Young Marcus Kane gets told by his stepfather that he's lucky to not be living in the back of a taxi with his real father. In the games, Sweet Tooth's father's name was Charlie Kane, and he drove the taxi, Yellow Jacket.
Sweet Tooth's real name is revealed to be Marcus Kane. In Twisted Metal 2, Marcus was the driver of Roadkill, but in Twisted Metal: Head On, it was revealed that Marcus and Sweet Tooth were alternate personalities of the same man. A newspaper clipping refers to him as "Needles" Kane, which was the name always given to Sweet Tooth's driver.
Calypso makes his first appearance as the voice on the loudspeaker in New Chicago, but isn't actually seen.
Blackfield Asylum, where Sweet Tooth and Stu stop, was the asylum from Twisted Metal: Black where Calypso recruited contestants for the tournament.
Several drivers at the milkman bar are references to drivers or cars from various games: Mr Slam was the construction vehicle from Twisted Metal 2, driven by Simon Whittlebone. "Bloody" Mary was the driver of Spectre in Twisted Metal: Black. Pizza Boy, driven by Connor Nazang in Twisted Metal 4. Petunia, also known as Dennis Flanders, the driver of Drag Queen from Twisted Metal 4. Pit Viper was the dune buggy from the original Twisted Metal, driven by Angela Fortin; this is only her second appearance, as the vehicle or driver have not appeared since the original game.