When comparing Neon Shadow vs Crazy Taxi, the Slant community recommends Neon Shadow for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Neon Shadow is ranked 72nd while Crazy Taxi is ranked 110th. The most important reason people chose Neon Shadow is:
Neon Shadow supports local area network multiplayer as well as online multiplayer support for death-match play.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Diverse multiplayer allows you to easily play locally or online with friends
Neon Shadow supports local area network multiplayer as well as online multiplayer support for death-match play.
Pro Familiar and classic FPS and arena gameplay that is easy to understand
Core gameplay mechanics are of old-school first person shooter. Players move room to room finding objects called nodes to shoot before being allowed to leave to the next room. While trying to find the node players will of course be facing off against AI controlled enemies.
Pro Great controller support that allows a wide selection of different controllers to work
Neon Shadow has built in HID controller support, SHIELD Games support and MOGA controller support. So no matter what type of Android controller you own, it should work out of the box.
Pro Anyone can pick up the game and figure out the intuitive touch controls
There is no jump button, reload button or an interaction button, keeping the touch controls interface quite simple. Left side of the screen moves the player, right side looks around, and there is a fire button. This makes the controls simple to understand and use.
Pro Varied powerful weapons keeps the gameplay entertaining
Each weapon in game gives a sense of differentiating power. There is a good selection of guns that all have different shooting abilities and power. Each one allows the player to feel as though they are well equipped for the task at hand.
Pro Tablet split screen same device multiplayer allows 2 players to easily play on a single device
Neon Shadow allows 2 players to play multiplayer on a single tablet device using split screen. Controllers would be ideal for this.
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.
Cons
Con Shallow gameplay
While the story and game mechanics are serviceable one has to wonder how much better the game could have been if more attention was focused on these areas during development.
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.