Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few fares get straight to the point. You choose either the traditional Black Cab or one of three sports cars, collect passengers around London, and try to deliver them quickly enough to make the trip count. There is something immediately satisfying about turning a familiar taxi-driver premise into a race against time: every passenger is a small, urgent target, and every wrong turn threatens to turn a clean run into a scramble.

The day is divided across four districts, each visited through morning, daytime, evening rush hour, and night shifts. That structure is more valuable than it may sound. Traffic and the number of pedestrians looking for cabs change with the hour, so you are not simply repeating the same route under a different label. The evening rush is the obvious pressure point, while quieter periods offer a different rhythm for hunting fares and pushing for faster deliveries.

Then Taxi Challenge: London starts throwing arcade nonsense into the cab. Hidden power-ups can give you turbo, a jump, repairs, or a cannon, while hooligans lob beer bottles at passing taxis. It is not interested in being a pure vehicle simulator, and it is better for admitting that. The cannon and jumping ability are especially broad ideas for a taxi game, but they fit a competition where speed matters more than dignity.

There is a worthwhile progression loop too. Later shifts open the whole city, and successful driving can unlock three more cars, timed challenges, and free cruising. Special passengers tucked into secret corners pay extra if you get them home on time, giving exploration a practical reward rather than making it a distraction from the job.

Multiplayer is where the competitive edge becomes most obvious. Up to eight drivers can battle over customers, including stealing a passenger from an opponent who is moving too slowly. That is the kind of rule that can turn a routine fare into a grudge match. It will suit a group that enjoys interference and fast, silly reversals far more than one looking for orderly racing.

Graphics

The cars do a lot of the visual heavy lifting: you can drive a traditional Black Cab or switch to sports cars, with more vehicles unlocked later. London is split into four districts, and the same areas are revisited across morning, day, rush hour, and night, giving the driving a changing time-of-day backdrop rather than one fixed look.

Traffic and pedestrians become visibly busier or quieter between shifts, which matters because they are part of the obstacle course as much as part of the city. Beer-bottle-throwing hooligans and pickup items add a deliberately cartoony streak to the streets.

Story

There is barely a conventional story here, but the setup does its job. Rumours of the London Challenge, a contest to find the capital’s best taxi driver, give every shift a reason to exist without slowing the game down with drama.

You are not playing through a character-led tale; you are building a case through fares, fast deliveries, and success across the districts. That keeps the focus exactly where it belongs: on becoming better at getting around town under pressure.

The special passengers add a little mystery to the city, since they are hidden away and pay generously when delivered on time. It is a thin narrative thread, but a useful one. Their presence encourages you to look beyond the most obvious fares instead of treating London as nothing but a sequence of checkpoints.

Overall Experience

Taxi Challenge: London is most fun when you accept its odd mixture of taxi work and arcade aggression. One minute you are trying to run a quick, clean fare; the next, you are grabbing a turbo, using a jump, or defending your momentum from roadside bottle throwers. It has a restless energy that a straighter taxi-driving game would not have.

Its structure gives that energy enough room to grow. The rotating times of day, expanding access to the full city, hidden high-paying passengers, extra cars, and challenge modes all make the basic pickup-and-deliver routine feel like more than a single joke. Free cruising is also a welcome change of pace after the constant urgency of timed work.

Still, the game will live or die for you on how much you enjoy repeated route-running and clock pressure. If you want the careful atmosphere of ferrying passengers around a city, the cannon, jumps, and customer theft will feel like a distraction. If you want a rowdy early-2000s arcade driving game that happens to put a taxi sign on the roof, those same ideas are the reason to play.

The multiplayer mode is the strongest recommendation. Fighting seven other drivers for fares, with the possibility of losing a passenger because you slowed down, turns the central concept into a proper contest. Solo, it is a lively diversion with unlocks to chase. With competitive friends, it has the sharper personality its London Challenge premise promises.

Retro Replay Score

6.4/10