[RETRO GAMING] Do You Remember Twisted Metal: Black?

The vehicle combat genre gained popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and Twisted Metal is credited with popularizing it.

Brief History of Twisted Metal

According to BloodyDisgusting, Twisted Metal is basically a mix of the concept of demolition derby and the game design of Mario Kart. Players compete in races in distinctive cars loosely based on real-world locations while picking up powerups like missiles and napalm as they take out each other one at a time until only one is left.

The franchise saw several iterations after debuting in 1995, but by the time Twisted Metal 4 came around, it was obvious the series had lost its appeal.

And this is when Twisted Metal: Black comes in. David Jaffe, the creator of the series, and his studio, rebooted the franchise on PlayStation 2.

The gameplay was an improved version of what was already available. It was more pleasurable to hold in your hands since it was more beautiful, larger, and faster than the game developers could create for the original PlayStation. The game featured many of the same characters, but they were all redesigned as patients of Blackfield Asylum.

How To Play Twisted Metal: Black

IGN noted that the main goal of Twisted Metal: Black is for the player to be the last man standing. That's all there is to it. The game consists of a series of deathmatches in which up to four human players or eight AI players compete to get the most kills. The player that stays alive wins.

Twisted Metal: Black Was Shut Down But Eventually Revived

Sony announced the network adaptor accessory in 2002 after the PlayStation 2's global release in 2000. NFL GameDay 2003, NFL 2k3, Madden NFL 2003, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, and Twisted Metal Black Online were the first five online games available for the peripheral, as per Kotaku,

Twisted Metal: Black was unfortunately discontinued by Sony Computer Entertainment in March 2007 in the U.S. and June 2008 in Europe. A small number of players, however, used LAN tunneling services to get their fix.

But here's the deal. You can't merely restart a game's servers when publishers take them down; you have to emulate them.

Well, fortunately, some players did emulate the game because of the concern that Twisted Metal: Black might suddenly die. It took months of development, but they have successfully revived the game in the end.

They started a beta in December 2014, and about a year later, it became online for everyone else.

The Resurrection of the Twisted Metal: Black

According to Kotaku, "the_fog" and "myabsolution" are among the number of people behind the revival of the game.

the_fog, however, admitted that this kind of emulation effort has certain legal issues. Therefore, the people behind the revival decided on a few simple guidelines to avoid any issues. First and foremost, they will operate the project as a completely private, non-profit service. the_fog said that even donations are not accepted.

Meanwhile, myabsolution, a diehard Twsited Metal player, said: "It was fun but it just wasn't the same as the old days of the real server."

You can watch Twisted Metal: Black's gameplay below.