The 90s saw to a meteoric change in media across the board—Nirvana showcased that Rock can be melancholic while still blowing out your speakers, and The Simpsons turned television on its head with its witty satire and clever jabs at sitcom stereotypes. But throughout the decade of Fresh Princes and Forrest Gumps, it was the underdog in video games that perhaps broke the most ground.
Video games finally felt like more than just, well, games—they carried emotional weight in titles like Metal Gear Solid and they featured fully fleshed out stories that could challenge the best of writers in games like Ocarina of Time. Even just thinking about the sheer amount of great games that came out in this period alone is enough to deem this the most influential decade for gaming ever.
We got Super Mario 64, Ocarina, Half-Life, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, Doom, Chrono Trigger, Pokémon, and so many other timeless classics that we could fill this article with them alone. The 90s became the decade where the blueprints for the future of gaming were being laid out and we couldn’t possibly begin to understand how big the impact would be.
Sure, Ocarina was a great game to me as a kid, but the fact that the game still tops “Best Games of All-Time” lists as we enter into 2019 is something special, and in a way, it quantifies the magic of this decade. So in celebration of 90s games, let’s countdown all the best endings to some of our favorite 90s classics. But it won’t all be positive, as we’re going to look at 15 endings from the 90s that maybe fell a little flat when compared to the rest of the game.
32 Disappointing: Super Mario 64 (1996)
I truly meant it when I said we didn’t want to hurt any feelings with this list. That being said… here’s a bombshell for you Mario 64 fans, one that I do, in fact, believe. It’s not that the Mario 64 ending is bad by any means—that final boss fight alone gives me goosebumps to this day.
What really burns me about this ending is the cutscene that follows-suit—all that fighting, all that turmoil for a kiss on the nose, and a cake… Revolutionary for the time, but the game has been crushed by its sequels since.
31 Best: Half-Life (1998)
We’ll leave the memes at home for this entry, though it goes without saying… CAN WE PLEASE GET HALF-LIFE 3 ALREADY!? Okay, I guess it doesn’t really go without saying, but the reason this meme even has so much traction is due to its phenomenal story.
And it all started with the first one, a game that broke so much ground with its gameplay and narrative. Not to mention the ending, or multiple endings that make stories like The Matrix dull in comparison. It’s so bleak, it’s so jarring, and it’s one you have to experience for yourself.
30 Disappointing: Grand Theft Auto (1997)
Granted, this game is kind of mediocre in general, but it’s still the one that kickstarted Rockstar’s prodigious and extremely lucrative franchise, so it still deserves a place on this list.
This entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is perhaps the least played, and for good reasons, as it’s much more stripped back than its successors, especially when it comes to storytelling. The ending leaves your main character leaving Liberty City to get away from the corruption and crime in what feels extremely anti-climatic.
29 Best: Pokémon Red And Blue (1996)
While Pokémon games have gotten more complex over the years, especially when it comes to the story, they all still follow the blueprint laid out by the first, which sees you fight the Elite Four and the Pokémon Champion.
And you can only imagine the anxiety, and surprise after you finally beat the Elite Four only to find out someone did it before you… your rival Gary! It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, one that has without a doubt stood the test of time as Pokémon enters its 8th Gen soon.
28 Disappointing: GoldenEye 007 (1997)
GoldenEye 007 isn’t so much known for its story so much as it’s known for its revolutionary and insanely addicting multiplayer that surely entertained you for nights on end. And like many on this side, the story isn’t bad but ridiculously cheesy.
James Bond once again saves the day, gets the girl… please stop me if you’ve heard this one before. This ending just hasn’t held up really at all but even so, GoldenEye still delivers a heck of a good time when played by a group of friends.
27 Best: I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream (1995)
Yup, it’s a game you’ve likely never heard of, yet it’s one of the best on this list, and one you owe to yourself to play especially if you’re into shows like Black Mirror and other depictions of dark science fiction.
100 years after World War III, a massive supercomputer simply named “AM” takes control of the world, leaving five humans left which it physically and mentally harms daily. Your character is tasked with trying to release the last human survivors, and we’ll leave it at that because it’s so dang good.
26 Disappointing: Mario Kart 64 (1996)
Okay, hear me out—so there isn’t much of a narrative in Mario Kart, but there definitely is an ending when you complete all the cups to which you earn a credit sequence. And yes, it is pretty hard to mess up a credit sequence, but coming from Super Mario Kart’s fantastic ending sequence, this is definitely a downgrade.
I mean, just look at Super Mario Kart’s ending: it’s cute, it’s entertaining, and best of all, it’s short. I especially grin when the characters all jump at the end, so call it a nerdy pick but I’m sticking with it.
25 Best: System Shock 2 (1999)
You’ve probably heard the hype for this game, especially if you’re a fan of games like BioShock and BioShock Infinite, and in a lot of rights, this game can compete with those titans despite being far older.
Yet another fantastic depiction of bleak science fiction, System Shock 2 is one game that feels Stanley Kubrick-esque. System Shock 2 feels like 2001: A Space Odyssey and BioShock combined. To top it off, its ending simply and beautifully features the protagonist rejecting the main villain’s (SHODAN’s) proposal to join her with a “Nah.”
24 Disappointing: Doom 64 (1997)
Doom 64 is a pretty polarizing Doom game, to say the least, but most fans can at least agree that its ending was on the weaker side of Doom games. For starters, the final boss is poorly designed, even compared to earlier Doom games.
And it’s honestly a breeze of a final boss even on harder difficulties, I can still remember my astonishment from realizing the game was over. Oh, and that’s not to mention that Doomguy just decides to stay down with the demons afterward in what is a pretty poor life choice.
23 Best: Metal Gear Solid (1998)
Metal Gear is an overall fantastic game, and its film-like ending still deserves tremendous praise. This was probably one of the first games that transcended pixels and polygons and actually felt like more than just a video game.
“Until today I’ve lived only for myself, survival has been the only thing I’ve cared about in my life… Maybe it’s time I live for someone else.” -Snake
It may sound a bit cheesy, but this was definitely not a message I expected in a game like Metal Gear, and in the context of the ending it’s absolutely a masterpiece.
22 Disappointing: Resident Evil 2 (1998)
Another ending that definitely has its moments, and with the new remastered version of the game coming out it pains me to throw this game in this section—yet this ending is just too corny not to be a tad disappointing.
Resident Evil 2’s ending is another one that feels film-like, but it gets bogged down with its tremendous amount of cheese. The part that always gets me to burst out in laughter is Leon’s last line where instead of just celebrating their near-fatal encounter he immediately states in a cheesy cool guy voice: “It’s up to us to stop Umbrella.”
21 Best: Silent Hill (1999)
Granted, it ain’t as good as the ending or, really, just the overall game that was delivered in the 2000s with Silent Hill 2. That being said, however, the first entry to the Silent Hill franchise still stands triumphantly on its own and is often overlooked by fans.
Unlike other Silent Hill games, this entry offers some hope with you actually escaping the dreaded land known as Silent Hill. Even the good ending is filled with some downright creepy imagery so you get the best of both worlds being a happy yet spooky ending.
20 Disappointing: Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
Oh, Sonic the Hedgehog, what an overrated mess of a platformer you are. I guess you can say Sonic never really clicked with me growing up. Sure, the character was cool and the mechanics interesting, but it was only ever enough to keep me interested for about one or two levels.
Then one day I traversed through the entire game and was met with an ending that felt on par with Sonic 06 (okay, I won’t go that far). So you beat Eggman and rescue the animals in what feels ridiculously lame. Well, don’t call me a hater just yet…
19 Best: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992)
…Now, Sonic 2, on the other hand, that’s the stuff that great platformers are made of. The level design, the boss fights, and oh my goodness, the MUSIC were vastly improved here, giving us what I consider the best game in the series by far.
Plus, the ending is bumped up tenfold with Sonic skydiving off Eggman’s space station only to be rescued by Tails via his plane. It’s still rather short, but I’d be lying if it didn’t give me a smile every time I see it… plus, they play the best songs throughout the credits.
18 Disappointing: Pilotwings 64 (1996)
Pilotwings is a game you probably only like if you’re into games like Train Simulator, or heaven forbid—PC Building Simulator! What we’re trying to get at is that Pilotwings is mellow, like, light-some-incense-and-do-some-yoga-while-you-play mellow.
So it seems rather harsh throwing the ending to such a game in this section, but it’s really here for how it didn’t live up to the first’s ending. Pilotwings (SNES) sees you rewarded with the highest medal of honor and being saluted by top officers as the credits roll. 64’s ending just segues to credits…
17 Best: Banjo-Kazooie (1998)
You can’t talk 90s without talking Rare and their eclectic series of games, and at the top of the Rare mountain was Banjo-Kazooie. Now in 2019, this franchise might be as nonexistent as a microtransaction in an EA game (wait that doesn’t sound right), but this shouldn’t hide the fact that Banjo is still one of the greats, with an awesome ending to boot. The ending sees you fight the dreaded witch Gruntilda in what feels like one of the best boss fights in any game. And the scenes shortly after show why Rare’s one of the greats.
16 Disappointing: Spyro The Dragon (1998)
Spyro is another phenomenal game from the 90s, and one that surely any 90s kid will remember fondly. That’s all for good reasons. The game still holds up as one of the most original and creative games to come out of the decade.
The ending, however, falls a little flat, with a boss fight that, for the most part, feels like a complete joke. It takes two hits to take him out, but the obstacles beforehand are the real struggle—I don’t know, it always felt kind of lame to me.
15 Best: Chrono Trigger (1995)
So, I try to stay away from games I’ve never played, but Chrono Trigger is a must if you’re talking 90s games, especially in regards to great endings. Chrono Trigger seemed like such a great game to me as a kid, but as I grew older, its contemporaries within the genre began to appeal more.
Regardless, the ending was something pretty groundbreaking for the time, feeling like an Undertale ending before any idea was ever fathomed by developers. It’s fun and doesn’t take itself too serious making for a really enjoyable end to a game.
14 Disappointing: Earthworm Jim (1994)
Earthworm Jim is one of the best platformers ever made, let alone one of the best platformers to come out of the 90s. It’s fast-paced, and its cartoony-styled gameplay is one that still distinguishes itself from the rest of the platforming pack.
And don’t get me wrong, the ending is pretty hilarious as it turns the old “rescue the princess” stereotype on its head. But it’s still a bit disappointing as it plays out in under a minute; hilarious, but just a bit disappointing as the ending doesn’t even change on harder difficulties.
13 Best: Street Fighter 2’s Multiple Endings (1991)
“Street Fighter 2 is one of the best fighting games ever” is surely a statement you’ve come across, especially if you’re into the fighting game scene. But that’s for very good reason, as this game was so far ahead of its time that it could come out 20 years from now and pass as new.
The best part to me at least was the individual endings that each character had if you beat arcade mode. This gave you the incentive to try out all the characters to see their unique endings—Zangief’s will forever be my favorite.
