Whereas Crazy Taxi was (unofficially) set in San Francisco, Crazy Taxi 2 takes place in New York City. Being someone who works in NYC in "real life", and has lived in NY all their life, I was definitely looking forward to racing around a virtual recreation of Manhattan and the surrounding areas. The NYC in Crazy Taxi is pretty darn close to eth real thing, although a lot of the more famous locations have been replaced with much more generic replicas or just eliminated completely. Wall Street, City Hall, Burger King, FAO Schwartz and the Hard Rock Cafe are in there, but not much else. No Empire State Building, Twin Towers or Statue of Liberty? What about Broadway, Rockefeller Center and Times Square? Also, why the heck is Yankee Stadium (it's not Madison Square Garden) in midtown Manhattan and not The Bronx? I didn't expect a building-by-building representation by any means, but I expected to see a few more familiar landmarks. In general, there isn't as much variety in the neighborhoods and areas as I would have liked, and it became fairly easy to get lost, in the beginning.

The gameplay has remained almost exactly the same, with the exception of 2 small additions and one deletion. The Crazy Hop maneuver was added, which allows you to hop clear over low building vehicles and onto bridges. It also helps you maintain Crazy Through combos, and can drive the tips sky high. To perform the Hop, all you do is press 'Y'. It's not realistic, and in a way makes the game a step easier than the original, but it is a ton of fun to hop around with a car full of passengers. The second addition, as I just indirectly mentioned, is the ability to pick up/drop off multiple passengers. Multiple passengers are always picked up in a group of 2, 3 or 4, and you do not receive a dime unless you successfully drop off each at their own location. If done right, shuttling 3 or 4 groups will earn you an 'A' or 'S' license within a very short time. The tips are multiplied by the number of passengers, and whipping out even a quick Crazy Drift can add a lot to the fare you receive. Once this is figured out, most of the time you will most likely ignore single passengers unless you are really hopelessly running out of time. As a result, the gameplay isn't quite as balanced as the original, and the game ends up somewhat easier. Oh, and for some odd reason, they didn't include the lucrative Crazy Grind technique.

Nearly the same set of modes are available to play, also. Besides the main "Around Apple" and the smaller "Small Apple" stages, Hitmaker through in another bunch of addicting training/mini-games they dubbed the Crazy Pyramid. Each event increases in difficulty, and is designed to teach you some skills. While not pushovers by any means, even the very last events are easier to successfully play through than those in the original CT. Working your way to the top of the pyramid earns you a few secret items, such as a map of the stages and funky usable vehicles. The characters don't really stand out as much as those in the first Crazy Taxi, but they still fit the game well.

Graphics and music/sound effects are great once again. Hitmaker really enhanced the engine, as now there is barely any slowdown to be found, the draw distance is pushed way out, and the popup is well hidden. The textures are extremely detailed, and overall the whole game looks very sharp and polished. Both The Offspring and Methods of Mayhem provided several music tracks for CT2, all of which fit in perfectly with the crazy driving action.

Overall, Crazy Taxi 2 feels more like Crazy Taxi 1.5 than a full sequel. The same basic, addictive formula is present, but for some reason it just doesn't feel as exciting or challenging as the original. Anyone who enjoyed the first game (who didn't?) should at the very least give the sequel a try. Those who found the original too short and easy will probably feel the same way about the sequel as well.