Video games are full of impractical vehicles. They look cool and are amazing in game, but would be physically impossible or at least very difficult to find a use for in real life. Vehicles with potential use, such as supercars and fighter jets, are known for being extremely difficult to control. But then there are vehicles that buck the trend.

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Whether exotic or mundane, these special vehicles prove form and satisfying gameplay can follow function in a digital world. Fulfilling the very function their designers created them to do, those vehicles create a virtual world that breathes like its offline counterpart.

10 Mass Effect’s Mako Is A Future Stryker

The Mako in Mass Effect about to flip over.

The Mako in Mass Effect is famous for its stiff and awkward handling. The vehicle created the meme that Commander Shepard can do everything but drive and dance. The iconic space truck even shows up lodged in terrain during Mass Effect 3.

Other than its fantastic slope-climbing abilities and rocket jumps, the Mako resembles a variant of the Stryker LAV, the M1128 Mobile Gun System. This vehicle was developed to perform mobile infantry support with a powerful 105mm cannon. While the M1128 will soon be gone, the Mako rumbles on in video game lore.

9 Pokémon’s Bicycle Is What It Says

Pokemon red on a bike

The most popular vehicle in the entire world is the humble bicycle. With billions of bicycles sold everywhere from the tip of South America to the northernmost city in Finland, the bike can’t be matched for practicality. It goes everywhere and requires only foot power.

The bicycle in Pokémon, a world full of powerful animals that can do anything, manages to remain relevant through the whole game. While Pokémon can fly players to any town they've already been to, the bike can get players to new places.

8 Star Trek Online’s Light Cruiser Is The Workhorse of Starfleet

Star Trek Online's classic cover image

The Miranda-class starship is often recognized as the most practical ship in the entire Star Trek universe. Introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Miranda is a workhorse, and the utility duties it’s used for often put it in grave danger.

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In Star Trek Online, the first starship players can command is a Light Cruiser, STO’s version of the Miranda. It’s here that players learn the basics of the game. Even long after the player has moved on to bigger and more famous ships, the Miranda remains in many fleets — reminding the player of where they came from.

7 Final Fantasy X’s Shoopuf Brings The High-Flying Franchise A Moment Of Rest

Final Fantasy X Yuna

In a video game franchise full of airships and swift chocobos, the shoopuf stands out for what it’s not. The shoopuf isn't a swift airship or a powerful magitek armor. It’s a tall, strong, and slow beast.

The shoopuf’s role in Final Fantasy X is simply to cross rivers. While this doesn’t seem like a very exciting role, it’s very practical. Humans have been using beasts to ford rivers for thousands of years. In many parts of the world where foot travel is the norm, this practice continues today.

6 Nexus: The Jupiter Incident Brings A Stiletto To A Spaceship Fight

The Stiletto, a hero ship from Nexus: The Jupiter Incident.

The Stiletto is a hero ship in the real-time tactics game Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. The Stiletto is an example of a practical spaceship flying through the stars of a sci-fi game. Nexus was relatively obscure upon on its release in 2004, but it’s received more love as of late.

The Stiletto is a spindly and speedy patrol corvette, with a centrifuge which gives the crew the comfort of gravity. With reaction engines and weapons mounted fore-and-aft on tall sponsons, she’s got a rare and realistic spaceship design.

5 Microsoft Flight Simulator Shows The World of Flight

For four decades, Microsoft Flight Simulator has been the apex of video game realism. Using the best flight models that computers can run at a respectable frame rate, Flight Simulator has thrilled and educated generations of digital pilots and inspired hundreds of computer flight yoke sales.

There’s a world of aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Arguably the most practical plane in this game is the Airbus A320neo. This ubiquitous narrow-body airliner is a workhorse of modern airline fleets, daily flying passengers across continents.

4 Halo’s Warthog Brings Realistic Thrills And Team-Based Gameplay

halo 4 header

Halo is arguably the most famous shooter franchise in history. The team-based gameplay of its iconic Warthog ATV contributes to its success. One player controls the vehicle while the other shoots its rear-aiming Gatling gun. Both are pivotal to the vehicle’s success.

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The Warthog was built as a real ATV, without the rear-facing gun, in 2021 — promoting the release of Halo: Infinite. Its huge 1,060-horsepower engine makes it as powerful and agile as its counterpart. Sometimes, reality is almost as much fun as the video game.

3 World Of Warships’ Iowa Is One Of The Most Useful Warships Ever Built

Warship Study Girl from World of Warships

Naval combat sim World of Warships is famous for its gameplay that while unrealistic, feels close enough to real deal while still being entertaining. One of its fleet is the Tier IX battleship U.S.S. Iowa. The real Iowa spent 35 years serving in the United States Navy.

Iowa was a fearsome vessel during her life, with a broadside of massive 16-inch rifles. An explosion of decayed powder in her second turret cut her life short in 1987. Her sister ships Wisconsin and Missouri continued to serve until after the Gulf War in 1991. All four Iowa class ships are now museums open to the public. Iowa is at Los Angeles, CA; Missouri at Pearl Harbor, HI; Wisconsin at Norfolk, VA; and New Jersey at Camden, NJ.

2 Grand Theft Auto’s Declasse Merit Is As Mundane As They Come

A Car Chase in Grand Theft Auto V Online

The Declasse Merit in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and GTA V, true to the design’s name, is a thoroughly mundane vehicle. The simulated 90s-2000s sedan is simple and practical. It has few distinguishing characteristics, a moderate top speed of 106mph, and slightly stiff handling.

In a video game universe often obsessed with high-performance supercars, the Merit stands out by not standing out. It’s a practical, everyday vehicle — the perfect car for a Mafia hitman looking to make a clean getaway.

1 DCS World’s F-16 Fighting Falcon Is Exceptional Even By Its Own Standards

F-16 Fighting Falcon or Viper, modeled in DCS World

DCS World is famous for high-fidelity simulations of combat aircraft and warships. The F-16, nicknamed “Viper” after the Battlestar Galactica fighter, is one of the most popular fighter jets of all time. Its lines are clean and sleek, with a near frameless bubble canopy and a raked tail.

DCS World’s model of the F-16 is as faithful to the real thing as public information can make it. This fidelity does come at a cost, however: Players interested in DCS World will need to understand how a real jet cockpit works in real time. While the US military is vague about the true capabilities of the Viper, its model in DCS World is the absolute peak of video game vehicle fidelity.