Dr. Worm’s Top 5 Most American Video Games

by Dr_Worm on Jul 5th, 2013

As you’re well aware, this is RareGamer.co.uk, a British site based around a British game development studio. As the most prominent American staff member on the site, I feel it’s my duty to inject a healthy amount of freedom into it, and create a top 5 list of the most American games out there.

 

#5 – Redneck Rampage

There’s no game quite as purely American as Redneck Rampage, where you take control of Leonard, a hillbilly whose prized hog was abducted by aliens. The aliens proceed to clone the townsfolk for no other reason than to use them to whittle the Earthlings down themselves. Your main objective is to get your pig back, but there are plenty of aliens and cloned bumpkins for you to kill along the way.

As I said before, it’s America in its purest form. A gun blasting, beer drinking cast of characters add a lot to the game’s aesthetic style, not to mention the outrageous and addicting redneck-inspired soundtrack. You get guns ranging from the quintessential shotgun to the always appropriate TNT crossbow, and power-ups like snack cakes and whiskey make it an instant American classic.

 

#4 – Twisted Metal

Let’s see here… guns? Check. Cars. Check. Guns attached to cars? Double check. Rocket launchers attached to cars? Very check. Awesome 90s heavy metal soundtracks? Super check. Vehicles running the gamut from big rig semis to sports cars, and motorcycles to ice cream trucks? Ultra check. Oh, the ice cream truck is driven by a demonic clown? Check it straight to Hell.

Twisted Metal is essentially a fighting game with cars, playing kind of like a fantasy demolition derby. And really, what isn’t American about that? The concept was created when David Jaffe was stuck in traffic and just wanted to have guns and missiles on his car. That sounds like a real American dream to me. Whether it’s Twisted Metal 1, 2, Black, Head-on or the new PS3 version, you can’t go wrong.

 

#3 – Grand Theft Auto

I know this game series wasn’t made by Americans, but it really is a good representation of everything wrong with our country. Gangs, organized crime, or just stints of psychopathic rage induced by a never-ending supply of cheat codes, it brings out the worst in us by allowing us to indulge in some of the most sickening of fantasies. And that is beautiful.

Pick your time period – 80s, 90s, early 00s, late 00s, from New-York-like Liberty City to Miami-like Vice City, or even an entire state comprised of cities mirroring San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Be it gangster, gangsta or even an immigrant looking to get away from his past, you’re guaranteed to find your niche somewhere in the series.

 

#2 – Madden NFL

Around the world, FIFA is the most popular sports game, but in the US, we play a real sport. A real man’s sport. We play football. I said it, not “American football”, because we all know American football is the one true football. Or at least that’s what everyone in America thinks.

Either way, baseball might be America’s past-time, but we all know the real definitive American sport is football. No other sport has such a grandiose final match as the Super Bowl, every American looks forward to it, even if it’s just for the commercial or the half-time show. And thanks to John Madden, we can have our own Super Bowls any time we want.

 

#1 – Paperboy

Wait, really? Not Call of Duty, or Battlefield, or Medal of Honor or some other war game? Why is Paperboy number one on my list of American games? Simple. It’s a wholesome representation of American teenage youth trying to get a head start on the “American dream.” You can’t just live off your parent’s allowance your whole life, if you want money you’ve got to earn it.

Paperboy is very quaint and subtle, and that’s what makes it so great as an American game. America’s not all rednecks, explosions, violence and football. I’m not sure if I can accurately articulate what makes Paperboy so American – the concept of delivering newspapers to your neighbors just feels American to me, and the graphics and soundtrack add a lot to that feeling. I think if it was British you’d be delivering milk instead, but maybe that’s just my natural American ignorance speaking. For now, this 1984 arcade classic is my #1 American video game ever made.

Categories: Top 5 Lists