Whether it’s a game expresly designed to facilitate cars and trucks smashing into each other or the mayhem is simply the by-product of an open-world game, what are some of your favorite examples of Gratuitous Destruction of Conveyances?
Dave: I’m tempted to bring back the Vigilante 8 References again, but who wants that? So lets take it to a simpler, more innocent time and talk Mario Kart 64. This was my introduction to the legendary franchise and what debut it was for me. With four-player split-screen all the rage in back in the day, Mario Kart devoured my time (and my dumb friends’ time, two of whom are represented on this site).
While we were spared from the disturbing images of the karts exploding in an orgy of flame of and intestines, it sure was satisfying blasting Toad to kingdom come with a well-placed green shell. Or running the @#$%#$#% off the road as Donkey Kong.
Still lots of unresolved anger I’m dealing with.
Adam: It’s tempting to go with Twisted Metal 2, a game I hold in very high regard when it comes to vehicular combat (Grasshopper FTW!) but I’m going more old school, more arcade with this one: Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road.
You'd smile too if you knew how many quarters I fed him.
A simple premise, but a fiendishly addictive execution: three people, elbow-to-elbow, driving steering wheels and jamming on floor pedals in a desperate attempt to get to the finish line first. No bullets, no bombs–but you could always toss an elbow into your opponent’s kidney in order to snatch up that last nitro. You had no hope of winning a match clean. You needed to slam, bump and dump your opponent into a wall in order to pass them, or be eating digital dirt.
This game will get you into a knife fight in the arcade.
I can’t remember a vehicle game that inspired more hatred and animosity in my heart than Super Off Road. The furious anger after being cut off by an opponent and losing the match by microseconds, or having someone steal your turbo still makes my blood boil to this day. And if a game doesn’t make you want to murder your opponents, well, how can you call it vehicular combat?
By Dave Johnson
In Twisted Metal Black for the PS2, my favorite part was using SweetTooth’s special attack. SweetTooth’s Ice Cream Truck would basically “transform” into a half robot/half truck & fire 10-15 heat seaking missiles. If it hit right, it easily took half the life of all the enemy vechicles in the area. (I thought it was awesome because I was a big Transformers fan before the horrible movie ruined it for me.)