IGN Picks the Top Badass Motorcycles in Video Games

There's nothing that gives a sense of freedom like riding a motorcycle. I can hop on, gear up, take off and even drag knee here and there. But there are limitations to what I can do on a bike though. I can’t ride off skyscrapers and land unscathed, or carry a sword to fight off bad guys, or throw turtle shells at cars during rush hour traffic. This is why video games were invented—to create worlds with no limitations. So we decided to ask IGN to help us find the coolest video games where we can carry out our wildest motorcycle dreams.

When it comes to video games, I'm no expert. The last game I played was circa 2006 and it was Wii bowling--I’m sure that doesn’t really count me as a gamer. So I got up from my desk, walked five yards and was able to get answers from real gamers. You see, I work in the same office as video game news giant IGN entertainment. Working in the same vicinity as IGN has its perks, which include finding IGN staff who ride motorcycles and play video games.

READ MORE: Master Chief Motorcycle Helmet Shipping In July - RideApart

I approached IGN web producer Kyle O’Connor and software engineer Dustin Keeton. Kyle rides a 2007 Harley-Davidson Sportster and always expresses how much he loves it. Dustin rides a 2009 Ninja 250R and is currently looking to upgrade (I told him he NEEDS to get Street Triple.) I knew these two would know about a game or seven that has some pretty sweet motorcycles in them. And as I predicted, they didn’t let me down.

6. Trials Fusion

(Source: edge-online.com)

This one game is surely for the Evel Knievel fans out there. Kyle explained, “Trials Fusion is a side scrolling game set in the future, and it consists of ridiculous obstacle courses the player needs to complete. They’re also super duper hard and the game is really unforgiving.” There are six motos that can be unlocked in the course, and they’re all very different. The motorcycles also have cool names like the "Pit Viper" and "The Roach."

These motorcycles look similar to a Husqvarna TC motocross bike, but the performance, however, is wildly different: The Trials Fusion bikes have the speed and agility of a fighter aircraft. These bikes can also handle falling from tops of skyscrapers and landing like a feather on the ground below—so nimble, so light you can do three 360’s in the air. These bikes soar for forever and must have insane power to traverse those towering buildings.

READ MORE: 6 Concept Motorcycles We Wish We Could Ride - RideApart

5. Transistor

(Source: structuregaming.com)

Transistor is an indie game created by SuperGiant games, which is the name of the development team. Their games are known for their really cool art style.

"The graphics in the game look really sleek, sexy and cool,” Dustin said. The game has a female protagonist, Red, whose goal is to fight enemies and be kick ass. For every battle she successfully completes, she earns experience points and she obtains new powers from “fallen victims.” She also rides around on a cool motorcycle carrying a huge sword.

From the picture above, you can see that Red’s bike has a cinematic style to it—it looks like a naked café racer that shoots flames from the exhaust, which is pretty awesome. To me, this bike would be what a Triumph Thruxton would totally look like in 20 years. There's nothing special about the bike when it comes to performance, and it's mainly used for transportation purposes. Dustin also added, “It’s more of a ‘grounded-in-reality’ kind of bike. The bike definitely makes Red look more powerful.”

Who the heck wouldn't want to play this? Crime fighting on a cafe racer? Yes please, you can now call me Red.

READ MORE: 5 Awesome(ly Expensive) Motorcycles - RideApart

4. Grand Theft Auto 5

(Source: gta.wikia.com)

At this point, I ask Kyle what’s “GTA” about? His eyes widened as he gasped, “You don’t know what GTA is?”

Now, in my defense I know what Grand Theft Auto is and have played it once or twice when I was younger. I just thought that GTA was a separate game and didn’t put two and two together until after the fact.. I know, I know. I should have picked up on the acronyms...

(Editor's note: I'm still gasping.)

But for those who don’t know what it is, Kyle explained that it’s a huge open world game—meaning you don’t have to follow a linear story line—where you can steal cars and do pretty much whatever you want. It's true freedom for the devious ones out there who want to start a city wide riot, run from the police on your motorcycle, and escape your pursuers.

The game features a sweet looking sport bike that looks a lot like a Ducati, and it even has an Italian sounding name: the Ruffian Pegassi. It's also customizable (you know, I'd customize this bad boy to where I could carry my big sword and have the bike spit flames...I think I'm still caught up on being Red...)

“It’s a really cool, super fast and powerful bike. It’s one of the fastest in the game, I think it’s tied for second. One of my favorite things to do on the Ruffian is to hit the freeway and go into first person mode. I pretty much just drive and do crazy sh*t I wouldn’t do on my actual bike,” Kyle said. CONTINUE READING

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3. World of Warcraft

(source: wowwiki.com)

Bike Featured: The Mechano-Hog/Mekgineer's Chopper—. It looks like a steam-punk cruiser.

I chimed in, “I’ve heard of that game!” Kyle replied, “Okay, we’re finally off to good start then.”

In a nutshell, it’s an online sci-fi game with a fantasy fiction storyline. It puts two factions, the Horde and the Alliance against each other, racing to gain experience and defeat the world's villains. It’s a very complex game so the explanation will be left at that. The complexity, however, makes WoW fun and it involves at lot of fighting, cool weapons, and traveling on cool vehicles (otherwise known as a "mount" in WoW).