History Main / Checkpoint

* ''OneThousandAndOneSpikes'' subverts. In the first level, there is a small flag that crumbles once player reaches it. Then the player is told there are no checkpoints.

** In the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series, the checkpoint has the form of a flag that turns from a Bowser icon to a Mario/Mushroom one when activated ([[HealingCheckpoint and acts as a Super Mushroom if Mario is small]]). Interestingly enough, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' became the first 3D Mario to use this kind of checkpoint (without the PowerUp effect).

Checkpoints may either be explicit, in the form of some sort of door the player must pass through or a station he must touch, or can occur implicitly as the player reaches some point in the narrative or geography of the game. Sometimes, more often in older games, the player isn't informed at all when they reach a checkpoint. One of the more common forms of check point is a flag.

* In games which allow the player to stockpile [[OneUp extra lives]], there can be minor checkpoints to which the player returns if he has lives in reserve, and less frequent major checkpoints to which he returns when he exhausts his stockpile. Returning to a major checkpoint having exhausted extra lives is often called a "Continue". Continues may be unbounded, or may have their own stockpile independent from extra lives. On arcade machines, continues can often be purchased for more coins.
* A game may set independent checkpoints for player death and for failing to complete some task (as in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', where death returns the player to a minor checkpoint, but running out of time returns him to the beginning of the GameLevel. Versions of the game which allow continues return the player to an even more senior checkpoint, which occurs at the beginning of each "world" grouping of levels).

[[folder:General]]
* In games which do not scroll (that is, each screen is a set piece, a discreet chunk of game, where the player transitions from one to another atomically), each room serves as a checkpoint. Examples include ''The Adventures of Lolo'', ''Bubble Bobble'', and ''Berzerk''.
[[/folder]]

* The [=PS2=] game ''VideoGame/{{Primal}}'' used teleportation gates called "rift gates." These were a last resort checkpoint only. How it worked was that if Jen (the main character) ran out of energy gems and health in a monster form, she'd revert back to human form. If she ran out of health as a human, she'd be put into a "near death" state in her physical body (the game was taking place in a spirit world). At that point, you, as Scree, would have to race to the nearest rift gate to bring her back. Although there was no visible clock, this was a TimedMission, so if you didn't make it, [[GameOver Jen died]]. (If you did, then once Scree brought her back through, he'd admonish her, "Take better care of yourself!")
* Before Raz undergoes the climactic battle with the brain-tank and then with his own subconscious in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', the game automatically saves itself as a check point, and its location is listed as "The Point of No Return". Justified in Black Velvetopia: Getting caught by the Bull in the street effectively knocks Raz back to the previous checkpoint.
* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend'' and ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary'' had lots and lots of checkpoints.

* ''VideoGame/RadRodgers'': The game has checkpoints in the form of floppy disks.

* The entire ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'' series has only one point in which Strong Bad can die, but in order to reach this point, you have to touch a check point (as video game reality has merged with the main Homestar Runner world), so his death isn't even permanent. However, he can't keep any items he picked up between touching the check point and dying, so the puzzle is how to get the item he wants safely across - which involves [[spoiler:having Strong Mad ''throw'' the check point to various locations. Twice.]]

* Both ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and its fan game ''VideoGame/HaloZero'' use this.

* ''VideoGame/{{Disruptor}}'' placed a checkpoint about halfway through most levels. These weren’t visible, but a computer-like female voice would announce “Continue point reached” when you reached one. At that point, however, a three-lives system came into play, in which you could only retry from the checkpoint three times before having to restart the level altogether.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedAltairsChronicles'': These appear in the form of circles of light on the ground.
* ''VideoGame/AyoTheClown'': These appear in the form of giant flowers holding a pie. They bloom, splat [[PlayerCharacter Ayo]] in the face with said pie, and activate when he gets close.
* ''VideoGame/CastleOfPixelSkulls'': Torches. Lighting them up activates them, giving [[PlayerCharacter the skeleton]] a place to respawn upon dying. Interestingly, activating another torch causes the previous one to go out.

* ''VideoGame/DoublePugSwitch'' has these in the form of flags on poles.

* ''VideoGame/FlippinKaktus'': Dripping faucets serve this purpose in the game. A fireworks display will go off it [[PlayerCharacter the kaktus]]] gets to one.

* ''VideoGame/FoxNForests'': Retro the Badger serves this role. If you give him a set amount of coins, he will activate the checkpoint for you.
* ''VideoGame/{{Lizard}}'': These take the form of blue "save stones". A face starts glowing on them when they've been activated.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pankapu}}'': These appear in the form of a collection of yellow pieces that, when the checkpoint is activated, come together to form a circular ring connected by magic lines. When activated, they restore [[PlayerCharacter Pankapu]]'s health, and act as respawn points when he's out of health.
* ''VideoGame/PankyThePanda'': These take the form of a circle above a white triangle. They're blue when inactive, an red when active. If [[PlayerCharacter Panky]] dies, he respawns at the currently active one.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}} II'' was one of the earliest examples. Player deaths slide the player back to the last checkpoint they crossed, shown as little red circles on the ground.

* ''VideoGame/RedGoddessInnerWorld'': These take the form of some sort of floating stone sigil. They start out red, but turn green upon being activated.
* ''VideoGame/StitchyInTookiTrouble'': Poles with red cloths on them serve this purpose in the game. The red is swapped out for blue when [[PlayerCharacter Stitchy]] gets to them.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Compared to the previous games as well as all of those released ever since, this installment shows a notable aversion of the trope because [[CheckpointStarvation it has no checkpoints in any of its 90 levels]] (though it's hardly a problem since the levels themselves are usually short). The game does provide a checkpoint after the player clears a fortress. Beating the fortress unlocks the door on the world map, allowing access to pipes that skips over parts of the map. This is very helpful, because getting a GameOver resets all of your progress, including all of the levels your previously beaten.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' has invisible checkpoints just before and after entering E.M.M.I. Zones, before and after boss rooms, and after travelling between regions, in case the player hasn't used a SavePoint in a while.
* In the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' platformers, checkpoints come in the form of boxes with yellow C's on all sides. You activate the boxes [[DieChairDie by attacking them]], and should you die, you will be returned to the last checkpoint you activated. The Checkpoints in the original game had a crucial flaw however: they wouldn't remember the boxes you hit, meaning to get the Gem you'd have to break all the boxes [[NoDamageRun without dying]] (this was fixed in the second game). The games also feature distinct {{Save Point}}s; Checkpoint Boxes only appear in the levels, {{Save Point}}s only occur in the Warp Rooms (or, in the original, during Bonus Rounds or when getting a Gem/Key).
* ''VideoGame/TwentiethAnniversaryPacManWorld'', a 3D platform game for the original [=PlayStation=] featuring VideoGame/PacMan, had a shiny Pac-Man icon as level checkpoint.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' once had a standard lamppost-style checkpoint in his levels. Moving into 3D, the two ''Adventure'' titles turned this into a similarly-looking gate (which returned in the 2006 game). Other games throughout the series have used similar objects, but the limited 8-bit games instead depicted checkpoints as breakable computer monitors (like the items throughout the series). Also, if you made it to the checkpoint in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' with enough rings, the lamppost-thing would activate a bonus stage, necessary to collect the chaos emeralds and become Super Sonic.
* ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' has an interesting variety of checkpoint. Walking by one activates it, and each checkpoint has a set number of lives. If a player dies and uses all the lives, they have to restart the entire level. The life count is reset after activating a new checkpoint. Also, the game has not one, but ''four'' types of checkpoints: Entry Barrel (also the initial spawn point; four lives), normal Checkpoints (also four lives; not as fancy-looking as an Entry Barrel), Double Life Checkpoints (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin; eight lives, and has two glowing rings instead of one. All Checkpoint types have one (or two) rings around them that show the number of lives. When it's flashing red, you're on your last life and must get to a new checkpoint or reach the Scoreboard fast!), and the Infinite Life Checkpoint, which has one ring but allows infinite respawns, and has the infinity symbol on it. Another interesting twist is that (in local multiplayer at least, possibly also in online multiplayer) players ''share lives''. Each player death means one less for the whole group. But there is a bit of a breather: If all but one player dies when a Checkpoint is flashing red, but the last player reaches a new one, all players respawn. Prize Bubbles (the items that hold new collectibles, like stickers and objects to use in level creation) are stil retained even if the player has to restart a level. The Try Again action (which sends a player back to the last Checkpoint by [[PressXToDie literally popping the Sackboy]]) uses one of the available lives. All Story mode (and most player-created) levels, excluding Survival Challenges, have a "No Lives Lost" prize if a player survives a whole level without dying or resetting. (Survival Challenges don't have this because to finish the level, the player ''must'' die.)
* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'' features them in the form of floating clocks in bubbles that the player must burst to activate.
* ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' had literal check points: yellow signs with red checks on them that changed to white with Jazz's face on them when shot. ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'' replaced these with jack(rabbit)-in-a-boxes (with red checks on them).
* Check points in ''VideoGame/{{Purple}}'' usually take a form of purple hexagon signs with a question mark. Touching these would replace the question mark with an icon representing the level and can be turned back off by attacking them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bug|1995}}'' featured unique checkpoints for each level. [[GreenHillZone Insectia]] used a flower that opened, [[ShiftingSandLand Reptilia]], [[BubblegloopSwamp Splot]] and [[UnderTheSea Quaria]] used signs, [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Burrubs]] had a snowman who raises a flag, and [[LethalLavaLand Arachnia]] used a pillar that lights up on fire.
* ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland'' has checkpoints in the form of numbered signposts, of which there were four in each level. They were absent in ''Adventure Island II'' and ''III'', though.
* ''VideoGame/TheLionKing'' had these in the form of fingerpaint images of Simba.
* In ''VideoGame/AladdinVirginGames'', checkpoints took the form of blue vases that flipped around to reveal the Genie's face.
* In ''VideoGame/TheJungleBook'', checkpoints are marked by Junior (the son of Colonel Hathi). When you arrive he is holding a flag, which he then plants in the ground and starts dancing.
* The checkpoints in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' are barrels decorated with stars in the SNES trilogy, and spots occupied by Professor Chops in subsequent games.

* In ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'', checkpoints take the form of the Nerd's Nintoaster. On [[HarderThanHard Hard as Balls]] difficulty, they're invisible. On higher difficulties, [[CheckpointStarvation they're not there are all.]]
* Being that it is an EndlessGame, ''VideoGame/SmurfRescueInGargamelsCastle'' has your next Smurf start at the beginning of whatever territory you lost your last Smurf in.
* In the UsefulNotes/GameboyAdvance port of Infogrames' ''VideoGame/TheSmurfs1994'', due to CheckPointStarvation in the Super NES and Mega Drive versions, golden Smurf hats are added into the levels to serve as check points.
* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', crossing a rope hanged between two sticks saves your progress on a level.
* In ''[[VideoGame/AdventureIsland New Adventure Island]]'', checkpoints take the form of flags of the Creator/HudsonSoft bee.
* ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasThePumpkinKing'', a video game {{Prequel}} to ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', has Jack save his progress by talking to pumpkin-headed scarecrows.
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has glass globes as checkpoints; when you die, you respawn at the last checkpoint you touched, or the beginning of the level. The twist here is that you can break checkpoints. You get treasure for doing so, but you can't respawn at a broken checkpoint. There's a [[CosmeticAward Feat]] for completing a stage after breaking every checkpoint, and another for breaking every checkpoint in the game.
* ''VideoGame/KaoTheKangaroo'':
** The first game is unusual in that checkpoints are collectibles, and you can set them up yourself anywhere in the level.
** The second game has more normal checkpoint in the form of bells that save your progress when you pick them up. Same goes for the third game, but in the form of tents that Kao goes into to take a nap.
* ''VideoGame/GarfieldsNightmare'': The poles that have barber-styled stripes serve as respawn points in case Garfield loses a life.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gizmo}}'': The PlayerCharacter will occasionally run into platforms that have holograms of himself on them. They serve as these.
* ''VideoGame/GingerBeyondTheCrystal'': These take the form of a circle of light with an intricate pattern inside it on the ground. They're activated when a little blue creature settles in them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tamarin}}'': These take the form of little flags. They're usually black with a bug face, but turn orange with the Tamarin's face once they're activated.
* ''VideoGame/TinyHandsAdventure'': The checkpoints in this game are purple crates with "Safe Zone" written on them. They can be activated by breaking them.
* ''VideoGame/RaccooVenture'': These are indicated by a specially-marked [[CrateExpectations crate]] that activates once it's broken.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gruntz}}'' has usually several per level. You must have the required number of gruntz with the appropriate tools/toys to progress. Otherwise, it's {{unwinnable}}...

[[folder: SImulation]]

* In ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', you can save everywhere, but that didn't stop it from having numerous checkpoints that the player would respawn from after dying. ''[=BioShock=]'' (and its predecessor, ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'') is notable in that there's an in-universe explanation of how the checkpoints work.

* Done interestingly in ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' because while you do also have your standard checkpoints throughout the levels the telepoints where you change characters also acts as a sort of SavePoint.

* ''VideoGame/MoonDancer'' sends you back to a checkpoint every time you die, and any points since that checkpoint are rolled back, to prevent players from abusing checkpoints for score. That said, because this game also has [[EveryTenThousandPoints point-based extra lives]], dying right before the threshold for an extra life can give you what's basically unlimited retries until you make it to the next checkpoint.

Checkpoints may either be explicit, in the form of some sort of door the player must pass through or a station he must touch, or can occur implicitly as the player reaches some point in the narrative or geography of the game. Sometimes, more often in older games, the player isn't informed at all when they reach a checkpoint.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}'' featured unique checkpoints for each level. [[GreenHillZone Insectia]] used a flower that opened, [[ShiftingSandLand Reptilia]], [[BubblegloopSwamp Splot]] and [[UnderTheSea Quaria]] used signs, [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Burrubs]] had a snowman who raises a flag, and [[LethalLavaLand Arachnia]] used a pillar that lights up on fire.

Consoles made this method popular in the dark ages when they only had a few megabytes worth of flash storage (if that) and so couldn't do proper save/load like hard-drive-equipped {{PC}}s could. Nowadays we have consoles with hard disks and cheap flash memory, but checkpoints are still alive as an efficient method for enabling savegames without spending lots of resources implementing a dynamic save system, or for simply [[SaveGameLimits challenging the player]].

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Compared to the previous games as well as all of those released ever since, this installment shows a notable aversion of the trope because [[CheckpointStarvation it has no checkpoints in any of its 90 levels]] (though it's hardly a problem since the levels themselves are usually short).

* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' there are the save pointcheckpoints typically in the middle of levels and a few feet before bosses.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' once had a standard lamppost-style checkpoint in his levels. Moving into 3D, the two ''Adventure'' titles turned this into a similarly-looking gate (which returned in the 2006 game). Other games throughout the series have used similar objects, but the limited 8-bit games instead depicted checkpoints as breakable computer monitors (like the items throughout the series). Also, if you made it to the checkpoint in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' with enough rings, the lamppost-thing would activate a bonus stage, necessary to collect the chaos emeralds and become Super Sonic.

* ''VideoGame/TofuTowerNaka'': After completing every interval of 20 floors of the tower, when entering it again, Tofu can skip to the 20 x Number floor instead of starting from Floor 1.

* ''VideoGame/TofuTower'': After Tofu has reached the 20th floor of the tower, when entering it again, she can skip to it instead of starting from Floor 1.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' has the occasional golden gate, usually located just before difficult encounters. Amaterasu can continue from the gate if she dies. [[SavePoint Unlike the mirrors]], the player cannot resume the game at these gates after quitting to the title screen or shutting the console off.
* The [=PS2=] game ''VideoGame/{{Primal}}'' used teleportation gates called "rift gates." These were a last resort checkpoint only. How it worked was that if Jen (the main character) ran out of energy gems and health in a monster form, she'd revert back to human form. If she ran out of health as a human, she'd be put into a "near death" state in her physical body (the game was taking place in a spirit world). At that point, you, as Scree, would have to race to the nearest rift gate to bring her back. Although there was no visible clock, this was a TimedMission, so if you didn't make it, [[GameOver Jen died]]. (If you did, then once Scree brought her back through, he'd admonish her, "Take better care of yourself!")
* ''VideoGame/KidBabyStarchild'' has checkpoints consisting of a golden statue of a winged one-eyed egg on a pole. [[PlayerCharacter Little Dude]] will respawn at one when he loses all health.

* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend'' and ''[[VideoGame/TombRaider Anniversary]]'' had lots and lots of checkpoints.