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There are a few hidden characters and secrets within as well. For example, the all-new 12-Pak is a headless horseman type who rolls in a modified stock car. There are no game endings to speak of in Lost Levels, and the only story you're going to find is the small paragraph available on the character-select screen. The other supposedly new vehicle isn't really new at all: It's Gold Tooth, a gold-plated and much more powerful version of your standard Sweet Tooth. Of special note is a supposed letter from beyond the grave written by some mysterious game developers. You can read portions of it upon completing the Lost Levels. Ultimately, to read the whole letter, you must beat the three levels on the hard difficulty setting, at which point you'll be pointed back to Head On to uncover the rest of the big reveal.
Twisted Metal Head On: Extra Twisted Edition's multiplayer offerings on the PS2 are a step backward for the series. The PSP version of Head On included both ad-hoc and online support for up to six players to compete in a variety of deathmatch settings. The network play has been stripped from Head On, but you are still left with the series' staple split-screen mode, in which you can play a co-op game with a friend, or challenge your opponent to a head-to-head deathmatch. In light of Twisted Metal: Black Online, it's hard not to wonder why no online mode was included in this package.
Visually the Extra Twisted Edition is inconsistent, considering that it consists of many completely different parts. Head On represents a step up from the PSP version, but still falls below the bar on the PS2. That is not to say that it looks overtly bad, just that it's very basic in terms of geometry. Lost Levels looks better than Head On, but it's also a lot darker than it needs to be. It should be noted that Twisted Metal: Black had a brightness tweak in the option menu because it was difficult to see on some TVs, but that option is not available here. The frame rate is solid in both, with the exception of a small hitch in Head On when the next song in the soundtrack is queued. The music is also in keeping with what has appeared in previous Twisted Metal offerings: mostly guitar rock and techno in Head On, and frantic industrial tunes in Lost Levels.
The Lost Levels, Sweet Tour, series documentary, and slew of bonuses make the package a no-brainer for big fans of the series, and with its low price point, it's worth a look for anyone with a more casual interest. It's nice to see that instead of going the route of a quick and dirty port to the PlayStation Network, Eat Sleep Play and Sony decided to pack the game full of extras to make this a more compelling purchase.
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