While there aren't too many examples of this in older eras, there are some cases where surprise endings or plot twists occur. The most iconic example of this, of course, is when Samus Aran reveals he is in fact a she. Let's take a brief look at some other endings of games that were surprising, unexpected or so off the wall they left the gamer scratching their head.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This game based on the popular characters of comic and television fame was released by Ultra Games (a subsidiary of Konami) in 1990 and is easily the most difficult, and more than likely, the least popular TMNT game of the 8 and 16-bit eras.
The frustrations don't end, however, with irritating game play or random characters who have never once appeared in any TMNT-related medium. After defeating Shredder, Splinter proclaims he can now turn back into his human form, Hamato Yoshi. While that's a nice way to wrap up the game, there's no explanation as to how this happens.
So he just magically turns back? No anti-mutagen? No mutant ray gun (as was featured in the animated series.)?
This lackadaisical ending may have been satisfying for a causal fan of the good old Heroes in a Half Shelf, but for hardcore fans, it was a head-scratcher. Certainly they could have done something better than this, maybe even have a cliffhanger or imply the Shredder will have his revenge (something that almost every other TMNT game did back in the day.)
Kirby's Adventure
In this classic developed by HAL Laboratory, you are in control of an adorable pink blob who can suck up enemies, sometimes using their special abilities, and can conveniently float your way through levels.
The basic premise of the game is that evil King Dedede has stolen and shattered the star rod from the fountain of dreams, thus preventing characters from having dreams as they sleep (what exactly were the developers smoking?). What this means, of course, is that you have to help Kirby collect the fragments of the rod to restore stability to Dream Land. There are six fragments, and thus six stages with individual levels and bonus games. Kirby's Dreamland is a memorable and enjoyable classic, albeit a little on the easy side.
The shocker? Once Kirby defeats King Dedede, it is revealed he was actually protecting the rod from some creepy nightmare creature, which you also have to defeat. Its the only time I can think of where a significant antagonist ended up being a misunderstood protagonist. I attribute this move, at least in part, to the fact that the game was mainly catered to younger audiences (which also explains the relative ease of the game.)
Bionic Commando
This Capcom classic features a bionic arm wielding hero/operative named Ladd Spencer who's mission is to defeat Adolf Hitler Master-D, and the Nazis - uhh, I mean the “Badds.”
The English version of the game removed much, if not all, Nazi-related symbols and names. (The Japanese game was entitled “The Resurrection of Hitler: Top Secret,” by the way.) Interestingly enough, Hitler's appearance was not altered. Why not at least remove the mustache, or put on a round, felt hat and tell the kiddies your mission was to destroy Charlie Chaplin?
Well anyways, this results in somewhat of a surprise when the final boss battle ends up involving Hitler. Another major aspect of the game which was unaltered was Hitler's - da... I mean Master-D's, - death scene at the end of the game, where essentially - well ok, realy - his head explodes. The Nintendo was not known at all for violent gore and this took me, and surely other gamers, by complete surprise.
If Nintendo of America, Inc. saw fit to force Capcom to remove the Nazi-related stuff, why not alter the end of the game so as not to see a pixelated, but nevertheless, graphic decapitation? Perhaps it was too costly or there was some production schedule to meet; who knows.
Narc
This arcade gorefest was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and retained much of the violence and gore. While the game purported to be anti-drug, most of the drug references were removed completely. What's Nintendo's message here? Murdering people is OK, so long as you don't do so while smoking marijuana?
Well anyways, the end of the game involves a surreal battle involving Mr. Big, the drug - er, crime - boss (who's level involves odd shapes including a huge head that spits tongues and fire at you) and a giant skull that lunges out at you until you blow away his spine!
This lackadaisical ending may have been satisfying for a causal fan of the good old Heroes in a Half Shelf, but for hardcore fans, it was a head-scratcher. Certainly they could have done something better than this, maybe even have a cliffhanger or imply the Shredder will have his revenge (something that almost every other TMNT game did back in the day.)
Kirby's Adventure
In this classic developed by HAL Laboratory, you are in control of an adorable pink blob who can suck up enemies, sometimes using their special abilities, and can conveniently float your way through levels.
The basic premise of the game is that evil King Dedede has stolen and shattered the star rod from the fountain of dreams, thus preventing characters from having dreams as they sleep (what exactly were the developers smoking?). What this means, of course, is that you have to help Kirby collect the fragments of the rod to restore stability to Dream Land. There are six fragments, and thus six stages with individual levels and bonus games. Kirby's Dreamland is a memorable and enjoyable classic, albeit a little on the easy side.
The shocker? Once Kirby defeats King Dedede, it is revealed he was actually protecting the rod from some creepy nightmare creature, which you also have to defeat. Its the only time I can think of where a significant antagonist ended up being a misunderstood protagonist. I attribute this move, at least in part, to the fact that the game was mainly catered to younger audiences (which also explains the relative ease of the game.)
Bionic Commando
This Capcom classic features a bionic arm wielding hero/operative named Ladd Spencer who's mission is to defeat Adolf Hitler Master-D, and the Nazis - uhh, I mean the “Badds.”
The English version of the game removed much, if not all, Nazi-related symbols and names. (The Japanese game was entitled “The Resurrection of Hitler: Top Secret,” by the way.) Interestingly enough, Hitler's appearance was not altered. Why not at least remove the mustache, or put on a round, felt hat and tell the kiddies your mission was to destroy Charlie Chaplin?
Well anyways, this results in somewhat of a surprise when the final boss battle ends up involving Hitler. Another major aspect of the game which was unaltered was Hitler's - da... I mean Master-D's, - death scene at the end of the game, where essentially - well ok, realy - his head explodes. The Nintendo was not known at all for violent gore and this took me, and surely other gamers, by complete surprise.
If Nintendo of America, Inc. saw fit to force Capcom to remove the Nazi-related stuff, why not alter the end of the game so as not to see a pixelated, but nevertheless, graphic decapitation? Perhaps it was too costly or there was some production schedule to meet; who knows.
Narc
This arcade gorefest was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and retained much of the violence and gore. While the game purported to be anti-drug, most of the drug references were removed completely. What's Nintendo's message here? Murdering people is OK, so long as you don't do so while smoking marijuana?
Well anyways, the end of the game involves a surreal battle involving Mr. Big, the drug - er, crime - boss (who's level involves odd shapes including a huge head that spits tongues and fire at you) and a giant skull that lunges out at you until you blow away his spine!
So I wonder if Acclaim developers themselves were maybe taking some substances.
Anyways, after destroying Mr. Big, a screen comes up congratulating you on completing the training mission and urging you to contact your local Drug Enforcement Agency recruiter. So, if I beat this game, should I have the ability to make drug busts or sense when illegal contraband transactions are taking place? Well, no: its obviously not a serious request, but still, very odd.
Super Mario Bros. 2
At the beginning of this list, you may have figured I'd eventually get to this game. After playing a multitude of levels of the black sheep of the NES Mario games, it feels a bit out of place. The game includes magic carpets to ride, keys to steal from disembodied faces, traveling down Egyptian-styled vases instead of pipes, and, of course, throwing radishes at creatures. While its a fun game and certainly an NES classic, the game itself always felt odd, as if it didn't belong.
Well, that's not surprising because, as has been talked about ad nauseum, Super Mario Bros. 2 was not actually a Super Mario title at all. It was another Japanese game called “Doki Doki Panic” and only made into Mario 2 here in the U.S. after some executives at Nintendo felt the original Japanese sequel was too similar to the original and much too difficult (the latter I totally agree with.) The original sequel was later released as part of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES and is now available for purchase on the Wii's Virtual Console.
Anyways, after destroying Mr. Big, a screen comes up congratulating you on completing the training mission and urging you to contact your local Drug Enforcement Agency recruiter. So, if I beat this game, should I have the ability to make drug busts or sense when illegal contraband transactions are taking place? Well, no: its obviously not a serious request, but still, very odd.
Super Mario Bros. 2
At the beginning of this list, you may have figured I'd eventually get to this game. After playing a multitude of levels of the black sheep of the NES Mario games, it feels a bit out of place. The game includes magic carpets to ride, keys to steal from disembodied faces, traveling down Egyptian-styled vases instead of pipes, and, of course, throwing radishes at creatures. While its a fun game and certainly an NES classic, the game itself always felt odd, as if it didn't belong.
Well, that's not surprising because, as has been talked about ad nauseum, Super Mario Bros. 2 was not actually a Super Mario title at all. It was another Japanese game called “Doki Doki Panic” and only made into Mario 2 here in the U.S. after some executives at Nintendo felt the original Japanese sequel was too similar to the original and much too difficult (the latter I totally agree with.) The original sequel was later released as part of Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES and is now available for purchase on the Wii's Virtual Console.
As part of this trans-Pacific trickery, the game actually tries to explain its oddness in the finale. After defeating King Wart, whichever character you're controlling pulls a plug out of a pipe to release these weird fairy things who proceed to carry off Wart's incapacitated body. At this point, the ending credits sequence commences revealing that the entire game was simply a dream. Good thing we restored the Star Rod, eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment