Racing games range from crazy go-kart racers to hyper-realistic simulators, and the cars players can drive vary just as much. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, quite a few racing games added secret unlockable cars that were totally off the map of what is normally considered a race car.
Some of these cars were based on futuristic concepts, while others must have been designed when the developers were extremely hungry or simply out of ideas. Hotdogs, tanks, and T-Rexes all made unlikely appearances in video games, and ridiculous secret cars need a comeback in current-gen racing games. They’re silly, fun, and exactly what the racing genre needs to spice things up.
10 If the shoe fits you, drive the NIKE One 2022
For grand tourer 4Polyphony Digital partnered with Phil Frank, a designer with Nike, to create a hypothetical car to be included in the game. The result was the NIKE One 2022. Not surprisingly, it vaguely resembles a shoe, albeit a very strange one.
It looks sporty and streamlined and sporty it marks Nike whistle. grand tourer 4 I wasreleased in 2004, and it appears that Frank projected his hypothetical car to be released in 2022. However, racing and car fans have yet to see the fully realized vehicle, and it remains only in the virtual world of GT4.
9 Enter this car in the mileage log
The log car need for speed II it’s exactly how it sounds. No wheels, no driver, no logic. If one of the logs that fell off the trailer in that scene from Final destination got a mind of his own and started driving for himself, this would be the result.
There’s also an Outhouse car and various boxes and crates, but those are a bit more believable as goofy cars. slightly. Players looking to make their lumberjack racing dreams come true need only enter the cheat code “logme” to make them come true.
8 Drive the iconic “N” in Top Gear Overdrive
Top Gear Overdrive had a couple of unlockable cars that really stray off the wacky spectrum when it comes to what makes a car a car. The car with the Nintendo 64 logo is probably the strangest, but it’s somehow one of the best things to drive in the game. The 3D “N” from Nintendo’s console floats above the ground with four wheels magically attached at the corners.
The wheels float on their own, but common sense goes out the window when it comes to a driving logo. The devs didn’t even bother trying to make sense of it with a windshield or controller somewhere, but it gets full points for sheer ridiculous fantasy.
7 Taco Tuesday meets race day
Top Gear Overdrive switch from a 3D menu to a delicious Taco Car dinner. The car consists of a hard shell taco, some kind of dark meat, black beans and is topped with some shredded lettuce. In fact, it looks like a decently appetizing taco, and the sliced tomato wheels make a lovely side dish.
While the car isn’t the best driver in the game, it does look pretty good flying down the road, though the way ingredients get stuck inside a taco going 100mph is something players will have to forgive, knowing that it’s hard enough not to make a mess. simply taking a bite out of a typical hard shell taco.
6 This car is a hot dog!
The Wiener car in Top Gear Overdrive It may be the most realistic of his weird unlockable vehicles, but only because the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile exists. It’s safe to assume that when the developers were thinking about what the next wacky car would be, they were eating a hot dog and thought of that trademark tube steak on wheels.
The sausage car definitely looks like it, but the added flair of sliced pickles for the wheels sets it apart and drives home the idea that players are actually driving food. If race after race doesn’t whet the appetite, this vehicle should at least whet the player’s appetite.
5 Gran Turismo 6 landed on the moon
Grand Tourism’The motto is “The Real Driving Simulator”. In grand Touring 6, They went one step further, adding space driving to their repertoire. While the game always takes place on Earth, on real life race tracks with real life cars, sometimes including concept cars, GT6 added a Lunar Roving mission where players got behind the wheel of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
It is a replica of the actual lunar rover that was driven on the moon during the 1971 Apollo 15 mission. Players can only drive the car in this mission. It’s an odd addition to a more realistic racing-focused game, but driving a piece of human history is a pretty neat feat.
4 Take a tank in the TOCA touring car championship
the TOCA Touring Car Championship The game was set in a realistic racing world with licensed cars and real-life tracks. They added more realistic cars, tracks, and damage for their sequel. However, while they increased its realism, they also increased its whimsy by adding the Daimler Ferret Scout Car – a tank.
The treads are swapped out for wheels to keep the runs fair. However, the cannon still works and can push opponents out of the way. As ridiculous as it is, being a post-WWII armored car, the Daimler Ferret Scout Car is a fun addition to the game, especially if players are suffering from road rage.
3 Ridge Racer 4 took a page out of the Wipeout playbook
The Assoluto volcano in Ridge Racer 4 it looks like a futuristic tank that was crushed by a larger tank. Canonically, the Vulcan is a prototype futuristic racing vehicle that is launched to hover above the road.
It looks like an armored tank as there is no discernible cockpit or windshield, so the driver pilots it remotely or uses screens and cameras to see outside. The vehicles in the ridge runner The series can sometimes seem futuristic, but the vulcan looks like something borrowed from Clean up series, in an unintentional crossover that players didn’t know they needed.
two Win with UPS in NASCAR 2006 – Total Team Control
the NASCAR The series of games is pretty standard, as they always race on an oval track, turning left, and all the cars look almost identical except for the liveries. However, in NASCAR 2006: Full Team Controlthe players saw something a little different on the oval track.
By using the “Race Thetruck” cheat code, players can unlock the very recognizable big, brown, boxy UPS truck to race around the track. It has pretty decent stats but it looks absolutely ridiculous, competing against the rest of the cars. It doesn’t belong, but maybe that’s why the developers added it; a touch of fantasy.
1 Need For Speed II visited Jurassic Park
An iconic scene in Jurassic Park where a T-Rex chases one of the park’s jeeps. But as iconic as it is, the developers of need for speed II he thought, “What if the car and the T-Rex merged?” And so the T-Rex car was born.
Players can enter the cheat code “trexme” to unlock the prehistoric vehicle, which is literally just a model of T-Rex that glides down the road, beating all other vehicles in the race. It’s completely wacky, hilarious and a must try.
