No, that isn’t a typo. Smashing Drive can be completed in less than two hours. Although for what it’s worth, those two hours were rather fun.

Smashing Drive is all about getting to the end of the stage before your rival taxi and before the timer sounds. At first glance, it seems that this would be a variation of the theme pioneered by Sega’s venerable Crazy Taxi. Unfortunately, while Crazy Taxi offered a large, complex city (plus an extra city in the home versions), an interesting scoring system, and the urge to increase your score each time you play, Smashing Drive offers none of these qualities. In their stead, Namco provides a rival cab, three “shifts” with three levels each, and several (admittedly unique) power-ups. These power-ups range from turbo boosts to sonic horns and glider wings. Many of these are rather necessary to reach the checkpoints in time, as well as getting into and through many of the great shortcuts in the game.

The game, while fun, lasts for too short a span of time. Granted, extra time can be spent looking for more shortcuts, making better times and scores and even in the added multiplayer mode, but ultimately its all filler and isn’t really an incentive to continue playing the game as it should be. Smashing Drive controls as well as an arcade game of this type would be expected to. Limited to three buttons (Gas, Brake, Horn) the game is very straightforward and one never feels that they lost for any reason other than one’s own incompetence.

Graphically, the game is lackluster at best, as it sports N64 quality textures. This is made more understandable due to the amount of objects flying all over the screen at any moment in the game. Even with multiple explosions, a couple dozen cars whizzing by, and various pedestrians walking the streets, the game’s framerate does not ever drop below a rock-solid sixty frames per second.

Unfortunately, the sound in the game can only aspire to be as mediocre as the graphics. While the sound effects in the game are suitable for their purpose, the music drowns it all out with its awful quality and composition. While not impossible to sit through, this is one game where you would be well advised to turn down the volume and pop in a favorite CD in your stereo.

Ultimately, the game is decently crafted and in very small doses it can be entertaining. Unfortunately, that’s what it should be limited to. Small doses work in the arcade, not at home. This is a strict rental at best, but the reality is if you must play this game, just go for the full experience at the arcade.