Line #76 YMMV/TwistedMetal


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Calypso both in and out of universe. His portrayals and personality vary, as does the origin of his powers, and one's interpretation can come from whether or not one considers the games to be in canon with one another. In the first game and ''Black'', he's fairly stoic and doesn't go out of his way to twist the contestants' wishes (even if he's still something of a LiteralGenie), and a number of contestants even get precisely what they wanted, but in the other games, he's very hammy and a straight-up JackassGenie. His powers came from a demon named Black in the first game, he stole them from the demon Minion in the second, the fourth had them come from a magic ring, and in the reboot, the preacher implies that he is the Devil himself. His interactions with his daughter in the second game and ''Head-On'' seem to cast him as a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, and the control he has over his power of wishes is put into question.
3	** There's also his treatment of Mortimer in ''Head-On''. Was it a genuine PetTheDog moment, or a [[PragmaticVillainy calculated move]] to get rid of a supernatural WildCard? Especially seeing as how, in the second game, Mortimer actually posed a threat to him and successfully turned the tables on him.
4	** Then there's his interaction with Mike & Stu in the second game. Did he purposefully trick them into jumping head-first off a building, or was he willing to give them the plane tickets and just have their disappointment be the deception, only to be genuinely shocked at their stupidity? In the first game, he gave Hammerhead's drivers, Dave & Mike, what they wanted without bothering to trick them (be it his harem in the Lost ending or expensive tires in the canonical one, another mundane monetary loss that Calypso could cope with just like the tickets).
5	* AntiClimaxBoss:
6	** Dark Tooth's head in ''2''. Once you destroy the truck, your health is restored and the head is the same boss as the truck, only with a lot less health.
7	** Primeval in ''3'' is a challenging opponent, but unlike other bosses, you fight him in an arena with instant death pitfalls, which can be used to kill him instantly.
8	* AudienceAlienatingEra: ''Twisted Metal 3'' and ''4'' drop the dark satirical tone for a DenserAndWackier one, with a focus on goofy character traits, a step down in the art department, and silly bad endings for nearly every character until ''Black'' revived the franchise. ''Small Brawl'' notably averted this reception and has a small cult following from those who have played it.
9	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The series' use of licensed music is pretty well respected.
10	** Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}}' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg "Paint It, Black"]], which served as the theme song to ''Twisted Metal: Black''.
11	** The third and fourth games had a selection of music from the likes of One Minute Silence, Music/RobZombie, Music/PitchShifter, and Cirrus, among others, that is generally agreed to be among the few redeeming factors of [[AudienceAlienatingEra that era in the franchise]].
12	** The second game had an outstanding original soundtrack of songs evocative of '80s and early '90s hard rock and heavy metal. The Los Angeles level gives us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2KwvXB6R9k "Quake Zone Rumble]], while the theme music for Antarctica is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccGGL2yl6rc suitably intense]]. Zack Zwiesen, [[https://kotaku.com/twisted-metal-2-s-wild-soundtrack-deserves-more-love-1845395323 writing]] for ''Kotaku'', has sung its praises.
13	* BreatherBoss: Minion in ''4'' is one of these, not only compared to his level, but also the Slamm and Auger double team before him and Sweet Tooth himself afterwards. His difficulties navigating his own maze and a special weapon that tends to whiff (especially against small cars) make for a pretty laughable fight.
14	* BreatherLevel: Snowy Roads from ''Black'' is a cakewalk compared to Drive-In Movie, the other option for level six. It's a lot bigger so retreating is less risky, it actually has a health recharge station, and a large chunk of the map is under a thundercloud that is the environmental weapon, allowing you to damage several opponents at once without directly engaging them.
15	* BrokenBase:
16	** The direction the [=PS3=] {{revival}} took for the series. Giving more engaging and complex storylines to three distinctive drivers, thus relegating the past drivers to oblivion and making their cars free for {{Mook}}s from the aforementioned trio to drive, robbed a lot of fans of the older games the wrong way, as in those games, each vehicle (and driver) got a backstory. Others liked having only a few characters get better developed stories, instead of many drivers getting {{Excuse Plot}}s to force their presence in the games.
17	** The people who like the third and fourth games against the people who like the rest of the series. There's also people who like one (usually ''[=TM4=]'', which is sometimes seen as an improvement from ''[=TM3=]''), but not the other.
18	* CommonKnowledge: It's commonly said that Catfish, the driver of Hammerhead in ''Head-On'', has the true first name of Zeke, due to his ending having Calypso saying that name. However, Calypso was referring to the assistant who helped him set up the decoy Catfish shot rather than Catfish himself.
19	* CompleteMonster:
20	** ''Black'': [[MonsterClown Needles Kane]], better known as [[BadHumorTruck Sweet Tooth]], is a sadistic SerialKiller who [[AdaptationalVillainy lacks his humorous nature from the classic games]]. Developing a lust for blood after making his first kill with precise skill and no remorse, Sweet Tooth goes on a massive killing spree, murdering his victims, which includes people who were unlucky to have crossed his path, in incredibly gruesome manners. One of these murders includes Axel's wife, in which Sweet Tooth [[FingerInTheMail mailed Axel his wife's body, piece by piece]]. He's also implied to have [[{{Patricide}} murdered his father]], Charlie Kane, who was trying to keep the latter's son away from him due to his nature. After being cursed by a preacher to suffer pain that grew every day, and then locked up in Blackfield Asylum, he agrees to Calypso's offer of competing in Twisted Metal in exchange for lifting the curse, planning to kill Calypso afterward. After winning the contest, which he took great pleasure in due to all the killing, he is given a vial to lift the curse, but at the price of no longer being able to kill. [[AxCrazy Choosing to live with the curse rather than giving up killing]], he smashes the vial and then proceeds to fatally [[SlashedThroat slash Calypso's throat]], before declaring his intentions of becoming the greatest killer of all time.
21	** The 2012 reboot gives two characters AdaptationalVillainy:
22	*** This adaption of [[BigBad Calypso]] lacks the humor of the original, and is strongly implied to be the Devil. Calypso is the creator and host of [[BloodSport Twisted Metal]], a demolition derby that attracts some of the vilest people with the lure of a wish. This tournament has killed numerous innocent bystanders through its destruction around public places. Calypso completely intended this, loving the carnage and destruction it leaves. He even instigates some of his contestants to participate, manipulating them in situations that would make them desperate enough for a wish. What they don't know is that whatever this wish is, [[JackassGenie Calypso]] intends to use it to kill the victim in some way after they finished entertaining him, and then [[AndIMustScream trap their souls in his painting]] where he [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming enjoys the screams]] of pain and agony. A sadistic entity, this version of Calypso brutally kills thousands out of entertainment.
23	*** [[MalevolentMaskedWoman Dollface]], real name Krista Sparks, is a [[ItsAllAboutMe vain and selfish]] model who, in order to get to the top, sabotages several models on a catwalk and [[LooksWorthKillingFor outright murders]] one of them with a sledgehammer after said model is chosen for a prize photo shoot. After an accident which badly damages her face, and which her doctor was only able to mostly fix after several surgeries--leaving only a small scar on her face--Dollface decapitates him with a chainsaw. Before joining Twisted Metal in order to remove her mask and become beautiful again, she gained several mooks with the same thinking as her, and when one of her mooks asks Dollface if most of them will get their wishes, Dollface [[BadBoss shoots her]].
24	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
25	** Quatro and Orbital are probably the only characters introduced in ''4'' that fans like, though this is attributed to either making a wish that was worth a damn, or being a badass bounty hunter that doesn't fall for the traps of Twisted Metal, and many fans wish his ending wasn't as brief as it was.
26	** Mr. Ash, the original driver of Darkside, only had a story mode in the original ''Twisted Metal'', but he's still easily one of the fan favorites to this day. [[spoiler: It probably has something to do with being actually {{Satan}}, and also seemingly the source of Calypso's powers in the first place.]] One of the few complaints people had with Black is the fact he wasn't the driver of Darkside.
27	** Mike and Stu from ''Twisted Metal 2'' (and to a lesser extent, Jeff and Mike from the original ''Twisted Metal''), for being ThoseTwoGuys that provide comic relief -- oh, and driving [[TheBigGuy a giant-ass monster truck]] that can [[CarFu crush other cars under its wheels alone]].
28	** [[{{Goth}} Raven]], the driver of Shadow from ''VideoGame/TwistedMetalBlack''. While a good deal of the new or revisioned characters from ''Black'' were generally approved of by the fandom, Raven gets this taken up to eleven, often being used in fanworks as Shadow's driver beyond the ''Black'' universe. Her {{goth}} style, sympathetic backstory and motive, and similarities to [[Literature/{{Carrie}} Carrie White]] don't hurt, and neither does her ''Twisted Metal: Lost'' profile stating how she [[spoiler:became [[AHeroToHisHometown a hero to Midtown]], [[DarkIsNotEvil using her ocultic powers to protect the innocent]] and [[PayEvilUntoEvil deliver vengeance upon the]] AxCrazy {{Serial Killer}}s terrorizing the streets.]]
29	** Also from ''Black'' are other one-of characters No-Face for being both pitiable for his [[FacialHorror condition]] and being a genuinely funny DeadpanSnarker, with his BondOneLiner in his ending being likely the funniest thing in the entire game, Billy Ray Stillwell for being an interesting take on HillbillyHorrors with an entertaining voice actor, and Dollface who proved popular enough that her character design was reused in the 2010 remake alongside Mr. Grimm and Needles Kain.
30	** Agent Shepard, the latest driver of Crimson Fury in ''Twisted Metal: Head On'', for being savvy enough to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim straight-up arrest Calypso]] instead of trying to make a wish, and also by [[ShutUpHannibal defying Calypso's]] HannibalLecture before giving him TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
31	* EsotericHappyEnding: {{Inverted}} with Carl/Buzz and Jamie Roberts' ending in ''III''; The two of them wish for a world free of crime, and Calypso seemingly grants it without repercussions… with the only "catch" that the two police officers are out of a job, seemingly completely ignoring the fact that police officers do more than just arrest criminals or they can just get new jobs. This is the reason their ending is often cited as one of if not the worst ending in a game that's already chock-full of some of the worst endings in the series.
32	* EvilIsCool: Both Sweet Tooth and Calypso. Sure, one's a MonsterClown, and the other's a JackassGenie, but they're so damn ''awesome'' about it.
33	* FranchiseOriginalSin: The 989 games are often believed to be when the name "Sweet Tooth" started being used to refer to Needles Kane, as opposed to his ice cream truck. In actuality, Needles has been called "Sweet Tooth" during Yellow Jacket's ending in ''Twisted Metal 1'' and his own ''Twisted Metal 2'' ending.
34	* GameBreaker:
35	** Playable versions of bosses tend to be these. There's a reason why they are usually not available at the start of the game, having to be unlocked either through game progress or cheat codes.
36	** Minion in ''Twisted Metal 2''. He's not as strong as the boss version of him, [[BroughtDownToBadass but even with that, he's still easily the best character in the game]]. [[LightningBruiser His vehicle is the most durable vehicle in the game and one of the fastest, while also having good handling.]] On top of this, there is his special, which is extremely powerful, homes in on the enemy, freezes them, and charges more quickly than normal special weapons. Minion doesn't get any passwords that let players use him to skip levels, but he doesn't need them. You can see a player use him [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dP8bGjCoA here]] (skip to 11:36) against [[FinalBoss Dark Tooth]] and win without much difficulty. For most of the same reasons, he's still overpowered in ''Twisted Metal 3''.
37	** ''Twisted Metal 4'', however, is notable with its super variants of the previous characters (Super Axel's shockwave for example, knocked all enemies REALLY far away, had 360 degree coverage, and set fire to them as well), or just plain cheap like Moon Buggy's Quasars.
38	*** Sweet Tooth in 4 is the undisputed most overpowered, gamebreakingly ridiculous character in the entire series. This is due to his Special Attack, which can practically destroy weaker cars with 1 shot, and traps the target in an electrical surge, rendering movement almost impossible. This in turn, makes the targets sitting ducks for a second hit. It is so powerful that landing just one, and mind you it has homing capability and very long range, essentially guarantees a kill.
39	* GoodBadBugs: ''Twisted Metal 4'' had a glitch where, if all but one weapon was used up, then using that last weapon followed by using the rear fire command, the weapon could be fired even if there was nothing in your inventory albeit backwards. This made the [[GameBreaker environmental weapon and the playable bosses' specials,]] especially Sweet Tooth's special, extremely spam friendly.
40	* GrowingTheBeard: While the first game got decent reviews, the second was considered a vast improvement and is still ranked by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eut6Eeenun0 many fans]] as one of the best games in the series. The gameplay was smoother and more refined, Calypso took on his JackassGenie traits, the atmosphere gained a streak of BlackComedy, the production values on the endings were punched up from just scrolling text to {{Motion Comic}}s with full voice acting, and the vehicles, characters, and levels grew both more numerous and more distinctive.
41	* HarsherInHindsight: Simon Whittlebone, a frustrated architect who uses an armored and heavily weaponized front loader dubbed "Mr. Slam". to wreak havoc and destruction. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer Marvin Heemeyer]], a frustrated repair shop owner, used an armored and heavily weaponized bulldozer the press dubbed the "Killdozer" to do the same thing in a real life small town[[note]]Fortunately, no one was killed, other than Mr. Heemeyer due to him taking his own life. Now, whether this intentional on his part or it was just luck he didn't kill anyone, we will never know[[/note]].
42	* HighTierScrappy: While Spectre isn't a particularly strong car for single-player, it has a reputation for being ''very'' annoying to face in multiplayer, as its ghost missiles and high speed allow it to play unrivaled games of keep away. This may have been the reason why the car was excluded from the online focused Playstation 3 game despite being a series regular up to that point.
43	* HilariousInHindsight: Mr. Grimm's ending in the second game sees Calypso start a massive, non-stop [[Film/ThePurge Purge]] on a global scale.
44	** Calypso's appearance in ''Twisted Metal 4'' bears an astonishing resemblance to [[Film/TheRoom2003 Tommy Wiseau]].
45	** One of [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the ideas for the 2012 Twisted Metal game]] was having it take place in the post-apocalypse. Eleven years later, we have the [[Series/TwistedMetal2023 tv series]] which takes place... in the post-apocalypse.
46	* HollywoodHomely:
47	** {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} with Dollface in the [=PS3=] remake. She is a former supermodel who got [[MinorInjuryOverReaction a (minor) scar on her face]], decided that [[BeautyToBeast her beauty was ruined]] ([[BlatantLies even though it clearly wasn't]], [[OnlySaneMan as her doctor could plainly see]]), and started wearing a mask to cover up her "imperfection." David Jaffe [[http://comic-con.gamespot.com/comic-con-uncut/p-12.html?tag=topslot;title;5 said (about 14 minutes in)]] that the character is a satire of the extreme standards of beauty that women are faced with by the media and pop culture... while [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial flatly denying]] that [[TakeThat the character was based on his ex-wife]].
48	** A more straight reaction from the fandom was in regards to [[{{Yandere}} Bloody Mary]], who suffered from being "[[AllOfTheOtherReindeer always a bridesmaid, never a bride]]" supposedly due to being uglier than all the other girls: but there's nothing really "ugly" about her character model, and she indeed looks pretty damn attractive. Granted, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy going absolutely crazy for somebody's love would be considered a bit of a turnoff]], [[InLoveWithYourCarnage but even then, some consider it a turn-ON instead]].
49	* ItWasHisSled: Marcus (driver of Roadkill) and Needles (driver of Sweet Tooth) being the same person.
50	* JerkassWoobie:
51	** Just about every character in ''Black'' with the exceptions of Sweet Tooth, Black, and Cage (and Agent Stone, the TokenGoodTeammate). By the end of the story, most of the characters end up killing a person out of {{Revenge}} or they snapped already and killed someone in the past. Even some of the more seemingly benign characters like John Doe and Dollface have psychatric profiles that, [[BedlamHouse at face value]], suggest they are uncooperative. But they are all painted as {{Sympathetic Murderer}}s due to having a truly DarkAndTroubledPast.
52	** Calypso is this, DependingOnTheWriter. Not only is he a JerkassGenie, but he also hosts a world-shattering death tournament. [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes When interacting with his daughter]] in ''2'' and ''Head-On'', however, his sympathetic traits come out. ''Head-On'' particularly wants his daughter to win so she could bring herself back to life, but she starts CallingTheOldManOut, and he was forced to twist her words with clear sorrow and regret.
53	* MemeticMutation:
54	** From ''Black'', there's always Sweet Tooth's PreMortemOneLiner: "Shut up and ''bleed'', you [[CurseCutShort motherfu]]-(ScareChord!)" The 2012 game had Needles repeat it as a ShoutOut.
55	** "[[VerbalBusinessCard I am Calypso]], [[AWinnerIsYou and I thank you for playing Twisted Metal!]]"
56	** From [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvp9rDSErHs Charlie Kane's "Lost Ending"]] to the original ''Twisted Metal'' there are two:
57	*** (Sips potion) "Oh, that's ''strange'', it tastes like- '''''[[TheScream GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!]]'''''"
58	*** (After Calypso [[WeCanRuleTogether offers Charlie to become his personal driver]]) "Sounds good to me, ''baby!''"
59	** Thanks to [[WebVideo/RebelTaxi Pan Pizza]], we have ''Twisted Metal Advertising/HeadOn: Apply Directly to the Forehead''.[[labelnote:Explanation]]The repetitive phrase of the "Head On" headache product commercial was added to the PSP game's name.[[/labelnote]]
60	* {{Narm}}:
61	** Raven's backstory in ''Black'', which features the Death Tarot card flying towards the camera in slow-motion, just to hammer into your skull how bad everything is. You know, because the scene of [[spoiler:a teenage girl being drowned]] isn't dramatic ''enough''.
62	** Due to budget issues, the endings of the unlockable characters in ''Black'' are mainly 2D slideshows compared to the 3D cutscenes the main characters sport, which takes away quite a bit of the drama inside them. Axel's ending suffers this the worst; what would normally be a MomentOfAwesome of Axel taking out Needles is more or less completely tarnished by the extremely limited animation.
63	* NarmCharm:
64	** Conner "Pizza Boy" Nazang from ''4'' is basically ''built'' on this trope. His TotallyRadical persona makes him stand out from his fellow participants in a SoBadItsGood way, and many people say that he's one of if not their favorite character in the game.
65	** Sweet Tooth's voice in the 2012 revival. It's growly as all hell, which is fine, but it's also... a little bit congested. That said, Sweet Tooth is ''hilariously'' bloodthirsty, and the voice just captures that school-boy ant-burning glee so perfectly, stuffed-up-nose and all.
66	* NightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/TwistedMetal Has its own page.]]
67	* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: One of the reasons why ''III'' and ''4'' did poorly with fans was due to the radically different development team who didn't quite "get" what made ''Twisted Metal'' fun. Since Scott Campbell was involved with the series' creation, it would make sense that the games handled under his care would fare much better in comparison, with many preferring the GaidenGame ''Small Brawl'' over the 989 Studio games, and ''Black'' was seen as a return to form in gameplay and tone despite its DarkerAndEdgier nature.
68	* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: While ''Twisted Metal 4'' is often considered as one of the lesser games in the series due to its nonsensical storyline and deliberate bad endings, people who dislike the installment's story mode would at least still play it for its more or less balanced PlayerVersusPlayer mode and the opportunity for players to create their own vehicles. See AudienceAlienatingEra above.
69	* PortingDisaster: The extremely limited PC port of ''2''. Better textures aside, the game is much more buggy than the [=PS1=] original, to the point where some weapons and items don't work like they supposed to, and has pretty terrible controller support to boot. [[JustHereForGodzilla The only reason why anyone would bother with this version is for the online multiplayer mod]].
70	* TheScrappy: The clowns in ''Twisted Metal 4'', which served as a painful reminder that the series was getting more and more cartoonish... at least until ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Black]].''
71	* ReplacementScrappy:
72	** Buster Cobb and his car Auger in ''III'' is seen as this compared to Simon Whittlebone and Mr. Slam from ''2'', with the former being seen a far worse duplicate. Doesn't help that, compared to Simon's ending being one of the most iconic endings in the series, Buster's is often seen as one of the worst thanks to the extremely blatant MotiveDecay on his part.
73	** Cousin Eddy in ''Head-On'' is often treated as a poor replacement for Minion, with many fans viewing him as an offensive [[DeepSouth hillbilly stereotype]] who is [[DegradedBoss much weaker when you play as him than when you face him as a boss fight]].
74	** Few if any of the characters in ''4'' are liked, but Captain Grimm is especially unpopular, as he was a lame pirate retool of Mr. Grimm.
75	** Dollface has been criticized by fans for filling in for EnsembleDarkhorse Mr. Ash as the driver for Darkside in ''Black'' and the 2012 reboot. That said, the version from ''Black'' does have her fans, mainly for her [[NiceGirl generally pleasant demeanor]], her [[TheWoobie tragic backstory]], and the fact that she's among the few characters who gets a legitimately happy ending.
76	** Which is why many of her fans in turn expressed disgust for the 2012 version's Dollface, who retained none of her predecessor's sympathetic traits or redeeming qualities and came off as little more than a one-dimensional, psychopathic AlphaBitch. Even worse, her name, Krista Sparks, is taken from the driver of Grasshopper in ''2'' and ''Head-On'', who many fans regard as one of the most sympathetic characters in the franchise. The fact that they changed her into ''that'' did not sit well with fans.
77	* ScrappyMechanic:
78	** The Antarctica level in ''Twisted Metal 2'', with large sections of the glacier falling into the sea, is quite awesome... in single-player. Its awesomeness is limited in versus mode by the very same mechanic. You don't have very long with the full level, as within a few minutes, you will find that you and your friend are duking it out on the one remaining piece of ice. It would have made more sense to not have the glacier fall apart in multiplayer mode, or to slow the breakup considerably.
79	** The Freeze attack from the 2012 reboot. Everyone can do it, and it homes in on the cars, meaning that you will constantly be getting frozen without warning throughout a battle and forced to mash buttons to restart your engine. It's especially frustrating if you're playing as Darkside, who attacks by ramming.
80	** ''III'' is the first ''Twisted Metal'' game to have bosses you fight at then end of each stage... for half of the stages. The other half has a frustrating Regeneration mechanic where downed enemies suddenly become BackFromTheDead, [[FakeLongevity artificially extending stage length]] by having you fight everyone in that given stage ''twice''. The final stage takes this further, as all enemies will keep respawning no matter what until you take out Calypso's regeneration generator... [[GuideDangIt which the game never tells you beforehand]].
81	* SequelDifficultySpike: ''Black'' is considered harder than any ''Twisted Metal'' game that came before it ([[SequelDifficultyDrop and the one that came immediately after]]) due the faster pace of the combat and the AI taking GangUpOnTheHuman to all new levels. The game does lighten up on this a bit by being the first in the series to restore your lives upon getting to the next level, but that only means so much when it's that much harder to avoid dying in the first place.
82	* ShockingMoments: The final bosses in the reboot, assuming it's your first time fighting them. Bonus points for Sweet Tooth's Carnival of Carnage.
83	* SNKBoss: Sweet Tooth in 4. If a single Special Attack from him connects, you're basically dead.
84	* SoBadItsGood: The "Lost" endings to the original ''Twisted Metal'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFs8REgq8I in all their live-action glory]] are laden with SpecialEffectFailure and hilariously cheesy acting, and they are hilarious to watch.
85	* SpecialEffectFailure: The "Lost" endings are full of these, particularly whenever a contestant's winnings are raised up by Calypso... which consists of the camera panning ''down'' to them. Bonus points for Needles Kane's ending were, upon further inspection, the "doors" are being held by visible hands.
86	* SpiritualSuccessor: After making ''Twisted Metal 2'', Singletrac was bought by GT Interactive and lost the Twisted Metal license. This lead them to create two stand-alone vehicular combat games: ''VideoGame/RogueTrip: Vacation 2012'' and ''VideoGame/CriticalDepth''. Both games ended up leaving their mark on the series - ''Black'' adopted the visible damage indicator and slightly more involved storytelling of ''Critical Depth'', and ''Rogue Trip'''s faster pace and more interactive arenas.
87	* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Out of the two 989 Studios games, ''4'' is seen as a surprising step-up to the near reviled ''III''. While it's still not up to the standards to [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight the SingleTrac/Incognito Entertainment]] games by any means, it's a lot more controllable compared to the prior game's floaty physics, have characters with consistent motivations as opposed to the previous casts' MotiveDecay, the wishes are on-brand to how they played out in ''2'' compared to ''III'''s wishes often running on InsaneTrollLogic, and the stage designs are much more interesting and involved with combat being much more balanced outside of bosses.
88	* TakeThatScrappy: The Joneses from ''4'', even in their limited screentime, are very easy to see as extremely obnoxious, constantly interrupting both Melvin and each other when asking for their wish. As such, no tears are shed when Sweet Tooth drives their new RV off a cliff, with many [=YouTube=] comments saying they would’ve done the same thing.
89	* TearJerker: [[TearJerker/TwistedMetal Has its own page.]]
90	* ThatOneBoss:
91	** Dark Tooth in ''2''. The vehicle was a larger, black-painted version of Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck that followed you relentlessly around Hong Kong and launched multiple attacks on you at the same time. Particularly frustrating was that it would freeze you while launching its specials. It even went so far as to launch the Dark Tooth head from the top. When you finally did destroy the vehicle, the head survived and continued the same search-and-destroy method.
92	** Needles Kane in ''4'' had the Henchmen attack, which sent out three clown heads that followed you through walls, then swarmed around you and bombarded you to death with [[CycleOfHurting various stunning/immobilizing attacks]]. You pretty much had to keep running in a very specific circle around the map, leave a trail of explosives behind you, and pray to god it would kill him before you ran out of road. May be the [[SNKBoss cheapest boss]] in the series, resulting in many thrown controllers.
93	** This was preceded by Moon Buggy in the same game. Quasars, his special, was basically Outlaw's Tazers combined with Spectre's transparent homing abilities. He fired two or three at the player at once. The Quasars also severely disoriented the gamer by throwing the car every which way. Fortunately, it doesn't last exceptionally long.
94	** Both bosses in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetalBlack''. Minion in particular was a pain, since his shields become very hard to hit when he's down to one or two. Then there's Warhawk, a helicopter that has the unfair advantage of aerial attacks, in addition to the first half of the fight being a PuzzleBoss where you must disable the tanker trucks, which are a DegradedBoss version of Minion, and detonate them underneath him when he flies over the helipad to destroy his shield.
95	* ThatOneLevel:
96	** Calypso's Blimp from ''Twisted Metal 3''. All the enemies respawn after death infinitely, unless you destroy all the switches. One may not realize this is what needs to be done to prevent the enemies from respawning without a little research online. If that wasn't enough, the final boss, Primeval, proves to be [[ThatOneBoss quite the challenge]].
97	** The racing levels in 2012. The vehicles are ''not'' balanced for a race, meaning that cars like Darkside ''will'' always come last, while Crimson Fury or Reaper will ''always'' win if you don't destroy them at the first chance you get. What's really strange is that the game seems to realise this, because the next race only requires you to come in the top four, making it much easier.
98	** Drive-In Movie from ''Black''. Not only are you facing 8 enemies in this absolutely tiny arena with nowhere to hide, but it's the only non-boss level in the game to ''not have a health recharge station'', forcing you to rely on the measly health pickups to stay alive. Letting your guard down once is a one way ticket to losing a life. Thankfully, this level isn't required, as you can just pick Snowy Roads instead.
99	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
100	** The reboot introduces a number of new cars, but with its focus on a singular story, none of them get quirky drivers to give them a little more personality.
101	** Preacher has a recurring role throughout the story mode and is playable in Multiplayer. Not only is he not involved in any of the story missions, but after a cut scene ending with him promising that Calypso's reign of terror will end that night, [[spoiler: he is next seen trapped in Calypso's painting at the very end of the game.]] Presumably a whole year later, too.
102	** Sweet Tooth in ''Twisted Metal 4''. Despite being promoted to BigBad, he's inexplicably turned into a mute and needs another clown to speak for him. Unless the ending wish directly involves him, he's usually juggling in the background, no more significant than the other clowns.
103	** Also from ''4'' is Quatro, a SuperCop alien BountyHunter who was sent to apprehend several Twisted Metal contestants and Sweet Tooth. His ending, while [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments cool]], concludes with an all too brief BolivianArmyEnding and the character, just like every other character made for ''4'', was never seen again.
104	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
105	** Some believe Calypso's ending in ''Twisted Metal 4'' should have concluded with him retaking his throne from Sweet Tooth and saying his usual catchphrase to the player ("I am Calypso, and thank you for playing Twisted Metal.").
106	** ''Head-On'' officially canonizes that Needles/Sweet Tooth Kane is a SplitPersonality of [[OnlySaneMan Marcus Kane]]. Upon [[LiteralSplitPersonality their halves being split]] and meeting each other, they decide to make a SplitPersonalityTeam... and it is not followed up on aside from serving as the final boss for the player to kill.
107	* ValuesDissonance:
108	** The fourth game's depiction of Petunia, the driver of Drag Queen, is very much a product of the time. While she is one of the few contestants who gets her wish granted with no strings attached, the game manual refers to her exclusively by male pronouns, and her entire character is treated as a gross-out joke, a CampGay man in skimpy women's clothes who was so shockingly ugly that she was kicked out of the Hot Rod Association for going to meets in drag. Tactical Bacon Productions, when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxB7BZzn1lQ&t=9m43s ranking]] every ending in the series, introduced Drag Queen's ending with the words "Ladies and Gentlemen, TheNineties" when ranking it near the bottom of his list.
109	** The Statue of Liberty gag in the New York level of Twisted Metal 2, where shooting it with missiles either turns it into a [[MsFanservice thin woman in a bikini]] or a [[FanDisservice morbidly obese woman]] comes off as fatphobic.
110	* ViewerNameConfusion:
111	** The MonsterClown is Needles Kane. His ''car'' is Sweet Tooth. The [[CanonDiscontinuity third and fourth games]] screw this up and call the clown Sweet Tooth, but Incog Inc. makes a point of having characters only ever call him Needles. A few fan trailers for movies make this mistake, using the character titles to identify the ''cars'' instead of the ''drivers''. Then again, considering just how integral those {{Cool Car}}s are to the series, and how some [[LegacyCharacter have their drivers shifted out for newcomers]], it's somewhat forgivable. Furthermore, the {{fandom}} often uses "Sweet Tooth" as an InSeriesNickname for how people identify Needles as a SerialKiller, akin to the "BTK Killer" or the "Boston Strangler".
112	** Making the whole Needles/Sweet Tooth confusion even ''worse'' is the reboot, where his followers call him Needles Kane, but everyone else calls him Sweet Tooth. Hell, even ''[[BigBad Calypso]]'' calls him Sweet Tooth. ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' fares no better considering that he's referred to as Sweet Tooth there, too.
113	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: In a good display of attention to detail, ''Black'' and ''Head-On'' introduced the cars' various weapons appearing on the vehicles themselves, each materializing from special compartments scattered around the frame as you scrolled through the list.
114	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic:
115	** The fact that Needles and Marcus Kane, despite being split personalities (Needles being a violent, psychotic half and Marcus being his sanity and reason), exist as two separate entities, drive two separate vehicles, and constantly battle each other until the Dark Tooth ending from ''Head On'' where [[spoiler: Needles and Marcus meet in the middle of a field curious about seeing the other but ultimately decide to work together, resulting in an unstoppable force of destruction.]]
116	** David Jaffe was accused of this by some members of Sony when he was making ''VideoGame/TwistedMetalBlack'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9iJGPfvw2A which he hilariously shot down]] in the ''Twisted Metal: The Dark Past'' documentary.
117	--> '''David Jaffe:''' "It was an opportunity for people to act like [[AuthorTract I wanted to say something and I wanted to make a statement]] and I was like '[[SophisticatedAsHell Please]], [[GetOut get the]] ([[SoundEffectBleep BLEEP]]) [[GetOut out of my kitchen]], [[TheRealMan I'm trying to cook this]] mother-([[ClusterBleepBomb BLEEP]])ing stew.'"
118	* TheWoobie: Dollface in ''Black'', as she gets locked into a mask [[ClingyCostume that she can't get off]] by her boss all because [[DisproportionateRetribution she accidentally spilled coffee on his files]], and ends up getting locked in a BedlamHouse.
119

Context YMMV / TwistedMetal