This ’90s Space Shooter Game Had A Lexus LS 400 As A Final Boss: Cold Start

I realize I already did one archaic video game/automotive mashup as a Cold Start this week, but I just found out about this and I really had to share it with all of you because, well, I think you’ll see why because. It seems back in 1991 there was an obscure video game, released in Japan by Video System Company, Ltd., called Turbo Force. It was a pretty straightforward shooter with a mildly goofy story and a really incredible final boss. That boss? A gray 1990 or so Lexus LS 400, just like the dentist in chinos down the street from you drove when you were a kid. Only here, it’s in space, and its shooting at you.

The whole plot of the game revolves a bit around cars, at least somewhat. In an interview with one of the graphic designers who worked on the game, Soukou Junyoukan, this was the basic plot:

“The story is that an American Air Force pilot, while racing his car on a public road, wanders into another mysterious dimension and gets caught up in a war there. Oops!”

Racing on public roads is never a good idea, but I didn’t realize getting caught up in a war in an alternate dimension was one of the possible consequences, but I’m glad I know now, before I do something stupid.

See how that flyer says “UNCOVER THE UNEXPECTED FINAL BOSS WHO CONTROLS THE EMPIRE?” They’re referring to that early 1990s Japanese luxury car, which you can see in action here:

Yep, that’s an LS 400 all right. That is unexpected. And it sure seems mad! In the game, it’s known as Mega Car.

It’s opening all its doors and firing everything its got at you! I’ve almost never seen these cars behave in such a manner. These were refined, fancy vehicles, remember, full of genteel dignity, as you can see from Lexus’ advertising of the period:

Is that the sort of car that blasts you with laser pulses or whatever those are? I can only really identify one of the projectiles the car shoots, though. These:

Look at that! It’s shooting little Lexus badges! It seems the kinds of projectiles Mega Car shoots are related to the characters painted on the Lexus’ hood:

神風 (Kamikaze [divine wind]): the car rushes the player to cause damage and fires cylindrical missiles.
日本 (Nihon [Japan]): the car fires round missiles at the player.
忍 (Shinobi [ninja]): the car opens its doors and fires still other missiles from inside its cab. It also disappears and reappears quickly.

The “round missiles” referenced up there are the Lexus badges you can see above.

As far as I’m aware, this is the only example in all of videogamedom of a (relatively) stock car used just pretty much as-is in normal reality as a final boss. It’s weird, right? I mean, that era of Lexus was great and hugely influential, but kind of boring, really, in all its sensible-luxuriousness. It hardly feels like what I would think of as an incredibly dangerous space-borne Mega Car. But here we are.

Whose idea was this? Who pitched it, and who approved it? Who said, hey, instead of coming up with some elaborate new alien or spaceship for the boss, what if we just use that new car I saw in the parking lot yesterday afternoon?

Amazing.