When comparing Crazy Taxi vs Little Inferno, the Slant community recommends Little Inferno for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Little Inferno is ranked 5th while Crazy Taxi is ranked 110th. The most important reason people chose Little Inferno is:
Certain items may have odd properties or work together with other items to create unexpected results. A list of combinations, where the only hint is the name of the combination, gives the game another puzzle-like layer that you are required to solve to progress further. For example, a somewhat vague sentence (such as Wooden Block Combo) will be given and the player must analyse and choose the correct materials in order to process further.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Android port retains the original music, which may brings back nostalgia for those familiar with the original title
For a port to hold onto it's music licenses is pretty much unseen now a days but luckily Crazy Taxi still has all of the original tracks found in the Dreamcast version (featuring music from Bad Religion and Offspring).
Pro Simple and intuitive touchscreen controls allows the game to be easy to pick up and play
For a ported game, the controls are very simple. There are 4 buttons - one for drive, one for reverse, and one each for left/right steering. Double tapping on the drive button launches you off with very high acceleration, and double tapping the left/right buttons starts a drift. These controls are simple, and very easy to get used to.
Pro Mini-games extend the content to the game and give the player something to do when they are tired of the main quests
Mini games, such as taxi bowling adds more to the game, and helps justify the $5 price for an old Dreamcast port. In total, there are 16 of these mini games. Having a good number of mini games to pick from, allows the player something extra to do, if they ever get tired or bored of the mainline missions.
Pro Fun map to drive on thanks to the sheer size on offer and the amount of locations available
There is an assortment of locations to drive in, thanks to the large size of the open-world map and the large assortment of locations you can drive through.
Pro Pretty easy to find a controller to control the game with as the title has very solid controller support
Crazy Taxi supports all HID controllers, such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers, as well as SHIELD and [MOGA controllers](MOGA controller support). This way there should be little issue with finding a controller to work with this title.
Pro Intriguing wordplay-based puzzles that keep the player guessing
Certain items may have odd properties or work together with other items to create unexpected results. A list of combinations, where the only hint is the name of the combination, gives the game another puzzle-like layer that you are required to solve to progress further. For example, a somewhat vague sentence (such as Wooden Block Combo) will be given and the player must analyse and choose the correct materials in order to process further.
Pro Delightfully warped gameplay makes for an amusing way to burn digital objects
You spend most of your time throwing things in an ill-conceived invention for kids called the Little Inferno fireplace. By setting things on fire you get money that you can spend to buy more things to throw in the fireplace. There is a subtle plot that may make you re-evaluate your actions.
Pro Minimalistic, eerie puzzles, gameplay and narration pointing out how the games we play manipulate us
Cons
Con Graphics look dated
Considering that the game is fifteen years old (as of 2014), the graphics do look a bit dated when compared to other high end games on Android. These graphics are untouched direct ports from the Dreamcast.
Con Very touchy controls
Tapping on the steering buttons is a janky affair. One quick tap turns your taxi a lot, and it can be very hard to control your driving using the touchscreen controls. Thankfully, there are other options - in the settings you can change the controls to tilt which is a bit better although sometimes not sensitive enough - or if you have a MOGA controller you should probably use that as it's closest to the original joystick controls.
Con Most of the time is spent waiting and not on puzzles
The game revolves around deliveries that take time to arrive to your fireplace. There are time constraints on these deliveries that force the player to wait, unless you purchase postage stamps by unlocking combo's. As such, most of the time played in the game will be in a more 'idle' situation waiting on the deliveries instead of actually using the deliveries to solve the puzzles.
Con Costs too much
Con The game is quite short
Little Inferno is a short game. On average, the main story takes a little bit over three hours to complete, while completionists need about four hours to explore everything.
Con No puzzle diversity or large number of mechanics added
The gameplay mechanics in Little Inferno stay the same: you use the fireplace in order to burn materials and create combo's. Even when unlocking newer catalogs with new materials to burn, not much changes in terms of gameplay. The puzzle hints that are provided also are quite similar, which can make the game feel rather monotonous.