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February 8, 2020 11:29 AM

The VW Beetle in computer & video games: this gallery shows the famous VW Beetle in different games on different computers and video games.
posted by Fizz (17 comments total)

This picture of a Beetle, gun mounted on its roof, tearing across the empty desert is really a mood.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:34 AM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm not understanding how this page exists without mentioning 1999's Beetle Adventure Racing for Nintendo 64.
posted by Mothlight at 12:06 PM on February 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

Best post title ever!
posted by Dysk at 12:07 PM on February 8, 2020 [4 favorites]

To expand a bit...

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posted by jim in austin at 1:36 PM on February 8, 2020 [9 favorites]

No love for the XBox? Forza Motorsport has some nice-looking classic Beetles.
posted by Fuzzypumper at 1:39 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

No love for the XBox?

No love for tabletop games? The first edition of Steve Jackson Games' Car Wars had counters that were vaguely pickup trucks and luxury sedans and such, as well as a few that were more futuristic (when originally released, the game was set fifty years in the future in the unthinkably distant year of 2031). However, one was unambiguously a yellow Beetle.

Every time I am excited to see something about gaming and it turns out to be computer gaming, I die a little bit.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:51 PM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]

The big takeaway for me was that some games (Double Dragon and Paperboy) got multiple arcade conversions to the same platform, with different features. (I'm guessing they were segmented by geographical territory.)
posted by acb at 2:14 PM on February 8, 2020

Much love for the Bug. My first car ever was a 1972 VW Superbeetle in nearly mint condition. About a week or two after having a new (well, rebuilt anyway) engine installed, I got rear-ended by a football player from my school and that was all she wrote.
posted by jquinby at 3:32 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

My graduation present from high school was a 1963 beetle. I had a number of them over the years including a new Super Beetle. I did almost all my own work on them using this (pdf). But this commercial van was my favorite...
posted by jim in austin at 4:01 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

OK, now do the VW bus.
posted by evilDoug at 4:50 PM on February 8, 2020

Beetle Adventure Racing, the game mothlight mentioned up above, was great.
posted by JHarris at 4:54 PM on February 8, 2020

Didn't Beetle Adventure Racing only have the New Beetle? That would be why they left it off this list.
posted by IAmDrWorm at 5:42 PM on February 8, 2020 [1 favorite]

Beetle Adventure Racing, the game mothlight mentioned up above, was great.

I seem to remember it offering an amount of real-world detail and exploration to find alternate routes and other secrets that was really impressive back before GTA3 came along.
posted by straight at 8:39 PM on February 8, 2020

OH MAN. This is the one chance I'll ever have to talk about the Internet Game Cars Database, a site whose interface is as unwieldy as its name but which holds an unparalleled info-dump of, well, cars in games. (See its pages for the Volkswagen Beetle and Volkswagen New Beetle.)

The site's...not what I'd call polished, but there's a ton in there and at least someone is still keeping the torches lit for 90s racer Dirt Devils.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:54 PM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]

No VWARE (Volkswagen, Antimatter Railgun Equipped). This list is incomplete.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:55 PM on February 8, 2020

*Checks Super Bug is there*
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:25 AM on February 9, 2020

Too Teutonic for me. I prefer two steam horses.
posted by sonascope at 11:18 AM on February 10, 2020