Crazy Taxi: World Tour Hands-On: Kanno Teases ‘Surprising’ Soundtrack News Soon
Sega let a small group of press get behind the wheel of Crazy Taxi: World Tour at Gamescom last week, and series creator Kenji Kanno used the sit-downs to drop a teaser he wouldn’t explain. Speaking to Push Square during the Cologne event, Kanno said he wouldn’t comment on any future soundtrack announcements, but he did promise “there’ll be a surprising announcement real soon.” He gave a near-identical tease to TheGamer in a separate interview, calling it a “one giant surprise” for the game’s music.
That’s on top of confirmation that a closed multiplayer beta is landing imminently, and fresh detail on how the five-city structure and controls have changed since the original 1999 arcade release. Here’s what’s actually confirmed, and what Sega is still sitting on.
Fans have been dissecting every scrap of the Gamescom coverage, arguing over whether “giant surprise” means a new licensed track or something bigger:
Good Boy@goodboy.bsky.socialMultiplayer Beta Test Coming, But Not on Switch 2
Push Square’s early build ran on base PS5 hardware, and outlets were told a closed beta test of the multiplayer mode is set to deploy later this month. Inven Global’s separate Gamescom sit-down with Kanno added a number to that mode: multiplayer will support up to six players.
Not everyone gets to try it at launch of the test, though. Nintendo World Report confirmed the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game will not be part of the closed network test, even though World Tour is confirmed for that console alongside PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC when it ships in 2027.
Five Cities, One Returning From the Dreamcast Original
Kanno confirmed the scope of the map roster to Push Square: World Tour intended to go international from the “beginning” of the project, and there’ll be five locations in the final game, with the San Francisco map from the original set to return. The hands-on build itself dropped players into a newly revealed Germany setting, which Push Square’s writer got to try as returning protagonist Axel in the newly announced Germany sandbox.
Kanno wouldn’t confirm which two cities round out the remaining slots. That’s a smart bit of drip-feeding on Sega’s part. It keeps the reveal cycle going right through to 2027 without anyone having to commit to a marketing plan this early.
No More Countdown Clock, Same Punk Soundtrack Bones
One of the bigger structural changes: the countdown timer that defined the arcade original is gone. Push Square noted this new game is structured a little differently to its predecessors, in that there’s no countdown clock until you pick up your first passenger, and once you collect somebody, the familiar sounds of punk rock bands like The Offspring and Bad Religion will play. That’s a real departure from the arcade-clock tension that made the original so replayable, and we’re genuinely curious whether removing it changes the game’s identity or just makes it more approachable for people who never touched a Dreamcast.
Kanno explained the music decision to TheGamer as a response to internal pressure rather than pure nostalgia. He said he always had a plan for the soundtrack, and heard different voices of stakeholders asking whether The Offspring or Bad Religion would return, which is why he chose to stick with this kind of music. He then teased there’s more to come, telling TheGamer “on the soundtrack, there will be another giant surprise I cannot reveal right now, but please look forward to the information coming out.”
Crazy Box Challenges Get a Vague Non-Answer
Fans hoping for the return of the Crazy Box stunt challenges, a series staple since the Dreamcast days, didn’t get a straight yes either. Kanno told TheGamer he was “supposing that some voices like yours would come out” from people who enjoyed the Crazy Box Challenges, asked for patience, and said he’d thought about it, adding that players who’d already tried the demo could “imagine something out of it.” Read into that what you will.
Our take: Kanno is playing a long, deliberate game with these teasers, and it’s working. Every outlet that sat down with him at Gamescom came away with a different half-answer, which is exactly the kind of drip-feed that keeps a 27-year-old franchise in the conversation without Sega having to spend a cent on ads.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour is due on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC in 2027. The multiplayer beta is expected before the end of the month, minus the Switch 2 crowd.
Join the Conversation