The election cycle is in full swing, with presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Kamala Harris trading blows over the auto industry, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance flying into restricted airspace and Democratic nominee Tim Walz showing everyone how much of a car guy he is. Now, the Minnesota governor has professed his love for the Sega Dreamcast console, which has (naturally) earned him a spot in one of its most iconic games.
In a New York Times interview, the VP nominee made a throwaway comment about his wife confiscating his Sega Dreamcast console after he reportedly played the thing “to excess,” reports Ars Technica. Now, fans of the Dreamcast have issued a mod for the classic “Crazy Taxi” game that lets you play as Walz.
“Crazy Taxi” is one of the best-selling Dreamcast games here in America, and it’s been kept alive in recent years through emulators on the Flycast console. Now, Flycast owners can tweak their copies of “Crazy Taxi” to play as Walz driving all kinds of missions in the game:
“Rumor has it that Tim Walz played “Crazy Taxi” so much his wife took his Dreamcast away from him… so I decided to put him in the game,” modder Edward La Barbera wrote on the game’s Itch.io page.
Unfortunately, the pay-what-you-want mod can’t just be burned to a CD-R and played on actual Dreamcast hardware. Currently, the mod’s visual files are tuned to work only with Dreamcast emulator Flycast, which includes built-in features for replacing in-game textures.
After a few minutes of playing with settings and folder structures, launching the mod replaces the “Crazy Taxi” character Gus with a model of Walz sporting an open-buttoned black and red flannel shirt (a look the Wall Street Journal said has “made him a DNC fashion icon”). There are plenty of little visual touches beyond the Walz character, too, including “D” and “R” gears labeled as “Democrat” and “Republican,” a fare counter that’s labeled as “campaign $$$,” and a countdown measuring the seconds “till election time.”
As well as a slick look for Walz in the game, there is also a sprinkling of voice lines from the vice presidential hopeful. These have all been cut from his Democratic National Committee speech and include classic “Crazy Taxi”-esque quotes like “mind your own business,” which can be shouted at impatient passengers.
There’s no word yet on what the Democratic nominee thinks to his inclusion in the game, but surely it can only work wonders for his ratings among the youth of today? You know, the youth that grew up playing early noughties Dreamcast games like this, “Sonic” and “Sega Rally.” The youth that are all in their 30s.
If you’re one of those youthful 30-somethings, then you can head here to check out the mod for yourself. Once you’ve done playing as Walz, why not also give “Fortnite” a go and see if you can brick a Cybertruck in the game instead of dropping $100,000 on one that bricks itself in real life.