Who doesn’t love a driving section in their non-driving-focused game? Or a competitor in their hardcore racing sim that’s just entirely out of this world? This past Monday, we asked you for your favorite of these — the best cars that originated in video games. You gave us some interesting answers, and today we’re combing through the best.
Mako from Mass Effect
In my limited Mass Effect experience, I’ve found people generally don’t love the Mako sequence. Maybe car folks are more into it.
The buggy from Moon Patrol
Oh y’all went retro for this one, huh. Fun fact: Moon Patrol is fourteen years older than the person writing this slide! Feel old yet?
Obviously it’s Sophia 3rd!
We’re deep into the realm of games far beyond my knowledge. Adam is usually our retro gaming guy on the staff, but I called dibs on the Gaming Question and now have to suffer the consequences. The consequences here are Googling “master blaster no not from mad max.”
Gotta go with Excitebike. The guy in the background loves it and so should you. Just don’t overheat it.
I follow a motorcycle YouTuber who uses ExciteBike’s intro music as his own intro. Thankfully, he doesn’t also use the game’s engine sound.
It’s all about the mother fuckin’ El Niño baybeeeeeeee
This is the ideal car shape. Two lanes wide, thirty feet long, six inches tall. That’s peak aerodynamics, baby.
Sweet tooth from twisted metal. What’s not to love about shooting machine guns and rockets from an armored ice cream truck driven by a killer clown?
Hopefully, with a new series on the way, they’ll do Sweet Tooth justice. Or, Sweet Tooth’s driver, who is maybe also named Sweet Tooth, depending on which game you believe.
I nominate the Outrunner from Borderlands. “She may not be the prettiest girl at the dance, but she’ll put out the second you ask her!” - Scooter
It got nerfed a bit in subsequent games, but it was massively OP in the first one, especially with the missile launcher. Running over skags to see them explode into a pile of goo and hear that squishing sound never got old.
CATCH A RIDE!!!
I’ve never successfully finished a Borderlands game, having always gotten bored partway through, but the Outrunner was always a joy to use. Give me a game based around that, and with the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands aesthetic, and I’ll finally complete it.
Burnout probably had some of the best original cars. The Janson p12 from Paradise, and that Xbox 360 car from Revenge:
The absolute best for me other than the Warthog would have to be the Batmobile from Arkham knights. The thing looks like a spider, but can move like a crab, with a cannon on top, a zipline anchor thingy, seats for 2 in the back, and could be summoned from anywhere.
Arkham Knight gave us the largest swath of area to explore out of any Arkham game, so of course the series needed a Batmobile to get around more quickly. The fact that it’s also a spider tank is just a bonus.
There are a ton here that are fun to drive in-game, but for something I’d want to take out on the road in real-life, I’d say the Regalia from Final Fantasy XV (though it might be a bit long for my garage).
I finally started playing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, my first non-MMO Final Fantasy title, and I think I get it now. Everyone in that game is so interesting, so much fun to hang around and spend time with. Well, everyone except Cloud Strife, Wet Blanket Dickhead.
[Just a picture of the Blue Falcon]
You’llBeSleepingWithTheFilet-O-Fishes didn’t specify whether they meant all F-Zero vehicles or just this one specific racer, so I’m going to assume they have a strict and unbending loyalty to this specific car. Plane. Jet. Thing.
[Just a picture of Mario’s kart]
Here’s my question: Is there anything particularly good about Mario’s specific kart? Is it really worth choosing over any other?
Got the right game in the lead, but wrong vehicle. The answer isn’t the Warthog, it’s the Ghost.
It was nimble enough that it was a blast to sling around the map (the boost feature added in follow-up versions made it that much better).
And they were also small enough that they could be contorted to fit in areas they obviously were not meant to fit.
I was never good at multiplayer (which probably means I was never good at the game itself), but I’d occasionally find a way to fit a ghost into some hallway or secluded room where no one in the right mind ever expected to see a Ghost and be able to finally give some plasma-induced payback to all the “good” players. The comments were always priceless.
Remember Halo 3, where you’d ride a Ghost around in Forge mode while your friends tried in vain to kill you on foot? When you were unstoppable? Good times.
Ooooo, some good choices here. I’m going to say the DeLorean-aping “Deluxo” complete with homing missles and hover/flight capabilities or the amphibious DeTomaso/Maserati/all other 70s Italian car-looking “Toreador” with homing missles
The Deluxo arguably doesn’t count as original to a video game, since it’s just a DeLorean that flies like the Back To The Future one. That car didn’t have missile launchers, though, so that’s a uniquity of the game version.
The first thing that came to my mind was the Carson GT Concept from Burnout Paradise. Burnout has a notable lineage of knock-off cars that look like they could go straight into production (moreso than the exaggerated and parody-like GTA cars, I’d say), and this is one of the best. It’s plainly inspired by the Chevrolet Camaro revival famous from the Transformers movies.
Also helps that this is one of the best cars to drive in the game, taking all corners like a champ while still being plenty quick, heavy enough to do Takedowns on most other racers, yet light enough to do those annoying Stunt events. As such, I drove this car almost all the time after I unlocked it.
Honorable mentions go to the Custom Coupe from 2 and the Revenge Racer from, well, Revenge!
Was the fifth-generation Camaro based on the Carson GT? Very similar paint scheme, similar enough lines. I’m taking this as a core belief until proven wrong.
[Just a screenshot of Scorched Earth]
If you’ve ever enjoyed a tank artillery game, or a worm artillery game, you owe it to Scorched Earth. Respect your elders.