Mile High Taxi review. Time to charge your Multipass and hop in.

"Mile High Taxi" is an arcade-style game that takes the 1997 Luc Besson epic "The Fifth Element" about Corbin Dallas, a cab driver in the future who unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay, and smashes it together with the zany, wild gameplay of SEGA's "Crazy Taxi". Players race against time to deliver quirky passengers while dodging mile-high skyscrapers and blabbermouth pedestrians.

Gameplay: 

"Mile High Taxi" is an all-out arcade game, so do not expect a deep lore or story. The game takes off with your boss, Bones, blabbering on about the high expectations he has set for you. He sounds like a mix between a gruff New York street guy and one of the many cynical characters played by Bruce Willis. After a few skippable minutes of him yammering on, you are ready to get started.

"Mile High Taxi" comes with three characters, each with a different feel or playstyle. It will take a bit of trying out to figure out which type controls the best for you. They range from tight to loose controls and a close to far camera setting. There is no mix and match of characters and taxi types - they are essentially part of the character types. Each of the three characters also offers a few variations by selecting skin color, which also changes your outfit.

The upgrade system in Mile High Taxi is simple but effective. As you progress through the game, you'll encounter coins hidden throughout the levels that give you a time boost. These boosts can be the difference between reaching a destination on time and running out of time, losing valuable points and potentially failing the level. While it may be tempting to explore the levels to find all the coins, keep in mind that time is always ticking and every second counts. Instead, keep an eye out for coins on your way to or from a customer and try to collect as many as possible without sacrificing too much time.

In addition to the coins, there are also boosters available at the taxi docks. Your boss, Bones, will notify you when a booster is available, and you can stop by the dock to pick it up. These boosters provide a speed boost for 60 seconds at a time, allowing you to reach your destination faster and collect more money in the process. The boosters are stackable, meaning that each time you collect one, you'll go faster than before. It's important to keep an eye out for boosters and collect them whenever possible to gain an advantage over your competitors.

Picking up and delivering customers is the core gameplay loop of Mile High Taxi. Potential customers are scattered throughout the city and are marked as pins on your map. You can see them from afar, highlighted by a big colored circle around them. Landing in their space will cause them to hop into your taxi and give you their destination. The color of the circle indicates the trip length and reward. Green circles are easy, short trips that don't pay much. Blue circles are medium trips that pay well, while red circles indicate long trips that pay very well but take up a lot of time. You can choose which customers to pick up at any time, except in sequential mode where the locations of passengers are preset.

While the controls for Mile High Taxi are set to triggers for moving forward/backward/braking and the left stick is used for taking turns and diving up or down, the right stick is used to strafe left/right and up/down. This can feel unintuitive at times, especially with how slow the strafing can feel. Unfortunately, there are no options to remap the controls, which would have been a useful feature to have. Depending on your control preferences, it may take a few tries to get used to the layout, but the overall gameplay is simple enough to adjust fairly quickly.

 In terms of presentation, Mile High Taxi does an excellent job of capturing the hectic and chaotic atmosphere of Crazy Taxi, while also bringing to mind the futuristic, sprawling cityscapes seen in movies like The Fifth Element. The game's sense of style is impeccable, and it's an absolute blast to race through the towering skyscrapers and bustling streets. The addition of the free roam mode is a nice touch, allowing players to take in the sights and explore the city a bit more. However, it is worth noting that there is a limit to how far you can travel vertically, as the game requires you to stay between levels 600-650. While this limitation makes sense from a technical standpoint, it is still somewhat disappointing, as the game's urban environment is begging to be explored further.

One minor issue with the game's presentation is that even though overall the game looks good, the graphics can feel a bit blurry and jagged, particularly on larger monitors. It's unclear whether this is an intentional stylistic choice or a limitation of the game's assets, but it does detract somewhat from the overall visual fidelity. Additionally, there are no options to adjust the resolution or graphics settings, so I could not verify if it was my resolution of just the limitations of the game. 

On the audio front, Mile High Taxi has a varied soundtrack that does a great job of bringing the game to life. While it may not have the same iconic tracks as the original Crazy Taxi (Who can afford those license costs?), the game's music is still enjoyable to listen to and adds to the overall atmosphere. However, there are some balancing issues with the sound effects and the onboard computer's instructions, which can sometimes drown out other sounds in the game. Once again, there are no options to adjust the audio balance, which is a missed opportunity for players who may have different preferences.

The review copy did not have a leader board yet, but it seems to be coming on the final release which as an old arcade dog is a great addition to see coming to the game. And of course, in case you were worried, there a bunch of achievements included with the game.

Finally, while the game's menus are functional, they can be somewhat unintuitive to navigate. For example, choosing a character before selecting a game mode may not be immediately obvious to all players, and there are some issues with backing out of the game entirely. Overall, while these may seem like minor quibbles, they do detract somewhat from the overall experience of playing Mile High Taxi. It would be great to see some quality-of-life improvements in future updates, such as customization options for resolution, sound, and controls, as well as more streamlined menus.

There are tons of references, Easter eggs and jokes hidden through the game which features a bunch of voiced lines for the player, customers, and boss creating a vivid world with tons of ambience adding the frenzy of the gameplay. Funny enough the customer feedback does not always line up with what is happening in the game and feels just random and as a result I would get people being excited when I did awful and was late on delivery and vice versa give me a ton of lip after a clean and fast run. I am not sure if it was on purpose, but it made for some hilarious moments.

Final thoughts:

Mile High Taxi is a fun game that absolutely nails what it set out to be and manages to pay the perfect homage to two great pop culture icons of the late 90's. There are a few areas of the game that could use some polish but despite these rough edges, the game manages to capture the soul of what made its inspirations so much fun. It can take a moment to get used to the controls, but within a few tries you will get the hang of it and quickly increase your skill level. If you miss Crazy Taxi, always wanted to navigate the city like Corbin Dallas, or if you just enjoy Arcade style games then Mile High Taxi might just offer you the vibes you are looking for.  

The game is steam deck verified so you can take it with you on the go and play it while you find yourself in the back of a taxicab.

You can find a copy of the game on Greenman Gaming or directly on steam here:

STEAM

Game: Mile High Taxi
Publisher: Self published
Review Platform:  PC (steam) 
Developer: Cassius John-Adams
Release Date:  13 March 2023 ($17.99)
Platforms:PC. (Steam)
ESRB: N/A (geeks rating E for everyone)

About the writer: DadGeek (Rob) is the co-founder of GeeksVsGeeks. He is a product of the eighties and never let go of his geek interest and hobbies no matter how often someone told him to stop. His love for gaming and all things geeks has been part of his parenting style and permeates throughout the whole family. A family of Geeks vs Geeks