History Main / KillScreen

* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble Revolution'' was {{unwinnable}} because the boss of Level 30 failed to spawn. [[ObviousBeta Notable]] in that this was ''not'' an EndlessGame. However, this issue only affects the initial USA release of the game; the European and Japanese versions don't have this issue.[[note]][[Creator/{{Codemasters}} The publisher]] did at least recall the game, releasing a version which fixed the glitch. This version can be distinguished by the code on the cartridge: if the code doesn't have "-1" at the end, you have the glitched version, and if it does, you have the fixed version.[[/note]]

* Windows 95 and 98 will do this. After 49.7 days of up time a millisecond counter will overflow and crash the OSes.

* As demonstrated in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJFXJ1QXyZ0 this video]], once you make the grueling effort reach the 133rd stage of the NES version of ''Donkey Kong Jr.'', the game will start to behave strangely by playing [[SongsInTheKeyOfPanic the "time-running-out" jingle]] throughout the level and the bonus timer will display invalid scores such as "[=E800=]". By the time you reach the 135th stage, DK Jr. and the enemies will never spawn in and the game will hang for a moment before crashing spectacularly, displaying garbage graphics all over the screen, at which point there is nothing else for the player to do but reset the game.

Compare and contrast MinusWorld, a level that is found by exploiting a glitch (such as the [[TropeNamer]], world -1 in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros.''), and is at least semi-playable, rather than breaking the game outright.

Compare and contrast MinusWorld, a level that is found by exploiting a glitch (such as world -1 in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros.''), and is at least semi-playable, rather than breaking the game outright.

* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble Revolution'' was {{unwinnable}} because the boss of Level 30 failed to spawn. [[ObviousBeta Notable]] in that this was ''not'' an EndlessGame.

* In the movie ''Film/CloakAndDagger'', secret military information was encoded in the kill screen of the video game adaptation of the titular game. The responsible parties attempt to kill the kids who discover this, rather than [[EvilOverlordList killing the idiot who hid the plans]] [[TooDumbToLive where they would be quickly and inevitably discovered]].

** In fact, the game will crash if a superhuman player manages to score 102 million points, which would put the player around gameplay level 237. Along the way, [[MinusWorld the game eventually begins to show corrupted color palates for the tiles and glitched characters for the score.]]

* The murder in one episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' had the suspect believed to have killed a rival "Punky Pong" player over which of them had played a perfect game until the kill screen. Virtually all of the video game information in the episode was [[CriticalResearchFailure wrong]], and the "kill screen" referred to was one where the game ended because the player character [[LiteralMinded murdered the game's villain]].

* 'Puzznic has a almost certainly intentional kill screen in the arcade version. Once you beat a level 8 section, it goes to the section below it on the level select, with the timer sped up. Each block of 4 levels completed speeds up the timer. After you beat 8(8-4) it goes back to 8 (1-1) with the timer even faster. If this is the second time you have played 8 (1-1) this game, the timer goes so fast it's completely impossible to beat the screen a second time.

** Due to NES version's poor design [[note]] The mechanic in the arcade version where the springs can appear at various positions is not present on the NES version [[/note]], it becomes impossible at ''level 4.''

** The arcade version has an actual kill screen where it displays the level number as "F" and Jr. always gets stuck on a platform above the water, eventually dying due to an issue with the time limit similar to the original ''Donkey Kong's'' kill screen.

** The Treyarch-produced ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' games happen to feature one of these. Zombies begin each game with 150 health, and this increases each round by 100 until round 9, at which point health is multiplied by 1.1 for every subsequent round. The game records this health value using 32-bit binary, which will reach its limit of 2,147,483,648 on round 163. The game, however, treats the first digit of that binary as a sign bit. As a result, Zombies on Round 163 have health in the negative, which depending on the game means they will either default to just 150 health (''World at War'' and ''Black Ops'') or die the instant they take damage (''Black Ops II''). As the binary continues to count, this continues to be the case of every odd-numbered round until 185, at which point the 1.1x multiplier falls out-of-sync, and the glitched rounds become more sporadic.

* The Treyarch-produced ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' games happen to feature one of these. Zombies begin each game with 150 health, and this increases each round by 100 until round 9, at which point health is multiplied by 1.1 for every subsequent round. The game records this health value using 32-bit binary, which will reach its limit of 2,147,483,648 on round 163. The game, however, treats the first digit of that binary as a sign bit. As a result, Zombies on Round 163 have health in the negative, which depending on the game means they will either default to just 150 health (''World at War'' and ''Black Ops'') or die the instant they take damage (''Black Ops II''). As the binary continues to count, this continues to be the case of every odd-numbered round until 185, at which point the 1.1x multiplier falls out-of-sync, and the glitched rounds become more sporadic.

* Endless mode in ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution 2nd MIX'' will function normally up to stage 255. On stage 256, the stage counter will go from displaying an ordinal stage number to displaying "Min Stage", but otherwise the game will still function normally. Also, while the game normally provides a break every 5 stages (so one is provided after stage 255), another break is provided after stage 256 [[note]]Possibly due to 256 rolling over to 0, and 0 being interpreted as divisible by 5[[/note]]. On stage 257 is when the game really starts to break though; while the music is playing, the screen goes blank. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQKMcEKX7YY Source]]

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', the HollywoodNerd must get the secret codes to a Cold War satellite by getting the Kill Screen in ''VideoGame/MissileCommand''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Puzznic}}'' has a killscreen in the arcade version. Once you beat a level 8 section, it goes to the section below it on the level select, with the timer sped up. Each block of 4 speeds up the timer. After you beat 8(8-4) it goes back to 8 (1-1) with the timer even faster. If this is the second time you have played 8 (1-1) this game, the timer goes so fast it's completely impossible to beat the screen a second time.

* ''VideoGame/Puzznic'' has a killscreen in the arcade version. Once you beat a level 8 section, it goes to the section below it on the level select, with the timer sped up. Each block of 4 speeds up the timer. After you beat 8(8-4) it goes back to 8 (1-1) with the timer even faster. If this is the second time you have played 8 (1-1) this game, the timer goes so fast it's completely impossible to beat the screen a second time.

* In Nintendo's NES version of ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', the game will crash if the player manages to score 102 million points, which would put the player around gameplay level 237. Along the way, [[MinusWorld the game eventually begins to show corrupted color palates for the tiles and glitched characters for the score.]]

* In Nintendo's NES version of ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', the game will crash if the player manages to score 102 million points, which would put the player around gameplay level 237. Along the way, [[MinusWorld the game eventually begins to show corrupted color palates for the tiles and glitches characters for the score.]]

* The Treyarch-produced ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' games happen to feature one of these. Zombies begin each game with 150 health, and this increases each round by 100 until round 9, at which point health is multiplied by 1.1 for every subsequent round. The game records this health value using 32-bit binary, which will reach its limit of 2,147,483,648 on round 163. The game, however, treats the first digit of that binary as a sign bit. As a result, Zombies on Round 163 have health in the negative, which depending on the game means they will either default to just 150 health (''World at War'' and ''Black Ops'') or die the instant they take damage (''Black Ops II''). As the binary continues to count, this continues to be the case of every odd-numbered round until 185, at which point the 1.1x multiplier falls out-of-sync, and the glitched rounds become more sporadic. This phenomenon has received the FanNickname of ‘Insta-kill Rounds’.

* In the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC ports of ''VideoGame/{{Gladiator}} (Great Gurianos)'', the developers ran out of memory to program the ending, so they intentionally made the final opponent unbeatable.

* The [[TheStinger Stinger]] LogoJoke to ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' features half the Walt Disney Pictures logo getting changed into a kill screen.

* The murder in one episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' had the suspect believed to have killed a rival "Punky Pong" player over which of them had played a perfect game until the kill screen. Virtually all of the video game information in the episode was [[CriticalResearchFailure wrong]], and the "kill screen" referred to was one where the game ended because the player character murdered the game's villain.

Yep, the Kill Screen, enemy of completionists of yore. The result of an EndlessGame being played for such a long time without a GameOver, and the player advancing so far that an internal counter (like the current level number) reaches its inherent limit (often 255 or [[UsefulNotes/PowersOfTwoMinusOne some other similar number]]) and "overflows" (e.g. resetting itself back to zero), causing a GameBreakingBug to result.