25 Facts You DIDN'T Know About Twisted Metal

25 Facts You Didn’t Know About Twisted Metal

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 25 facts you may not have known about “Twisted Metal”! Whether you love the games or the show, this series has had an extensive history spanning all the way back to 1994 before its inception.

The Lost Endings

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

For as great as the original “Twisted Metal” was for its time, the way the endings capped off campaigns was somewhat anti-climactic. All you got was a text crawl with an image of Calypso before it switched over to showing your character driving off in the distance. Well, we were supposed to get actual cutscenes for these endings, and they were all directed by series co-creator David Jaffe himself. Unfortunately, they were all really, really bad! You can appreciate them for their corny demeanor, but Sony ultimately decided that these endings could possibly be a detriment to the game’s success. And so, the cutscenes were axed, never to be revealed until 2008 when it came packed with other cut content in “Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition”.

Choosing the Bosses

“Twisted Metal 4” (1999)

One of the unique aspects of “Twisted Metal 4” is how every stage presented a boss fight as opposed to just reusing Minion or Dark Tooth and nothing else. Some bosses are original, but a majority of them are souped-up versions of returning characters. Why these characters in particular? Well, it all came down to votes. Developer 989 Studios held an internal ballot where staff could vote on which of their favorite characters from the first three games should be put in as bosses for TM4. And that is why we got Super Auger, Super Thumper, Super Slamm, and Super Axel.

Early Incarnations

“Twisted Metal” (2012)

During its development, TM12 went through some stark changes in terms of themes and what direction to take the franchise in. One of these versions aimed for a game with a similar tone as the Rockstar Games racing series “Midnight Club”, focusing on hip-hop vibes and replacing the cast with yakuza, cops, FBI agents, and other figures of crime or authority. Another version was planning to take “Twisted Metal” into a post-apocalyptic world, almost similar to the one we see in the TV series with derelict and decaying buildings. Both ideas were dropped due to being way too different for the series or for not fitting the spirit of “Twisted Metal” in general, which is familiar settings, psychotic drivers, and sound environments awaiting inevitable destruction by players.

Unfocused Focus Groups

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

In this day and age, Sony has made it painfully clear how aggressively focus-tested their games truly are, what with the chatterbox protagonists solving puzzles for you within three seconds of finding them. Funny enough, this history of seemingly unreliable amounts of focus-testing goes all the way back to the very “Twisted Metal”. In the documentary “Twisted Metal: The Dark Past”, Jaffe and co-creator Scott Campbell revealed details about a focus test that had been conducted mere days before the game was supposed to go gold. According to them, marketing had brought in a group of players who excelled in fighting games and explained to them that “Twisted Metal” was “a fighting game with cars”. The players spent the entire session criticizing and mocking the game, leading Jaffe to believe he might be out of a job. “Twisted Metal” would end up winning “Game of the Year” from some outlets and wound up becoming a critical and commercial success.

Supreme Stuntwork

“Twisted Metal” (2023-)

With the technological advancements we’ve seen in the 2020s, movies and TV shows have noticeably become more dependent on computer-generated imagery than ever before. However, “Twisted Metal’s” TV adaptation has been way more practical than some would expect, particularly when it comes to stunts. With the exception of the more extreme stunts that involve explosions and crazy maneuvers, some of the “Twisted Metal” cast, like Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz, do their own stunts and fight choreography. Beatriz herself has noted how working on the show forced her to learn how to drive a stickshift for the first time ever.

Absurdist Metal

“Twisted Metal 2” (1996)

After the success of the first game, “Twisted Metal” almost went down a rather bizarre path for the sequel. Just as the first game was hitting the market, Jaffe, Campbell, and the team sat down to identify problems and come up with ways to remedy those problems. One idea that was explored for a bit was the idea of hovercrafts and vehicles with insect legs. This was believed to give the player more freedom in movement, thus preventing players from ramming into walls, a common issue the team kept seeing when watching players at public kiosks. Of course, this idea was never brought to fruition.

That Thing About the Pizzas

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

A common misconception about the original “Twisted Metal’s” development was that the game started out as a game about delivering pizzas. This was a misconception that even Sony PR fell for on social media. What really happened was that Jaffe and his cohorts had drafted up a whole design document for what would become “Twisted Metal” and sent it off to Utah-based tech firm Evans & Sutherland. The firm responded by sending a design document to them for a completely different game, that game being the pizza delivery game. Almost unsurprisingly, Jaffe had some choice words for that change in direction even being suggested.

The Support We Never Saw

“Twisted Metal” (2012)

In retrospect, it seems weird that TM12 never got any DLC given that DLC was really taking off as a possible source of revenue for gaming at the time. So, why didn’t Sony and developer Eat Sleep Play jump on this opportunity? Well, they were about to. In 2016, “Twisted Metal” 3D artist Shylow Baker posted models of Crazy 8, Twister, and Yellow Jacket on his ArtStation profile, revealing that these three cars were planned for DLC before being canceled. With TM12 having middling commercial performance, the idea for DLC was likely never revisited.

Making Axel a Reality

“Twisted Metal” (2023-)

When watching the show, it’s sometimes obvious when “Twisted Metal” was shot with practical effects and what parts were CG. But when it comes to Axel, it’s a little hard to tell in the less action-packed moments. However, one might be surprised to know that Axel’s entire rig is absolutely real. The entire rig was built for the show and turned out to be the heaviest vehicle in the entire show. The thing is that it is only ever used for minimal movement during scenes just to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. Still, it’s wild that the most absurd vehicle in “Twisted Metal” history is now a reality.

PC Ports??

“Twisted Metal” (1995) & “Twisted Metal 2” (1996)

In this day and age, it is still bizarre to see Sony announce yet another of their console exclusives make their way to PC. But what many players fail to remember is that some PlayStation games did get PC ports back in the day, especially some that were published as PS1 exclusives. “Twisted Metal” and its sequel were among these rarities, made to showcase NVidia technology on Windows 95 computers. So, it’s been funny seeing all these console warriors think that their exclusives were always made JUST for them. If they only knew.

The Name of the Game

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

It's fairly normal for a game to go through name changes as development continues. Typically, you have a codename to keep the project a secret until you’re ready to start the marketing process. As for “Twisted Metal”, there were at least three names that were given before settling on the name we know today. It first started under the codename “Firestorm” before it was given an official name, “High Octane”, which was the name of the tournament in the game. Then, at some point, it was changed to “Urban Assault” to fit the game’s themes of driving around realistic locations and firing missiles. “Battle Cars” was tossed around for a bit until the team found out there was an SNES game already called “Battle Cars”. Then, it became the generic title “Cars and Rockets”...which is one title to kill interest in a game. A consultant producer named Andy Sells came up with “Twisted Metal”, and it was settled with not much passion for the title.

Factoring In Factions

“Twisted Metal” (2012)

A contentious talking point regarding TM12 is the significantly downsized cast. TM12 places a deep focus on only five characters: Sweet Tooth, Grimm, Dollface, Calypso, and Preacher. This decision still flummoxes some fans today, but there is an explanation for this from Jaffe himself. Jaffe has stated across several interviews and videos that he and the team figured that the vehicles of “Twisted Metal” were the real stars of the games, not the drivers. And so, they didn’t think players would be all that upset about a game that hones in on their staple characters and dives into online gameplay a bit more like we were wanting for years, especially when there are more vehicles thrown into the mix than ever before. Just like how we told Rocksteady for years that we wanted to drive the Batmobile in “Batman: Arkham”.

The Glitched Ending

“Twisted Metal: Head-On” (2005)

“Twisted Metal” games have come out polished in most cases, but some PSP copies of “Head-On” contain one bug that will occur under certain conditions. For some reason, the game will potentially suffer from a glitch when played without any save data, and you won’t know this until after you finish a campaign. Regardless of who you played as, if you do not have any save data for “Head-On” whatsoever, there is a chance that you will not get to see your character’s ending. Instead, you’ll see Mortimer’s ending as if you just won the game with Shadow. Why this problem even exists is anyone’s guess. That’s the thing about video game development - crap breaks in ways you can’t even explain.

The Legacy of Sweet Tooth

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

The funny aspect about Sweet Tooth was that he was never really planned to be the face of the franchise, and neither was the ice cream truck. During development, Jaffe, Campbell, and the team kept revisiting the movie “Maximum Overdrive”. Based on the Stephen King story of the same name, the movie featured a semi truck with a goblin face on the hood. After incorporating a similar design into an ice cream truck, Jaffe’s then-girlfriend gave the truck the name while Sony’s marketing team would use the clown face for the cover art and promotional material. Ever since then, it’s been hard picturing a “Twisted Metal” game without Sweet Tooth, and he’s been on the cover of every single game.

A Total Rush Job

“Twisted Metal: Small Brawl” (2001)

When you look at the release of every “Twisted Metal” game, it seems bizarre that a PS1 game aimed at kids came out after a gritty reboot made for the then-new PlayStation 2. Interestingly, “Small Brawl” was initially planned to be a PS2 game as well before the team went against this. Didn’t want to cannibalize the sales of “Twisted Metal: Black”, you know? However, the PS1 was quickly becoming the obsolete console, so developer Incognito Entertainment would have to belt something out quickly if they wanted to squeeze revenue from the box one last time. Because of this rushed development, a lot of content, such as Axel’s ending and character redesign, wound up getting cut from “Small Brawl”.

Zack Snyder’s “Twisted Metal”

“Twisted Metal” (2012)

Just a disclaimer, no, Zack Snyder had no involvement in TM12 in any way, shape, or form. However, his movies clearly gave some inspiration for how the team wanted to handle cutscenes. Jaffe and his crew looked to "Watchmen" and “300” for both visuals and narrative as a means to figure out how TM12’s cutscenes should look and feel. Whether or not they accomplished that is, of course, within the eye of the beholder. But we’d like to think that Jaffe and the crew achieved this perfectly and are proud of the work, even if folks weren’t crazy with how the single-player campaign was approached this time around.

Realism with Convenience

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

Now, full disclosure - we could not find any valid sources to confirm this, but this was an interesting tidbit we came across. Rumor has it that gas station chain 7-Eleven was almost involved with the original “Twisted Metal”. The story goes that 7-Eleven entered negotiations with Sony to help fund the game in exchange for in-game 7-Elevens to be placed in some of the maps. It wasn’t until 7-Eleven got a look at the game before they noticed just how violent and dark “Twisted Metal” was. Sweet Tooth and the other degenerates were too much for 7-Eleven to handle, causing the corporation to back out of the deal.

“Time to Play!”

“Twisted Metal” (2012)

One would think that Sony would use an IP known for crazy vehicles to extract some extra cash out of merchandise. You know, shirts, toys, collectibles, models, and the like. The idea didn’t seem to spring into their minds until 2012 when TM12 was storming the PlayStation 3. Suddenly, you almost couldn’t escape “Twisted Metal” in your typical nerd and gaming stores. You could get models of Sweet Tooth’s truck, action figures of Sweet Tooth himself, even an ice cream scooper from then-popular merch subscription service LootCrate. A Funko of Sweet Tooth and his truck would come years later, but now, the most merch you can get commercially is in relation to the show and the occasion nod from Sony themselves.

Throwing Money at a Wall

“Twisted Metal” (1995)

Due to the nonsensical arms race in graphics, the cost of game development has grown substantially over the past few decades. It doesn’t help that companies, such as Sony, pay exorbitant amounts of money for various licenses instead of making original assets. So, it’s really hard to imagine a game like “Twisted Metal” being made as cheaply as it was. Though the budget was initially $750,000 USD, the final budget came out to roughly another hundred thousand. When adjusted for inflation, that comes out to about $1.7-$1.8 million to make a game like “Twisted Metal”. And yet, so many AAA games waste hundreds of millions and come nowhere close to the level of quality “Twisted Metal” had.

Axing Axel’s Ending

“Twisted Metal: Small Brawl” (2001)

We promise this isn’t favoritism over Axel, but the character and vehicle have had an interesting history between all the different depictions like the one we saw in “Small Brawl”. In this title, Axel is a kid who, judging by “Small Brawl’s” intro, winds up in a wheelchair after Calypso kicks him down the road. He was initially going to be a part of the roster until Sony stepped in and demanded his ending be removed from the game. The reason for this is because Sony deemed the line “You said you could make me walk” a possible cause for controversy. And so, the ending was dropped, and Axel wound up being a secret character. The team would attempt to rework Axel into a young girl with an affinity for machines and no wheelchair, but there was simply not enough time in development for this change in character.

And Talon Will Go Sailing No More

“Twisted Metal” (1995) & “Twisted Metal” (2012)

Aerial vehicles was an idea that was briefly explored during development for the original “Twisted Metal” game. Unfortunately, technology for game development was not as advanced just yet, and the team couldn’t figure out how to get it to work properly. This led to Talon being scrapped and left on the backburner for years and years. Talon’s concept would be revisited for TM12, just in time for a game focused on online multiplayer. Although, what ended up happening was a major imbalance in gameplay. Talon players could easily aim and shoot at cars from comfortable distances while normal, ground-based players had a hard time landing shots and driving at the same time to avoid incoming fire. Some fans still thought this was a cool concept, but Talon is one of a handful of ideas that cause players to view TM12 as a stain on the franchise.

The Thing About Stepping Out of Vehicles

“Twisted Metal: Harbor City” (Canceled)

A concept that was frequently revisited throughout “Twisted Metal” history was the idea of letting players step outside of the cars and roam around the world. This push likely began with Sony higher-ups after noticing the success of “Grand Theft Auto III” and its successors, games that were praised for giving the player a ton of freedom in where they can go and what they can do. Scott Campbell and the team at Incognito Entertainment were already hard at work on “Harbor City”, the follow-up to “Twisted Metal: Black”, when they got word about what Sony was working for. The team attempted to pivot and show the possibilities they could do for an on-foot “Twisted Metal”, but it was too late. Sony pulled the plug out of fear of the IP’s performance in a post-GTA market. The two levels that were made were included as part of “Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra Twisted Edition”.

The Canceled PS5 Game

“Harbor City” would not be the last “Twisted Metal” game Sony would cancel. In case you hadn’t heard, we were supposed to get a new installment made specifically for PlayStation 5. But there were a number of problems with it that led to its cancellation. First off, it was initially being developed by Lucid Games, the developers of the ill-fated “Destruction All-Stars”. Because of that game’s failure, Sony poached a portion of the team and moved development to one of their internal studios, Firesprite Games. The project proceeded for a while and even saw collaboration with the crew from the TV series during production of the first season. But after the disaster of 2024’s “Concord”, Sony began cancelling a number of live service games that had been in the pipeline. “Twisted Metal” for PS5 was one of them, and we soon learned that the game was to be a third-person battle royale. Not sure which is worse - the game getting cancelled, or the fact that it was going to be yet another battle royale game.

“Twisted Metal: The Movie” (Canceled)

What many folks seem to forget is that we were supposed to get an adaptation of “Twisted Metal” many, many years ago. At the time TM12 launched on PS3, Sony announced plans to produce a “Twisted Metal” movie, and there was already a name attached to the project. Brian Taylor, the director of movies such as “Crank”, “Gamer”, “Jonah Hex”, and “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”, was set to direct and write the movie. And that was the last time Sony said anything about the project. Years went by until Taylor himself finally revealed that the project was canned in September 2017. Sony deemed the “Twisted Metal” fanbase to be too small to justify the budget that was required to fund the movie. So, what made them change their minds for the TV series two years after this news broke? Who knows - Sony’s going to Sony with their own Sony logic, so the chamber is loaded with ghost bullets or something.

The Plane Crash Story

“Twisted Metal: Head-On - Extra-Twisted Edition” (2008)

“Extra Twisted Edition” is one of the most eerie and fascinating entries in the series for the sole reason that it is tied to the deaths of six key developers. Boot up the “Twisted Metal: Lost” portion of the game, and you’ll be told that you’re about to access levels that were initially meant for a new “Twisted Metal” game. But because of the deaths of six members of the team, the game was canned by Sony…until they received a mysterious letter begging for the finished work to be released. If you wanted to see the proof for yourself, you’d have to beat all three levels on Hard difficulty. Well, that story was a bunch of bulls**t. Over the years, Jaffe has had to explain this story several times, but he made up the whole thing as a means to justify “Twisted Metal: Lost”. Campbell and the team needed a story to go along with TML, and Jaffe came up with this myth to invoke mystery and help tease the imminent announcement of TM12.

Was there a “Twisted Metal” factoid that surprised you? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!