Video games are a non-linear medium. In contrast to most films, books, and TV shows, a video game can have many different outcomes and conclusions. Many games offer multiple ending scenarios as a means to increase the replay value and encourage subsequent playthroughs. These different outcomes can range from a happy ending to a complete downer. Most of the time, unhappy endings are achieved because the player was derelict in their duties.
This can entail not completing necessary quests, failing to acquire every collectable, or neglecting allies at crucial moments. However, some bad endings do exist that require a little more effort than the comparatively happier outcomes.
10 Making Luigi's Eponymous Mansion Disappear Isn't So Easy
In Luigi's Mansion, players are ranked and evaluated at the end based on how much treasure they managed to acquire in the ghastly manor. Ironically, since players can practically trip over the vast amounts of gold and loot scattered throughout, the game's worst ending is much harder to achieve than the best one.
Players must acquire less than 5,000 G — no small feat since they're required to pick up King Boo's crown at the end, which is valued at that exact amount. This essentially forbids players from picking up even a single piece of treasure.
9 Streets Of Rage Requires Players To Fight Each Other And The Boss
Streets of Rage put players into the shoes of three ex-cops who aim to bring down Mr. X and his evil organization, but if they play their cards right, they can see a completely different outcome. The steps are very specific, and deviating from any of them can prevent this ending from triggering.
Gamers must be playing 2-player mode, make it to the final boss, and give conflicting answers to Mr. X's job offer. After that, the one who said 'yes' must defeat the other player, decline Mr. X's subsequent offer, and defeat the final boss in order to see themselves taking over the crime syndicate.
8 Missing The Podium In Super Mario Kart Is Tougher Than It Looks
The first two Mario Kart games and Super Circuit are the only entries in the series to have an ending screen where the player who reaches 4th place in the final listings is left sulking next to the winners on the award podium.
Since both games won't allow players to proceed in the tournament if they lag too far behind, players might be forced to retry a race several times before they get in the specific listing. Super Mario Kart is particularly hard since it's the only one to give players a limited amount of tries before retiring them and bumping them back to the title screen.
7 It's Surprisingly Hard To Get Black Quarma In The Oddworld Games
To achieve black quarma in any of the Oddworld titles, players must kill as many mudokons as they can. However, because Abe is just a skinny guy with no weapons, he needs as much help as he can get in order to solve the many puzzles in the series.
Sometimes, the only help he can get is his fellow slaves, making it impossible to go through any of the games without rescuing at least one mudokon. The first entry, Abe's Oddysee, gives players a reprimand for killing everyone, but rewards them with infinite grenades, which makes the subsequent playthroughs significantly easier.
6 Star Fox's Hidden Boss Is Entirely Dependent On Luck
Star Fox for the Super Nintendo has a secret joke ending that can only be seen once players have uncovered a hidden route and defeat a boss that's entirely luck-based.
In the first game, there is a bizarre location known as 'Out of This Dimension' that doesn't appear in any subsequent titles. If players manage to unlock this route, they'll face a slot machine that can only be defeated once players get three in a row. Since this boss is completely determined by the player's luck, the time it takes to defeat it is completely random.
5 Getting Executed In Conquests of The Longbow Requires A Guide
Due to Sierra's design philosophy, players are unlikely to get the worst ending in Conquests of the Longbow unless they're actively trying to. Anyone who's played a graphic adventure from this company knows their reputation for killing players for the most trivial of reasons, and Robin Hood's tale is no different.
To achieve the worst outcome, players must make the outlaw unpopular with those who come forward to testify for him without getting killed or making the game unwinnable. Robin must also fail to save Lady Miriam in the one part of the game that doesn't kill players for doing so.
4 Players Must Reload A Save To Mess Things Up In Riven
In Riven, players are tasked with entering the aforementioned world to rescue Atrus' wife from the clutches of his evil father Ghen. In one of the best examples of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the very worst ending of the game requires players to solve a certain puzzle, reload a previous save, and free a villain that they already successfully captured.
Ghen even lampshades the ending by looking directly at the player and saying, "I don't know what you thought you were doing, but thank you," before promptly ordering his guard to shoot the protagonist.
3 The Strangest Endings In The Silent Hill Series Require Specific Steps
While the first Silent Hill had multiple endings that depended on what crucial items the player managed to pick up, the sequel utilized a hidden karma meter and locked out the strangest endings on the first playthrough.
In Silent Hill 2, players can only get the ending where James tries to bring his wife back to life, and the joke 'Dog' and 'UFO' endings by beating the game a second time. This would become a prevalent tradition in the following installments, which would reward repeated playthroughs with endings that were either complete downers or a farce.
2 Chrono Trigger's Numerous Ends Encourage New Game+
Square's SNES classic Chrono Trigger contains 12 endings, most of which are nearly impossible to achieve without the use of New Game+. Like Breath of the Wild, players can immediately face the final boss once they reach a certain point early on in the campaign.
Where and when they decide to fight Lavos determines a dozen of potential conclusions. Many of these endings require players to face him before they've had a chance to recruit more powerful members such as Magus, Frog, or Ayla, while others require very specific steps that can be undone with a simple dialogue choice.
1 The Genocide Route In Undertale Gives Players A Bad Time
Players who decide to take on the genocide route in Undertale are going to be met with fights that are either insultingly easy or unbelievably difficult with nothing in between whatsoever. If being forced to kill all the endearing characters wasn't hard enough, the fights where characters just straight-up break the rules might force players to question if this route is really worth the trouble.
It's a deliberate deconstruction of 100% percent completion where players are actively discouraged and downright mocked for doing things in a game solely for the purpose of seeing what would happen.