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Vehicular combat games (also known as just vehicular combat or car combat) are a sub-genre of vehicle simulation video games where the primary objectives of gameplay include vehicles armed with weapons attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players. The genre normally features a variety of different vehicles available for play, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and special attack abilities. Players may also unlock hidden vehicles by completing certain in-game tasks. Traditionally, vehicular combat games focus on fast-paced action inside the vehicle, rarely, if ever, concerning themselves with role-playing or other elements, Metal Max series being an exception. Games may include racing themes, but they are generally secondary to the action.[1]

Gameplay

Vehicular combat games normally follow a simple play pattern; the player must defeat increasing numbers of not very skilled enemies, often in increasingly micro-trans action, before facing off against a final, super-powerful, boss character. Vehicular combat games differ from traditional racing games both in the combat aspect and in the general lack of any set path for players to follow, instead allowing them to explore each level at their leisure. The complexity and strategy required to complete games vary, from the careful resource maintenance and intense story-driven plotlines of the Interstate '76 series to straightforward smashups like WWE Crush Hour. Often the primary plot will involve a contest or competition of some sort, encouraging the various characters to fight and destroy one another to obtain a reward. The Twisted Metal has been attributed as the first "true" vehicular combat game, without cartoony graphics as seen in kart racing games.[2]

Subgenres

Car

Year Name Platforms Style
2005 187 Ride or Die PS2, Xbox
2006 Auto Assault Windows 3rd person view, MMO
2011 Armageddon Riders Windows, PS3
2018 Asphalt 9: Legends iOS, Android Action Car Game
1985 Autoduel
2016 Auto Warriors[3] iOS Turn-based
2002 Bandits: Phoenix Rising Post-apocalyptic
2015 Batman Arkham Knight Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 Action-Adventure
2017 Battle Riders Windows, iOS
2010 Blood Drive PS3, XB360
1999 Beetle Adventure Racing N64
2010 Blur[4] Windows, PS3, XB360
2001 Burnout (series)[4][5] Arcade Racing
1997–2016 Carmageddon series[6] DOS, Windows, Mac, PS1, N64, GBA, iOS, Android Open world, graphic violence
1988 Chase H.Q.[4] Arcade
2005 Crash Tag Team Racing[5]
2001, 2002 Cel Damage[7] GameCube, Xbox, PS2 cartoon
2014–2019 Cel Damage HD PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch cartoon
2002 Command & Conquer: Renegade
1993 Crash 'n Burn 3DO
2006/2017 Crashday
2016 Crossout Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
2007 Darkwind: War on Wheels
1976, 1990 Death Race Arcade
1996–2012 Death Rally DOS, iOS, Android Top-down view, arcade
1989 Deathtrack
2008 Death Track: Resurrection Windows, PlayStation 3
2021 Destruction AllStars Playstation 5
1995, 1996 Destruction Derby series DOS, PS1, Sega Saturn, N64
1998 DethKarz Windows
2012 DiRT: Showdown Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2006 Earache: Extreme Metal Racing PlayStation 2, Wii, PC
2012 Final Run iOS
2005 Fired Up
2004–2017 FlatOut series Windows, Xbox, XB360, PS2, PSP, Wii
2006 Full Auto[7] XB360
2006, 2007 Full Auto 2: Battlelines[7] PS3, PSP
2012 Gas Guzzlers Extreme Windows
2015 Grip: Combat Racing Windows Inspired by Rollcage series
2006 Hard Truck: Apocalypse post-apocalyptic
2016 Hardware: Rivals PS4
1997 Have a N.I.C.E. Day! Windows
2009 Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 Wii, NDS
2002 Hot Wheels Velocity X GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC, Game Boy Advance
1997 Interstate '76[2]
1999 Interstate '82
2005 Jak X: Combat Racing[8] PS2,PS4
1989, 1990 Knight Rider NES
1999 Lego Racers
2001, 2002 Lego Racers 2
2012 LittleBigPlanet Karting PS3
1992 Lucky & Wild
2015 Mad Max Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 post-apocalyptic
1999 Mad Trax Microsoft Windows
1992–2020 Mario Kart[5] SNES, N64, GBA, NGC, DS, Wii, 3DS, Wii U, Arcade,[8] Switch, iOS/Android Go-kart, 3rd person view (All games), 1st person view (Mario Kart 7)
2004 Mashed series
1994 MegaRace
1996 MegaRace 2
2002 MegaRace 3
2010 ModNation Racers PS3, PSP cartoon
2001 Motor Mayhem
2011 MotorStorm: Apocalypse PS3 Apocalyptic racing
2000 NASCAR Heat[4] PS
1996 Necrodome
2010 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Windows, PS3, Wii, XB360, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Phone, Java ME
2013 Need for Speed: Rivals Windows, PS3, XB360, Xbox One, PS4
2019 Nightwolf: Survive the Megadome Windows Synth-themed, cyber-powered vehicles
2006 Novadrome
1992, 1993 Outlander Sega Genesis, SNES
2017 PAKO 2 Windows, MacOS overhead view, arcade
2011 Post Apocalyptic Mayhem Windows
2005, 2006 Pursuit Force PSP
2007, 2008 Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice PSP
1994 Quarantine 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, MS-DOS, DOS, IBM PC compatible dystopian armed cab-driving
2011 Rage Windows, PS3, XB360, MacOS FPS game
1999, 2000 Red Dog Dreamcast
1999 Redline
2011 Renegade Ops PC,PS3, XB360
1999 Re-Volt RC cars
2012 Ridge Racer Unbounded PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
1998 Red Asphalt
1999 Rollcage Windows, PlayStation
2000 Rollcage Stage II Windows, PlayStation
1987 RoadBlasters[4] Arcade
2003 RoadKill PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
1986 Roadwar 2000 Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS Roguelike, Strategy video game
1987 Roadwar Europa Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS Roguelike, Strategy video game
1993 Rock n' Roll Racing[4] Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, Game Boy Advance, Windows
1998 Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012
1998 S.C.A.R.S
2015 Scraps: Modular Vehicle Combat[9] Windows, MacOS, Linux Buildable vehicles
1999, 2000 San Francisco Rush 2049 Arcade, N64, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast
2008 Speed Racer: The Videogame PS2, Wii
2010 Split Second: Velocity Windows, PS3, XB360, iOS, Java ME, PSP
1983 Spy Hunter series[2][4] Arcade
2003 Starsky & Hutch
2016 Switchcars
2007 Swypeout
1997 Streets of SimCity
1986 Turbo Esprit ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64
1999 Toy Commander
1995–2012 Twisted Metal[2][5] PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
1999 Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64
1998 Vigilante 8 PlayStation, Nintendo 64
2007 Vigilante 8 Arcade
1985 Violent Run (Gekisou)[10] Arcade
2000 Grudge Warriors PS1
2003 WWE Crush Hour
2009 Wheelman Windows, PS3, XB360
2004 Test Drive: Eve of Destruction Xbox, PS2
2018 Wreckfest PC
2009 Zombie Driver Windows, PS3, XB360, Android

Futuristic racing

Aircraft

Boat, ship and submarine

Tank

Motorcycle

Space vehicle

Multi-vehicular

(List of games in which players use more than one vehicle type during gameplay)

Mecha

This subgenre of vehicular combat involves mech robots, or mecha, as the vehicle for combat.[citation needed] For most mech games, they are played in either first-person or third-person view style. Other games are based on popular Anime television shows such as the various Gundam series, Robotech, and Evangelion. Also, games with a mech theme are featured in RPG games such as Xenosaga and the Front Mission series.

Kart racers with battle modes

Battle modes for kart racing games are deathmatch battles influenced by the characters, go-karts and weapons used in the mode. The Mario Kart series demonstrates this kind of mode in its previous installments.[8]

Mario Kart series

Crash kart series

Other kart racers with battle modes

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Vehicular Combat". Giant Bombs. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Schwab, Brian (2009). AI Game Engine Programming. Cengage Learning. p. 192. ISBN 978-1584506287.
  3. ^ "Auto Warrior revs its way out of soft launch and crashes into the App Store". Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lambie, Ryan (June 10, 2010). "The 10 best combat racing games". Den of Geek.
  5. ^ a b c d Adam (May 18, 2012). "5 Awesome Vehicular Combat Games". egmr.
  6. ^ Hudak, Chris (August 8, 1997). "Carmageddon Review". GameSpot.
  7. ^ a b c Schilling, Chris (April 2017). "Drinkbox Studios". Edge Magazine. No. 304. ...developer Pseudo Interactive, best known for vehicular combat games Cel Damage and Full Auto and their sequels.
  8. ^ a b c Masser, Jeff (2012). "A Brief History Of Kart Racing Games". Modojo.
  9. ^ "Scraps: Modular Vehicle Combat". Scraps: Modular Vehicle Combat. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  10. ^ Roberts, Mike; Doyle, Eric (February 1986). "Coin-Op Connection". Computer Gamer. No. 11. pp. 54–5.
  11. ^ "40 Years of Arcade Games - Part 2(1990-2012)". Arcade Heroes. June 28, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  12. ^ "Road Redemption". road-redemption. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
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