The worst video game endings

[Strider1982]

I know there's been a thread like this in the past, so feel free to close this one if it's gonna be a problem.

Bad ending sequences seem to be a running cliche in video game history, and I think that a truly awful ending can destroy an otherwise enjoyable game. I feel that a game's ending should be worth fighting to the end for.

I'm curious as to what bad-game-ending experiences you guys have had. I'd probably say Super Mario Bros. 3. A massive NES game with tons of stuff to do...and we get Peach delivering a truly lame joke ("Our Princess is in another castle - Just kidding!") Then we get an ending-credits style run-through of all the game's levels.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time's ending could have been better. I mean, Zelda was right there and Link didn't even try to kiss her. What a loser. And I know it's already been mentioned that the ending for the SNES Jurassic Park game was the devil incarnate. "You Have Escaped Jurassic Park!"

Sooo... what terrible endings have you guys experienced?

[Beldaran]

No, I think it's a legitame topic. The last thread was "biggest gaming let downs" which mostly meant games that we were totally looking forward too that just sucked.

The endings is sort of a category by itself.

I think DOOM I and DOOM II both had really shitty endings. You blast, bleed, and claw your way throught hordes of demons and hell spawn, only to get a little text story and a single image of a possessed rabit. DOOM II just took you through all the character animations while the credits rolled. I thought they should have had some cutscenes of some kind, no matter how primitive the anmiation.

I think the Legend of Zelda (NES) had a shitty ending. "Congratulations Link, you are the hero of hyrule." Well thanks bitch. That's it? God. Then you have to do it again on an even harder difficulty. (2nd Quest.)


My favorite video game ending ever are the Chrono Trigger endings. I love games with multiple endings, and since I loved Chrono Trigger so much anyway, I love all the endings. My second favorite would be the multiple endings of Knights of the Old Republic.

I feel like I'm forgetting some truly awful game endings, so if I think of more I'll post them.

[King Aquamentus]

Top Gun for NES. Okay. You do the stupid impossible landing sequence, and if done right, this time it shows a side view of you landing. you get out, and they start playing the top gun theme. that's it. You could have at least buzzed the tower. Or maybe included it as part of the landing sequence somehow...

[Strider1982]

I agree that Chrono Trigger, and most Square games in general, have very good endings, possibly with the exception of FF1, which ended with a little blurb about how the Light Warriors saved the world "with you!"

I think Majora's Mask could've had a better ending. Link just pulls a cowboy move and races off into the horizon. I mean, wasn't he looking for Navi at the beginning of the game? Maybe Navi will show up in a future Zelda title.

I hope Twilight Princess has a good epilogue.

[King Link]

I think Majora's Mask could've had a better ending. Link just pulls a cowboy move and races off into the horizon. I mean, wasn't he looking for Navi at the beginning of the game? Maybe Navi will show up in a future Zelda title.


To be more precise, Majora's Mask was just an accidental sidequest on Link's actual journey, and he wasn't actually in Termina looking for Navi.

And I thought the ending was pretty good.

[dandruff man]

It has to be battle of olympus for the NES. The game is Zelda II meets Greece (exact same graphics, monsters, towns, etc.) , and then the ending is exactly like castlevania. But it looks like simon belmont with greek wreath around his head watching the sunset as opposed to simon watching castlevania get destroyed into the sunset. Beyond suck.

[Ganonator]

Super Mario 64. A fucking cake? yea.

[Strider1982]

To be more precise, Majora's Mask was just an accidental sidequest on Link's actual journey, and he wasn't actually in Termina looking for Navi.

And I thought the ending was pretty good.

Good point. It's been a long time since I've played MM, so maybe I was forgetting something.

[Beldaran]

Super Mario 64. A fucking cake? yea.

lmao, SERIOUSLY. That was a pretty fucking cheap ending, especially since I bothered to get all 120 stars or whatever.

[bonegolem]

All the 1-Player endings for Super Smash Brothers 64.

"CONGRADULATIONS!"

Turok for Nintendo 64. The ending made no sense. Except if you beat the Campaigner with the minigun you got to see Turok run with a broken leg during the ending sequence. :laughing:

Army Men for GBC. Enough said. The game was beyond gay.

Every ending for Doom, Doom2 and Final Doom. But what do you expect...

[MottZilla]

Super Mario 3's ending was actually not that bad. Esspecially considering the MMC3 chip and probably the lack of available space for a very clever ending. Also back in those days, the endings of games were just about always empty, and in many cases the game would just run a short sequence and then you'd be at level 1 again.

Some games that had good endings though would be obvious, Ninja Gaiden series. But being the first game with a real cinema scene system that would be expected. But other than that I can't think of too much that's not an RPG that would have that much of an ending. Personally I don't need that much of an ending, but groovy music as credits go by is nice.

[Strider1982]

Yeah, I guess old games didn't need much ending-wise. I do like it when we get more than just a "The End, Thanks for playing" thing and then it's back to the title screen.

[Darth Marsden]

I'll nominate Skies of Arcadia again for being oh so cheesy. Also, I was distinctly underwhelmed by the ending for Final Fantasy I, which made NO sense. So Garland went back in time? Huh? Could someone explain that to me in a way which doesn't require me to be Doctor Who to understand?

[Axel]

I dunno, I never got that far in FF1. Got to the final dungeon, was wasted by random encounters, haven't touched the game in over a year. Same thing in FFX, got to Jecht and haven't played since.

Maybe Star Fox 64. "So Andross, you show your true form." A brain? And I swear, every time James McCloud shows up to lead you out I think, "Ben?" And after following this guy out we get the exact same end sequence as if we'd gone the easy route and destroyed the robot head and skipped Star Wolf 2. Except instead of a laughing Andross we get a "The End." However, the ending does have one saving grace: Gen. Pepper reading your bill.

[Cloral]

I hated the ending of Dino Riki. It was one of those 'congrats, now here's level 1 again' endings mentioned above. Thing was, that game was really tough. It took me forever to finally beat it. Then, for all that work, to get nothing? That was a huge letdown.

[Daarkseid]

lmao, SERIOUSLY. That was a pretty fucking cheap ending, especially since I bothered to get all 120 stars or whatever.

Yeah, I was so angry over that, that I soon removed the cartridge from my N64, sometime in April of 1997. I have not touched the game since.

[phattonez]

All NES game endings, but in particular, Rygar.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/ryga-5.gif

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/ryga-4.gif
Words cannot describe that. At least the final boss was hard, and had the best name ever in any video game for any character, the Ligar.

[King Aquamentus]

All NES game endings


...except for the Two Startropics titles. and Crystalis, and Adventure Island, and Ninja Turtles 1, and Astyanax, and DEFINETELY Bionic Commando, and Megaman 2, Megaman 3, Megaman 4, Megaman 5, and Megaman 6. Oh, and Bayou Billy. That was kind of a good ending.

[VT_Hokie_Fan]

.Hack, Infection. It's a four-part game, so I obviously thought the ending was going to suck, but not as bad as it actually did. The main character just runs away and then Helga grabs him.
Game over.

Off Topic-I just thought about this, I never beat Legend Of Dragoon. I accidentaly deleted my file like an hour before the final boss. If anyone could spoil the ending for me it would be great.

[Beldaran]

Ninja Turtles 1.

Wow, I never did beat that game. Sweet, I'm going to go play it. :)

[King Aquamentus]

Let me spoil the ending for people who do not wish to beat TMNT 1:




SPLINTER BECOMES HUMAN!!!!

[Strider1982]

I agree that the ending of FF1 is weird with the whole Garland going back in time thing. It baffles me today as much as it did when I first beat that game back in 1990.

Square managed to give a slightly longer and mosre quasi-cinematic ending for the WonderSwan/PS1/GBA re-releases of FF1, but they still have the same old thing about Garland ging back thousands of years in time.

[Arantxa]

Super Mario 64. A fucking cake? yea.I enjoyed that game XD it was pretty cool...

[Darth Marsden]

Well yeah, but after all that hard work (which these days isn't all that hard. Maybe I've just played too many platformers...) all you get is a freakin' cake? Dude! On the plus side, they did make up for it a little with an appearence by YOSHI! Who gave you 99 lives... despite the fact that you'd alreay owned the game. Hmm.

[King Link]

Timeline, based off of Michael Crichton's novel.

Okay, not only did the ending suck (I've basically forgotten it, but I'm sure it sucked) the whole game sucked. It was entertaining at first, but when you realized it was over after about two hours... /puke.

[ZomfgIts0rzlolo]

Come on all you naysayers, the cake was clearly a great ending.

[Darth Marsden]

The flyby was pretty cool, but a f**king cake? That we couldn't even eat? BAH!

[Daarkseid]

I wasn't so upset with not being able to eat the cake as I was upset I wouldn't get to make love to Peach. I bet she looks hot under that dress.

[Darth Marsden]

I wasn't so upset with not being able to eat the cake as I was upset I wouldn't get to make love to Peach. I bet she looks hot under that dress. Not as hot as Jade. I'm sure Vegeta would agree. ;)

[King Aquamentus]

Jade as in Mortal Kombat? Well, in Mortal Kombat: annhilation she was hot...

[Daarkseid]

Jade as in Mortal Kombat? Well, in Mortal Kombat: annhilation she was hot...

No, Beyond Good and Evil.

[zoraking]

I agree that the ending of FF1 is weird with the whole Garland going back in time thing. It baffles me today as much as it did when I first beat that game back in 1990.

Square managed to give a slightly longer and mosre quasi-cinematic ending for the WonderSwan/PS1/GBA re-releases of FF1, but they still have the same old thing about Garland ging back thousands of years in time.

Let me explain.

Garland "aka" Chaos is in a Time-Loop. After 2000 years he goes back in time. he does this every two-thousand years, thus making him stronger. This is also why the four fiends are in the Temple of Chaos. After defeating Chaos, the time-loop is broken, and everybody lives happily-ever-after. :D

The worst ending in history was Final Fantasy VII, but I guess that's where Advent Children comes in.

[vegeta1215]

Not as hot as Jade. I'm sure Vegeta would agree. ;)

Totally. You know what's weird? I met this really great girl down Ocean City, and she reminds me so much of Jade (I think it's the cheek bones)

As for Peach, I gotta say I am a Daisy fan. :tongue:

[Darth Marsden]

Let me explain.

Garland "aka" Chaos is in a Time-Loop. After 2000 years he goes back in time. he does this every two-thousand years, thus making him stronger. This is also why the four fiends are in the Temple of Chaos. After defeating Chaos, the time-loop is broken, and everybody lives happily-ever-after. :D

The worst ending in history was Final Fantasy VII, but I guess that's where Advent Children comes in. Thank you! Makes a wee bit of sense now. But if he keeps going back in time, why aren't there hundereds of Garlands from throughout his timeline? As in...

Garland gets beaten in the present and he sends himself back 2000 years. There's now one of him in the past. 2,000 years later he sends himself back again. Now there's 2 Garlands in the past. 2,000 years later, he sends himself back again. Now there's 3, and so on.

[ZomfgIts0rzlolo]

Jesus, if you people had just ran all around her castle for like 3000 hours, beaten a huge dinosaur, probably gotten killed several times in the process, what do you want more than a CAKE?

[Mitsukara]

Zero Wing. If you actually beat the game on easy mode, you're treated to (I'm not joking!) a line of dancing raisens with strange music playing. I'll dig up some screenshots if I get the chance soon.

The normal mode ending sucked too, IIRC it's nothing but a credits screen with a big picture of a zig off to the side. Lame.

I have yet to ever beat hard mode.

The biggest let-down is that there is no more dialogue in the game. The intro seems to be all of it. :( Also I could not recognize CATS as being any particular boss in the game.

Good music can save a bad ending, which is why I don't frown at Super Mario Land's ending. Mario hijacks a spaceship, too, so how cool is that?

...but then again, I didn't think SMB3 was that bad >>

The Zelda Oracles games, when you finish the second one you play. "HOO-RAY YOU HAVE SAVED TEH WORLD" say the three womenz! And you hang out at the tree. Then you are treated to strange, ugly artwork that looks nowhere near as cool as the intro sequence. Yippee. The final battle was a bit of a let-down, too; You just hack Gannon to death quickly once he appears. I should try playing to there without all the snazzy equipment.

Link's Awakening was not neccesarily a bad ending, but it left soooooooo much to be desired. It'd be great if they ever made a continuation that explained anything a little better, or even pretended to tie in, but alas... the island might or might not've really been something, the wind fish is real but who knows what he is, and all you're left with is some driftwood and a t-shirt that says "I was stranded on an island and escaped. Sort of."

[Daarkseid]

Jesus, if you people had just ran all around her castle for like 3000 hours, beaten a huge dinosaur, probably gotten killed several times in the process, what do you want more than a CAKE?

Peach to take it all off? Hell, have it be a twist of an ending... She IS the cake.

[mrz84]

Worst ending? *ponders* beating the original metroid over 10 hours? maybe. though really I think that the title of "Worst ending" should go to none other than Kid Icarus(NES) you save the goddess and then get sent to the beginning of the gaem to do it AGAIN. its as if she likes doing that... playing through it ONCE was enough for me thank you...

[ZomfgIts0rzlolo]

lol I wonder what Ted thinks about all day =/

What abotu Peach stripping ON TOP of the cake, or hiding in it SMRPG boss style?

[Darth Marsden]

What abotu Peach stripping ON TOP of the cake, or hiding in it SMRPG boss style?You have a filthy, FILTHY mind. Wash it out with soap, young man!

Brandishes Rolling Pin

Worst ending? Beyond Good & Evil... wait, hear me out. It's bad because it's wide open, and we'll probably never find out how it ends. It's like watching really exciting episode of Buffy, being left on a cliffhanger and then finding out the series was cancelled, so you'll never find out what happens. Horrible.

[Brasel]

Wizards and Warriors. I beat that game after trying for days when I was a kid, only to find out that the ending was "You saved the Princess, you get 10000000 points!"

[Tygore]

I wasn't so upset with not being able to eat the cake as I was upset I wouldn't get to make love to Peach. I bet she looks hot under that dress.

Super Mario 64: Hot Coffee

I was disappointed in Mario KART: Double Dash that the trophy didn't come out of a giant fish. That's like, a tradition or something.

[algam86]

Anyone hear of 'Magic Knight Rayearth' for the SNES? After you beat this game, the three main characters, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu return to their own time and say they won't forget their adventure... That really sucked.

Also, Axelay and Blazeon, two shooters, do the "Ok, you beat it, now start over on a harder difficulty" thing.

[Sir_Johnamus]

My image of a good ending: Character walkes away, thinking that it is over, and that peice crap bad guy returns and tries to kill the good guy again. LIke Metroid Prime(with 100% items)

[King Aquamentus]

Wizards and Warriors. I beat that game after trying for days when I was a kid, only to find out that the ending was "You saved the Princess, you get 10000000 points!"

yeah, and the sequal's ending could have been better. basically, all those (I swear they're angry at you for some reason) animal kings from throughout the game say "thanks for defeating malkil".

Man, the bear and the dragon have serious issues with kuros.

[KingArthur]

Thats cause Kuros is a dick :P
I rather liked the endings for the individual episodes of DOOM, especially the one from the first episode..

"ONCE YOU BEAT THE BIG BADASSES AND
CLEAN OUT THE MOON BASE YOU'RE SUPPOSED
TO WIN, AREN'T YOU? AREN'T YOU? WHERE'S
YOUR FAT REWARD AND TICKET HOME? WHAT
THE HELL IS THIS? IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO
END THIS WAY!

IT STINKS LIKE ROTTEN MEAT, BUT LOOKS
LIKE THE LOST DEIMOS BASE. LOOKS LIKE
YOU'RE STUCK ON THE SHORES OF HELL.
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH."

the original PC Doom's endings were well written and humourous, and were made to make it feel even more like YOU were the marine that destroyed the demons of hell.

Now Doom 64's ending sucked... you kill all the demons and chhose to remain in hell forevber.. yay.. go hero.

hmm.. the worst though... i'm gonna have to go with.. pac man... you get far enough into the actual arcade game and it will just lock up, not a very good ending at ALL :P

[Darth Marsden]

I remember the episode endings for Quake... Man, they sucked. I loved the way you killed the big bad though... tele-gib! Screw lobbing rockets and stuff at it, just leap through a teleporter and splatter her gibs all over the place! Wee! Bit of an anti-climax after what you've just been through, but ooohhh, it was fun.

[Mods_Suck]

Anything, anything is better than this!!!:

"He was dead. His armor, set a flame. The animals of the rain forest, came to see what had happened to him. You leave, the forest burns to the ground."

[Darth Marsden]

Anything, anything is better than this!!!:

"He was dead. His armor, set a flame. The animals of the rain forest, came to see what had happened to him. You leave, the forest burns to the ground."Which game is that from, MS?

Also - could anyone tells me what happens in the 'bad' ending for Prince of Persia - Warrior Within? I've finished it, but with all 9 life upgrades and the Water sword, so I can only see the good ending, and I've no intention of playing through the whole thing again just to catch a different cutscene at the end.

[DsS Game]

Paul's Tekken 5 ending. Namco over did it by making him believe there really are aliens....

[Aegix Drakan]

Games I know that suck... Let's see... :rolleyes:

Bionicle matoran adventures(GBA); the WHOLE GAME SUCKED, and the ending sucked EVEN MORE; they show you and the unlockable characters sitting on tree branches, and the camera moves around with text that reads, "You won! congratulations" :disgust:

I can't believe I wasted my money on such a crappy game :banghead:

[ZomfgIts0rzlolo]

The question is why did you get a Bionicle game :(

[Aegix Drakan]

:(
because I was young, gullible, and generally an idiot.

That experience did teach me something though. NEVER BUY A GAME YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!!! :angry: :banghead: :banghead:

[Darth Marsden]

I didn't think the ending to Mafia was all that good, (WARNING, PLOT SPOILERS ) but that's really because the lead character dies, even if it is after a long and happy-ish life. Surely if the lead character is older, then Morello (who was pretty old when the lead was in his late 20's/mid 30s) wouldn't still be alive? I dunno, I guess I just grew a little too attached to the lead. Good games do that, you know.