Worst Ending Ever

[Nukey Shay]

And Alien3 for the same system, which was very difficult and I could only beat it after I cranked up the continuances to the max (nine), only gave you a roll of credits, an end title screen, and a plea to "please play again".  Uh, why?  Thank God I only rented it (same with B. O. B.)...

 

Um, Alien 3's movie ending wasn't so happy and cheerful either, so why would the game's be different?

 

Actually, Genesis Alien3 messed up the series continuity...since the ending screen shows Ripley LEAVING Fury. How difficult is is to show a picture of her diving into a furnace instead??

[KaineMaxwell]

Um' date=' Alien 3's movie ending wasn't so happy and cheerful either, so why would the game's be different? [/quote']

 

Actually, Genesis Alien3 messed up the series continuity...since the ending screen shows Ripley LEAVING Fury. How difficult is is to show a picture of her diving into a furnace instead??

 

Pretty damn tough for Akklaim apperently.

[Fellow Atari Man]

And Alien3 for the same system, which was very difficult and I could only beat it after I cranked up the continuances to the max (nine), only gave you a roll of credits, an end title screen, and a plea to "please play again".  Uh, why?  Thank God I only rented it (same with B. O. B.)...

 

Um, Alien 3's movie ending wasn't so happy and cheerful either, so why would the game's be different?

 

I didn't mean anything about the movie ending, but the game's. I mean, if the game was so good, why would we have to be TOLD to play it again? Couldn't we figure that out ourselves?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Worst endings ever?

 

Hmm...pretty much most of the 2600 library that has endings...

 

like..*cough*..Solaris!*cough*

 

Talk about a damn tough game and an ending to piss you off...hehe. No, I still haven't beaten this one without cheating...and I am not really sure it is possible.

 

[Han]

It is possible to beat it with one player, I did it. And to get the good ending, you had to have another life, when you killed the drunken blob, you paused it, pressed select, to bring out the 2nd player, and then kill the drunken thing. Congrats, you get the good ending, with the statement above! (And yes, no cheats, including beating lvl 57... gah that was hard)

 

What version are you referring to? NES? Isn't there a "proper" ending in the arcade version?

[+kisrael]

I know this is about BAD endings, but one really good ending, a long with a neat setup, was Bionic Commando...they put the whole thing in a "this is a tale told by one of the characters" way that really worked well I thought.

 

Plus, you could kill Hitler, or his clone, or something... way cool.

[Adrian M]

I know this is about BAD endings, but one really good ending, a long with a neat setup, was Bionic Commando...they put the whole thing in a "this is a tale told by one of the characters" way that really worked well I thought.

 

Plus, you could kill Hitler, or his clone, or something... way cool.

 

You are so right and that is also precisely why Bionic Commando to this day, remains one of my favorite NES titles!

 

Who could forget rescuing Super Joe (presumably the same Super Joe who was in the NES version of Commando), killing Hitler (who actually called you a "damn fool"!!), destroying the doomsday machine, and finally making your way out of the complex to be treated to one of the coolest explosions in 8-bit gaming history? And then you get to read Super Joe's recollections of the celebration and events...very impressive stuff back then!

 

I think I'll play some Bionic Commando tonight...such a classic!

[+kisrael]

Who could forget rescuing Super Joe (presumably the same Super Joe who was in the NES version of Commando), killing Hitler (who actually called you a "damn fool"!!), destroying the doomsday machine, and finally making your way out of the complex to be treated to one of the coolest explosions in 8-bit gaming history?  And then you get to read Super Joe's recollections of the celebration and events...very impressive stuff back then!  

Actually I couldn't remember if it was Super Joe or the Bionic Commando who was telling the story...having it be Super Joe was a great touch.

 

There was a dang solid original Game Boy conversion of the game...mostly a straight port, but with some new features (having to swing across the bottom of a giant airship comes to mind) and minus the "original commando" scenes. They Anime'd up the story a tad, and lost the cool framing narrative.

 

Then there was a much more free GBC version...that tended to crash and/or delete save games. Too bad, it's a great play mechanic.

[Adrian M]

Actually I couldn't remember if it was Super Joe or the Bionic Commando who was telling the story...having it be Super Joe was a great touch.

 

It was definitely Super Joe as the final ending sequence is "signed off" with Joe's signature. I'm just wondering if this is the actual Super Joe from the older Commando game...would make sense if it were!

 

There was a dang solid original Game Boy conversion of the game...mostly a straight port, but with some new features (having to swing across the bottom of a giant airship comes to mind) and minus the "original commando" scenes.  They Anime'd up the story a tad, and lost the cool framing narrative.

 

Then there was a much more free GBC version...that tended to crash and/or delete save games.  Too bad, it's a great play mechanic.

 

The GB version was something that I never got around to trying. I guess I'm just overly fond of the NES version, and once I heard of the cuts and edits made to the GB version, I didn't feel it was worth playing. Regardless, the NES version of BC is one of the FEW games where I actually welcomed the drastic changes that were oh so common back in the days of the NES....the arcade version, in comparison, really doesn't come anywhere close to the NES.

[figgler]

Up until now I always though Bionic Commando was un-finishable. Seriously. I've never come close to the end, it's much too hard. But my reference point all these years has been Jeff Rovin's How to Win at Nintendo (1988)

Check the pic:

[Saikyo]

Worst ending ever? hmmm thats a toughie!

 

Id say the ending to Xenon 2 on the Amiga.

All you get is a little white dot in the middle of the screen and a constant

"BOOP" like a test signal on Television! It scared me slightly at first because

I wasnt expecting it.

 

But I'd say that ending is the worst in all of video gamings 20+ year history.

[+kisrael]

The GB version was something that I never got around to trying.  I guess I'm just overly fond of the NES version, and once I heard of the cuts and edits made to the GB version, I didn't feel it was worth playing.  Regardless, the NES version of BC is one of the FEW games where I actually welcomed the drastic changes that were oh so common back in the days of the NES....the arcade version, in comparison, really doesn't come anywhere close to the NES.

The GB changes weren't that bad. really...I think it's worth picking up.

 

The arcade game does have a nice look to it though.

 

What book said it was unbeatable???

[MegaManFan]

Worst ending has to be the first Bugs Bunny game for classic GB. After 100 or so mind-numbing levels of platforming stupidity (yes I was bored enough as a kid to do it) you get this message:

 

"Congraturation! You are good prayer!"

 

WTFITS?!?!?!

[Jasoco]

"Congraturation!  You are good prayer!"

CLASSIC! Engrish at its finest!

[Inky]

My least favorite, is the ending to Monty Python's Flying Circus for the ST/ Amiga / PC...

 

"You did not collect all the spam, so here's a picture of a frog"

 

Come to think of it, given the context, its not that bad.

[Mr Egg]

the ending for out of this world is disturbing to say the least. ride off into the sunset with your alien friend

[Goochman]

Id have to vote for Arcade Pacman as the worst ending - after 255 levels the screen turns to garbage leaving 1/2 the amount of dots you need to eat just to tease you for your hard work

 

BTW,

There is discussion that it might be possible to pass this screen at the Twin Galaxies forum if you have any interest.

[mechanized]

The ending in Kung-Fu pisses me off. "But they're happiness is short lived", and then the whole thing starts all over again. I already killed the five freakin' bosses, what'd they have, body doubles?

 

You defeated their stunt doubles' stunt doubles' stunt doubles' stunt doubles. After that, they're just not really dead.

[Susuwatari]

Minestorm for Vectrex have the worst ending. You get nothing! The game simply dies.

[keilbaca]

It is possible to beat it with one player, I did it. And to get the good ending, you had to have another life, when you killed the drunken blob, you paused it, pressed select, to bring out the 2nd player, and then kill the drunken thing. Congrats, you get the good ending, with the statement above! (And yes, no cheats, including beating lvl 57... gah that was hard)

 

What version are you referring to? NES? Isn't there a "proper" ending in the arcade version?

 

NES version, never played the arcade version. Oh for those that go to LAN parties, I found the most fun in when a good friend of mine asked me if i was interested in playing bubble bobble over the network. Needless to say, i found that better than far cry =D

[ultravi0let]

StreetFighter II [sNES] springs to mind, after me and my brothers cained it for a day and finaly beat the game on eight stars we got the same ending as on four!

oh how i loved that. not

[Fellow Atari Man]

Minestorm for Vectrex have the worst ending.  You get nothing!  The game simply dies.

 

I'm guessing you've got the earlier version? I've got the later version, it keeps on going...forget what mine field it is that I can't get past, with invisible mines, I think it's like 89 or something. Dunno what's after that...

[+kisrael]

Worst endings ever?

 

Hmm...pretty much most of the 2600 library that has endings...

 

Adventure's is, eh, ok. Vaguely interesting, plus you can hit reset to hear some REALLY cool sounds.

[mechanized]

I'm trying to steer away from older games, since there were memory concerns and, honestly, I'd rather have a good old game with a poor ending than a poor game with a good ending. I'd say about midway through the NES's life (for a time reference of sorts) there was no longer any excuse in memory or programming savvy for a game to have poor effort on an ending. That said....

 

The "Set-Up for a Sequel Ending" set, where you get stiffed on a 'real' ending in lieu of 'more to come' ....when it doesn't take a programming genius to figure out you can do Both at the Same Time.

 

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (you'd think they'd learn...)

Battle Squadron (...and as far as I know, its sequel never happened.)

Max Payne

Soul Reaver

Soul Reaver 2

 

(Feel free to add to this one, I know there's many, many more....)

 

 

"Poor Game Design/Mechanics"

 

Metroid. A great game with an overly simple, plain ending, and on top of that, the plainness you got was dependent on how fast you beat the game. I'm sorry, Nintendo, I like to play my games, I like to explore, I like to get everything. Same with Super Metroid (though more easily attainable) with these time-based endings. Time-based endings just don't belong in games that lend themselves to explorative play, in my opinion. If there was a separate Time Attack mode, I'd say differently... maybe do a Time Attack and beat it in X amount of time, you could unlock some costume options or something.... just don't make us have to play the nearly perfect game, damn it!

 

Bubble Bobble truly wins for a bad ending due to poor game design. There is no way to get a good ending in that game if you play the Single Player game, and that's BS.

 

I'm going to partially slap a lot of the Resident Evil games into this Game Design/Mechanics problem lot, also, because basing an ending score on how many times you save your game is crap.

 

 

 

Generally Poor Endings

 

Dragon Spirit

Sonic the Hedgehog (poor as in minimal, even with Chaos Emeralds)

Alien Storm

Punch-Out

Contra

Jaws (and I love this game, GRAWR!)

Earlier Street Fighters (especially the "Try a Harder Mode" ones)

Kid Chameleon (great game, piss poor ending)

Ghouls 'n' Ghosts

ActRaiser (disappointing after a great game... yep..)

Final Fantasy (to its credit, it does give some post-Chaos story, but it truly was minimal)

Ristar

Castlevania: Bloodlines

[Cousin Vinnie]

Karateka: Atari 7800

Blinking room...whoa... special effects

 

Ninja Golf: Atari 7800

Long speech about family honor as

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" Plays

 

Alien Brigade/ Planet Smashers: Atari 7800

Advertisements for the other game!

 

Super Monkey Ball: Gamecube

BS with monkeys running into a room

full of bananas. Weird

 

Soul Caliber 2/ Killer Instinct/ Street Fighter Alpha EX:

Lame ass endings with boring

and normaly thoughtless mini stories

 

Herzog Zwei: Sega Genesis

Hours of gameplay rewarded with 2000 word rambling

essays covering a story that never really delveloped

 

Timesplitters 2:

Wow, thanks for the cool ending guys. My partner dies and

I fly away. Awesome

 

 

CV