Twisted Metal History

Twisted Metal (TM) is a game franchise originally created by SingleTrac™ as a Sony exclusive title. For those unfamiliar to the series, Twisted Metal (TM) is a vehicular combat game that involves a different array of crafty characters driving different sorts of vehicles (including cars, motorcycles, dune buggies, and even Semis) that fit their personas.
The first two games were created by the above-named company SingleTrac™ that has evolved into the gaming company Eat, Sleep, Play ™ and was released on the Playstation, and the PC in 1995. The game was very unique for its time, and has been the leading series in the genre of car-combat games. Rouge Trip was another game developed by SingleTrac™ based off the same concept as Twisted Metal (TM), but never received the same amount of praise as its predecessor. This in-turn created many other spin-off titles ove the years, including titles such as: Vigilante 8, a great competitor for the genre, and Full-Auto, another similar title that has also followed suit in the car-combat genre. Both of the above named titles have spawned sequels on several systems.
During a time when racing genre games were quite popular, the car-combat series combined the right amount of violence, which at times may have been considered “too graphic” with the right amount of enthusiasm that gave way to the racing game genre. Later titles of Gran Turismo for the original Playstation was one of the best selling games on that platform and that genre, which is still leading fans for the release of the sequel Gran Turismo 5 for the next generation console, Playstation 3.
Though this is not a formal history of all car games, it is fair to name some of the games that have both helped the Twisted Metal (TM) franchise, and games that have suffered the car-combat genre into a niche market of videogames. Twisted Metal (TM) had truly lead the way for expanding the concept of vehicular combat games, and has also allowed for its original company to expand onto other great titles like the God of War series.
Despite critics, despite all opposition, Twisted Metal (TM) as a series has become the dirty little secret to success because of proof of great story-telling, excellent, if not cliché characters, and a mass amount of carnage rarely seen in a game outside the sandbox genre games. Twisted Metal (TM) ’s short, but nevertheless impressive history, deserves to be acknowledged not only by fans, but by videogame gurus of all walks of life.
The first Twisted Metal (TM) featured 12 car combatants, and they are:
Road Kill- the Junk car
Specter- Sports Car
Darkside- The Semi truck
Mr. Grimm- The Motorcycle
Thumper- The Lowrider
Hammerhead- The Monster Truck
Pit Viper- The First Dune Buggy
Outlaw- The Police Cruiser
Crimson Fury- The Ferrari-like car
Wart Hog- The Army Hummer
Yellow Jacket- The Taxi Cab
And of course Sweet Tooth- the ice cream truck, who would grow to become the mascot of the company.

Each car was driven by a different, unique character, some on the side of good, others on the side of evil, and the unique characters on neutral, or personal sides that held no alliance.
Twisted Metal (TM) had unique stages based off loosely the surrounding inner-cities and suburbs of Lose Angeles. Stages included: an underground club, Suburbia, the Freeway, and the Rooftops of famous landmark buildings. These particular levels were rather flimsy, but for the time of the game’s creation, they were unbelievable, and more accurate than what had been seen in pervious titles, despite repetition of certain backgound and foreground buildings.
Los Angeles had become the official area of the Twisted Metal (TM) competition over the years, as the city is quite used often in almost every game. This favoritism is unique to the storyline, as it is where mostly the story takes place in the game
The story of Twisted Metal (TM) is one of the key components that keeps the fan base interested, as one uses the cehicular car, few people empathize with the driver until the very end, allowing for the repercussions of their characteristics, and their actions to be climaxed towards the end of the game. The main story is that there is a contest held every so many years (differs on the pending game’s explanation) and the creator of the car combat tournament is a mysterious figure named Calypso. Little is known about this man, except that his face is burnt beyond all recognition, and his mind is as twisted as the contest he had created. The goal is simple: be the last car running, no matter what ti takes to put the competition to rest, and that winner receives a prize. The prize can be given in the form of any wish that the person can imagine. The game holds true to the old saying: “Careful what one wishes for, for it may come true” as is shown in many wishes made by contestants. If the player can get through every competitor, including the final boss, which has changed depending on the game, they receive their ultimate prize.
Twisted Metal (TM) II: World Tour was the follow-up sequel in the popularly growing series. The introduction of new characters include: Twister, the race car. Gasshopper, a Dune buggy that replaces Pit Viper. Shadow, a purple hearse, which summons evil spirits to and Axel, a man connected by his arms and legs to a pair of wheels on a giant steel axel rod. Twisted Metal (TM) II: World Tour was also the first game to introduce Dark Tooth, supposedly Sweet Tooth’s father, a giant black and pink ice cream truck with a giant flaming clown head.
This title in the franchise is one of the most popular titles to have come out for the original Playsation, and is still today a big seller on the Playstation Network’s store. Twisted Metal (TM) II had competition against Vigilante 8 2nd Offense, and other games like Carmageddon, considered to be a highly violent videogame that caused much controversy.
The next two Twisted Metal (TM) games to come out for the PS1 were both created by 989 Studios. Although the storyline attempted to follow the same path as the first two games, the gameplay,graphics, and format of the game was completely different, if not glitchy. Twisted Metal (TM) III had seen the creation of several new characters, which include: Auger, a Construction Machine with an Auger drill on the front, Club Kid, a Mini-Cooper style car with a black and yellow scheme, sporting a smiley face. Flower Power, a VW Beetle with a hippie theme, and Firestarter, a Hot Rod with a flame thrower (perhaps a replacement for Thumper?) The game also created a new Boss, Primeval. The game was shabby, and not as graphically detailed as the past two games in the terms of the cities and States that represented the new levels. Darkside returned as a boss character on the Washington D.C. level, as well as the return of the Battle Tank Minion returned as well in the London level.
Twisted Metal (TM) IV, barely scratched by, as there was a change in power, as Sweet Tooth took over the contest, which took over the form of a dark carnival. The tentire game also took away from the majority of the well0known characters, being replaced by all brand-new cars, one even had Rob Zombie as a playable character. Calypso became a playable character in the game, along with a meter maid, a bug terminator truck, and other off-the-wall characters. The major new add-on to the series was a poorly-done create a car option. If you haven’t played these two games, you honestly haven’t missed much, and only if you’re hardcore gamer, or a huge fan of the series, then try to find these two games used in your local store.
Twisted Metal (TM) Small Brawl was absolutely different than any of the games ever created. The game dealt with the characters as children racing RC cars around different areas like the Playground, the toyroom, and so on and so on with the absolutely absurd settings. The game is a fun break from the normal violent carnage, but it was not a true Twisted Metal (TM) tournament game. All the original cars are the key players in this game.
The next game in the series was the first Twisted Metal (TM) game for the Playstation 2, and that is the series-changing Twisted Metal (TM) : Black. Twisted Metal (TM) : Black was a dark, gothic, but nevertheless a much-needed change. Twisted Metal (TM) : Black would become a very popular game, unfortunately never spawning a sequel. A sequel was in the works, but was canceled before ever seeing play on the Playstation 2, but made a slim appearance later on as Twisted Metal (TM) : Lost, which was a shortened version of what Twisted Metal (TM) : Black 2, and came packaged with the PS2 version of Twisted Metal (TM) : Head-On.
Twisted Metal (TM) : Black, created by Incognito™, originally the developing company SingleTrac™ was so dark and violent in both story and character, that the game end a deserving M (Mature 17+) rating. This kept many of the younger audience away, but quickly became one of the largest selling games on the system, creating an online version to have to be sold for the PS2 several months after its release. The game brought back many classic characters, like the better predcessors, and established an array of new characters to the fray. One major improvement, aside from the PS2 graphics, which were amazing at the time of its conception, were a more detailed story with each character having an opening, middle, and ending cut scene.
The newest characters that are found in the game are: Brimstone, an old junk car with stained glass windows, and a spear on front that shoots out the evangelical driver’s followers at opponents. Junkyard Dog is a tow truck that has been implementaed with a steel mace ball on it’s hook that is launched and directed at the enemy combatants. Finally, the dump truck Manslaughter is the newest combatant to the frey, and is a slow-moving vehicle, but nothing short of powerful. The game has many new takes on old special weapons, and several unlockable characters (Axel and Yellow Jacket are two of them). Most of the well-known cars have stayed, including the ever popular Sweet Tooth, Darkside returns, Outlaw, Road kill, and Specter also make the return to the Twisted Metal™ contest.
Twisted Metal™ : Black becomes a game that becomes one of interest, and one that the fans see as a forwarding movement, but it in-turn lost much of the original games’ feel. The game has become a must own in the realms of the Twisted Metal™ fandom, and is still a must-have for any major fan of the series. The game adds many of the key elements of the original game, while not being a re-hash of older games, making it a standalone element in the Twisted Metal™ universe.
The game also brings back perhaps the most famous boss character in the series’ history: Minion, but instead of being an assault tank like the vehicle is normally portrayed, Minion has been transformed into an even more terrible meance as a giant Semi Truck pulling a trailer of napalm behind him. The final boss character is actually a combat chopper named Warhawk, that appears at first to be a Police chopper. After the fight with Warhawk, the game’s last cut scene rolls, and the character’s story is finished. After the story is completed, the end credits roll, with The Rolling Stones playing their song “Paint it Black” to cut scene videos from the game, making it one of the better ending cut scenes in the series’ history. Twisted Metal (TM) : Black has notched itself in the PS2 library of Greatest Hits, alone with its first two-predecessors, and has become a mainstream title for the systems voluminous library of great games.
The next game in the series would not be seen until the Playstation Portable was created, and that game was Twisted Metal: Head-On. Twisted Metal: Head-On was an absolute homage to Twisted Metal II: World Tour, with practically every original driver from that game (excluding Minion) and several new characters. The style that was done for Twisted Metal: Head-On was great, it followed the original feelings to the first two games so closely, it felt like a reincarnation of SingleTrac™ Twisted Metal. The game also made the PSP sell well in the first quarter, and was even used as a bundle pack for the system. Twisted Metal: Head-On was an all-inclusive look at what the Twisted Metal Universe came from, and was deserving of a high rating by all of the mainstream videogame magazines.
The gameplay was similar to the original games, despite only one analog stick, and if one looks closely, several signs and artwork can be found in the game that were in Twisted Metal II: World Tour. The game’s levels were similar to the second game: the first level was just a stadium, but the second was Los Angeles, where much was similar to the second game. This game also allowed for power-ups with the destruction of every combatant destroyed by the player, and helped greatly in fights. Twisted Metal: Head-On allows for the player to decide which level they rather play as well. If the player for example wants to play Paris France, over Egypt, they can decide at certain points of the game to which level best suits them at the moment. The same is with either playing Greece or Russia. This concept was not new, as it was allowed in Twisted Metal: Black, but it still feels like the second Twisted Metal was what inspired the game.
The game had become so popular on the handheld (As what also happens with the GTA games, and Silent Hill Origins for the PSP) that the game was ported to the PS2. The Playstation 2 version of Twisted Metal: Head-On cane with the unfinished Twisted Metal Black: 2, aptly named as Twisted Metal: Lost. This game allowed a glimpse of what could have been if the sequel to Twisted metal: Black was created. In this version, you can also run around outside of the vehicle as Sweet Tooth.
Twisted Metal: Head-On for the Playstation 2, also came with a documentary of the series, as well as question and comments made by long-running Twisted Metal fans. The submission of these videos were sent through the Twisted Metal Alliance website, found at: www.tmalliance.com. The winning submissions are archived on the PS2 version of Twisted Metal: Head-On, and also a secret code had been placed in the game. That secret code, although easier to find than was thought to be by the developers read: TWISTED METAL COMING TO PS3. This is what has made fans excited for the last three years, as they aptly sit back and wait for the next installment into the Twisted Metal franchise. Fans may have to wait for mid-late September of 2009 in order to get an idea of what is on the horizon for the franchise, but some sources have speculated a PS3 version of the game may not be seen until the middle of 2010.
Despite the rumors heard, the only respectable information has come from Dave Jafe himself at Twisted Metal Alliance, the well-known fan site for the series. Updates found on the website can be quite outdated, but the site is normally updated by either well-informed fans, or by Jafe and others 1-2 times every two-to-three months.
The future of Twisted Metal is very broad, as the proof is in the results of the games that the series can have highest highs and lowest lows, but storyline, although not always fluent from one game to another is always funny, quirky, and fresh from the key writers of the Twisted Metal team. No matter how “pretty” the next generation Twisted Metal may look, storyline, originality, and a bit of cartoon-ish humor are what will make this game the franchise fans have grown to love. With the amazing track record of Eat, Sleep, Play™ games, thee fans will leave it up to the developers to give them the game they are eager to play.
Twisted Metal has had a long history that speaks for itself in the gaming world. Despite being a one-trick party on a one-system deal, it is a trick that never gets old, and an audience that is wholly dedicated to making it a continuing best franchise on that one system. Speculations say that we have good things to look forward toward, but will the game make it to the shelves? Will the game be hack and slash, or more orientated to the car concepts and driving control? Will the game become as in-depth in realism like Gran Turismo, or will the cartoon-like atmosphere be in place? Questions that some have answers to, and many want the answer to, and so much more. Who will return? Can we expect new concepts of: Specter, Road Kill, Warthog, darkside, and of course Sweet Tooth? Will the game’s graphics take away from gameplay development, and will the physics be better than the past games? Time will hopefully tell, but one thing is for certain: The history of Twisted Metal is still being made today, and there is not yet an end in sight for this powerhouse player franchise.

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