Blackjax
07-31-2005, 04:52 AM
***SPOILER ALERT***
Now, before I start on this, I really have to make it clear that there will be spoilers in this. There really isn't a way to avoid them, so if you're concerned about spoilers, I wouldn't read further.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Something that I've always liked in games is the ones that allow you to lose completely. Not just with a simple "GAME OVER", but with an actual ending where you lose. The princess is not saved, the world blows up, the madman succeeds in his plan, etc. It seems to me that its not always possible to win in everything, and having this as a possibility in a game is fun - at least to me. Also, this can add some replay value to a game, having another outcome possible is something I always like to go back and find.
This isn't a topic about the quality of endings, that's been discussed before. This is about games you can be utterly defeated in.
Some games require collecting bunches of things before you see the real ending, like the Sonic games. Some of these I will include as these could count, seeing as saving the world wouldn't mean much if you forgot to disarm the nuclear bomb about to destroy it. Some require you to beat the game on the hardest difficulty to see it, like Flying Warriors. This isn't exactly what I mean by the topic, but these could count as well, however, I will not be including them in my list.
I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but I never got around to it. So here we go. Please add any others you can think of, these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
NAM-1975 (Neo-Geo)
----------------------
Once you arrive at the final boss, you no can no longer continue if you run out of lives. Once the final boss finishes you off, he laughs, flies offscreen, and the world is destroyed. I don't even know if this has a "good" ending... I've never been able to beat this boss, and several other people on #vbender said the same thing!
Wing Commander III (Various systems)
----------------------
This is a branching storyline game. If you lose at key missions in the game, the Kilrathi keep pushing you back, and eventually the storyline leaves you in a hopeless battle in the orbit of Earth. After you are shot down in the unwinnable battle, you are taken aboard the Kilrathi flagship, brought before the Emporer, and executed.
Wing Commander IV (Various systems)
----------------------
This game has two bad endings that I'm aware of. If you never defect to the Border Worlds, you fail in your final mission with the Confederation and Tolywin kicks you out of the service. The other bad ending is if you answer the questions incorrectly in the final scene. You are found to be a traitor, are executed, and the Confederation goes to war with the Border Worlds.
Clash At Demonhead (NES)
----------------------
If you fail to put the medallions into the bomb in the correct order, the message "ITS NO USE!!" flashes on the display, the bomb detonates, and the world is destroyed.
Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS1)
----------------------
Die against Lavos in 1999. Lavos will continue on to destroy the world, just as you saw when you were in the future. "...but the future refused to change..."
Colony Wars (PS1)
----------------------
Whew, where to even begin on this one. This is a branching storyline game with multiple endings. SOme of them are good, some of them are bad. Keep losing missions, and depending on where you are in the game, you will end up at one of the MANY bad endings.
Colony Wars: Vengance (PS1)
-----------------------
Just like Colony Wars, there are lots of ways to fail in this game, leading to the Navy losing to the League. Branching storyline leading to multiple endings. At least not all of the branches have you playing that really stupid intergalactic game of Simon to open a jumpgate... where the hell did they come up with that anyway?
Knuckles Chaotix (32x)
------------------------
If you don't collect all of the emeralds, after you defeat the Super Metal Sonic, the world is in flames with Super Metal Sonic flying over it. Quite a cool ending, and honestly better than the "good" ending.
Sonic the Hedgehog
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds and Robotnic laughs at you following the ending, juggling the emeralds you missed.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds, and regular Sonic falls back into the atmosphere, with Tails catching him on the Biplane.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds, Knuckles juggles the emeralds you missed while Robotnick stands with him, laughing.
Sonic & Knuckles
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds:
With Sonic - Sonic falls along side of the master emerald, the emerald floats away. Tails grabs Sonic with the biplane, flies behind the Island, and after the credits, Robotnick stands with the master emerald, laughing.
With Knuckles - After the robot blows up, Sonic grabs Knuckles with Tails's biplane and flies away. Floating Island continues its decent through the credits and lands in the water. Following the credits, the ruined robot stands up next to the master emerald.
Streets of Rage (Genesis)
------------------------
With any character, accept Mr X's offer to join him. You end up running the Syndicate as one of Mr X's generals.
Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis)
------------------------
There are two bad endings - If the mayor does not survive, the final boss is Shiva, and you never find or stop Mr. X and his plans succeed. The other bad ending occurs if you do not defeat Mr X by the end of the countdown. His plan succeeds and you get the other bad ending.
Dungeon Explorer (TG-16)
------------------------
Once Natas reveals that he was posing as the King, walk up and touch the throne. You take over the kingdom and rule as a tyrant. Another one of my favorites.
Snatcher (Sega CD)
------------------------
Shoot Jaime when invading the Snatcher base. Gillian will scream and the game ends.
Rise of the Dragon (Sega CD)
-------------------------
Screw up when disconnecting your girlfriend from the chair. She will gurgle and die a horrible death. You then go on a rampage into the boardroom of Bahumut. The game proceeds as usual, however you will have the bad ending with Blade punching out the mayor and walking away alone.
Sonic CD (Sega CD)
--------------------------
Do not destroy all of the Roboticizing units or animal holding pens. The future will remain bad.
Shenmue (Dreamcast)
--------------------------
On April 15th, 1987, Lan Di will show up at your house, looking for the other mirror he didn't get on his first visit, and will murder Ryo for it.
Shenmue II (Dreamcast, xBox)
--------------------------
June 30th, Lan Di comes a' calling. I haven't personally seen this one myself yet, but I've confirmed the date with several people.
Considering how long I've been typing this, I'm going to stop here for now. I'll be adding more to this list when it's not nearly 4am. Anyway, please let me know what other "Bad" endings you have found in games!
Now, before I start on this, I really have to make it clear that there will be spoilers in this. There really isn't a way to avoid them, so if you're concerned about spoilers, I wouldn't read further.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Something that I've always liked in games is the ones that allow you to lose completely. Not just with a simple "GAME OVER", but with an actual ending where you lose. The princess is not saved, the world blows up, the madman succeeds in his plan, etc. It seems to me that its not always possible to win in everything, and having this as a possibility in a game is fun - at least to me. Also, this can add some replay value to a game, having another outcome possible is something I always like to go back and find.
This isn't a topic about the quality of endings, that's been discussed before. This is about games you can be utterly defeated in.
Some games require collecting bunches of things before you see the real ending, like the Sonic games. Some of these I will include as these could count, seeing as saving the world wouldn't mean much if you forgot to disarm the nuclear bomb about to destroy it. Some require you to beat the game on the hardest difficulty to see it, like Flying Warriors. This isn't exactly what I mean by the topic, but these could count as well, however, I will not be including them in my list.
I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but I never got around to it. So here we go. Please add any others you can think of, these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
NAM-1975 (Neo-Geo)
----------------------
Once you arrive at the final boss, you no can no longer continue if you run out of lives. Once the final boss finishes you off, he laughs, flies offscreen, and the world is destroyed. I don't even know if this has a "good" ending... I've never been able to beat this boss, and several other people on #vbender said the same thing!
Wing Commander III (Various systems)
----------------------
This is a branching storyline game. If you lose at key missions in the game, the Kilrathi keep pushing you back, and eventually the storyline leaves you in a hopeless battle in the orbit of Earth. After you are shot down in the unwinnable battle, you are taken aboard the Kilrathi flagship, brought before the Emporer, and executed.
Wing Commander IV (Various systems)
----------------------
This game has two bad endings that I'm aware of. If you never defect to the Border Worlds, you fail in your final mission with the Confederation and Tolywin kicks you out of the service. The other bad ending is if you answer the questions incorrectly in the final scene. You are found to be a traitor, are executed, and the Confederation goes to war with the Border Worlds.
Clash At Demonhead (NES)
----------------------
If you fail to put the medallions into the bomb in the correct order, the message "ITS NO USE!!" flashes on the display, the bomb detonates, and the world is destroyed.
Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS1)
----------------------
Die against Lavos in 1999. Lavos will continue on to destroy the world, just as you saw when you were in the future. "...but the future refused to change..."
Colony Wars (PS1)
----------------------
Whew, where to even begin on this one. This is a branching storyline game with multiple endings. SOme of them are good, some of them are bad. Keep losing missions, and depending on where you are in the game, you will end up at one of the MANY bad endings.
Colony Wars: Vengance (PS1)
-----------------------
Just like Colony Wars, there are lots of ways to fail in this game, leading to the Navy losing to the League. Branching storyline leading to multiple endings. At least not all of the branches have you playing that really stupid intergalactic game of Simon to open a jumpgate... where the hell did they come up with that anyway?
Knuckles Chaotix (32x)
------------------------
If you don't collect all of the emeralds, after you defeat the Super Metal Sonic, the world is in flames with Super Metal Sonic flying over it. Quite a cool ending, and honestly better than the "good" ending.
Sonic the Hedgehog
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds and Robotnic laughs at you following the ending, juggling the emeralds you missed.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds, and regular Sonic falls back into the atmosphere, with Tails catching him on the Biplane.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds, Knuckles juggles the emeralds you missed while Robotnick stands with him, laughing.
Sonic & Knuckles
------------------------
Fail to get all the emeralds:
With Sonic - Sonic falls along side of the master emerald, the emerald floats away. Tails grabs Sonic with the biplane, flies behind the Island, and after the credits, Robotnick stands with the master emerald, laughing.
With Knuckles - After the robot blows up, Sonic grabs Knuckles with Tails's biplane and flies away. Floating Island continues its decent through the credits and lands in the water. Following the credits, the ruined robot stands up next to the master emerald.
Streets of Rage (Genesis)
------------------------
With any character, accept Mr X's offer to join him. You end up running the Syndicate as one of Mr X's generals.
Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis)
------------------------
There are two bad endings - If the mayor does not survive, the final boss is Shiva, and you never find or stop Mr. X and his plans succeed. The other bad ending occurs if you do not defeat Mr X by the end of the countdown. His plan succeeds and you get the other bad ending.
Dungeon Explorer (TG-16)
------------------------
Once Natas reveals that he was posing as the King, walk up and touch the throne. You take over the kingdom and rule as a tyrant. Another one of my favorites.
Snatcher (Sega CD)
------------------------
Shoot Jaime when invading the Snatcher base. Gillian will scream and the game ends.
Rise of the Dragon (Sega CD)
-------------------------
Screw up when disconnecting your girlfriend from the chair. She will gurgle and die a horrible death. You then go on a rampage into the boardroom of Bahumut. The game proceeds as usual, however you will have the bad ending with Blade punching out the mayor and walking away alone.
Sonic CD (Sega CD)
--------------------------
Do not destroy all of the Roboticizing units or animal holding pens. The future will remain bad.
Shenmue (Dreamcast)
--------------------------
On April 15th, 1987, Lan Di will show up at your house, looking for the other mirror he didn't get on his first visit, and will murder Ryo for it.
Shenmue II (Dreamcast, xBox)
--------------------------
June 30th, Lan Di comes a' calling. I haven't personally seen this one myself yet, but I've confirmed the date with several people.
Considering how long I've been typing this, I'm going to stop here for now. I'll be adding more to this list when it's not nearly 4am. Anyway, please let me know what other "Bad" endings you have found in games!