SEPTEMBER 29, 2023
For our 100th article at Thinknewsnow.com we’d like to go back to possibly the greatest decade, the 1990’s. Back In 1996 I was walking through a Best Buy and back in those days, they had a video game console out with a sample game loaded so you could play the game. One of those days when I wandered the aisles, I came across a PlayStation loaded with Twisted Metal 2. Now I was busy starting in college at this time and wasn’t gaming since college was kicking my ass. But something in me got moved to acquire a PlayStation. Fast forward to me acquiring a PlayStation system from a fellow student who was in the Reserves and needed to sell or store some items and he offered me a smoking deal on the PlayStation and Twisted Metal 2. I said yes please.
QUICKIE BACKGROUND
Twisted Metal 2, from the visionary studio of SingleTrac came out in 1996 building on the very successful Twisted Metal 1 in 1995. Originally inspired by an engineer stuck in traffic saying, I wished I had missiles to cut through this traffic, Twisted Metal was expected to be a failure as Sony was more interested in another game from SingleTrac called Warhawk which was being developed at the same time.
But when TM1 came out, it became EGM’s game of the year after moving a million units almost immediately. With influences from DeathRace 2000, Mad Max, and Destruction Derby, Twisted Metal 2 added the guns and missiles and special attacks to a variety of Hot Wheel like cars and turned them loose on arenas around the world. From Los Angeles to Paris to Hong Kong, the game had open world maps with mayhem, weapon upgrades and pitfalls within each level that could kill you (falling off a skyscraper in Manhattan for example.) Oh and it also tossed at you from 5 to 9 opponents also heavily armored and weaponized to go and kill you. Twisted Metal 2 advanced on many of the first games destruction and innovation, and it became one of the Play stations Greatest Hits lines, and permanently cemented itself into the lore of video game history. SingleTrac and Sony however had a contentious relationship and lost their license to make any more Twisted Metal games. They eventually disbanded in less than 10 years of existence. Truly one of those 1990’s Gaming Studios that shot out like a firework and fizzled out in the end and sold a majority stake to Microsoft and technically became their first foray into gaming.
SEXY DANGEROUS CARS
But enough history, lets talk Twisted Metal characters.
AXEL
Axel is a human imprisoned between two huge wheels who is fighting for freedom. His powerful earth blast will bounce anyone in the vicinity and his armor and higher tire base will run over most opponents.
GRASSHOPPER
Krista Sparks is a teenager fighting to be reunited with her Father. Her dune-buggy will YeeHaw you to death if given a chance, and can track onto you until it makes deadly contact with its target.
HAMMERHEAD
The big-boy returns, this time as a monster truck van instead of a pickup. A guitar riff plays as you hit your special and plow over your opponents. Drivers Mike and Stu are just out for a joyride just like last time.
MINION
The boss of Twisted Metal 1 (From now on TM1) returns, and this time you can play as him. Minion is fighting for his powers back, which Calypso took from him when he won Twisted Metal last year. A gigantic Hum Vee tank like 8 wheeler that fires 3 missiles and a freeze blast. Heavily armored, did I mention that?
MR. GRIMM
The Grim Reaper is back again on his motorcycle, but now he has a sidecar and a redrawn Screaming Soul. He is fighting for more souls to feed his addiction. The most elusive motorcycle and the most powerful Special attack in the game. My Personal Favorite, I would say I am quite lethal with him as my character.
MR. SLAM
Simon Whittlebone is an Architect fired from his job when he put forward a plan to build a tower which stretched to the heavens. He is fighting to build this tower. He drives a front-loading bulldozer with choppers to chew his opponents. For some reason he has an unlimited amount of freezes and can end your health bar in a hurry with his bulldozers jaws.
OUTLAW-2
With Outlaw-1 now lost in space, Capt. Jamie Roberts is fighting to save her brother Buzz, who was the last good cop in a world gone bad. Buzz Roberts was fighting to go to a place where no crime existed as his job was too hard as a straight cop. Calypso bent his words and sent him into Space. Outlaw-2 is now a modern Squad Car, an improvement on the 70s/80s style Cop car from TM1. Her special is an electric blast siren that tracks its opponents and also bounces them in the air.
ROADKILL
Marcus Kane (No relation to Charlie or Needles from TM1) is a down and out with problems. Everybody calls him crazy, but his prize for winning TM2 is to know the truth. Roadkill has changed quite a bit from his TM1 incarnation. The original was a junkyard car which fired rusty spears as a Special. Now Roadkill is a maxed up Countach with a Boomerang weapon which has treble the power if you hit someone with it on it’s way back. The good thing about the weapon is that it goes straight into your stock of weapon if it doesn’t hit anything. Occasionally it can go through walls too!
SHADOW
Driver Mortimer is a Morgue guy whose job it is to avenge the death of his clients who are Souls. He is out to get revenge on Calypso for the Souls of all the people that died in Twisted Metal 1. He drives Shadow, a long purple funeral hearse equipped with Shadow Remote Bomb missiles.
SPECTRE
Ken Masters is an Egotist whose prize is to have everybody know his face. His ending is possibly the funniest! Spectre was one of the best cars in TM1 as his special was good, and his speed meant good maneuverability. He still has the Phantom ghost missiles, and the driver who was a soul in TM1 found his place as a human in the end. My second favorite character, the handling and speed plus special attack make him one of the most formidable opponents.
SWEET TOOTH
Needles Kane returns as the escaped Mental Patient dressed as a clown who has stolen an ice-cream van. In TM1 he was looking for his best friend who was his Father, and his Father was looking for him. This year he is fighting to be something different. when they said Mental Patient they meant Mental Patient, lets just leave it at that. That special of his is annoying as it tracks like a homing missile, but is slow enough to continually follow you until it makes contact, best to use your Top Gun skills to outmaneuver them.
THUMPER
Still the same low-riding pink caddy outta the seventies driven by Bruce. Uneventful in his goal in TM1, he returns to fight for himself, his friends, his pride and his own survival, plus a bit extra this year. The Flamethrower weapon now goes a bit further, and is still very powerful. Freeze an opponent and unleash hell on them with your flamethrower!
TWISTER
Another new one, Amanda Watts is an ex-racing driver who is addicted to speed. She drives an Formula 1 racecar called Twister which has a tornado spin as a Special weapon, which flings her opponents about making them take loads of damage. Her prize for winning TM2 is to drive at the speed of light.
WARTHOG
He returns! The second best vehicle from TM1 returns with the same armor, special and speed which made him such a hit. For such a small car he is quite well-built, and can take on the best of ’em. The three homing missiles are now Patriot Missiles which turn into fireballs at a magic distance. His prize is to be young again if he wins TM2. Too slow for my taste, sure his 3-missile special is nice, but it’s speed I need.
So, there is the complete list of amazing cars and drivers, but what made the game special was how unique and fun each car was, and how invested you became with them the more and more you battled with them to make it to the end. The cheat code that is Minion is fun, but the challenge is really bringing one of the regular characters to the end. Each ending was unique too and was well thought out and planned as Calypso gave the characters what they wanted, but be careful what you wish for.
WORLD TOUR
So Twisted Metal 1 took place in Los Angeles exclusively and was fun for awhile, but we needed to get out of the SoCal hellscape and travel the world! Calypso allowed you to play in several different arenas around the globe, from Moscow, Holland, Paris, New York, Hong King, the Amazon, the Antarctic and starting you off in Los Angeles for old times sake. Each level has the usual groupies that you could kill to unlock first aid kits and powerups. But, there lurked danger in every map as each level could kill you with it’s own boobie traps. New York is a rooftop battle so you could end up street pizza. Antarctica has glaciers and zones falling into the ocean. Hong Kong has a subway train that could plow into you. And Amazon has lava that will sink your car fast.
THE BEST LOCATION
The Field of Screams in Holland. Two Giant Windmills, a massive field and 8–9 opponents in what is probably the most intense arena deathmatch you will ever partake in, in a video game! Trust me, this level is one of the wildest melees, reminds me of Battle Royals from WWE with all the wrestlers in the ring trying to eliminate each other. Holland is a level where speed and picking up weaponry is key!
TWISTED METAL 2 LEGACY
Besides being the best installment in a franchise that has spanned all the PlayStation systems, Twisted Metal 2 is probably the one that inspired and built the most loyalty throughout the years. Although the subsequent releases under various studios didn’t gain the traction like TM2, it is still strong enough to get licensed into a tv show starring Anthony Mackie, Will Arnett, and Stephanie Beatriz and Neve Campbell. Twisted Metal 2 will go down as one of the games that saved the Sony PlayStation from becoming another kiddie machine like the Nintendo, and elevated the systems capabilities into the world of 3D rendering and took full advantage of CD audio and the 32bits of processing power! Twisted Metal 2 will always and forever be the game that drove me to modern gaming madness.