Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Best Videogame Endings Discussed

Posted by simoniker on from the spoilers-at-yr-peril dept.

Thanks to InsertCredit.com for their lengthy, semi-gonzo, spoiler-containing feature on the evolving nature of game end sequences. They ask "Why should an ending be a time to 'relax'? Why should an ending be something long, and complicated? Why should an action game, really, even have a final 'boss'? Do we need these conventions anymore?", while charting classic game endings from Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. through Metroid Prime. They finish things up with the top 11 game endings of all-time, from "an alcoholic cartoon squirrel" to "the collapsing Death Egg."

7 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. It seems obvious... by Quicksilver31337 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Everyone knows that crono trigger has the best endings, being one the first RPGs to experiment with multiple endings depending on how you played and finished the game.

    --
    _______
    Death wish, n.:

    The only wish that always comes true, whether or not one wishes it t
  2. Final Fantasy VII by cloudless.net · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It had the most advanced graphics in video game at that time, end the ending was simply amazing. I still remember the music of the final boss!

  3. Let's not forget... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the best videogame beginnings

  4. Favourite game ending & most hated end bosses by stardeep · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My favourite game ending is that of Monkey Island 2, where everything that has gone on before (including the first adventure) is put in a new light.

    I have always despised the concept of end bosses. Why, for example, did a beautifully balanced game like The New Zealand Story have such monstrous bosses? They were so hard to beat that you were bound to lose that wonderful, rela-axed feeling playing that game gave you when faced with that floating walrus.

    In RPGs I find the concept of end bosses even more despicable. Worst example? The last third or so of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Baal, where the designers have obiously run out of ideas (and the overly combat-oriented rule system has been taken to its limits) and the game just ends up throwing countless nearly-unbeatable, often regenerating enemies at you. Where's the roleplaying in that?

    (And speaking of disappointing endings: the 'good' ending is identical to the 'evil' one, only with a different voice-over!)

    Planescape: Torment got all of that just right: here was a game you could finish without fighting the end boss at all, if that didn't fit your character. I wish they'd make a sequel to that one...

    --
    Sentimentality is merely the Bank Holiday of cynicism.
    - Oscar Wilde
  5. Ninja Gaiden by techstar25 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I always thought the Ninja Gaiden series on NES had some of the coolest endings, and some of hardest final bosses. They really set the bar high with all thier animated cut-scenes between levels leading up a long scene at the end.

  6. Bah! by JMZero · · Score: 2, Interesting

    No "Star Control II"? I guess they just didn't play it. That's literally the only possible explanation. If you haven't, go download it now - it's available free as "The Ur-Quan Masters" from sourceForge.

    --
    Let's not stir that bag of worms...
  7. Dogging FFVII b/c he didn't understand by illumina+us · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This guy didn't understand the ending to FFVII at all which leads me to believe he barely played the game or didn't understand the game. The "beams of light" were the visual of the Holy Materia/Holy Magic being used by Aeris. If you recal the game stated that only holy could destroy meteor that is why Aeris had to sacrifice herself in order to save the world (yeah yeah it's been done before in other games).

    --
    -illumina+us "I put on my robe and wizard hat..."