Taxi

Pinside rating

This game received 440 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.946 /10

7.946

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #91 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.



Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 8.111

Artwork: 7.628

Sounds/Music: 7.321

Other Aspects: 8.18


Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 6 of us have rated this game.

7.305

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Found 221 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 221 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 9.

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7.696/10
20 days ago
Its a great game although I think the playfield is a bit empty its a really fun game and the back glass design is really good too if I had the game I would probably get bored of it after some time but its a great game and good for a collection with a good price
9.086/10
83 days ago
Man, I want one of these. This machine is, to not mince words: timeless. Taxi is one of those games that seems universally appreciable.


PROS:
-Ruleset is perfection. Doesn't take a lot to learn it, but takes a lot to master it.
-The challenge of the table is such that everything's achievable, but you won't actually achieve it all every time (or even frequently, for that matter)
-Presentation is almost universally appreciable.
-Aesthetic, music, and callouts are nice and don't wear on you (PinBot notwithstanding)
-Quintessential pinball theme--doesn't take itself too seriously, but isn't so tongue-in-cheek that you roll your eyes at it

CONS:
-That bell is so insanely loud in enclosed environments, I'd have to mute it somehow in a home use scenario.
-Price is a bit high for something from that era, in my opinion
-On-location games that aren't well-maintained can be a real pain to play and really hurt the fun factor
-WHY IS PINBOT SO HARD TO HIT, GOOD LORD



Despite me saying the price for a Taxi is a little too high, I'm sure I'll still own one some day. My love for Taxi has only grown over the past few years and now I just can't get enough of it. I feel like it does so much right with seemingly so little to work off of. In a lot of ways, Taxi is the kind of game I'd show to someone who knows nothing about pinball and wants to know why I'm so addicted.
7.803/10
5 months ago
Muy divertida , sencilla , una joya de system 11
5.955/10
5 months ago
Cool theme and idea behind the Taxi ride. Classic old game with really fun shots. Easy to get multiball going even tho the shot is t the easiest. The wireforms are really cool. Plunge is cool into the whirl pool.

Can go back to this game repeatedly just to have fun playing pinball. Not the best, but nowhere near the worst. Worth putting time and quarters into for fun!
9.600/10
6 months ago
Taxi is pure pinball, addictive and easy to understand, while holding the attention of novice to expert players alike. Music is really a cut above, original and totally fitting the theme and is pure 80’s. Theme integration is really fantastic, just enough cues and call outs to keep players immersed while not telling the player a step by step story. This is what makes all system 11’s great and possibly Taxi does this the best, making Taxi possibly the best System 11. Truly a classic.
8.355/10
7 months ago
One of my favorite cabs. If this game is maintained the speed of this game makes it really fun. It can be a little too simplistic and easy but it also can be very tough for a new player. The one more game is very high on this cabinet there’s just enough to do which makes it fun but it could have a couple more things to do after the jackpot. Overall I could play this everyday for a little while and never get bored. YOO TAXI!

If someone has a really nice Taxi let me know super interested in obtaining one.
9.354/10
8 months ago
The aim in taxi is to collect the passengers (including Pinbot!) by hitting certain shots or knocking down two sets of drop targets. Once you have all of the passengers, hit the Gorbie shot and collect the bonus! Also has a two-ball multi-ball which is pretty easy to get but hard to hold onto. A few other fun aspects around the airport and joyride shots. I am not the biggest fan of the artwork but it is cheesy 80s solid. The music and shout-outs are fun on this game. I have owned this game for a couple years and still enjoy playing!
8.749/10
9 months ago
Very fun game. Definitely one of my favorites.
9.895/10
9 months ago
This is possibly my favorite pin of all time. I can't point to just one thing... The shots, the art, and the sounds all stand out. Sure the ruleset isn't deep but the game can be set up to be pretty hard and it will have you playing just one more game.
7.206/10
10 months ago
Plenty of shot selections, which made playing this game fun. Wasn’t a game though that made me want to play more than a few times.
8.185/10
11 months ago
A fun concept carried into silliness (Gorbachev? Dracula? Santa? Santa surely doesn't need a taxi???). Played this a ton in the summer of 1991 and recall it fondly.
7.907/10
1 year ago
Pros:
- One of the best skill shots in pinball
- Lots of flow
- “one more game” feel
- Great 80’s artwork, callouts and music

Cons:
- Shallow rules
- Repetitive

This is a game that I grew up with and will always enjoy. Everything about it screams 1980’s!

The seemingly random collection of characters in the game is one of the unusual attributes that makes Taxi great. How Gorbachev, Dracula, Pinbot, Marilyn Monroe and Santa ended up together in this game is puzzling, but somehow works out surprisingly well. The hand-drawn artwork ties everything together nicely.

As far as shots, you just can’t beat the Taxi skillshot. I would have to say it’s probably my favorite skillshot of any game, including modern games. When it’s set up correctly, everyone loves seeing the ball spinning around and around the bowl. And it is an actual skillshot, you need to adjust your plunge to hit the most desirable bonuses: 25k + passenger or 100k.

The game has some great flow to it. I like to hit Drac to have the catapult launch to the left flipper, then hit the right ramp, then hit the left ramp. I continue trying to hit ramps until the airport bonus fills up and then hit Santa for the 1M shot.

The game also includes a 2 ball multiball and another great feature- a ringing bell inside the cabinet! Everyone loves setting the bell off, it’s so loud that it actually startles guests the first time it goes off.

The downside, it’s a 30+ year old game so obviously it’s going to be shallow compared to today’s games. For its’ time period though, it’s a pretty great game that I played over and over in the arcades.

Overall, it’s a good starter game to learn how to work on a pinball machine and learn the basics of playing. It’s simple to understand so you won’t be overwhelmed with deep rulesets and complicated mechs. It’s just old school pinball fun.
7.330/10
1 year ago
Enjoy this machine, but it is one of the sys11's that is always just a little to easy, giving up the will always keep in the lineup.
8.380/10
1 year ago
I love Taxi. The other 80's machine in my 5 pin collection is BK2K. Systems 11's make me smile.
8.669/10
1 year ago
I purchased a totally beater Taxi a few years ago just so I could try my hand at adding a hardtop. After I was done with the hardtop and topside restore, I spent a fair amount of time tuning it in. All I can say is wow, Taxi is probably one of the best System 11 games made. A very basic set of rules I can explain to someone in 30 seconds, but incredibly tough to achieve. This game went from a probable sell to a keeper. Out of all of the System 11 games I've owned, only Taxi and F14 remain....and Taxi gets much more plays.
9.260/10
1 year ago
This game is such a last minute napkin sketch. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and is a blast to play. It's got Python's stoner-silly vibe, it's non-licensed with a completely meaningless theme, the soundtrack groove is gritty and could be considered Granner's best, and it reeks of the late 80s. Game wise, the timed jackpot and express lane multiball-start shots are suspenseful and satisfying, and each shot has a definite purpose to complete the story and earn points, forcing the player to make use of the entire playfield... even the spinout skill shot can be used to pick up a passenger. Definitely digging the playfield symmetry and it has a cool figure 8 flow.
8.840/10
1 year ago
I've played this game so many times. It keeps coming back for more.
7.747/10
1 year ago
Taxi is a classic late 80s game. The bizarre group of passengers and the funny callouts give the game a ton of character. The topper is simple, but perfect. I had to disable the bell because it was so loud my daughter wouldn't go near the game.

Originally I found myself avoiding the jackpot so it would build. Unfortunately, building the jackpot to maximum takes a long time. I decided to lower the jackpot max to 2,000,000 and increased the rate it builds up. This means the jackpot can be available for each game. This simple change has balanced the scoring and made the game even more fun. Taxi is a winner.
7.916/10
1 year ago
I first played this as a FarSight Sim and loved it,- then was able to finally play in the real at Banning and Vegas - every bit as fun and more...
8.129/10
1 year ago
What else can be said about this classic, that hasn't already been said?

This game exemplifies pinball. Fast. Goofy. Comical. Challenging. Fun!

A surprising amount of ways to attack this one, considering it's age. This isn't a "one shot" game. Having trouble locking a ball and starting multiball? Attack the ramps and light the million shot. Can't do that? Pick up passengers and light the jackpot.

This game has a surprising amount of depth and nuance to it's rules considering it's age. The timed jackpot shot and fastlane pickup are amazing, and really get the blood pumping as the music increases in intensity as the timer counts down. Soooooo satisfying when you hit a jackpot. And of course, the accompanying bell chiming, the music changes, and the lightshow all add to that.

Great game, classic, easy to pick up and tough to master. Pinball perfection.
7.844/10
1 year ago
Great machine, really fast playing.
8.635/10
1 year ago
Taxi was what got me interested in pinball in my childhood. The game play was fast, the cast of characters as riders was interesting, and the callouts and sounds were memorable. Everything just tied together to make it one great game experience. Who can forget that jackpot bell? It was both exciting and scary at the same time. Wasn't sure if I broke the machine when I first heard it. It's a top 5 pin for me...a classic.
8.356/10
1 year ago
Fantastic System 11 machine - I love the Game - the flow is incredible and all my guests are in the same opinion
definitively a keeper
7.652/10
2 years ago
Instead of my usual review rants and ramblings, I’d like to tell you why Taxi is a good starter game and a keeper.
1. Pinbot. This makes it two games in one! Seriously though, the callouts from this game are funny and weird. Having Pinbot as a fare to pick up is probably the best of the celebrity fares.
2. This playfield!!! Oh this f****** playfield! When it flows the shots are just beautiful making you look like a highly skilled pro player! Then there are times when every shot makes you look like a super noob. My best game lasted about an hour, my worst lasted less than two minutes. Same day, same machine!
3. Easy to operate, maintain and repair. Taxi almost earns the “Gottlieb Bulletproof seal of Invincibility”. Pretty good considering it was a Williams system 11!!! There are few fragile areas, everything works right and, with the exception of the always mentioned battery leakage issue, everything just works. The NVRAM upgrade and a bridge rectifier fuse mod are both highly recommended. Testimony time, a location owner told me this was his most reliable machine. “I haven’t spent hardly anything on it except rubber and bulbs.” He said, “Like my damn Edsel it just goes.”
4. I am not a big fan of LED conversions but this game benefits greatly from it. Adding colors and patterns can turn this somewhat gloomy blandly lit game into something that just shouts awesome!
5. Python Anghelo and Mark Ritchie! To use baseball as a bad analogy, Ritchie is a pitcher. He knows the shots, where to place the ball and how to make you swing miss and swear his name. Every pitch was a perfect one, you just swung at it wrong.
Python was someone who lives out in left field somewhere. He just put a tent out there to live in and would stand next to it waiting for the occasional easy out catch while drawing pictures of Bad cats and Popeye. Geniuses both of them and together they made this machine! The best of both worlds in my opinion.
6. Still relatively cheap and easy to find. Not much to be said there. Value for money is still really good and Taxi comes up for sale frequently enough for you to pick and choose from.
7. Easy and hard. Great for a beginner, also great for a pinvet. I have played a LOT of pinball and I still enjoy coming back to Taxi. I am no pro player (not by a long shot) but I know fun and this is one of those machines. It can be relaxing after playing a much more intense machine, it can also frustrate you into playing again and again… “Come on!! I made that shot a million times!!! Why can’t I hit it!!!” …and so on.

With all that said why don’t I own Taxi and why isn’t it on my wish list?
Limited space. My only current system 11 machine is Jokerz! and I love it’s simplicity and it’s difficulty and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I am trying to limit my collection to 6 machines, picking and choosing came down to patience. I never had a problem with waiting for a special machine to appear for sale in the right condition at the right price, and I don’t buy machines just to fill an empty hole in the game room. If I could have Twenty pinball machines, Taxi would definitely be on my list. Also, there is a place nearby that I can play Taxi anytime, within reason of course, for free.
As a first pin or to round out your collection, Taxi would be an excellent choice.
There are 221 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 9.

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