2600 games that SHOULD'VE had an actual/defined ending

[JayAre]

There've been several threads on here about which 2600 games had a defined ending where you actually beat the game, and then the game stops.  My question is a little different.  Of those that don't have a defined ending, which ones should've ended this way?

 

For me, one of the first games that comes to mind is Rampage.  The game just keeps cycling over and over.  After destroying 85 cities and a long gameplay session, I think the player should've been rewarded with an ending.  Maybe another news flash with a funny headline.

 

Others that come to mind are mission-based or adventure-type games like Ikari Warriors, Commando, Super Cobra, Xenophobe, Dark Chambers and even Road Runner.

 

This last one is for effect more than anything else.  Halloween.  I think it would have been cool to end the game in true slasher movie fashion.  Maybe after reaching a certain score, when you stab Michael (sorry, I mean "the killer"), the game could switch to a screen where you see him lying on the ground, seemingly lifeless.  Wait for it.....  All of a sudden, he sits up and turns and looks at you.  Cue the Halloween theme one last time.  And fade to black.  Kinda like this awesome scene from the original movie.

 

 

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Anything that was a movie based game probably should've had an ending or psuedo-ending (gives you an end scene, but lets you keep playing on the next, slightly harder set of scenes) to them. Krull is one that comes to mind; I'm not sure if Fantastic Voyage has any kind of ending or now.

 

Dark Chambers also could've used some kind of ending on both the 2600 & 7800. Of course, a nice boss battle at the end would have also been cool. 

[Shawn]

Rampage should have had an ending.

[high voltage]

I agree, but way back they didn't really think about endings, besides having a 'high score'. River Raid on VCS pulled it off pretty well with their high score/!!!!!! ending.

[root42]

As a kid this style of gaming kind of turned me off. You could only ever "lose" the game. That's probably also why I liked adventures so much. They were more movie like and had a very defined ending. Nowadays I don't care so much. I am happy to beat my last highscore in whatever game I'm playing. It's more of a philosophy I think. 

 

One example that did have even a story and an ending was Arkanoid / Arkanoid 2. Although a pure Breakout clone at heart they managed to shoehorn a story into it. I think many of the VCS games were straight arcade ports where you were supposed to get hooked to play again and again. Having a way to truly "beat" the game by getting to the end would mean that coming back and playing again would have not a big appeal.

[onemoretime]

Go Fish! Great great ( really great)  little game, but there s a point where there s no more "levels" so to speak.Once you reach a certain size, that s it.  Of course, most people wouldn t spend months practicing the game to get to that point. lol

[Tangentg]

I thought Halloween should have had an ending so around 6 years ago I made a Windows remake of the game with an ending where you fight Michael one last time in a way similar to Friday the 13th on the NES. Was a fun little project.

[Tangentg]

Decade* not even six years. Don't know why I'm not allowed to edit my post even though I literally just posted it.

[+GoldLeader]

*Bump*  

 

I always imagined an ending to Pitfall!

 

If the space were available somehow,  I imagine right before the 20 minute mark there could be a few screens.  One could be some flashing skull and crossbones, or at least skulls.  I'm thinking something like in DragonStomper...Then maybe a waterfall, and finally, a screen with a rainbow in the background and a big treasure chest.  Once you touch the treasure chest a cool sound effect could sound and the game ends.

[scrummy]

2600 Empire Strikes back, would be nice to have progress and eventually ending where Luke's hand gets cut off.  Perhaps Luke lands to a hero's welcome in the base hanger. 

[+thegoldenband]

Chuck Norris Superkicks! It's true that the game ends, but we deserved better than to just run out of time in an empty room.

 

As for games that let you play forever, hmmm...Montezuma's Revenge comes to mind. And the military/flight sim games surely should have had a defined ending state, but I seem to recall they don't.

[+FujiSkunk]

 I vote for Crystal Castles.  The arcade game had an ending, so the home versions should too.

[davyK]

An ending back then was simply a waste of ROM space.  I liked what Activision did by ending the game when you rolled the score over which probably took up only a few bytes of code.