The shooting is just not what this game is all about. I liked the message of the video.

Ugh, I'm gonna sound like such a little snot right now, but as a language nerd I cant help myself ... ... "understated" just means subtle or without obvious emphasis. That doesn't really sound like what you're saying 😬. Sorry, I know I'm picking nits here, I watched the video, I like it, and you have interesting things to say! I just don't think "understated" is the right word. Crazy Taxi, for instance, is _conceptually simple_ or maybe _conceptually mundane_ but in practice the game is quite OVERstated, with intentionally big and bold and UNsubtle design and presentation. ...I suspect I may get yelled at for this comment, I should've probably kept it to myself 🤦‍♂️.

Simpson’s road rage is a great clone of crazy taxi if you are a fan of the series.

6:53

Still pissed you shut my C.I.A TSA theory down... Play Exanima.

why no one cares for The Sufferirng(first ever fast paced horror survival game that can be scary even thou it mostly a shooter) or condemned 2....

I don't give a shit how deep the primal triggers in your brain are or how many mighty civilizations have been built from the dawn of time. It's a game about walking. You can literally pick up any object right now and carry it to the other side of the room, for FREE. But no, you'd rather pay Kojima for giving you the opportunity to carry virtual shit to the other side of a virtual room. $50, please. (Also check out the PC/3DO classic Quarantine if you want to see an interesting take on driving a taxi).

3:46 That sounds lame

YO MAN, TAKE ME TO THE KFC

EXCUSE me?

Thats no fair you cant compare those 2 games crazy taxi is so much better its not fair to compare it to death stranding

More like Cope Stranding.

How about a game where you play as a merchant in a fantast world that moonlights as an adventurer? Yea that's right, MOONLIGHTER

comment.

4:37 You didn't put in as much Karmotrine as you could. Unsubscribed.

Yeah, your cracks are showing, Ghenry.

ups sim is over rated lol

Death Stranding should have been a movie, the gameplay is atrocious

I disagree on Death Stranding. The game was way too far up it's own ass and hardly what I'd call enjoyable. A lot of the mechanics are clunky and underdeveloped and the story is underwhelming. The entirety of the game is just a big poorly written clunkfest and that's not intentional. The majority of the good reviews around the game also read as if the reviewer hated the game but gave it a 10/10 because and only because it tried something new (and Kojima bias). Nothing wrong with you enjoying it. I like plenty of bad games. But seriously and unironically calling it a critical darling when it was anything but is an oversight I couldn't overlook. The game caused controversy and was booed out of the game awards with the only reason it didn't win every award (even though it was nominated for every major award undeservedly) being that it had massive controversy around it. It got buried in the fan votes too so it couldn't have the excuse of support. The game is a janky mess. I wouldnt call it a walking sim, it has action set pieces it's just not good and I greatly enjoy most walking sims. I did not and the majority did not enjoy Death Stranding which is why it underperformed, has terrible user reviews and has a cloud of controversy around it larger than a hurricane. Fuck that game. Again, I'm fine with you personally liking it but critical darling? Ha. At least you enjoyed it tho!

Death stranding is a game with a ok story,with the most mind numbing and shitty gameplay that most people only liked because kojima