Twisted Metal 2 was the definitive good times with childhood friends game for me.
Ah, I can practically hear the 11 year-olds discovering Rage Against the Machine through the gif. I loved those first 2 and Black so much.
Such dumb, stupid fun. I still can't believe Black turned out as well as it did. That should have been the most try-hard cringe imaginable, yet it worked. Unfortunately pretty much the entire game industry went in a try-hard cringe stage in the decade following Black...it may have just been it being so early to the doom & gloom party that it felt fresh compared to games that followed in its wake. Sorta like how a dark take on Batman was once novel and interesting until
everything needed the dark and gritty package.
I like stupid, fun shooters and I like stupid, fun car games...combining the two is great. Realism thoroughly unwelcome on either side for me. Gimme your best cocktail involving Doom and Daytona USA, developers.