The 20 Best Games Like 'Twisted Metal’

This open-world racer is one of the best there is, years after its initial release in 2008. Hop into a ride and drive around the fictional "Paradise City" to compete in a variety of destructive races, play against friends, and collect a menagerie of different vehicles. It offers something for just about everyone, including the Burnout series' signature Crash Mode, where players work to create the biggest crashes they possibly can. The remastered version of the game, which hit shelves in 2018, brings it all back with a fresh new coat of paint.

The Carmageddon series has been around for some time, and Carmageddon: Max Damage is the latest iteration. Mangle your opponents by smashing into them in your cars and bust things up with everything from bulldozers to spiked sports cars and all that you can think of in between. And you'll spare pedestrians no mercy as you explore a variety of different environments all in a bid to watch things go boom, pow, and kersplat.

Wreckfest is probably the best currently supported vehicular combat racing game. It leans more toward simulating realistic events like banger racing and demolition derbies and features both a robust campaign and multiplayer experience. There's an enthusiastic community and plenty of events to enjoy. Switch owners can also join in on the fun soon as a version of Wreckfest for that console is coming out later this year.

Take a trip down memory lane to the time of wacky WWE tie-ins. WWE Crush Hour is incredibly similar to Twisted Metal and has players controlling one of over 30 wrestlers in demolition derby-style matches. It isn't a great game, but it's an interesting look at a time when professional wrestling was a vital part of the zeitgeist.

Luxoflux's meaty vehicular combat game is a '70s-centric road rage adventure that follows a group of Southwesterners who work to fight for law and order in a country that's seemingly gone mad. Across a variety of levels, they hop into souped-up cars and battle those who they believe are getting in their way, rocket launchers and homing missiles be damned. It's a dirty world. Someone has to clean it up.

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is a mainstay of Atari's that finds players racing against each other in demolition derby matches. That means racing in school buses, vehicles, trailers, and more, all the while trying to destroy everyone else's rides. Whether you're participating in a suicide race to encourage disastrous collisions or pushing other players off the platforms, there's always some craziness going on.

This apocalyptic vision of the future follows mercenaries as they clash against each other across the wastelands of an alternative history. It finds tourists, hitchhikers, and passengers paying for fares to go to vacation destinations around the world and said mercenaries taking them there, all while everyone works to take out their opponents across 3D stages with homing missiles, bombs, and of course, their cars too. Trust us, it's just as chaotic as it sounds.

This zany vehicle shooter got its start long ago on Xbox, and it still lives on in the form of Cel Damage HD. It follows six characters on the game show Cel Damage as they work to destroy each other for the entertainment of loyal audiences everywhere. Contestants maim each other with chainsaws and baseball bats, use portable nuclear devices, and even turn freeze rays on each other as they drive across each arena. If it sounds crazy, that's because it is.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has everything you need to know about it in the title: there's Crash the mascot, and plenty of reasons to crash into your opponents as you zip through dangerous locales and work to pick off your enemies one by one. Zip around each track and shave off some seconds while slinging projectiles into your opponents and see who emerges victorious.

Days Gone isn't a racing game per se, but hear us out. It's an interesting spin on the typical zombie formula and once you sink your teeth into Days Gone you'll want to ride your hog all the way to the finish – and no, that’s not a metaphor for anything. You’re going to be on your bike a lot. In fact, most of your game has you zooming around on your bike, cutting down zombie-like creatures if you want to survive. And to that end, that means a lot of mowing down enemies. That counts as vehicular combat to us.

Remedy's classic top-down racer Death Rally is as vicious as they come if you couldn't tell from the name. Join a slew of racers with nothing but the dirtiest of tricks up their sleeves as they fight their way to the finish line by any means necessary. Lie, cheat, sabotage, and bump off racers so you can come in first place. Destroying things is the name of the game and it's a filthy job, but someone has to do it.

Run, ram, and slam with 16 Destruction AllStars as they get revved up and ready to take each other on in some of the craziest demolition derbies on the PlayStation 5. Crash into each other, send weapons the other players' way, and even get out of your car to go wail on your opponents. It's up to you how to take them out, but only one thing is important: that you do.

One of the games that started it all, Destruction Derby is all about small tracks and a huge amount of wrecks to make sure the action never has to come to a screeching halt. Destroy other cars by any means necessary, whether you destroy a radiator or blow a car to smithereens. It's an early title in what would become a massive genre, but every bit worth playing, even today.

Most destruction derby games have you racing only on one plane. GRIP: Combat Racing has you sticking to the ceiling, sides of the wall, and everywhere you can get your vehicle as you smash and crash into enemies while navigating twisting tracks. All the while, you'll fight your way across alien planets and even experience the carnage in VR if you so choose. You've never seen vehicular combat like this.

Throw it back to 1976 and get funky as Groove Champion, auto-vigilante. Pay the lowlifes who took your sister's life back by flooring your '72 Picard Piranha with two 50-cal machine guns and a flamethrower and demolishing anyone who stands in your way. Gun down the gangs and crime lords who deserve it and do your sister justice. You'll be going a mile a minute and having a toon of fun while doing so.

Jak and Daxter already have their own library of fantastical platformers, but Jak X: Combat Racing finds the duo competing in the Kras City Grand Championship as they're forced to get the antidote for a poison they're suffering from. Now they have to race against the best drivers in the world, and that means pulling out all the stops, including getting in the way and colliding with the enemy.

The world of Mad Max has always been about vehicular combat, whether you're watching the movies or playing the excellent post-apocalyptic adventure. Dive into the Wasteland and engage in brutal showdowns against everyone who wants to take your supplies -- and your life. Max can take on anyone he needs to, but you'll have to build the ultimate combat vehicle first if you want to emerge victorious.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may seem innocuous to outsiders, but if you think that, you've never been involved in a heated game. It's not technically based on vehicular slaughter, but it can certainly feel like it when you're gunning for number one. Crash and slam into other drivers, sling blue turtle shells their way, and see if they don't get violent in real life.

Road Rage is exactly what it sounds like. You hop on your motorcycle and race against your life as you rise through the ranks in a dangerous motorcycle gang. Use any bikes, weapons, and tricks at your disposal as you make your way through an open world and complete 42 story-driven missions to come out on top. You're, of course, going to have to take a few lives in the process, but that's how things go in this world.

Rocket League may have a lot in common with soccer, but that doesn't mean its craziness should be discounted, especially since you essentially use your vehicle as a stand-in for your body. It's just like a demolition derby, except you need to try to score points and pretend you don't absolutely abhor the other player.