History VideoGame / Interstate76

* AbnormalAmmo: The sequel gives us [[{{Pun}} Karpoons]], car-mounted harpoon launchers that have various effects on enemy vehicles. One fries their electronics and shuts off their car, while another fills the interior with gas, forcing them to exit the vehicle.

* CampGay: Auto-Vigilante [[JustForPun Inferno]], who talks in a falsetto voice (like a SassyBlackWoman) and drives a car with a cool flaming paint-job that's armed with a [[OverlyLongGag flamethrower]]. Groove mistakes him for a creeper (to be fair, he's the ''only'' friendly character in the game besides Groove and company) and is mistaken in turn for his sister (understandable, he's driving her car). After that's cleared up, Inferno alerts Groove to the existence of [[TheDragon Cloaker]].

* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Many characters, primarily Taurus. However, since this is TheSeventies, it's not high-speed internet but good old Citizen's Band Radio. Everyone has a callsign, Groove is "Swinger", Skeeter is [[MeaningfulName "Monkeywrench"]] and Taurus is [[JustForPun "Stampede"]]. Jade went by the callsign "Vixen" before she was killed.

!!'''The expansion provides [[JustForPun Nitro-Packed]] examples of:'''

* JustForPun: One auto-vigilante goes by the CodeName "Hell Toupee."

All that changed in the sequel, ''Interstate '82''. It had a new setting in TheEighties, a soundtrack by Devo, and featured the original cast plus newcomer Skye Champion, but did away with the location-based damage, realistic physics, salvage system and allowed you to leave the car, making for a much more arcade-ish experience overall. Suffered from a massive degree of TheyChangedItNowItSucks, which spelled the end of the series. [[GameMod Officially, at any rate.]]

"It is 1976. A different 1976..."\\

The game billed itself as an auto-combat ''simulator,'' and it went long way towards living up to that claim. The game featured a range of authentically-rendered seventies-era American vehicles ([[{{Fauxrarri}} fictionalized names notwithstanding]]), with all the associated roaring engines, fishtailing, and cornering like a garbage barge involved. It also had an intricate location-based damage system (borrowed from ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'') and you had to salvage weapons and car parts from the field between missions.

->''"Somewhere in the Southwest..."''

->''"It is 1976. A different 1976..."''

->''"''Never'' get out of the car."''

The game billed itself as an auto-combat ''simulator,'' and it went long way towards living up to that claim. The game featured a range of authentically-rendered seventies-era American vehicles ([[BlandNameProduct fictionalized names notwithstanding]]), with all the associated roaring engines, fishtailing, and cornering like a garbage barge involved. It also had an intricate location-based damage system (borrowed from ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'') and you had to salvage weapons and car parts from the field between missions.

* AngryBlackMan: Taurus' temper flares a lot in this game.

''Interstate '76'' is a VehicularCombat simulation developed and published by Activision in 1997. It used the same graphics engine as an earlier Activision title, ''VideoGame/MechWarrior231stCenturyCombat''; when they finished that game, the team started to wonder what else they could do with the engine. Set in the American Southwest during the oil crisis of TheSeventies, the game puts you in the bellbottoms, tinted aviators and blonde handlebar mustache of one [[AwesomeMcCoolname Groove Champion]], son of a two-time stock car championship driver and a former Miss America.

* CatchPhrase: Skeeter utters his at least twice, both times to his teammates who have already done so or may do so. Also sort of a FunnyAneurysmMoment when he says this to Jade.

--> '''Groove''': Jesus christ, Taurus! Jesus Christ! You have no idea how bad that was!

* [[spoiler:PresidentEvil: Ronald Reagan as a {{Jerkass}} MotorMouth. He is implied to have had various important figures assassinated, including Leonid Brezhnev and [[Music/TheBeatles John Lennon]]. Taurus non-fatally shooting him results in a hilarious, long-winded speech on his part. [[HistoricalInJoke The event is publicly blamed on John Hinckley Jr.]]]]

* VivaLasVegas: Where the game begins.

* [[spoiler:PresidentEvil: Ronald Reagan as a {{Jerkass}} MotorMouth. He is implied to have had various important figures assassinated, including [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp Leonid Brezhnev]] and [[Music/TheBeatles John Lennon]]. Taurus non-fatally shooting him results in a hilarious, long-winded speech on his part. [[HistoricalInJoke The event is publicly blamed on John Hinckley Jr.]]]]

* BadassDriver: ''Everybody.''
* BadassMoustache: Groove rocks TheGunslinger look. Malochio's might count, though his is closer to [[Series/{{Jeopardy}} Alex Trebek]].

[[ScreeningTheCall Groove never wanted to be a hero.]] He just wanted to race, but even in that, he lived in the shadow of his sister Jade, who is more or less described as Daisy Duke with a set of [[VideoGame/DukeNukem steel spheres]]. That is, [[PosthumousCharacter until Jade was murdered in a junkyard]] outside Lubbock, Texas. Taurus, certified [[AfroAsskicker afro-sporting]] badass and Jade's former teammate, introduces Groove to the secret life his sister led as an [[VigilanteMan auto-vigilante]] and takes him under his wing as Groove sets out to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge find his sister's killer and avenge her death.]]

* GoshDangItToHeck: The pseudo-swearing in this game may seem a bit odd compared to its predecessor. As it turns out, [[DummiedOut the original dialogue]] [[{{Bowdlerise}} was much cruder]]. Applying the optional "language patch" turns the whole damn game into one big incredibly vicious ClusterFBomb.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The game adds continuous-fire laser cannons as equipped weapons. They are devastating, but you can equip a special shield that prevents all EnergyWeapon damage, rendering the lasers and even the LARS KillSat useless against you. Both have regenerating ammunition, the only weapons in the game to do so.

* PreAsskickingOneLiner: Tired of being chased by creepers, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Taurus delivers a truly epic speech culminating in the threat of him crushing their very souls with his bare hands.]] They promptly run away afterwards. As it turns out, they were made aware of LARS being deployed in the area and simply retreated. Doesn't make Taurus' speech any less epic though. Bonus points for when he tells [[spoiler: PresidentEvil]] that he's going to spank his white ass from here to the [[MonumentalDamage Washington Monument]].

* BlandNameProduct: The names they have are rather amusing, such as Courcheval in place of Chevrolet, Phaedra for Ford, Dover instead of Dodge and so on. This also extends to gas stations such as [=Gas4Cash=] and Gas Parade, as well as Fletcher & Sons self-storage, Red Deacon fireworks and Fasty-Freeze ice cream.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Groove sees a UFO crash near Roswell... in 1976. In reality, the famous crash happened in 1947, whatever it was that actually crashed.

* TankGoodness: You ''can'' use a tank, and it obviously has the best armor in the game, but it's also quite [[MightyGlacier ponderous]] and hard
to see out of.

* TankGoodness: You ''can'' use a tank, and it obviously has the best armor in the game, but it's also quite [[MightyGlacier ponderous]] and hard to see out of.

'''Groove''': (offhand) Flying Saucer.\\
'''Taurus''': (calm) Oh.

* TalkingToHimself: When Callisto is captured, Skeeter handles the interrogation. Tom Kane voices both characters, though all the latter does in this scene is giggle, disturbingly....

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: When Groove finally takes his revenge on a trapped Malochio, he does it point-blank with his .45 pistol ..... ''thirteen times''.]] Of course, it's possible it's the same couple of shots, just replayed from a different angle to up the satisfaction.

* TalkingToHimself: One mission has Skeeter battle Natty Dread and the two actually trade comments. Both characters are voiced by Creator/TomKane.

* SecretPolice: The SSS, or [[FunWithAcronyms Super Secret Service]], though they are less this trope in-game then simple EliteMooks.

* TheVietnamWar: Malochio served two tours of duty, and is stated in the manual to have signed up for the second one because [[SociopathicSoldier he]] ''[[SociopathicSoldier liked]]'' [[SociopathicSoldier it]]. He also had some dealings with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: A minor MacGuffin early in the game, critical to the BigBad's plot. The theft of said briefcase by our heroes from the bad guys results in a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown on Taurus.

* CampGay: Auto-Vigilante [[IncrediblyLamePun Inferno]], who talks in a falsetto voice (like a SassyBlackWoman) and drives a car with a cool flaming paint-job that's armed with a [[OverlyLongGag flamethrower]]. Groove mistakes him for a creeper (to be fair, he's the ''only'' friendly character in the game besides Groove and company) and is mistaken in turn for his sister (understandable, he's driving her car). After that's cleared up, Inferno alerts Groove to the existence of [[TheDragon Cloaker]].

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Skeeter, who is actually a competent driver and auto-combatant. He is also a complete [[CloudCuckooLander space cadet]] and possibly narcoleptic.