History Main / BonusDungeon

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'' has both the Labyrinth of Amala and the Bandou Shrine. Completing the labyrinth gives you a sixth ending (and BonusBoss), and the shrine gives you the chance to acquire the [[InfinityPlusOneSword secret 25th Magatama]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' has had several Bonus Dungeons over the course of the series.
** The Towers of Eternity and Evermore in ''Curse of Darkness'' - both are fifty floors and feature large amounts of combat, and the latter can only be accessed from the former.
** The Nest of Evil in ''PortraitOfRuin.'' Could only be accessed after exploring 888% (Yes, 888%) of the castle. Mostly just previously fought enemies, with bosses ripped right out of previous games. No real story, though getting to the bottom will net you the most powerful double-team spell in the game.
** The Battle Arena in ''CircleOfTheMoon.'' Very challenging in that your Magic Meter is drained while inside. (Though a trick can let you cast one spell if you're quick) You can bail out if it proves too tough, but you have to play it completely through in order to get one of the most powerful suits of armour in the game.
** The Forbidden Area in ''AriaOfSorrow''. It's home to a somewhat good weapon, a powerful piece of armor, and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Claimh Solais]], which on top of having a very high Attack stat is remarkably long and swings in an arc, attacking enemies above and ahead.
** The Floating Catacombs in ''SymphonyOfTheNight''. It's home to [[BonusBoss Galamoth]], [[ThatOneBoss the most powerful non-Dracula boss in the game]]; defeating him nets you the Gas Cloud relic, which makes your mist form harm enemies. The Floating Catacombs are completely optional, since there are no Vlad relics up there.
** In a way, the Stage 5' in ''RondoOfBlood''/''Dracula X Chronicles''. Accessing it in ''Rondo'' requires that you beat the game, and accessing it in ''[=DXC=]'' requires that you defeat Death, the boss of Stage 5. Until you do so, if you try to get a blue orb (which takes you to lower-path stages) in Stage 4 or 4', Death will change it to red. Oh, and if you think the rest of the game is hard, [[NintendoHard Stage 5' kicks the difficulty up a few notches]].
** The Training Hall and the Large Cavern in ''OrderOfEcclesia''. While the latter is a MonsterArena, the former is strictly a platforming challenge.

* The VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas DLC ''Lonesome Road'' adds the Long 15 and Dry Wells maps, which you may or may not have [[spoiler: nuked]] previous to their unlocking.

* ''TheSuffering'' features a pseudo-bonus dungeon in Chapter 19. If you deviate from the path that the AI leads you on, you can find a cave with a few NPC's and a slew of overly powerful monsters. The reward? The final component to the super-secret Flamethrower weapon (which certain exploratory players will have discovered several chapters prior).

* After trudging through Zero's [[ScrappyLevel first two missions, which involve shooting down/fighting with toys on a very tight timer]] in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', you are treated to...an RTS mission. However, it is probably the most fun mission in the game since it's virtually impossible to screw up, and hearing David Cross cheer you on when you do well at it creates quite the fuzzy feeling. Oh, and one of the previous scrappy levels becomes infinitely replayable after you beat it, although there is now no longer a penalty for failing it.

* The Abyss in ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 1}}'', ''[[VideoGame/WildArms3 3]]'', and ''Alter Code F''. It was smaller in the first game, but all later incarnations had it at 100 levels deep. It exists in 5 as well, along with three other BonusDungeons, but it's much smaller.

** Neverland is a strange example in that it is completely optional (and very difficult) yet its BonusBoss is [[spoiler: The ''real'' BigBad of the game.]] There are even cut-scenes to go along with it. The game also has several places that can be opened for exploration, despite having no plot significance. These places are good for leveling and finding items (including new weapons) and [=NPCs=] will suggest you check them out.

* The Server Room in ''{{Opoona}}.'' It opens up about midway through the game, but actually ''challenging'' it at such a point is not especially advisable. In addition to containing {{Mooks}} that are extremely fast, can heal themselves, and prevent you from using your Force (magic), the battle stages are full of bombs, which prevent you from using just about any hit-all abilities lest they explode. (And if they do so, they'll knock off about 100 HP--about three or four is enough for a TotalPartyKill.) And if ''that'' doesn't kill you, the room is also home to Salamanders, one of the game's most brutal BossInMookClothing monsters. However, you can leae at any time to save and heal without losing your progress.

** The Floating Catacombs in ''SymphonyOfTheNight''. It's home to [[BonusBoss Galamoth]], [[ThatOneBoss the most powerful non-Dracula boss in the game]]; defeating him nets you the Gas Cloud relic, which makes your mist form harm enemies. Other than the Floating Catacombs are completely optional, since there are no Vlad relics up there.

* The Hades Cup in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'', as well as the Paradox Cups in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Also, the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix]]'' version contains the Cavern Of Remembrance, a bonus level full of very difficult [[PaletteSwap palette-swapped]] enemies as well as normal enemies with their stats jacked incredibly high--and at the end are no less than thirteen [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]].
* The Netherworld, Auldburg, Trials of Elore, Jewel Beast's Lair, Purgatory, and Shadow Palace from ''RomancingSaGa''. You only need to visit one of the first 3 that are mentioned in order to progress the story, You can open up all three before starting the endquests, but [[spoiler: after completing Auldburg or The Netherworld, you cannot access the Trials of Elore.]]
** ''RomancingSaGa2'' had several: The Ice/Snow/Sand Ruins as well as a hidden town which allowed an deeper explanation of the game's backstory.
** ''FinalFantasyLegendII'' (SaGa 2 in Japan) has the aptly named Nasty Dungeon with single tile hallways that span multiple screens and lead to dead ends and monster encounters the party cannot run from. Naturally the strongest weapons and equipment in the game are found here.

* ''{{Okami}}'' features a particularly evil example. In different areas of the overworld there are 3 caves that are home to (slightly) upgraded versions of a previous giant demon spider boss. Defeating them earns a reward, but you can then return to the same cave later to find a demon gate eerily sitting there. Going through forces you to battle wave after wave of superpowered regular enemies. Even the lowliest of {{Mooks}} can waste you with a couple of hits in these battles (oh yeah, you have to go through 10 of them to get the reward) and have HP that would make some of the late-game bosses jealous. These battles could be considered a refreshing change of pace compared to the general easiness of Okami if not for their sheer sadism.
** To emphasize how very cruel some of these are, the most difficult has you face several bosses from the past in groups, usually two or three at a time. Including [[spoiler:Waka and two possessed Raos.]] Don't forget those healing items!

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' features a BonusDungeon where you fight God. Literally. A second bonus dungeon features an arguably easier bonus battle with the four elemental spirits seen earlier in the game, after which you get the chance to [[spoiler:invite God to live in your immigrant town]].

* Beauty Castle and the Alternate Hell from ''DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', as well as a world within every item which is generated randomly. Fittingly, the Alternate Hell was the BonusDungeon for the previous game, ''LaPucelleTactics''. There is a similar version in ''PhantomBrave'', which is yet another in the NipponIchi line of TurnBasedStrategy games.

*** Speaking of Deathclaws, there's also Dead Wind Cavern, at the end of which is another BonusBoss, the Legendary Deathclaw, guarding the unique grenade machine gun Mercy.

** The main game has Deathclaw Promontory, home to the highest concentration of deathclaws in the game, as well as a suit of T-51b armor, a Multiplas rifle, and a tri-beam laser rifle.

** Neverland is a strange example in that it is completely optional (and very difficult) yet its BonusBoss is [[spoiler: The ''real'' BigBad of the game.]] There are even cut-scenes to go along with it. The game also has several places that can be opened for exploration, despite having no plot significance. These places are good for leveling and finding items (including new weapons) and NPCs will suggest you check them out.

*** Actually the most difficult boss in the game ''period''; it's extremely difficult to defeat him without game-breaking equipment like the Beryl Circlet and the Crissaegrim, while Dracula himself isn't too hard with normal equipment if your levels are high enough.
**** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54owSzyQ_8U Actually galamoth can be pretty easy using a fancy dashing technique, Alucard equipment and the sword familiar.]]

* The "Warp Zones" in ''DangerousDave''.

* {{Everlong}} has a handful of them.

* While not actual dungeons, the ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen'' series has areas in some levels that don't need to be visited and are deliberately hard. There are even a few levels in the series which can be skipped, and some of them are significantly harder than the rest.
** Episode 1: Only seven out of sixteen levels actually need to be beaten to finish the game. The remainder, one of which is a secret level, are optional. Getting to the secret level is rather tricky, though.
** Episode 2: Ten out of sixteen levels need to be finished to beat the game.
** Episode 3: Sixteen levels again, but only two outside of the final boss have to be finished. Thirteen can be skipped if you can figure out exactly how the teleporter network on the map works. The boss fight at the end without the cheat for GodMode is NintendoHard.
** Keen Dreams: This game is a little different from the other ones in the series. To beat the boss at the end of the game, you need at least twelve Boobus Bombs. As the levels containing them can be completed without collecting them, ID Software put them in six levels of the game for a total of eighteen bombs to find. The absolute minimum number of levels to complete to be able to fight the boss is seven out of eleven before the boss himself. Only one level in the game does not serve as a roadblock or a level to get bombs in.
*** Actually, if you have enough lives, you can die over and over in the same level, and get as many Boobus Bombs as you need in one level. In The Melon Mines, there's an "All-Seeing Eye" (that's what I call it) not far from the entrance which gives you three 1-UPs and eight Flower Power seeds. It takes a lot of skill to get there, though. So, with effort, you could beat the game while only going through four levels)
** Episode 4: Eleven out of seventeen levels actually need to be completed to finish the game. One level you don't need to complete is extremely dangerous and the means of accessing it is something of a secret. One level gives you a clue as to how to get to it.
** Episode 5: Only the secret level can be skipped in this game, and it's only accessible from the second-last level.
** Episode 6: Of the sixteen levels in the game, ten need to be completed to finish the game. The remainder, including a very dangerous one and a secret level, can be skipped.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has the Sea, which unlocks after you beat the game's BigBad, the Naughty Sorceress. It's full of tough monsters, exploring it initially requires you to wear an accessory that gives you a serious penalty to item drops and initiative, you can only take familiars that can breathe underwater with you, and unless you have a specific effect gained only by consuming certain items found in the Sea itself, it costs two adventures to explore a zone once. There's also the Clan Dungeons (Hobopolis, the Slime Tube, and the Haunted Sorority House), which are intended for high-end players and full of tough monsters; and Fernswarthy's Basement, which is full of increasingly difficult challenges, but offers big stat bonuses every five levels, and powerful consumables that appear every 100 levels.

* The ''StarOcean'' games all have at least one BonusDungeon. The Seven Star Ruins in the [[VideoGame/StarOcean1 first game]], Cave of Trials in the [[VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory second]], as well as its GaidenGame, and Maze of Tribulations in the [[StarOcean3 third]], which jacked up the pot by adding Sphere 211, another 100-level dungeon, and the Urssa Cave Temple, a more puzzle-oriented Bonus Dungeon. The [[StarOcean4 fourth game]] brought back the Seven Star Ruins and added the Wandering Dungeon. Many of these dungeons share the same background music (slightly remixed).
* Yet another 100 floor dungeon exists in ''VideoGame/BeyondOasis''. There are prizes every 10 levels, and if you can make it all the way to the bottom without having to turn back to restock on supplies, your ultimate prize is an indestructible[[hottip:* :most weapons break after limited uses, with the exception of your default dagger and a handful of well-hidden weapons]] [[InfinityPlusOneSword Omega]] [[FlamingSword Sword]].

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII's'' BonusDungeon gives us the Hero's backstory, and a boss with several progressively different forms requiring different tactics to defeat- and his final form is styled to resemble [[spoiler:the final boss from the original ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', especially during his "psyche up" pose.]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' has a series of bonus story events, bosses, a few BonusDungeon areas (and several more randomly generated ones), and other content that can only be accessed after the main game "ends", including battling (and ''leveling up''!) the final bosses (and a few [[DiscOneFinalBoss less-than-final bosses]]), but it really blurs the line.

* Some ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games have added bonus opportunities as well.

** Dragon Quest IX has a series of bonus story events, bosses, a few bonusdungeon areas (and several more randomly generated ones), and other content that can only be accessed after the main game "ends", including battling (and ''leveling up''!) the final bosses (and a few [[DiscOneFinalBoss less-than-final bosses]]), but it really blurs the line.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' features a BonusDungeon where you fight God. Literally.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII's'' BonusDungeon gives us the Hero's backstory.
** The PSX/DS remake of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' includes a bonus dungeon which expands on the story, even allowing you to redeem the [[ManBehindTheMan (apparent)]] BigBad, and the former final boss!

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has the Sea, which unlocks after you beat the game's BigBad, the Naughty Sorceress. It's full of tough monsters, exploring it initially requires you to wear an accessory that gives you a serious penalty to item drops and initiative, you can only take familiars that can breathe underwater with you, and unless you have a specific effect gained only by consuming certain items found in the Sea itself, it costs two adventures to explore a zone once. There's also the Clan Dungeons (Hobopolis, the Slime Tube, and the Haunted Sorority House), which are intended for high-end players.

Where the BonusBoss usually lives. As mentioned, hardcore gamers (especially fans of [=RPGs=]) often feel cheated that the popularization of video games has lead to a lessening in difficulty.

*** Path of No Return in ''Gates to Infinity'' is one of the few dungeons with the absent-for-most-of-the-game [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly hunger system]]. It's also a 99-floor dungeon that only lets you take one party member and reduces them to level 5, and you can't take items or money or recruit anybody.