January 15, 2011
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The 10 Most Iconic Vehicles In Gaming History
First, this list doesn’t include spaceships or tanks or animals or portals or any of that. These vehicles all fall into the category of having good ol’ fashion rubber on the ground.
Second, we decided to pick what we feel are the most iconic vehicles in games, not the most deadly or the most popular or the most powerful… etc. These are the vehicles any gamer worth his salt would instantly recognize and be like, “Oh ya! That fucking crazy Ice Cream Truck! I remember that!”
So, let’s get into it:
The Mako was the ultimate planet surface exploration vehicle. Nothing could stop it or get in its way… like, literally nothing. You could drive the thing straight up a mountain at 90 degree angles and the thing would be fine. It would never flip on itself, even if you tried your hardest to flip it upside down it just wasn’t possible… some sort of secret “anti-flip-gravity” device I’m sure the guys at Bioware conjured up… and the Mako took abuse like nothing else. Catapult it off a cliff? No problem. Roll it a million times down a rocky mountain? No problem. Withstand 50 billion rockets? No problem. The Mako did it all.
The Half-Life 2 buggy was a lot of fun for some players and simply a pain in the ass for others. Either way, the buggy was a force to be reckoned with. The Tau cannon equipped to the front could shoot short blasts or could be charged up for some real fireworks. The buggy was also indestructible, and if you did manage to get it stuck between two trees or rolled it upside down or something like that… you just had to get out and blast the shit out of it with the gravity gun and you’d be back on your way. The buggy also came equipped with a turbo button… which doesn’t really make sense… but neither does a gravity gun so we’ll just leave it at that.
Not only is the Ford GT Kazunori Yamauchi’s (The producer and president of the Gran Turismo franchise) favourite vehicle of all time, he liked it so much that his team at Polyphony Digital created their very own modified version of the car and had it grace the cover of Gran Turismo 4, arguably the best racing game of all time. It’s a thing of beauty and as far as driving simulators go, the Ford GT in Gran Turismo 4 was brilliant.
Rush was a classic arcade game of our generation. The jumps in the game consisted of such massive air time that the vehicles seemed to defy gravity and that thrilled us in ways we didn’t understand. The vehicle of choice? The Van! There was nothing more satisfying than beating your sports car-driving competitors in an aerodynamically retarded box on wheels.
Crazy Taxi consisted of many memorable vehicles, but the one that truly stood out from the rest was the Bike Taxi. It was a reward for completing all the crazy box challenges and was absolutely, ridiculously fun. Watching your character peddle the shit of the Bike Taxi and attain incredibly high speeds was just awesome.
The Twisted Metal franchise was a recipe for success for any teenager back in the day. Equip as many weapons as you can to a variety of ridiculous vehicles, and then go blow the shit out of each other. The most iconic, and most shit-disturbingly scary, vehicle was Sweet Tooth’s Ice Cream Truck. Not only was it powerful as sin, it also morphed into a fucking evil clown robot for it’s special attacks! It was easily one of the funnest vehicles ever to play as.
The Warthog, Halo’s answer to the Hummer, but with more kickass. The Halo series wouldn’t be what it is today without the Warthogs. They came in so many different trims and with so many different accessories you’d think they were the Barbie mobile for military men. I don’t think any of us can count how many times we’ve used a Warthog, both successfully and unsuccessfully, in Halo multiplayer. It’s just an all around iconic gaming vehicle and is well worthy of the number four spot on this list.
The oddly named G-6155 spy mobile in Spy Hunter is as iconic as retro vehicles gets. Unless you avoid retro games like the plague you’ve come across this vehicle, and not in its fancy-schmancy new versions either. No, in its old assed vertical scroller version that we’ve all come to know and love. The car’s name is actually taken from the birthday of George Gomez, the creator of the game, and it was modeled after the Mercedes-Benz C111, you can really see the pixelated resemblance, yes? It came complete with front mounted machine guns, oil slicks, smoke screens, and surface-to-air missiles, the G-6155 is easily one of the most iconic and dangerous vehicles ever in any video game and that’s why it grabs the number three spot on this list.
The Oregon Trail Conestoga wagon… I don’t think anything else really needs to be said. It didn’t have any special abilities other than to break down and fuck you over in crucial times during your expedition. It carried you and your family, and your metric shit tonne of supplies you always seemed to have, across the land and sometimes, with luck, across the river. It was simply put, the best fucking wagon ever and will forever be remembered by gamers for as long as there are games to be played. Well worthy of the number two spot.
Here it is, number one. The king of all other vehicles in games with rubber on the ground, Mario’s kart… all versions. I have a soft spot for the N64 version but it doesn’t matter, there’s absolutely no denying that Mario’s kart is the most iconic vehicle in gaming history. It’s survived countless consoles, spanned generations and remained badass the whole time. It’s faster than hell and has a plethora of unconventional weaponry available to it, banana peels, green shells, red shells, even the elusive spiked shell. Some sort of witchcraft in the engine makes mushrooms act like nitrous and propel you and your kart to astoundingly fast speeds. It corners on a dime and take well to upgrades… I’d go as far as to say it isn’t simply the most iconic video game vehicle ever… I think it’s the most iconic vehicle in existence. Well done Nintendo.
Disagree? Tell us about it in the comments!
This list is subjective. I mean, the seven staff writers who helped compile it surely don’t accurately account for the entire gaming populous. We know this, which is why we like to hear your suggestions and comments below.
To contact the author of this post: patrick.gall@wildgunmen.com
I don’t think you know what iconic means. Polyphony Digital Ford GT? Volkswagon? Pizza cart?
This is just a list of games with vehicles you liked and a random car from them.
Well, considering the list was created by our staff and not just by me… I’m going to go ahead and say wrong.
Also, how is the VW Van from Rush not iconic? It was the most badass arcade racing game of its time! I think you might be too young to appreciate arcade value or just how truly iconic it actually was… same with the other two.
Confirmed for someone who never played any of these games except for Halo.
what?! no vehicles from the gta games? like the ice cream truck?
The best car is the RC car from Toy Story
Or the RC car from Black Ops. lol.
YES!
Sweet Tooth!
OMG yes
The Oregon Trail Conestoga wagon
I laughed so hard when I saw that!
The default car from Daytona USA should be on that list.
Definitely agree here. No offense, but I also don’t consider some of these vehicles to be “iconic” in videogaming.
When compiling a list like this, I think a casual gamer should know of said vehicle in order to qualify as “iconic” because of the widespread acknowledgement..
Daytona USA is definitely a classic and definitely iconic. I remember playing that in the ghetto arcade of the Tamarack Mall back in B.C.
But as popular as it was Rush was always more popular where arcade value was concerned.
Also, the list is subjective. I mean, the seven staff writers who helped compile it surely don’t account for the entire gaming populous. We know this. Which is why we like to hear your suggestions.
Glad to see some Gran Turismo recognition. With Gran Turismo 5 taking forever to release, and pissing off all its fans in the mean time, people are forgetting just how good the Gran Turismo franchise is.
I can’t wait for 5 and yes, the Ford GT was absolutely iconic and amazing.
What? No Super Vehicle 001? AKA METAL SLUG!? FAIL
Metal Slug was considered, but remember the Super Vehicle 001 is a tank with tracks… not a vehicle with wheels and rubber and because of that it cannot be on this list.
Nothing from Vigilante 8?
We definitely wrestled with the decision to put in Sweet Tooth’s Ice Cream Truck or the School Bus from Vigilante 8.
In the end I think it’s fairly agreed upon that Sweet Tooth and Twisted Metal is much more iconic to gamers
The Warthog! Yes!
Where is the Shagohod?
Not a vehicle with wheels and rubber and because of that it cannot be on this list.
We’re thinking of doing a second list for all the “vehicles” that couldn’t make this list like Shagohod.
Great list!
My favorite is probably the one from Brutal Legend or the bicycle from Career Crisis on PS1.
I was thinking Mario’s kart all the way until the bottom of the page lol.
You know what’s truly missing:
A Carmagedon vehicle.
or a cruisin usa car.
That was number 11! We were discussing it… just barely missed the list. Man, I loved Carmegeddon.
It ought to be this one
http://carmageddon.wikia.com/wiki/Psycho_Pitbull
Goddammit, I loved that ice cream truck. Such a sweet game series, hell, a great genre. So good.
Sweet Tooth should’ve been #1.
Somehow I just don’t think the rest of the gaming world will agree with you that Sweet Tooth is more iconic than Mario.
Could just be me tho! :::dunno
I’d actually say the Interceptor from Spy Hunter should be #1. Yeah, Mario Kart is well known, but the G-6155 is the original vehicular badass.
Um what about the DeSoto?
where is the car from Back to the Futureeeeeeeeeeeee???????????
in the movie.
where it should be.
lol
no kitt?
i know the knight rider games were pretty bad, but you don’t get a more iconic car than kitt.
and no general lee either?
who wrote that list?
I think the video game had to inspire the vehicle, not some other form of media like a movie or television show.
Also, the General Lee as an iconic gaming vehicle? I’ve never even heard of a General Lee video game lol or a Knight Rider video game. At least not ones that were popular lol.
It’s no wonder you never heard of them the video game adaptions of both were absolute garbage.
Iconic Television and Movie vehicles? Absolutely.
Iconic video game vehicles? Absolutely not.
I wish Epona counted as a vehicle.
what about The Duece Car in Brutal Lelend
I’d have to go with the car from OutRun as my iconic car.
I must agree… The Ferrari (was it the Testarosa?) from Outrun is missing in this list. Besides, it was the only one that had the blond girl included ! It should have made it into the top 3 !
If any car from the the Gran Turismo series should be included it’s the Escudo Pikes Peak rally car. You could throw road tires on that and kill any other car in GT2. It made the game effortless.
The Escudo was definitely an amazing vehicle, but it was in no way original to Gran Turismo. The vehicle in the game was simply a replica of the real life Escudo built by Suzuki.
Not exactly iconic to the gaming community. More so iconic to the automotive community, and this is a gaming list.
And where’s the Faggio from GTA?
Grand Theft Auto vehicles were definitely also taken into consideration, the problem is no one car really stands out so much that it’s universally known.
where is the ferrari from outrun? :,,(
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