What’s the Best Original Video Game Vehicle?

Photo: Daniel Benavides from Austin, TX, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Last week marked the launch of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, finally allowing gamers across the world to duct tape wheels to a plank of wood and zoom across Hyrule. Link may not be capable of human speech, but he appears to have his Hylian driver’s license all up to date.

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That got us here at Jalopnik Global HQ wondering: What’s the best vehicle from a video game, that doesn’t exist outside that game? We’re not talking Forza Porsches or Gran Turismo Civics here, we’re looking at vehicles made specifically for a video game.

Now, that’s not to say vehicles from driving games are definitionally eliminated. The Pac-Man car from Ridge Racer was an early favorite, and a strong contender to make the top shot of this list. But that honor, and my pick for the best original video game vehicle, goes to something else: The Halo Warthog.

I’ve written about the Warthog before, as possibly the most important vehicle in the history of video games. I stand by that sentiment, even after my knowledge of late-nineties video gaming was eviscerated in the comments. I said what I meant, and I meant what I said: The modern gaming landscape would be unrecognizable without the Warthog.

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For that, it’s my favorite by default. It may not look like a Corvega, drive like a Pegassi, or break the game like the Redbrick Car, but it changed gaming — that’s deserving of praise.

The Warthog is my pick for best original video game vehicle, but what’s yours? Leave your answers in the comments below, and we’ll pick out our favorites later on in the week.