Crazy Taxi: World Tour Has the YA YA YA YA YAs but Stumbles With the 'World' Part of World Tour | gamescom 2026

Summary

During gamescom 2026, we had the chance to play Crazy Taxi: World Tour, one of the most talked-about arcade racers at the show. The game feels like a refreshingly uncomplicated palette cleanser—no skill trees, crafting systems, or other unnecessary baggage that seems to clog modern titles. It's just pure, chaotic driving fun, complete with the cult-classic 'YA YA YA YA YA' soundtrack that brings back nostalgic smiles. However, our hands-on session revealed that the level design doesn't yet match the 'World Tour' subtitle. The stages we saw lacked the diversity and scale needed to convey a global journey, which is a bit disappointing. The core mechanics are solid: high-speed drifting, picking up passengers, and racing against the clock still thrill, but the promise of world-touring remains unfulfilled in the current build. From the moment you grab the wheel, the game nails the series' signature drift-heavy controls and chaotic AI traffic, making every fare feel like a frantic race against time. For players, this could be a delicious dose of simplicity in an era of complex progression systems; for the industry, it's an interesting test of whether a stripped-back design can sustain a major IP. We hope the developers will enrich the tracks with more distinctive international flair, making the World Tour moniker truly deserved.