The weirdest way to die in a video game?

[shaolincowboy]

Hey guys,

This article is written by the same guy who brought you that "gayest game ever (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1376984)" post a few weeks ago.

It lists the seven weirdest ways you can die in video games – covering 1986 to now.

http://www.killscreenpoetry.com/2008/06/seven-weirdest-ways-to-die-in-video.html

Also raises the question – are there any weirder deaths?

[Kitsune Sniper]

... He left out Maniac Mansion's death by hamster microwaving?!

[BHvrd]

What makes this death even more bizarre is that your rollercoaster carriages will return to the start of the track with no passengers, and yet no-one seems to care. The kids will still queue to get on, oblivious to the fact they are only minutes away from death.

lol

>>>

[digitalpress]

Great page but could have easily been fleshed out to "top 20" and would have been just as funny.

Before even clicking on it, I thought he MUST have a Dragon's Lair death in there. And yet there wasn't... I mean seriously, that game has the weirdest deaths ever. It's all ABOUT weird deaths! Drinking a bottle that says "drink me"... flying a mechanical horse into a wall of flame... getting hit over the head by a lizard... being overrun by men made of mud who are also apparently carnivorous...

And yet THIS is doubled by Space Ace. And quadrupled if not ten-folded by Dragon's Lair 2 where you can be killed in many ways by a cat or a woman with a rolling pin. Yep, there's more research to be done.

[Alucard79]

There are several games that came to mind when I read this topic. One that really sticks out for me is all the different ways to die in the game Braindead 13.

[Ed Oscuro]

This article is written by the same guy who brought you that "gayest game ever (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1376984)" post a few weeks ago.
Are you the guy writing these? It seems like you don't want to fess up.

There's really nothing to be ashamed of; I didn't even know about the #1 death on the list which is patently hilarious.

Surprised it didn't mention "burned to death by genie in a sealed room" (a favorite tool of vengeful Sims players) and a few of the early FPS deaths, such as "expanded back to normal size while in a small place" of Duke Nukem 3D, or "killed by a chicken" of Heretic, or even the good ol' standby Telefragged.

And then there's one of my favorites, the little cinema at the start of Stage 3 of the classic vertical shooter Fire Shark (arcade/genesis). It's very weird on the Genesis because the other pilot should have easily pulled up past the other buildings...


A little disturbing hey? Actually, come to think of it, both Theme Park and The Sims were made by Electronic Arts. There seems to be a pattern emerging here.
It's called you need to play something other than Electronic Arts and shit PC games, you twat :P

[Haoie]

If you think about it, the whole idea of having 'lives' and to a less extent, 'health', in games is sort of odd.

[Push Upstairs]

I always thought it was odd that water hurt your character in "Tale Spin" on the Genesis.

Really, water?

[ssjlance]

I was strangely aroused by one of the deaths in Braindead 13. Namely the one involving that woman who was a vampire or something.

[Ed Oscuro]

This calls for EVERY POSSIBLE MEAN WAY (?) TO DIE in Waxworks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axqRgDkWXA0) (on ye olde Amiga)

[tom]

The Sims ...death by starvation...I would have chosen LCP
and no Frogger? Death by jumping into the water.
Amidar, death by being chased by pigs

[Geddon_jt]

Beyond Shadowgate on the Turboduo comes to mind...
There is actually a scene in the city where you find a secret alley that leads into an old woman's house. You enter her cozy house and click to talk to her, and she starts talking, and talking, and talking...

Pretty soon the screen refreshes, she is still talking, but your character has decomposed to a skeleton for all the time that has passed. And that was the end!
I must say, it cracked me up.

[Sanriostar]

Almost any death in 'Bobby is Going Home':

Butterflies
Roosters
Fire Hydrants
Hummingbirds(?)

Are vicious creatures that mean to render your flesh from your bones and pick your eyes out. Well, I have met few aggressive Roosters...

[exit]

... He left out Maniac Mansion's death by hamster microwaving?!

He also left out "getting murdered by a giant tentacle because you stole his record contract", it's funny and teaches a valuable lesson.

[Trevelyan]

You can die in a deep fat fryer in Mad Professor mariarti I seem to remember

EDIT Barbie on the NES has some strange things that come & attack the Barbster.


This calls for EVERY POSSIBLE MEAN WAY (?) TO DIE in Waxworks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axqRgDkWXA0) (on ye olde Amiga)
This is going to give me nightmares.

[Flack]

In Keystone Kapers there are four things that can kill you: shopping carts, jukeboxes, r/c airplanes, and red bouncing balls. The first three all kind of make sense: the r/c planes have dangerous propellers, the shopping carts could break your bones, and I suppose the jukeboxes could have electrical shorts that shock you to death. But what possible damage could a kid's red bouncy ball inflict on a person -- especially a grown police officer? I always thought that death was kind of lame.

[skaar]

In Keystone Kapers there are four things that can kill you: shopping carts, jukeboxes, r/c airplanes, and red bouncing balls. The first three all kind of make sense: the r/c planes have dangerous propellers, the shopping carts could break your bones, and I suppose the jukeboxes could have electrical shorts that shock you to death. But what possible damage could a kid's red bouncy ball inflict on a person -- especially a grown police officer? I always thought that death was kind of lame.

Yeah, but a bouncy ball could wreak havoc for Mr. Do!

Sierra games had some great ones. Tripping over Manannan's cat was a great one (King's Quest 3). Forgetting to throw away the spinach dip in Larry 2 was also awesome.

[c2000]

In Story of Thor 2 (Legend of Oasis) on the Saturn you'll need to be able to throw bombs and backtrack to the first village (the one you start in). Find the house in which a little girl wanders around. Start throwing bombs at her and she'll eventually start kicking your ass :-D

[mnbren05]

No mention of attacking a chicken repeatedly thus producing a unforgiving down pour of chickens from the heavens in the Legend of Zelda games?

[darkhades]

Orchid's finishing move in Killer Instinct, Death by boobies!

[OMF2097]

Leisure Suit Larry 1 (EGA): Unprotected sex kills.

[j_factor]

My favorite is Captain Silver's first stage, where if you jump into a small fountain you die.

Also gotta love Panic!'s many strange "deaths".

[cyberfluxor]

Haha, great article. I figured Space Quest or Kings Quest would be up there somewhere.

[shaolincowboy]

Ed Oscuro – you’ve got me. It’s a new, fledgling site I’m working on, and still trying to find the best ways to promote it. But this particular post made front page of www.gamegrep.com and www.n4g.com – so it’s growing.

And it seems like a book could be written on weird deaths in videogames :-)

The frogger suggestion is gold. It's also been brought to my attention that you can die in Metal Gear Solid by smoking...

[Ed Oscuro]

My favorite is Captain Silver's first stage, where if you jump into a small fountain you die.
I can never get past that damn fountain...

[Ed Oscuro]

Ed Oscuro – you’ve got me.
>)


The frogger suggestion is gold. It's also been brought to my attention that you can die in Metal Gear Solid by smoking...
As I recall, it slowly takes your health down to nearly nothing, but it won't actually kill you (at least not by itself, and not during the course of the game).


Great page but could have easily been fleshed out to "top 20" and would have been just as funny.
I just realized, looking at your avatar, how strange it is to get killed by Evil Otto.

[RadiantSvgun]

Beyond Shadowgate on the Turboduo comes to mind...
There is actually a scene in the city where you find a secret alley that leads into an old woman's house. You enter her cozy house and click to talk to her, and she starts talking, and talking, and talking...

Pretty soon the screen refreshes, she is still talking, but your character has decomposed to a skeleton for all the time that has passed. And that was the end!
I must say, it cracked me up.

I was about mention this game.

[slackur]

Beyond Shadowgate had quite a few memorable and hilarious deaths, but the best one was at the end of the game.

(Spoiler Alert)












You get to choose only one item to bring into the final fight: I believe it was a sword, a staff, or a squeaky toy. If you brink the squeaky toy and challenge the boss with it, your hero holds it high for dramatic effect before turning to you, the player, and breaking the forth wall by asking why on earth you have made such a ridiculous decision, and in the middle of his rant the boss swoops down and bites the hero in half.

I showed that scene to everyone I knew at the time. That game was so cool!

[skaar]

How about the Smurf rescue game for Coleco? You die by stepping on grass.

[Ze_ro]

Nethack probably has the widest variety of deaths I've seen in a game. here's a list of some of the more interesting ones (http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/nethack/ways_to_die.html), including:
killed by being dragged downstairs by an iron ball (can happen when you walk over a down staircase while chained to an iron ball)
killed by brainlessness (I believe this one has something to do with mind flayers)
killed by leg damage from being pulled out of a bear trap
killed by a residual undead turning effect (Not sure what causes this... turning undead, and then polymorphing into one?)
unwisely ate the body of Death/Famine/Pestilence (you encounter the four horsemen of the apocalypse near the end of the game. There's a very good reason that War isn't in that list by the way...)
killed by an unrefrigerated sip of juice
killed by touching the edge of the universe (I'm guessing this one can happen on the Astral Planes)
killed by sitting in lava (Note that falling in lava is a different way to die, this one involves intentionally sitting)
killed by kicking a cockatrice corpse without boots (There are all kinds of ways that even the corpses can still kill you. Don't try picking one up without gloves either, though if you DO have gloves, swinging the corpse at monsters is quite effective!)
killed by a falling drawbridge
killed by elementary physics (I'm honestly not sure where this one turns up)
killed by a cursed throne
killed by colliding with the ceiling
killed by a carnivorous bag
Honestly, the list goes on and on. Note that these are actual messages that you'll see in the high score lists.

--Zero

[rbudrick]

Shadowgate, DejaVu 1 and 2 and Uninvited have some of the most crazy deaths ever.

-Rob

[diskoboy]

In dig dug, I can understand getting squished by a rock, or fried by a fygar.

But dying when a walking balloon with goggles (a Pooka) touches you, you die??

okie dokey.

[Gapporin]

Playing and talking about Return To Zork recently made me think of this thread. Early on in the game, you are given a pop quiz by a schoolteacher. Fail the quiz...and you die. Seriously. Wha...?

[scooterb23]

Flack totally stole my first answer.

Failing that, Death (admittedly, I'm defining death rather loosely) by purple pickles in the Atari 2600 classic Fast Food has to be right up there.

[DarthKur]

This calls for EVERY POSSIBLE MEAN WAY (?) TO DIE in Waxworks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axqRgDkWXA0) (on ye olde Amiga)

An Amiga game that graphic? I'm truly shocked. I didn't think games with intense gore came about until later on.
I was completely unaware of this game. I just looked it up and it really does appear interesting. I hope it will run properly on an A500.

[Press_Start]

In Burgertime, the baddies (by baddies, meaning sausages, eggs, and pickles) kill you by taking your chef hat. Forced to fall flat on your back from lack of balance, you curl up like a dry carcass (or an attempt at regressing to the fetal position, could never tell what or why the hell he does that).

[kainemaxwell]

Everything can kill you in Silver Surfer for the NES.

[Nebagram]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMMxoDNMgU

4:51- death by slipping on guano. :D