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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."

3 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I don't want to sound like a prude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Unless I missed the bulleting, Slashdot's supposed to be a family website...

    Ahhh yes, Slashdot's a place where the whole family can gather around the computer to read the latest about SCO, Linux, computer games and anime.

    Fuck you, you shithead prude.

  2. 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
  3. Before you make a list, know your games by Torgo's+Pizza · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Best videogame endings? Hardly. Maybe it should be titled "Best videogame endings of the games I played all time according to me even though I've never touched a computer."

    It is a very, very sad list. No mention of Ultima IV, Planescape, Wing Commander III, Baldur's Gate, Planetfall, Zork, or any of the myriad of games with *REAL* endings.

    Hint: If you want to make a "all-time" list, do yourself and your readers a favor. Spend a lot of time doing research. That means interviewing and polling friends, people on the street, reading reviews and visiting a library. Then write your article.