"In the next twenty-four hours, the entire world will know my name. They will see my beautiful work of art first hand. No one will be safe, I promise you that. Good luck driver, and Welcome to the Twisted Metal 2 review."

Twisted Metal 2 is an absolute blast and also very nostalgic! This franchise was as close as I could get as a child to "real" animated violence in the early 90s that wild to me. Granted I did play some Star Wars games here and there but this one was like another level of violence. Car battles and crazy action, what is there not to like?! When I booted up this game after so many years, bro....the nostalgia hits hard. It's still one of the best car combat games out there for the PlayStation 1.

The variety of vehicles and characters are really something to look for. There is a huge improvement over Twisted Metal 1 and it delivers it via a WORLD TOUR. Story Mode has something for everyone. Graphic Comic style cutscenes for each character and seeing what wacky twists Calypso (Antagonist) does to each character makes you want to replay the game over and over with each character. I personally am a fan of the Outlaw (Police Car) cause as a kid I always had a fondness of Police officers as they were the "Good Guys" back then. From rocket launchers to homing missiles and each car having a special ability, there was never a time I got bored blowing stuff up. From rooftops to city streets, each one is packed with obstacles and surprises albeit some did have some frustrating experiences but I do not fault the developers for trying out new things.

From memory I remember the multiplayer mode is where Twisted Metal 2 really shines. The chaos is unmatched, and the adrenaline rush is real. It's unfortunate that the idea of couch co-op or couch verses in the last decade has been hit or miss but applaud any developer that continues to try!

Overall I think Twisted Metal 2 is a great game but the graphics might be a bit dated by today's standards. The Gameplay at it core is addictive. Twisted Metal 2 is a absolute hood classic. If you haven't played it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a try. I believe it is available via PS5 for 9.99. It mentions "enhanced with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters."

(7-year-old's review, typed by her dad)

It's very deathly. But I don't like it! Because I just want everyone to drive on the road carefully. Listen to the lights! And obey the rules!

That's what I want this game to be.

Cuz I just thought it was driving on the road, being calm. I don't like it! I love driving on the ROAD.

A successor in every way, Twisted Metal 2 improves upon the 1995 foundation in every way! Smoother controls, more characters, and bigger stages to demolish your vehicular foes!

This is what many consider the peak of the franchise! I don't necessarily agree, but it's nice seeing a game so cherished, despite not being the best-looking game on the console, or even the smoothest. Controlling the vehicles can still be a bit cumbersome at times, and the enemy AI can be simply unrelenting (and I'm pretty sure their weapon count is meaningless whenever they decide they don't want you to win). Still, it can be a fun throwback to play, especially with a friend! The stories themselves are presented nicely, the motion comic animation was serviceable (and a pretty new style, if I'm not mistaken) and the twists we see in each driver's fate was a delight the first time around!

I was excited to get to Twisted Metal 2 after playing through the first one. It was obvious to me that it would be an upgrade over its predecessor in a lot of ways, and its the one entry in the series that I have nostalgia for, having played it when I was a little kid. I don't remember too much from it, other than playing as Axel because that character has such a cool design, and playing through the Paris level which is a lot of fun.

Playing through this extensively in the year 2023 was interesting. I learned that I actually hold it in a very similar light as the first entry, and that's not to say there weren't improvements. More characters, different health system, different levels. But the core gameplay is largely the same or incredibly similar, and so this wasn't really the leap in quality that I was expecting. But that's also not a bad thing! I still had a good time with this. I found this one to be a bit more challenging, particularly when fighting Dark Tooth. Some of those are tough and without modern PS5 rewind features I don't think I would've been patient enough to see it through.

Still, David Jaffe himself has argued that this entry better represents what the development team was striving for with the concept of Twisted Metal so if you want to play an older entry but don't want to play multiple, then this is probably the one you should play.

Platinum trophy #135
Platinum #11 of 2023

(This is a snap judgement "review", so this doesn't necessarily reflect my thoughts on the entire game)
So, I tried a Roadkill run on easy, and got a couple stages in, then found out I couldn't beat the game on easy for whatever reason. Oh well, I just restart on medium and chose Twister instead.
I genuinely couldn't get past the first stage with them OR Roadkill after I gave him a shot again, and with the proper strategy i found out. I was getting really annoyed, then I decided to try out Warthog and see how far I could get. Got to stage two after losing a life on the first, and I was feeling pretty confident.
Theeeeeeeeen I lost my two remaining lives and got a game over. And since there's no continue system, back to square one on the title screen. I promptly said "screw this" and decided not to continue the game any longer for the sake of it and my own patience.
TLDR; AI is really damn hard and the game doesn't let me beat it on easy even tho the first one did. Ugh.

Hmmm. This game is the fan favorite of the PS1 games and its certainly a marked improvement over the original. Things are more chaotic, and the maps are smaller and more interesting. The only problem is the singleplayer campaign is kinda annoying. It's one of those games where despite the battle-royale design of the characters and maps, every CPU player only focuses on you like some sort of freak hivemind. It definitely makes single player emphasize defensive play at a low level which is kinda lame. Speaking of low level, this is also one of those games where the game locks content and calls you a baby if you play on easy so enjoy the higher difficulty or get bent i guess. There are also secret weapons that can only be used by doing mfin fighting game inputs while driving and the game doesnt tell you this and the manual only tells you some but not all of the input weapons, so bizarrely enough it manages to be a guide game too...? I hope the whole command-input-exclusive-weapon thing doesn't become a mainstay in the series.

despite all the qualms its still decent fun when its not hair-rippingly frustrating. I think its like a fighting game where the real meat and potatoes is in the multiplayer whereas the singleplayer is more like a hellish training mode than anything else. Would definitely rec if you have a friend, but lonely gamers might wanna try something else methinks

an improvement on every way to the original, more tight controls, a great OST, much more fun arenas and an iconic cast with amusing characterization .

its style remains representative of its era and its the ideal time capsule for it.

I Miss this Playstation Era.

A janky and flawed car combat game with a ton of charm. It’s the type of game that’s still fun flaws and all. It might not have the best graphics or even the best controls but the core loop of exploring big arenas and shooting at your foes with a variety of weapons is still a lot of fun.

Besides the flaws one thing that is truly still great are the characters themselves and their endings. Not only are the cutscenes iconic but as a whole the roster is really great and stands out as one of the best in the series. This game really shines with the colorful yet darkly humorous classic style Twisted Metal was known for and it’s not hard to see why this was the peak of the ps1 games.

The maps in particular are pretty good. Not only for their designs offering something a little differnent from the last but I really like the around the world theme the game goes for.


The real meat really lies in multiplayer and challenge match where your gameplay experience can be customized with drivers and the stage. I do wish there was maybe some more options tho.

So overall it’s a very fun game even if dated in some areas.

solid 4/5
(although it’s really annoying you can only get minion and sweet teeth through codes. Thankfully not hard to input)