I tried to make the physics for Small Brawl a mix between Vigilante 8 (another game I made) and Twisted Metal so they wouldn't feel so stiff and wanted the cars to roll but Sony pushed back on it having true physics. A lot of your insights are correct about what happened on Small Brawl, glad to see it getting fair treatment. We were a budget title with around 10 people, most of whom were Single Trac programmers since we had to write the engine during development after we got moved from PS2 to PS1.
Funny I was thinking about Vigilante 8 while watching this. Loved Twisted Metal 2 and the Vigilante 8 pair of games growing up. Thank you for making such great games even under difficult conditions. Twisted Metal 2 will forever be my favorite game of all time bc growing up I played it alot with my brother, cousins and friends. Many, many good memories from Twisted Metal 1 but mostly Two. I hate Twisted Metal 3 and 4 but Im not going to beat a dead bloated horse.
Moving you backward from ps2 to ps1 was absolutely criminal. Small Brawl would have looked amazing, and run so much smoother with ps2 power. It infuriates me to no end knowing now what I do about game development that I didn't as a kid loving these games. As is now the entire franchise has been thrown to the way side. We really need a new game. But its been so long it would honestly be like reinventing the genre for whoever would develop it.
The funny thing is, pretty much every statement I made on the behind the scenes aspect of the game was based on comments you made on my past videos, so I hope I did it relative justice.
I actually thought it was kind of implied Billy was driving piecemeal because he was taking parts of other kids cars rather than building his own. Kids lose, he takes their car. Fits the bully character.
@Tacticalbacon productions If you do a Twisted Metal: Black video, consider doing one on the Twisted Metal: Black Online version. I and the Small Brawl Team made that version and many consider it to be superior to regular Black. I changed a lot, retuning the special, car handling, adding new modes, new levels and power-relics, it's a very different game.
I honestly really dig the goofy vibe this game is going for. The character designs are really fun and it feels very evocative of like, a B-tier Cartoon Network show, which makes me super nostalgic. It's drastically different for sure but I appreciate it for that.
Honestly, I'd loved to see a sequel to Small Brawl. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff that could be done with kid versions of some more of the _Twisted Metal_ mainstays. Like Bloody Mary reimagined as a child beauty pageant contestant, Black as the big, quiet kid who always wears a ski mask, or Minion as the weird kid down the street who may actually be a demon.
And BlackHawk would be a weaponized stuntcopter! It would be kinda funny if an adult police officer got involved and attempted to apprehend the champion, but for some reason would need to join in and try to defeat them with the chopper first.
Can't tell you how much I'd love a sequel. So much potential on modern consoles. I'd even be happy with a remaster of this game, especially with all the cut content that the devs originally wanted to put on the PS2 (or pretty much all of the TM games). Lots of cool potential for battlegrounds too like a park, diner, suburban rooftops, cul-de-sac, backyards, supermarket, etc. Kart games like this Re Volt and RC Revenge really need a comeback.
Small Brawl is the hidden gem of the franchise. One of the best soundtracks, great gameplay and stages. And the novelty of using RC cars allows for some wacky shenanigans and could be much more explored in future games, with interesting levels and gimmicks. People who dismissed this game as being just for kids, because of the theme, missed out.
I feel like we're at the point where the "Oh, Small Brawl is great, actually," response to the "Small Brawl sucks," stuff has gotten to the opposite end of the spectrum, where now the way the community talks about Small Brawl makes it seem like the best game in the series, which is going too far. I mean, it's still presenting itself as an unironic Twisted Metal Babies game, the cutscenes are pretty lame, the bosses aren't great, and the gameplay is pretty unbalanced. Like, the only thing this game does well is the levels, really, and having okay gameplay. But, that's not really the point of the criticisms. People say it killed the series not because it's bad, but because it turned gamers against Twisted Metal as a series. Going from Black to Small Brawl is a massive tonal shift that confused and alienated pretty much everyone at the time because it's just kind of a dumb thing to do. Like, there's a reason why Amazon didn't tone down the violence or presentation when they made Gen V, a spin-off of The Boys focusing on much younger superheroes. It's also really easy to look back in hindsight 20 years later and think "Wow! Small Brawl is actually great! I guess everyone back then who didn't like it was STUPID, but I'm so much smarter than them and I see that Small Brawl is actually the best game in the entire series, and probably the best game of all time."
8:24 is no one going to mention how you froze this dude on the damned conveyor belt straight to his doom? That was honestly metal. Twisted Metal. Haha, made myself laugh.
Yeah, can confirm. Never was the biggest fan of the series though the lore did sound curious enough but playing Small Brawl ended up being the most fun I've had with any of the games so far.
Another thing to note is that if you're using them to the fullest potential, Darkside and Outlaw have disgustingly broken specials. Darkside you just break after ramming so you can do it again, which can combo a single opponent from 100 to 0 on a single special. With outlaws you can mash the fire button, and not only will it deal great damage throughout but you'll heal a good portion if you stick onto an opponent. I was never able to die as outlaw because of that special
Yes, that was an oversight. Darkside kept flying off Tree Top Rumble when using his special so I added braking during the special that ended in an exploit we didn't have time to fix.
@Jahlil.W because being hyperbolic is to exaggerate something. Saying this game is better than that game is an opinion. You can have a hyperbolic opinion, however that would typically be like saying "tm3 is better than small brawl because small brawl in completely unplayable" which clearly isn't true because small brawl is very functional as a game. Thus that's a hyperbolic answer. Simply saying 3 and 4 are better than small brawl is a simple opinion. You need to give a reason for it to become a hyperbolic answer. At that an exaggerated answer. Even if a person says 3 and 4 are leaps and bounds better than small brawl, it's still not hyperbolic as it's an opinion and that person might just really hate rc cars
I remember the time that I had all the Twisted Metal games available at the time that I was looking for this one. I finally found a copy at a Used Games place and was excited to play it. I still like playing through the game today. The campy humor that went into it is my favorite with the idea of RC cars. Kind of introduces kids to the franchise before exposing them to the dark humor of the other games.
@@goodrichgames1308 Ah, so I was on the right track then with introducing kids to the franchise. I really enjoy the Twisted Metal franchise a lot. I have been playing since the first one came out.
Small Brawl is really underrated, and I'm always happy when you give it the credit it deserves! Is it the best? No, but that by no means makes it the worst. I had a lot of fun with this as a kid, and to this day my favorite ending is Slam's, something about him getting back at Calypso always made me laugh when I saw him getting scooped up in the backhoe, and Sweet Tooth's was always my second favorite.
I honestly love this game and always wondered how it would’ve turned out on the PS2. I just wish it was a little harder and had more enemies but still a solid twisted metal game.
the thing about small brawl being stupid and juvenile is that the entire series is those things. yes, including your favorite one. even the more "mature" entries are "mature" in the most stupid and juvenile way possible. if you're put off by cringe then what are even doing in the murder clown neighborhood in the first place
This is not quite how I would put it, but I agree with the overall point. Fact is, games like Black and TM2013 are still _really_ over-the-top, and some of the things we're asked to believe like Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck in Black having a mecha form is just really silly. There's still a distinct tonal difference, but even the grimmest and darkest of these games like to revel in fantastic concepts that contrast from their atmosphere.
Every time i'm reminded of Small Brawl now (even though again, i've never touched the series lmao i'm mostly learning from your vids) i'm reminding myself of such a great track idea for CTR: NF. With Rusty Warlus having his cooking show, you'd play in a level where you're small and traversing through cooking tables, food counters, maybe fridges and ovens, basically a race track themed around that would've been so amazing. There's no way i'm the only one that thought of this idea that would've been awesome and a great excuse for adding Rusty as a racer I completely went off topic my bad, the vid's good tho i have nothing to say on that lol
I'm so glad you covered this one! I distinctly remember Game Informer shitting all over this game, saying something to the effect of "even a 6/10 would be too generous". They couldn't be more wrong. With how late this game came out in the PS1's life-cycle, with its small team and small budget, it had no business being as good as it is. I seriously went into it expecting it to be roughly on par with Twisted Metal 4 and by the end of the second level, I knew I was hooked.
And now, Twisted Metal still survives to this day (TM1 and TM2 just got re-released, and the TV show) while Game Informer is straight-up dead and gone. Funny how things work out.
Alot of the media outlets calling Small Brawl the worst haven't even played any of the games, and are just ranking it low because of first impressions and presentation. "The characters are kids, therefore it sucks"
This game would definitely be the best if it was released on PS2 like it was planned to be. Even then I would still place it around my 3rd favourite in the series.
I have no clue how the amazing remixes and new music wasn't brought up a single time. Probably one of if not the best of the non-licensed soundtracks in the series, a bit ahead of 2013
Can't believe you didn't mention the banger soundtrack at all. From the remixes of OG tracks, originals like Carn-o-Maul, to rip-offs you can't help jam to like Now Slaying! The soundtrack kicked so much ass. I barely remember much of the OST from Black because they went for a moody, ambient theme, but Small Brawl's is beyond memorable.
Seems like a case where people think the game is now completely kiddy. It's more kid friendly for sure, but i like that's it's "Bart Simpson juvenile" if you know what i mean
This was actually the 2nd twisted metal game I ever played way back in the day, the first being the second game funnily enough. I fell in love with how god-awfully childish and cartoony it was, but I still craved the violent and dark themes of the other games so I went on to play 1, black and head-on. Still haven’t played 3, 4 or the 2012 one, probably for the best LOL. It’s strange looking back in hindsight and seeing how fluid and smooth the movement was in this game in comparison to the others. Obviously it came out after the others so they had time to improve things, but it’s almost like they perfected the formula, but with the most thematically different game in the whole series. It definitely deserves the love it’s now getting though.
It has its flaws, but its nowhere as bad as people say it is. As a lifelong fan of re-volt and the general 'tiny weaponized household items' concept my blood still boils over the fact that the small brawl devs wanted to make it on the ps2 but were pushed to the ps1, WHICH WAS VERY MUCH ON ITS WAY OUT, for a bunch of nonsense reasons.
I mostly love the idea behind Small Brawl than the execution. As someone who played Twisted Metal as a kid, would get out my Hot Wheel cars and drive around my house pretending to blow each other up, hearing that there would be a Twisted Metal game that would bring my imagination to reality was an instant buy for me. While the game didn't quite live up to my expectations, and finding out this could have been as big as Black only to get downsized greatly by Sony (I seriously don't think they like this IP) just bums me out, I still had some fun and appreciation for it despite the jank. Except for Gridiron Gore, that map sucks.
It would be great to see the correlation between Twisted Metal characters in the series with the developers. Why such characters exist in every game like sweet tooth, and if it is related to personal experiences for the game developers. Love the channel and all you do!
3:32 my Timeline is that billy saw the Twisted metal 3 contest and then found calypsos ring at the end of 4 with sweet tooth and Calypso still fighting inside of it which explains billys powers in the hammerhead ending with this games sweet tooth probably being an off screen worshipper of needles who couldnt join his rag tag group of Clowns but still worshipped the ice cream killer, outlaw is probably the child of a police officer, spectre of course is looking for his dad Spectre and found a picture of him from back in twisted metal 2 and so on
Small Brawl is easily my 2nd favorite game in the series behind Twisted Metal Black, and tbh it is my most replayed. The gameplay, car roster and level design are just so much fun and so well designed that I can help but love it. And honestly, I will disagree with one of your opinions in that I love the concept. Yes, the presentation of the characters could have been way better and definitely needed more time to create stronger endings (for example, instead of a Boy Band, imagine Hammerhead being put into a Christian Rock Band). But even with the chidlish antics, which have never bothered me since it gives me old Cartoon Network/Nickelodeon vibes and the game was aimed at kids anyway, the concept of fighting RC Cars is such an awesome subversion of car combat and allows for a ton of creativity in it's vehicles, weapons and level design. I'm also a competitor in fighting robot competitions, so RC vehicles fighting each other already has that personal appeal on my end (I'm still amazed Battlebots wasn't referenced once considering the game was released in the golden age of the show). Overall, I love this game. Is it perfect, no, some of the endings aren't that great and there are some polish issues, and I don't fault people for preferring other games in the series. But regardless, the game is vastly overhated by fans, and this is my favorite PS1 Twisted Metal Game (Rogue Trip Vacation 2012 is my overall favorite on the PS1). 2001 is my favorite year for Twisted Metal between Black and Small Brawl.
If I'm going to give any degree of headcanon for Billy's motivation for making a toy-sized demolition derby... I'm gonna assume he either can't afford or was denied by his parents to go to an actual one. So he knows the neighborhood kids who own RC cars and pitted them against each other for his own amusement since, y'know, stereotypical cartoon school bully. And considering the wacky cartoony shenanigans, it's best not to think about things too deeply, it looks as amusingly nonsensical as a typical episode of Ed Edd n Eddy.
Serious question. Who's genuinely saying that Small Brawl sucks these days? Like, literally everyone I've seen in the community acts like it's the best game in the entire series which... Dudes, if you think that it's the best game in the series now that it's cool in the community to think that, you're probably the type of person who would have hated it back in the day when it was cool to not like it.
I have a suggestion. Toy Commander is a Sega Dreamcast game that had a twisted metal style game with cars, boats, and planes, in a Toy Story style. It is very comparable in a positive way to Small Brawl. It also is one of the few games with a Christmas demo disc so it might be a good video in the future. I am a little biased to it though since I love the Toy Story 2 game and want more games in that small POV style.
Small Brawl was great! It’s controls were identical to Head On and it’s pretty well optimized when compared to the other entries on PS1. I honestly liked the childish nature of the game. I just wish the cutscenes were a bit better and more fleshed out considering there were some characters that straight up got text like Twisted Metal 1. Also, if the game was ever revived/remade, I think it could have a lot of potential in the area of new maps: Inside a classroom, a locker room, a parking lot with cars, the street, the landfill, a gymnasium, etc. I would agree though that Calypso should have had a vehicle. But it was near that Minion appeared again. As for the loading screens and the quality of the cutscenes, I always chocked it up to the game being made literally at the same time as Black. So the game was just a side project before they went balls deep into the scungah-gungah metal edgy desaturated world of Black. I honestly feel like if they had enough time and a bit more budget to flesh the game out, it would have been an absolute banger. I would say when you get to Head On, keep how this game handles in-mind cause I’m CONVINCED Head-On uses the same engine or at least the DNA of small brawl.
As someone who played 3&4 and thought they were the coolest games ever as a kid I have a lot of appreciation for Twisted metal 1-4. I just never got a chance to play the other games. Maybe I should try them out.
It's almost like a demolition derby played by weaponized RC vehicles is a fun idea or something! The endings may be hit or miss but I do like the aesthetic of this game.
The low-budget feel of this game is something I always felt but could never articulate until you spelled it out perfectly. Say what you want about TM4, but the graphics has way more polish, even with the cutscenes, which both games are nightmare fuel, but TM4 as least has more fidelity in their FMVs than Small Brawl. It's cheap looking but doesnt have that grungy fell that 1 and 2 had.
I can't help but keep commenting on any new small brawl videos lol Glad to see it getting the recognition it deserves and I know Goodrich is definitely glad to see it as well. It's insane to think of the cuts that had to be made for this game and yet it's still great. If there is a remake, fingers crossed, there is a lot of really cool concepts that could be brought back and then some. Imagine the level Now Slaying having the theater lobby being accessible as well. Or the cut bathroom level that Goodrich has mentioned on his channel. I think if remade now, it would easily be the top tier game in the series without question. Just hoping that Sony has something planned for it.
It's kind of odd to hear how one of the biggest drawbacks of this game is its difficulty being "too low". Not because I personally found it to be overwhelmingly difficult (presently I haven't even played it), but because games are far often more commonly criticized for being "too difficult". I know game development can be a real nightmare so balancing out things like difficulty can be a real monumental hurdle. I'm at the point in my life where I find games like Devil May Cry 1 or Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade to be "comfortably challenging". Difficult enough that they can still present genuine challenge to the person looking for it, but not so hard that they dissuade me from ever picking them up again. Of course difficulty is largely subjective so giving definitive input on this topic is near impossible. Personally I still find Twisted Metal 1 to be pretty tough even on "Easy" mode. I haven't been able to beat it all the way through yet and I've had the game for a while now. Granted I have been playing on "Medium" difficulty and am still new to the series (and this particular game genre) and I know a lot of hose difficulty spikes will disappear with time and repeated playthroughs. I really like the bit of this series I've played thus far though and I'm hoping that the more I'm willing to invest into it the more fun it'll become because even when the game is real cunt and decides to have the A.I. do obnoxious shit like dogpile whatever character I'm playing as simply because I'm within their line of sight, I still find the game a lot of fun. And that's something I haven't been able to do for years, find a game where even you're on the losing end, you still find yourself having fun.
One thing I feel you overlooked was the music, a lot of it are remixes of older songs. My favorite example is Easy Death Oven being a remix/reimagining of Cyburb Slide from TM1
6:07 I've been saying this for ages. Idk if it's a scale thing or the physics, but cars in Twisted Metal 1-4 (and Black to a much lesser extent) feel almost weightless, like RC cars.
I was in the process of trying to beat this game with everyone. Until I did some memory card maintenance and accidentally deleted everything. It's been 2 months. I still haven't recovered
Sony wanted a version for kids to get them into the series and research showed they were getting PS1 hand-me-downs. So we had to revert the game from PS2 to PS1.
PS1 games were CHEAP to make compared to the PS2, both in terms of money and time. A bit of hyperbole, but a dev could churn a game out in a year and change still with that level of hardware/architecture. Plus, all of the tricks of the trade for the system were know and basically ironed out, since games like Spyro 1 (which brought really good culling and LoD techniques to the mainstream), Crash 3 and MGS1 showcased them. Lots of smaller dev teams within teams were used to get the most out of the already built playerbases. Same reasons as to why people still released PS2 games in 2007/8 (God of War 2, Persona 4), and were massive successes.
Fun Fact: One of my country's game magazines (the specific magazine being Pelit, literally meaning 'Games') had a review of TM: HO back in 2005. The review had a recap section of previous games, even those that published in NA only, and they called Small Brawl "the biggest flop of the series." Edit: Added a word
I loved this game then and now as I don't get tired of playing it over and over again. Does it have flaws? Absolutely, but every game nowadays have flaws that makes their games unplayable due to online play or glitchy due to a quick cash grab. I feel like Small Brawl was a nod to the goofy, colorful games in the PS1 era which I love growing up.
Agree. I'd love a sequel or remaster. It's funny how 20yrs. later so many people are turning around and saying it's a decent game. It always was. I found this game in a Toys R Us (brand new) at the end of summer and instantly fell in love with it. Played it everyday until the school year started... and then had to cut back a bit. Granted I was 10 so it was geared towards my age group but I thought it was awesome. It'd mean so much to me to see this game come back in some form.
As a kid, Small Brawl was my absolute favorite of the series. It made me want my own RC car so I could attach roman candles and/or rockets on it. Sadly, I was a poor kid and never got my own RC car. On the bright side, it probably spared me and others a roman candle/rocket related incident.
No comment on Slam's ending where he drops an outhouse on Billy Calypso's head and proceeds to piss or shit on his head? That was so uncomfortable for me as a kid when I played this.
16:09 As a fan of Small Brawl, Now Playing is definitely one of the worst maps. What they COULD have done to make it more interesting is if they included the hallway outside of the cinema or maybe a lobby area with a concession stand or box office area.
R/C cars don't typically use stick radios those are meant for aircraft. Also good R/C cars are ludicrously expensive it's not really a kid's pastime at all.
In terms of doing the most with what you have, I thought the RC car presentation was great for a previous console gen game. It didn't do anything special but it was solid. Like you said I thought the levels were some of the best in the series. This same thing happened to me with Secret Agent Clank! I avoided it for years because everyone unanimously agreed it was the worst entry in the Ratchet and Clank franchise. Eventually I got it for super cheap and tried it out...and while I can see why it received all that criticism it's still my 2nd favorite.
I loved the whole concept for Small Brawl and it has a special place in my heart just for how cute and fun the idea was. Bite me. Part of me still wants to see a Saturday morning cartoon with the Small Brawl gang.
I'd like to see BluePoint to do a remake of Twisted Metal. It'll be nice to see a modern recreation of the PS1 classic, with better controls and destructive combat system. I'd really love to see some collateral damages on buildings, and other explosive areas of the game.
Small Brawl is my favorite PS1 TM game for one major reason: I can take more than like 5 hits before dying. Git gud and all that, but in Small Brawl I feel like I'm always ready to fight (and SB's level design lends itself to more tactical combat IMO), as opposed to my experience with 1 & 2 where I'm spending 90% of the time running away looking for health. Removing collision damage from the environment was probably one reason, along with enemies being less aggressive as mentioned, and having more health. It's still not my favorite of the series, that would be Head-On, but it's probably my third-fav after Black. In defense of the Piecemeal fight, I do like that the boss can destroy the chairs just by driving into them, which also affects fighting the smaller cars in-between. It's the first boss in the series (and maybe the only one?) that's fought in a dynamic environment that's slightly different each time. Piecemeal basically ignoring the environment and the arena being fairly small also means that you're never truly safe from him until he disappears. You can play hide-and-seek with Trapper all day long because the arena is full of escape routes and Trapper himself isn't great at navigating it, meanwhile Piecemeal can just drive right through your hiding spot. The playable character still sucks though
Twisted Metal Small Brawl scratched that itch I had as a kid where I imagined me and my friends strapping rockets, firecrackers and BB guns to our RC cars and have them fight it out Honestly? if it wasn't for this game, i probably would've never played twisted metal when growing up. I mean, yeah sure, it may have it's flaws... but the idea of "Twisted Metal but with RC cars" really deserves more attention and either a remake or a sequel
I never tried this one. Like you said, it looked like chep shovelware for kids and casuals in the twilight era of a last-gen console. Having moved on to PS2, and having TM: BLACK right there to satisfy my thirst for darker and more mature action, I really never gave Small Brawl a second thought.
I wonder when you will rank the games worst to best. I never really knew anything about this series till the show was announced and I found your videos while doing a deep dive and ended up getting Twisted Metal Black shortly after watching a few of your videos
I'm glad to see you talking so nicely about this game! I used to rent these games on PS1 as a kid. 2 and Small Brawl were my absolute faves out of the games
TBP: how billy calpso got resources or the power to do these tournament, I have no idea. That sound like Twist metal in a nutshell with each changing world set in each game. Calypso power keep changing. Frist got it from Black. Then change to being minion britthright when he took. A magic ring. You get the idea. Not saying it bad, as it give a new experience but consistency in TM is not one to expect to come out from this game series.
holy hell what a blast from the past. i remember playing the hell out of this game but never knowing the name of it since i didn't speak english back then. All these years I assumed it was just an obscure title lost to time and not a Twisted Metal game.
You forgot abot the fun and creative way they made you unlock certain characters that where hidden in some of the levels and you had to do something specific with the enviromet to get them. Thought youre going to mention darkside was inside of the cabinet while i was watching the video
I overall enjoyed Small Brawl. I've always loved video games where you are a little guy in a giant world. So I thought a RC Twisted Metal sounded fun. I just wish it had been a Ps2 game.
I dont have the time to play a backlog of games i missed over generations of gaming. I enjoyed tm 2,3, and black. None of my friends wanted to play small brawl when they owned it but watching your videos i feel like i have a good idea of what it was like and even close to the time it was released. Thank you
Small Brawl was a fun kid friendly Twisted Metal overall. Yea the game has a low budget quality but at this point we were ready to move on from the PS1 as the PS2 was already out by then. Still better than 989's offerings for sure!
I used to love this game as a kid! I found the gameplay very satisfying. I'll agree with most of the negatives about the characters and cutscenes, but it's definitely worth giving a second chance for anyone who skipped it for sure.
This just shows that twisted metal doesnt really have any weak entries, sure 3´s endings were garbage but speaking of gameplay, mechanics and overall FUN? yeah no weak entries, I enjoyed small brawl a lot as a kid, more than even 3 and I even managed to unlock piecemeal. PD: It was a huge bummer that piecemal DIDNT keep its size as playable.. I wished they did that just for the fun of it.
5:55 That's where I hard disagree. This game is far too floaty. There's no real impact & I constantly feel like I'm driving on air. The OST is EASILY the best of the series, there's no denying that, but Small Brawl just has too many misses, imo, to want to consider it as a competent inclusion to the series. Personally, I'd rather play just about any other game in the franchise, minus maybe vanilla TM1 on PSX.
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY COULDVE MADE 2 DIFFERENT GENRES OF GAMES WHEN THIS CAME OUT, ONE FOR KIDS, AND ONE FOR ADULTS (BLACK). THEY COULD VE MADE MORE MONEY TOO, BUT I GUESS IT WOULDVE BEEN TOO MUCH WORK. LOL
i think the childish tone work way better here than in 3 and 4, like making this maniacs and psychos way more cartoony than they where before in game that where suppose to be in the same continuity its feels messy, while small brawl stablish this is a diferent encarnation of the characters in a different scenario it flows way better....
I tried to make the physics for Small Brawl a mix between Vigilante 8 (another game I made) and Twisted Metal so they wouldn't feel so stiff and wanted the cars to roll but Sony pushed back on it having true physics. A lot of your insights are correct about what happened on Small Brawl, glad to see it getting fair treatment. We were a budget title with around 10 people, most of whom were Single Trac programmers since we had to write the engine during development after we got moved from PS2 to PS1.
Thank you for the insight! Always interesting to older developers talk about the obscure games that stick with you from when you're a kid!😅
Funny I was thinking about Vigilante 8 while watching this. Loved Twisted Metal 2 and the Vigilante 8 pair of games growing up. Thank you for making such great games even under difficult conditions. Twisted Metal 2 will forever be my favorite game of all time bc growing up I played it alot with my brother, cousins and friends. Many, many good memories from Twisted Metal 1 but mostly Two. I hate Twisted Metal 3 and 4 but Im not going to beat a dead bloated horse.
Moving you backward from ps2 to ps1 was absolutely criminal. Small Brawl would have looked amazing, and run so much smoother with ps2 power. It infuriates me to no end knowing now what I do about game development that I didn't as a kid loving these games. As is now the entire franchise has been thrown to the way side. We really need a new game. But its been so long it would honestly be like reinventing the genre for whoever would develop it.
where there two different teams for Black and Small Brawl at Incognito?
The funny thing is, pretty much every statement I made on the behind the scenes aspect of the game was based on comments you made on my past videos, so I hope I did it relative justice.
I actually thought it was kind of implied Billy was driving piecemeal because he was taking parts of other kids cars rather than building his own. Kids lose, he takes their car. Fits the bully character.
It also fits what bacon said earlier about calypso looking like sid if he was blonde
I thought it was a grown adult who is an rc car enthusiast
@Tacticalbacon productions If you do a Twisted Metal: Black video, consider doing one on the Twisted Metal: Black Online version. I and the Small Brawl Team made that version and many consider it to be superior to regular Black. I changed a lot, retuning the special, car handling, adding new modes, new levels and power-relics, it's a very different game.
I'd love to see you do an interview with TCB.
I honestly really dig the goofy vibe this game is going for. The character designs are really fun and it feels very evocative of like, a B-tier Cartoon Network show, which makes me super nostalgic. It's drastically different for sure but I appreciate it for that.
Honestly, I'd loved to see a sequel to Small Brawl. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff that could be done with kid versions of some more of the _Twisted Metal_ mainstays.
Like Bloody Mary reimagined as a child beauty pageant contestant, Black as the big, quiet kid who always wears a ski mask, or Minion as the weird kid down the street who may actually be a demon.
Or No Face/Crazy 8 who actually uses a paper bag because he believes he's ugly.
And BlackHawk would be a weaponized stuntcopter! It would be kinda funny if an adult police officer got involved and attempted to apprehend the champion, but for some reason would need to join in and try to defeat them with the chopper first.
How about a small black ?
Can't tell you how much I'd love a sequel. So much potential on modern consoles. I'd even be happy with a remaster of this game, especially with all the cut content that the devs originally wanted to put on the PS2 (or pretty much all of the TM games). Lots of cool potential for battlegrounds too like a park, diner, suburban rooftops, cul-de-sac, backyards, supermarket, etc. Kart games like this Re Volt and RC Revenge really need a comeback.
@@Necromagenvi0nif sweet tooth sees no face he would be pissed cuz that is Harold he's wearing
Small Brawl is the hidden gem of the franchise. One of the best soundtracks, great gameplay and stages.
And the novelty of using RC cars allows for some wacky shenanigans and could be much more explored in future games, with interesting levels and gimmicks.
People who dismissed this game as being just for kids, because of the theme, missed out.
I feel like we're at the point where the "Oh, Small Brawl is great, actually," response to the "Small Brawl sucks," stuff has gotten to the opposite end of the spectrum, where now the way the community talks about Small Brawl makes it seem like the best game in the series, which is going too far.
I mean, it's still presenting itself as an unironic Twisted Metal Babies game, the cutscenes are pretty lame, the bosses aren't great, and the gameplay is pretty unbalanced.
Like, the only thing this game does well is the levels, really, and having okay gameplay.
But, that's not really the point of the criticisms. People say it killed the series not because it's bad, but because it turned gamers against Twisted Metal as a series. Going from Black to Small Brawl is a massive tonal shift that confused and alienated pretty much everyone at the time because it's just kind of a dumb thing to do.
Like, there's a reason why Amazon didn't tone down the violence or presentation when they made Gen V, a spin-off of The Boys focusing on much younger superheroes. It's also really easy to look back in hindsight 20 years later and think "Wow! Small Brawl is actually great! I guess everyone back then who didn't like it was STUPID, but I'm so much smarter than them and I see that Small Brawl is actually the best game in the entire series, and probably the best game of all time."
Which is the best game in the series? Just curious @@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917
Never let people gaslight you into hating anything. This is the second best twisted metal on ps1.
@@laughingseal2282 definitely agree. And thanks for these words
How about twisted metal small black …
8:24 is no one going to mention how you froze this dude on the damned conveyor belt straight to his doom? That was honestly metal. Twisted Metal. Haha, made myself laugh.
Yeah, can confirm. Never was the biggest fan of the series though the lore did sound curious enough but playing Small Brawl ended up being the most fun I've had with any of the games so far.
Another thing to note is that if you're using them to the fullest potential, Darkside and Outlaw have disgustingly broken specials. Darkside you just break after ramming so you can do it again, which can combo a single opponent from 100 to 0 on a single special. With outlaws you can mash the fire button, and not only will it deal great damage throughout but you'll heal a good portion if you stick onto an opponent. I was never able to die as outlaw because of that special
Yes, that was an oversight. Darkside kept flying off Tree Top Rumble when using his special so I added braking during the special that ended in an exploit we didn't have time to fix.
@@goodrichgames1308 Braking*
@@ZerotheWanderer Fixed
Anyone who legit thinks this is worse than 3 or 4 is being hyperbolic.
I don't think you know what that word means
@@Giantsfanlewis Or...maybe he is just being rhetorical.
Twisted metal 3 and 4 are funnier and more memorable than small brawl.
@@adeade3978 and I gave him a rhetorical answer 🤪
@Jahlil.W because being hyperbolic is to exaggerate something. Saying this game is better than that game is an opinion. You can have a hyperbolic opinion, however that would typically be like saying "tm3 is better than small brawl because small brawl in completely unplayable" which clearly isn't true because small brawl is very functional as a game. Thus that's a hyperbolic answer. Simply saying 3 and 4 are better than small brawl is a simple opinion. You need to give a reason for it to become a hyperbolic answer. At that an exaggerated answer. Even if a person says 3 and 4 are leaps and bounds better than small brawl, it's still not hyperbolic as it's an opinion and that person might just really hate rc cars
I remember the time that I had all the Twisted Metal games available at the time that I was looking for this one. I finally found a copy at a Used Games place and was excited to play it. I still like playing through the game today. The campy humor that went into it is my favorite with the idea of RC cars. Kind of introduces kids to the franchise before exposing them to the dark humor of the other games.
Sony had us make Small Brawl to introduce kids to the franchise, seems it worked.
@@goodrichgames1308 Ah, so I was on the right track then with introducing kids to the franchise. I really enjoy the Twisted Metal franchise a lot. I have been playing since the first one came out.
What if billy was the child that calypso spoke of in minion’s ending in TM2?
Small Brawl is really underrated, and I'm always happy when you give it the credit it deserves! Is it the best? No, but that by no means makes it the worst. I had a lot of fun with this as a kid, and to this day my favorite ending is Slam's, something about him getting back at Calypso always made me laugh when I saw him getting scooped up in the backhoe, and Sweet Tooth's was always my second favorite.
I honestly love this game and always wondered how it would’ve turned out on the PS2. I just wish it was a little harder and had more enemies but still a solid twisted metal game.
the thing about small brawl being stupid and juvenile is that the entire series is those things. yes, including your favorite one. even the more "mature" entries are "mature" in the most stupid and juvenile way possible. if you're put off by cringe then what are even doing in the murder clown neighborhood in the first place
This is not quite how I would put it, but I agree with the overall point.
Fact is, games like Black and TM2013 are still _really_ over-the-top, and some of the things we're asked to believe like Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck in Black having a mecha form is just really silly.
There's still a distinct tonal difference, but even the grimmest and darkest of these games like to revel in fantastic concepts that contrast from their atmosphere.
Every time i'm reminded of Small Brawl now (even though again, i've never touched the series lmao i'm mostly learning from your vids) i'm reminding myself of such a great track idea for CTR: NF. With Rusty Warlus having his cooking show, you'd play in a level where you're small and traversing through cooking tables, food counters, maybe fridges and ovens, basically a race track themed around that would've been so amazing. There's no way i'm the only one that thought of this idea that would've been awesome and a great excuse for adding Rusty as a racer
I completely went off topic my bad, the vid's good tho i have nothing to say on that lol
I'm so glad you covered this one! I distinctly remember Game Informer shitting all over this game, saying something to the effect of "even a 6/10 would be too generous". They couldn't be more wrong. With how late this game came out in the PS1's life-cycle, with its small team and small budget, it had no business being as good as it is.
I seriously went into it expecting it to be roughly on par with Twisted Metal 4 and by the end of the second level, I knew I was hooked.
And now, Twisted Metal still survives to this day (TM1 and TM2 just got re-released, and the TV show) while Game Informer is straight-up dead and gone. Funny how things work out.
@@fredherbert7920 Whoaaa GI is dead?! Damn, my childhood ;O
Alot of the media outlets calling Small Brawl the worst haven't even played any of the games, and are just ranking it low because of first impressions and presentation. "The characters are kids, therefore it sucks"
This game would definitely be the best if it was released on PS2 like it was planned to be. Even then I would still place it around my 3rd favourite in the series.
Hey Cody 👋
I have no clue how the amazing remixes and new music wasn't brought up a single time. Probably one of if not the best of the non-licensed soundtracks in the series, a bit ahead of 2013
Can't believe you didn't mention the banger soundtrack at all. From the remixes of OG tracks, originals like Carn-o-Maul, to rip-offs you can't help jam to like Now Slaying! The soundtrack kicked so much ass. I barely remember much of the OST from Black because they went for a moody, ambient theme, but Small Brawl's is beyond memorable.
Seems like a case where people think the game is now completely kiddy. It's more kid friendly for sure, but i like that's it's "Bart Simpson juvenile" if you know what i mean
This was actually the 2nd twisted metal game I ever played way back in the day, the first being the second game funnily enough. I fell in love with how god-awfully childish and cartoony it was, but I still craved the violent and dark themes of the other games so I went on to play 1, black and head-on. Still haven’t played 3, 4 or the 2012 one, probably for the best LOL. It’s strange looking back in hindsight and seeing how fluid and smooth the movement was in this game in comparison to the others. Obviously it came out after the others so they had time to improve things, but it’s almost like they perfected the formula, but with the most thematically different game in the whole series. It definitely deserves the love it’s now getting though.
Absolutely love this game, it aged so well. And the level design is superb
5:40 in fact I would argue the cheap look of the game accentuates the dark, sleazy atmosphere that I love about these games
It has its flaws, but its nowhere as bad as people say it is. As a lifelong fan of re-volt and the general 'tiny weaponized household items' concept my blood still boils over the fact that the small brawl devs wanted to make it on the ps2 but were pushed to the ps1, WHICH WAS VERY MUCH ON ITS WAY OUT, for a bunch of nonsense reasons.
I mostly love the idea behind Small Brawl than the execution. As someone who played Twisted Metal as a kid, would get out my Hot Wheel cars and drive around my house pretending to blow each other up, hearing that there would be a Twisted Metal game that would bring my imagination to reality was an instant buy for me.
While the game didn't quite live up to my expectations, and finding out this could have been as big as Black only to get downsized greatly by Sony (I seriously don't think they like this IP) just bums me out, I still had some fun and appreciation for it despite the jank.
Except for Gridiron Gore, that map sucks.
It would be great to see the correlation between Twisted Metal characters in the series with the developers. Why such characters exist in every game like sweet tooth, and if it is related to personal experiences for the game developers. Love the channel and all you do!
3:32 my Timeline is that billy saw the Twisted metal 3 contest and then found calypsos ring at the end of 4 with sweet tooth and Calypso still fighting inside of it which explains billys powers in the hammerhead ending with this games sweet tooth probably being an off screen worshipper of needles who couldnt join his rag tag group of Clowns but still worshipped the ice cream killer, outlaw is probably the child of a police officer, spectre of course is looking for his dad Spectre and found a picture of him from back in twisted metal 2 and so on
I always felt the hate for the game's tone and set up were overboard since it's clearly a noncanon spinoff. They can have some fun with it
Small Brawl is easily my 2nd favorite game in the series behind Twisted Metal Black, and tbh it is my most replayed. The gameplay, car roster and level design are just so much fun and so well designed that I can help but love it.
And honestly, I will disagree with one of your opinions in that I love the concept. Yes, the presentation of the characters could have been way better and definitely needed more time to create stronger endings (for example, instead of a Boy Band, imagine Hammerhead being put into a Christian Rock Band). But even with the chidlish antics, which have never bothered me since it gives me old Cartoon Network/Nickelodeon vibes and the game was aimed at kids anyway, the concept of fighting RC Cars is such an awesome subversion of car combat and allows for a ton of creativity in it's vehicles, weapons and level design. I'm also a competitor in fighting robot competitions, so RC vehicles fighting each other already has that personal appeal on my end (I'm still amazed Battlebots wasn't referenced once considering the game was released in the golden age of the show).
Overall, I love this game. Is it perfect, no, some of the endings aren't that great and there are some polish issues, and I don't fault people for preferring other games in the series. But regardless, the game is vastly overhated by fans, and this is my favorite PS1 Twisted Metal Game (Rogue Trip Vacation 2012 is my overall favorite on the PS1). 2001 is my favorite year for Twisted Metal between Black and Small Brawl.
If I'm going to give any degree of headcanon for Billy's motivation for making a toy-sized demolition derby... I'm gonna assume he either can't afford or was denied by his parents to go to an actual one. So he knows the neighborhood kids who own RC cars and pitted them against each other for his own amusement since, y'know, stereotypical cartoon school bully.
And considering the wacky cartoony shenanigans, it's best not to think about things too deeply, it looks as amusingly nonsensical as a typical episode of Ed Edd n Eddy.
Small brawl is criminally underrated and we need another game in this style
Serious question. Who's genuinely saying that Small Brawl sucks these days?
Like, literally everyone I've seen in the community acts like it's the best game in the entire series which... Dudes, if you think that it's the best game in the series now that it's cool in the community to think that, you're probably the type of person who would have hated it back in the day when it was cool to not like it.
Awesome to see Small Brawl getting love from the man himself! This is still my favorite title in the series by far and it deserves more love!
Not surprised to see you here but still cool! Small brawl is really good for sure though I prefer 1 myself
Sad that axel, trapper and mine did not get endings
I have a suggestion. Toy Commander is a Sega Dreamcast game that had a twisted metal style game with cars, boats, and planes, in a Toy Story style. It is very comparable in a positive way to Small Brawl. It also is one of the few games with a Christmas demo disc so it might be a good video in the future. I am a little biased to it though since I love the Toy Story 2 game and want more games in that small POV style.
Small Brawl was great! It’s controls were identical to Head On and it’s pretty well optimized when compared to the other entries on PS1.
I honestly liked the childish nature of the game. I just wish the cutscenes were a bit better and more fleshed out considering there were some characters that straight up got text like Twisted Metal 1.
Also, if the game was ever revived/remade, I think it could have a lot of potential in the area of new maps: Inside a classroom, a locker room, a parking lot with cars, the street, the landfill, a gymnasium, etc.
I would agree though that Calypso should have had a vehicle. But it was near that Minion appeared again.
As for the loading screens and the quality of the cutscenes, I always chocked it up to the game being made literally at the same time as Black. So the game was just a side project before they went balls deep into the scungah-gungah metal edgy desaturated world of Black.
I honestly feel like if they had enough time and a bit more budget to flesh the game out, it would have been an absolute banger.
I would say when you get to Head On, keep how this game handles in-mind cause I’m CONVINCED Head-On uses the same engine or at least the DNA of small brawl.
As someone who played 3&4 and thought they were the coolest games ever as a kid I have a lot of appreciation for Twisted metal 1-4. I just never got a chance to play the other games. Maybe I should try them out.
A good, well balanced review for one of the most well balanced (between its positives and negatives) games of the series!
Twisted Metal Black's baby bro.
- The only TM where vehicles on TM1 & TM2 could fight one another.
Ngl , this is one of my favourite TM games ever. I cannot begin to tell you the hours and hours of fun my friends and I had playing this as a kid.
Small Brawl and Black came out when I was a preteen so naturally I latched onto the dark and gritty one and ignored the "safe" one.
If it's not fun why bother? Small brawl was the one I first ever played. And still it's one of the few that is fun to me years later.
It's almost like a demolition derby played by weaponized RC vehicles is a fun idea or something! The endings may be hit or miss but I do like the aesthetic of this game.
The low-budget feel of this game is something I always felt but could never articulate until you spelled it out perfectly.
Say what you want about TM4, but the graphics has way more polish, even with the cutscenes, which both games are nightmare fuel, but TM4 as least has more fidelity in their FMVs than Small Brawl.
It's cheap looking but doesnt have that grungy fell that 1 and 2 had.
The kitchen map was my favorite
I can't help but keep commenting on any new small brawl videos lol Glad to see it getting the recognition it deserves and I know Goodrich is definitely glad to see it as well. It's insane to think of the cuts that had to be made for this game and yet it's still great. If there is a remake, fingers crossed, there is a lot of really cool concepts that could be brought back and then some. Imagine the level Now Slaying having the theater lobby being accessible as well. Or the cut bathroom level that Goodrich has mentioned on his channel. I think if remade now, it would easily be the top tier game in the series without question. Just hoping that Sony has something planned for it.
This was my favorite game as kid and still love it to this day, I remember taking once to show and tell when I was younger
Wow, thanks.
How’d that go?
It's kind of odd to hear how one of the biggest drawbacks of this game is its difficulty being "too low". Not because I personally found it to be overwhelmingly difficult (presently I haven't even played it), but because games are far often more commonly criticized for being "too difficult". I know game development can be a real nightmare so balancing out things like difficulty can be a real monumental hurdle. I'm at the point in my life where I find games like Devil May Cry 1 or Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade to be "comfortably challenging". Difficult enough that they can still present genuine challenge to the person looking for it, but not so hard that they dissuade me from ever picking them up again. Of course difficulty is largely subjective so giving definitive input on this topic is near impossible. Personally I still find Twisted Metal 1 to be pretty tough even on "Easy" mode. I haven't been able to beat it all the way through yet and I've had the game for a while now. Granted I have been playing on "Medium" difficulty and am still new to the series (and this particular game genre) and I know a lot of hose difficulty spikes will disappear with time and repeated playthroughs. I really like the bit of this series I've played thus far though and I'm hoping that the more I'm willing to invest into it the more fun it'll become because even when the game is real cunt and decides to have the A.I. do obnoxious shit like dogpile whatever character I'm playing as simply because I'm within their line of sight, I still find the game a lot of fun. And that's something I haven't been able to do for years, find a game where even you're on the losing end, you still find yourself having fun.
PM's ability makes sense....Mime's ability should be that they steal all weapons from a player when they hit them with a special attack.
One thing I feel you overlooked was the music, a lot of it are remixes of older songs. My favorite example is Easy Death Oven being a remix/reimagining of Cyburb Slide from TM1
Tbh I can’t believe I kinda remember this from the one time I tried it on my ps1 then just went to playing hot wheels turbo racing
6:07 I've been saying this for ages. Idk if it's a scale thing or the physics, but cars in Twisted Metal 1-4 (and Black to a much lesser extent) feel almost weightless, like RC cars.
I was in the process of trying to beat this game with everyone. Until I did some memory card maintenance and accidentally deleted everything. It's been 2 months. I still haven't recovered
I'm baffled to why anyone would anyone would release a PS1 game in 2001 when the PS2 was already on store shelves at the time.
Sony wanted a version for kids to get them into the series and research showed they were getting PS1 hand-me-downs. So we had to revert the game from PS2 to PS1.
PS1 games were CHEAP to make compared to the PS2, both in terms of money and time. A bit of hyperbole, but a dev could churn a game out in a year and change still with that level of hardware/architecture. Plus, all of the tricks of the trade for the system were know and basically ironed out, since games like Spyro 1 (which brought really good culling and LoD techniques to the mainstream), Crash 3 and MGS1 showcased them. Lots of smaller dev teams within teams were used to get the most out of the already built playerbases. Same reasons as to why people still released PS2 games in 2007/8 (God of War 2, Persona 4), and were massive successes.
Fun Fact: One of my country's game magazines (the specific magazine being Pelit, literally meaning 'Games') had a review of TM: HO back in 2005. The review had a recap section of previous games, even those that published in NA only, and they called Small Brawl "the biggest flop of the series."
Edit: Added a word
Financially it was, but at least we broke even.
I wanna get a physical copy of this game and play it on my VCD-capable PlayStation.
I loved this game then and now as I don't get tired of playing it over and over again. Does it have flaws? Absolutely, but every game nowadays have flaws that makes their games unplayable due to online play or glitchy due to a quick cash grab. I feel like Small Brawl was a nod to the goofy, colorful games in the PS1 era which I love growing up.
I loved Small Brawl. Glad to see it getting some much needed love from someone that actually knows Twisted Metal. I’d love another game in its style.
Agree. I'd love a sequel or remaster. It's funny how 20yrs. later so many people are turning around and saying it's a decent game. It always was. I found this game in a Toys R Us (brand new) at the end of summer and instantly fell in love with it. Played it everyday until the school year started... and then had to cut back a bit. Granted I was 10 so it was geared towards my age group but I thought it was awesome. It'd mean so much to me to see this game come back in some form.
As a kid, Small Brawl was my absolute favorite of the series. It made me want my own RC car so I could attach roman candles and/or rockets on it. Sadly, I was a poor kid and never got my own RC car. On the bright side, it probably spared me and others a roman candle/rocket related incident.
The game's soundtrack has to be one the best out of the entire series, for it being original and not some licensed song of course.
Didn’t this video used to be called “Twisted metal small brawl is great…you’re just mean”?
No comment on Slam's ending where he drops an outhouse on Billy Calypso's head and proceeds to piss or shit on his head? That was so uncomfortable for me as a kid when I played this.
I still have small brawl
16:09 As a fan of Small Brawl, Now Playing is definitely one of the worst maps. What they COULD have done to make it more interesting is if they included the hallway outside of the cinema or maybe a lobby area with a concession stand or box office area.
R/C cars don't typically use stick radios those are meant for aircraft. Also good R/C cars are ludicrously expensive it's not really a kid's pastime at all.
In terms of doing the most with what you have, I thought the RC car presentation was great for a previous console gen game. It didn't do anything special but it was solid. Like you said I thought the levels were some of the best in the series.
This same thing happened to me with Secret Agent Clank! I avoided it for years because everyone unanimously agreed it was the worst entry in the Ratchet and Clank franchise. Eventually I got it for super cheap and tried it out...and while I can see why it received all that criticism it's still my 2nd favorite.
I loved the whole concept for Small Brawl and it has a special place in my heart just for how cute and fun the idea was. Bite me.
Part of me still wants to see a Saturday morning cartoon with the Small Brawl gang.
I'd like to see BluePoint to do a remake of Twisted Metal. It'll be nice to see a modern recreation of the PS1 classic, with better controls and destructive combat system. I'd really love to see some collateral damages on buildings, and other explosive areas of the game.
I wonder why Calypso never rode Any Boss Vehicles in Twisted Metal?
Small Brawl is my favorite PS1 TM game for one major reason: I can take more than like 5 hits before dying. Git gud and all that, but in Small Brawl I feel like I'm always ready to fight (and SB's level design lends itself to more tactical combat IMO), as opposed to my experience with 1 & 2 where I'm spending 90% of the time running away looking for health. Removing collision damage from the environment was probably one reason, along with enemies being less aggressive as mentioned, and having more health. It's still not my favorite of the series, that would be Head-On, but it's probably my third-fav after Black.
In defense of the Piecemeal fight, I do like that the boss can destroy the chairs just by driving into them, which also affects fighting the smaller cars in-between. It's the first boss in the series (and maybe the only one?) that's fought in a dynamic environment that's slightly different each time. Piecemeal basically ignoring the environment and the arena being fairly small also means that you're never truly safe from him until he disappears. You can play hide-and-seek with Trapper all day long because the arena is full of escape routes and Trapper himself isn't great at navigating it, meanwhile Piecemeal can just drive right through your hiding spot. The playable character still sucks though
When I played the game piecemeal made me more difficult to defeat than trapper
Twisted Metal Small Brawl scratched that itch I had as a kid where I imagined me and my friends strapping rockets, firecrackers and BB guns to our RC cars and have them fight it out
Honestly? if it wasn't for this game, i probably would've never played twisted metal when growing up. I mean, yeah sure, it may have it's flaws... but the idea of "Twisted Metal but with RC cars" really deserves more attention and either a remake or a sequel
I never tried this one. Like you said, it looked like chep shovelware for kids and casuals in the twilight era of a last-gen console.
Having moved on to PS2, and having TM: BLACK right there to satisfy my thirst for darker and more mature action, I really never gave Small Brawl a second thought.
This was actually my first twisted metal game as a kid. It was so much fun back then for me and friends
I wonder when you will rank the games worst to best. I never really knew anything about this series till the show was announced and I found your videos while doing a deep dive and ended up getting Twisted Metal Black shortly after watching a few of your videos
And you forgot to mention the banger ost, especially on buster lanes
The first part of the title is true, the next part is BS....this game was a big part of my childhood.
I thought sweet tooth was shooting a pink eraser. 11:54
*SPOILER ALERT* So when John Doe gets his delivery back to New SF in the show, is that kind of a call back to Sweet Tooth's ending in this game?
Great vid, but if I hear "Small Brawl" one more time, I will go insane.
only thing i didn't like about this one is, they took away my Run N Gun controler setting
I'm glad to see you talking so nicely about this game! I used to rent these games on PS1 as a kid. 2 and Small Brawl were my absolute faves out of the games
TBP: how billy calpso got resources or the power to do these tournament, I have no idea.
That sound like Twist metal in a nutshell with each changing world set in each game.
Calypso power keep changing.
Frist got it from Black.
Then change to being minion britthright when he took.
A magic ring.
You get the idea. Not saying it bad, as it give a new experience but consistency in TM is not one to expect to come out from this game series.
holy hell what a blast from the past. i remember playing the hell out of this game but never knowing the name of it since i didn't speak english back then. All these years I assumed it was just an obscure title lost to time and not a Twisted Metal game.
It's a rare game now I barely find copies of it online now.
You forgot abot the fun and creative way they made you unlock certain characters that where hidden in some of the levels and you had to do something specific with the enviromet to get them. Thought youre going to mention darkside was inside of the cabinet while i was watching the video
For example mime you unlock it shooting the christmas socks in holiday havoc level
9:18 honestly I would rather be unable to flip over than flip over all the time like TM3
I overall enjoyed Small Brawl. I've always loved video games where you are a little guy in a giant world. So I thought a RC Twisted Metal sounded fun. I just wish it had been a Ps2 game.
Nicknaming (not his full name) had this as his favorite and actually hated 1 and 2 the most.
I dont have the time to play a backlog of games i missed over generations of gaming. I enjoyed tm 2,3, and black. None of my friends wanted to play small brawl when they owned it but watching your videos i feel like i have a good idea of what it was like and even close to the time it was released. Thank you
Small Brawl was a fun kid friendly Twisted Metal overall. Yea the game has a low budget quality but at this point we were ready to move on from the PS1 as the PS2 was already out by then. Still better than 989's offerings for sure!
Small Brawl in terms of pure gameplay might be my favorite of the series. The feel of driving is just… perfect.
I truly enjoy this game more than 989's duo. As long as I'm not stuck upside down, or turtle-ing as I jokingly call the phenomenon, I am good.
I used to love this game as a kid! I found the gameplay very satisfying. I'll agree with most of the negatives about the characters and cutscenes, but it's definitely worth giving a second chance for anyone who skipped it for sure.
This just shows that twisted metal doesnt really have any weak entries, sure 3´s endings were garbage but speaking of gameplay, mechanics and overall FUN? yeah no weak entries, I enjoyed small brawl a lot as a kid, more than even 3 and I even managed to unlock piecemeal.
PD: It was a huge bummer that piecemal DIDNT keep its size as playable.. I wished they did that just for the fun of it.
5:55 That's where I hard disagree. This game is far too floaty. There's no real impact & I constantly feel like I'm driving on air. The OST is EASILY the best of the series, there's no denying that, but Small Brawl just has too many misses, imo, to want to consider it as a competent inclusion to the series. Personally, I'd rather play just about any other game in the franchise, minus maybe vanilla TM1 on PSX.
8:24 That was diabolical
I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY COULDVE MADE 2 DIFFERENT GENRES OF GAMES WHEN THIS CAME OUT, ONE FOR KIDS, AND ONE FOR ADULTS (BLACK).
THEY COULD VE MADE MORE MONEY TOO, BUT I GUESS IT WOULDVE BEEN TOO MUCH WORK. LOL
i think the childish tone work way better here than in 3 and 4, like making this maniacs and psychos way more cartoony than they where before in game that where suppose to be in the same continuity its feels messy, while small brawl stablish this is a diferent encarnation of the characters in a different scenario it flows way better....
"...and are usually *RIPPING ME OOOOOFF!"*