Motorcycles aren't just a means of ferrying you from place to place; they're a way of life. In the immortal words of Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, bikes aren't "nice," they're cool. To ride a motorcycle, whether it be an old-school rip-roaring chopper or a futuristic highway speeder, is to commit to a life of high speed and thrills.
Bikes are already textbook cool as it is, but in the realm of gaming, a select few have managed to take that coolness and go even further beyond. Check out some of the best motorcycles in video game history!
10 X-2 Phantom - Saints Row The Third
After the Boss defeats Matt Miller in virtual reality, offering the young hacker an uncharacteristic moment of mercy, they receive a couple of prizes for their trouble. The first is the ASP, a tank inexplicably composed of chunky pixels. The second is the X-2 Phantom, the same bike used to hack the Deckers' various enterprises in the Cyber Blazing activity. How did it come into the real world? Eh, it's probably best not to think too hard about it. Besides, it's an awesome bike, with a slick chrome and purple paint job and magnetic suspension wheels.
9 Ben's Bike - Full Throttle
As the leader of the Polecats biker gang, it's only sensible that Ben rides a proper chopper. Ben's Bike is a modified version of a Corley Motors stock chopper, the only kind of old-school fuel-burning motorcycle left in the world. It's already a classic model, but Ben souped it up with some extras, such as raised handlebars, additional tailpipes, and a few futuristic conveniences like radar and a Recoil Booster. Late in the game, Ben even installs a Hoverfan, giving his bike the ability to fly, at least for short distances.
8 Jet Bike - Mario Kart 8
After being introduced in Mario Kart Wii, motorcycles have become a staple of the series, perfect for those who don't mind trading a bit of raw speed for greater control, and looking very stylish while they do it. There are a good number of bikes in Mario Kart 8, some with better stats than others, but if we're talking pure style factor, we gotta give it up for the Jet Bike.
This sleek little number has a snazzy, sloped profile that cuts through the air, with the rear boosters and tail fins in the back providing greater handling and acceleration capabilities. Anyone who has ever said they don't want to ride some manner of jet-powered land vehicle is lying, bar none.
7 Schpeltiger - No More Heroes Series
The Schpeltiger is Travis Touchdown's signature means of transportation in the first No More Heroes game, with its bright white paint job, massive wheels, and rear-mounted turbo boosters creating a streak of white light amongst the drab cars and colors of Santa Destroy.
The original Schpeltiger was totaled when Travis crashed in the Forest of Bewildermint, and was replaced with the more traditional Schpeltiger II in No More Heroes 2, followed by the futuristic Demzamtiger in No More Heroes 3. Fun fact, according to Suda51, the Schpeltiger's name comes from the Schpertor, a giant robot from the manga series Five Star Stories.
6 Hardy-Daytona - Final Fantasy 7
Before the Shinra Electric Power Company was, well, an electric power company, they were Shinra Manufacturing Works, a company that specialized in the development of weapons and vehicles. This is why the lobby of Shinra HQ has a display room filled with such vehicles, including the Hardy-Daytona, the motorcycle Cloud swipes for Avalanche's getaway. In the original Final Fantasy 7, the Hardy-Daytona was a more realistic bike, albeit a very muscular one with a large engine and armor plating. In Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it got touched up to look a little more advanced, with a sleeker profile, larger tailpipes, and a bigger armor plate on the front wheel.
5 Slicecycle - Dead Rising 2
When you're brutalizing zombies en masse for the public's entertainment, you can't use plain old, boring vehicles. This is why the Terror Is Reality game show's signature vehicle and tool of zombie massacre is the Slicecycle, a reinforced dirtbike with two chainsaws mounted to the front. It's a beautifully simple formula: spinning blades plus strong forward momentum equals piles of dead zombies. Chuck can make a knock-off Slicecycle using a regular dirtbike, a couple of chainsaws, and a lot of duct tape, and surprisingly, it works just as well as an official one. Must be some really strong duct tape.
4 Ellyphant - Lollipop Chainsaw
All of Swan's Dark Purveyors are based on different genres of music, and the strongest one, Lewis Legend, is based on hard-rockin' rock-n-roll. Fittingly for his genre, Lewis rides a classic chopper, the Ellyphant, but when Juliet cuts his legs off, that's when he reveals his vehicle's true power. The Ellyphant transforms into a gigantic robotic mammoth, complete with gigantic miniguns, buzz saws, missile launchers, and powerful stampeding legs. Whether or not you can even call the Ellyphant a "motorcycle" at this point is debatable, but no matter what, you have to admit that it's cool.
3 Master Cycle Zero - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
The Divine Beasts were crafted with the express purpose of being piloted by representatives of Hyrule's major races, all to aid the legendary hero in his quest to defeat Ganon. However, unbeknownst to the Sheikah researchers, a fifth beast had been created, specifically to be used by the hero: the Master Cycle Zero. This miraculous machine can be ridden by Link across Hyrule's wide fields, providing greater speed and offensive capability than a regular horse. It's also environmentally friendly, as Link can shove any assorted junk he picks up off the ground into the fuel tank to power it.
2 Johanna - Persona 5
When Makoto confronted Kaneshiro's Shadow in a fit of explosive rage, she awakened to her Persona, Johanna, named after a legendary female pope. Surprisingly, unlike the Personas of the other Phantom Thieves, Johanna is a fully-functional motorcycle, able to ferry Makoto at high speed across long distances, unleashing Nuclear attacks with its powerful skids. When Johanna evolves into Anat, Makoto stops riding her, since she has a humanoid form, but when she evolves again into Agnes, Makoto sits in the seat once again.
1 Cavaliere - Devil May Cry 5
Dante has ridden motorcycles a few times across the Devil May Cry series, but he never had one to call his own until Devil May Cry 5. When Dante freed Trish from the body of Cavaliere Angelo, the cast-off armor plating fused with a junked motorcycle nearby, giving birth to the Devil Arm Cavaliere. Not only is Cavaliere a fully-functional motorcycle, and an exceptionally fast one at that, but Dante can split the vehicle into a pair of handheld buzz saws at a moment's notice. In a fight, he swaps between the saws and the vehicle mode on the fly, mowing demons down with its shredding blades and immense weight.