Video games were once thought of as a joke or expensive toys for kids, but they sure have come a long way. Some games today have the same budget as major Hollywood blockbusters and in many cases better stories. Back in the day, all you would get for your effort is a lame ending screen. I won't be sharing any of those. These are the game endings that had the greatest emotional impact on me over the years...
Ninja Gaiden
I don't remember any games from the 8 or 16-bit days that actually treated the game's ending seriously. Most of the time all you would get is a congratulations screen or the chance to enter your initials, but when my friend Matt and I stayed up all night and cleared Ninja Gaiden on his NES we were glued to the screen reading every word.
Doom
THE LOATHSOME SPIDERDEMON THAT
MASTERMINDED THE INVASION OF THE MOON
BASES AND CAUSED SO MUCH DEATH HAS HAD
ITS ASS KICKED FOR ALL TIME.
A HIDDEN DOORWAY OPENS AND YOU ENTER.
YOU'VE PROVEN TOO TOUGH FOR HELL TO
CONTAIN, AND NOW HELL AT LAST PLAYS
FAIR -- FOR YOU EMERGE FROM THE DOOR
TO SEE THE GREEN FIELDS OF EARTH!
HOME AT LAST.YOU WONDER WHAT'S BEEN
HAPPENING ON EARTH WHILE YOU WERE
BATTLING EVILUNLEASHED. IT'S GOOD THAT NO
HELL-SPAWN COULD HAVE COME THROUGH THAT
DOOR WITH YOU ...
Looking back at this ending now it's clear to see it's just a pan of an image, but when my friend Mike and I finally cleared Doom back in 1995 and saw this ending we felt like we had just come back from the moon. I remember him saying that there will never be another game as great as this. Boy, he was wrong, but I didn't disagree with him at the time. The only reason I knew how to run DOS back then was because most computers didn't have the power to run both Doom and the Windows 3.1 operating system so we had to remember a few commands to boot this game up. Do you still remember the commands? I just remember CD/ something something Doom and ENTER.
Super Mario 64
When the Nintendo 64 came out in September of 1996 I rode my bike to the mall and was able to buy one before it sold out. Having the only N64 for a few months was awesome. The only game we had was Super Mario 64, but it didn't matter because it was so fun. I took it over to my friend's house and played it with his brother on their mom's 50-inch TV for 17 days straight. We hardly slept and were annoyed when we had to eat or go to school, but our lives, our whole universe revolved around helping Mario find all 120 of those stars.
Halo
The OG Xbox probably would have been a total failure next to the PlayStation 2 if it weren't for Halo. Who can forget that final level speeding away in the warthog before the bomb went off? Even though it was a completely different vehicle and type of story it's still the closest thing we ever got to being Luke Skywalker during the Death Star run.
GTA Vice City Stories
Did you have a PSP? While many people loved the Gameboy, I had the best memories with the PSP. The battery lasted for a long time. You could easily hack it to play free games and to do all kinds of cool stuff too. I got mine to work as a remote control for both TVs and those little helicopters. Since I never used the little discs called UMDs I would use that slot to hide money or weed from my wife.
When I made it to the end and had to protect Phil Collins, I had no idea it was the end of the game. I remember getting chills hearing the music and being impressed at how well directed this scene was. It's something that you have to hear with headphones on. It's even better than the original song.
So what do you think of my list? I'm sure you disagree. These are just the games that I still remember all these years later. What game endings are on your list?
Ninja Gaiden Wiki:
https://ninjagaiden.fandom.com/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden_Wiki
Doom Wiki:
https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Entryway
Mario Wiki:
https://www.mariowiki.com/Bowser_in_the_Sky
Halopedia:
https://www.halopedia.org/
GTA Wiki:
https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page