When walking just won't do

​You can't go very far in life without a set of wheels or wings to take you there. Thankfully, video games aren't bound by the limitations of reality, meaning the folks who design the things can get pretty creative when it comes to giving our favorite protagonists a quicker way of getting around.

 

While most tend to stick pretty close to the "norms," there are a few more bizarre and exciting offerings out there that keep our games moving.

 

Here's a look at some of the more memorable oddballs.

 

 

​The Cloud (Enslaved)

Released just last year, Enslaved gave Back to the Future 2 fans everything they've been dreaming of in the form of an electric hoverboard perfect for moving quickly, making big jumps and outrunning giant, crazed robot dogs. There's a fantastic scene in the game when Monkey pulls the odd mechanical device off his belt and shows Trip what it can do, referring to it as a "cloud." When she asks "What is it?," Monkey looks at her like she's a horribly confused child and repeats "It's a cloud."

 

 

​The Man Cannon (Metal Gear Online)

Flight. There's no faster way to travel. But who wants to muck around with planes or special equipment when all you have to do to gain the unbridled freedom of the skies is take a seat and push a button? In Metal Gear Solid 4's online game, a couple maps feature these appropriately bizarre contraptions to assist characters in getting from point A to point B with a quickness. The drawback is that it takes a moment to actually strap in and launch yourself into the blue oblivion, meaning you're a perfect target for cruel snipers with nothing better to do with their time than camp in eyesight of these man-a-pults.

 

 

​The Suit (Earthworm Jim)

While Jim's handy Pocket Rocket is certainly an eligible candidate for such a list as this, the muscley contraption he uses to dispense justice, keep out of reach of rabid dogs and launch cows is a far more interesting piece of machinery. Jim is, after all, just an earthworm. Without his blue and white super-suite, he'd stand little chance against the likes of Evil the Cat, Professor Monkey-for-a-Head or Queen Slug-for-a-Butt.

 

 

​The Mine Cart (Donkey Kong Country series)

Everyone remembers the first time they hopped into a cart in the Donkey Kong Country games and went hurtling through the darkness of a wild and wacky mine. Seriously, who constructed those things? Parts don't line up, sections don't connect and demented animal baddies hang out at every turn, even though they appear to be more or less stranded with no food, company or means of escape. But I digress. There are few feelings in gaming that can compare to when you finally have one of these roller coaster levels memorized, timing all of your jumps perfectly in order to race to the end without a hitch.

 

 

​The Shoopuf (Final Fantasy X)

While you don't get to pilot this particular "vehicle," it certainly is an odd sort of creature. Part elephant; part anteater; part fish; all goofy as hell. There comes a moment in your FFX journey when you must ride one of these beasts to proceed, giving the player a break from the action and the story a chance to slow down as you ride in a giant basket strapped to the Shoopuf's back set against a pleasant afternoon sky. The only thing more memorable than how the Shoopuf looks is how the ferryman humorously inquires "Riiiide zee Shoopuf?!"