Twisted Metal 2

A suicidal clown behind the wheel of an ice-cream van armed with rockets, who upon winning the tournament wants to fulfill a single morbid wish. Welcome to the world of Twisted Metal 2, where the roads turn into a battlefield.

This title from the studio SingleTrac under Sony's wing is essentially the textbook definition of the whole subgenre known as vehicular combat, that is, fighting in vehicles. The principle is ingeniously simple: you climb into an armored machine, head out into the arena and try to destroy everyone else before they destroy you. To that end you have machine guns, guided rockets and special weapons that each vehicle carries differently.

For its time it stood out especially for the variety of its environments. The arenas took place in real corners of the world, from Paris through Amsterdam to Hollywood, and were moreover destructible, so the surroundings reacted to your rampaging. Add to that a gallery of eccentric characters led by the infamous clown Sweet Tooth, whose motivations overflowed with black humor, and you get an unmistakable atmosphere.

Besides the superbly designed tracks, the game also offered a cooperative mode, so you could share the destruction with a friend. The fights were fast, chaotic and addictive, with an emphasis on mastering movement and timing special attacks. Learning the combinations for the powerful weapons was a discipline of its own that opened the game up to more experienced players.

Twisted Metal 2 became a benchmark of the genre and to this day counts as one of the best games of its kind. It combined easily graspable action, a witty and dark style and dense gameplay into a package that is hard to put down.

Why play: A textbook classic of vehicular combat full of destructible arenas, black humor and addictive fights; the benchmark of the entire subgenre.