History Main / TimedMission

* "Super Fuse Challenge Time" in ''VideoGame/WorldOfGoo'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin--a long string of flammable goo threaten to burn up your support from below before you can evacuate enough non-flammable goo out the exit pipe.
* Averted in ''Minesweeper'' and lampshaded in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs a mock trailer for a Minesweeper movie]]:

* The entirety of ''TetrisTheGrandMaster 2'' 's [[HarderThanHard T.A. Death]] mode and ''[=TGM3=]'' 's Sakura, Master, and Shirase modes are Timed Missions. Sakura mode requires you to complete a set of stages within each stage's time limit. T.A. Death, ''[=TGM3=]'' Master, and Shirase have checkpoints that terminate your game early if you reach them too slowly.
* In ''VideoGame/RollAway'', there is a 90-second hourglass which makes you fail the level when it reaches 0 and can be flipped for more time by hitting an hourglass in the level.

* In ''AnimalCrossing: Wild World'', your neighbors will sometimes give you rigidly-defined time periods in which to deliver a letter or package to its recipient. Naturally, you don't have to return to them within this limit in order to succeed; merely deliver the package.

* In ''The Peace Keepers'' (''VideoGame/RushingBeat Shura'' in Japan), when you enter the plane's cockpit near the end of the Alan Bradley Airport stage, a time bomb on board is set at 15 seconds and you must destroy the plane's controls before then. If you do not destroy the controls before the timer runs out, the bomb will explode and cause the plane to crash, forcing you to go through the streets instead of the plane's destination. The "boat" stage (The Crazy Horse) is also a timed mission in which you must destroy the white Orbot before the timer reaches zero. If you do not destroy the Orbot in time, then the ship will sink and you will be taken to Ozymandias Island instead of Sukiyaki Lane.

See also RaceAgainstTheClock, the way a timed mission manifests in media other than VideoGames. If the mission is a boss, then you have a TimeLimitBoss.

See also RaceAgainstTheClock, the way a timed mission manifests in media other than VideoGames.

* In the NES game ''Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2'', only one of these stages is a [[TimedMission]], in which Chip and Dale are trapped in what appears to be a "giant refrigerator". The player has 3 minutes to get all the way through this stage and reach the exit before they are frozen solid.

* Averted in ''MarvelUltimateAlliance.'' In Atlantis, you have to get a certain item back to Namorita within 2 minutes, which would be pretty much impossible, to the point that even the heroes complain that that isn't nearly enough time. So Namorita simply opens a portal back to her location.

* In ''Videogame/TheFiremen'' every stage is on a timer, usually lasting around 10 to 15 minuets. Running out of time results in your health bar dropping to almost zero.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' has a particularly annoying one, as even if you do everything as fast as possible, thankfully the timer stops in the ending cutscene, or the mission would be impossible.
** Made all the more annoying by the fact that one of your squadmates lampshades it, saying that they should finish the mission before they destroy the ship next time.
*** It's even possible to complete said objective ''after'' the timer has expired, but you do have to cut it fine.
** To make things clear, there are two timed missions.
*** The first of which involves assaulting and downloading information from the bridge of a ship that the player has already set to blow itself up. This is the mission where the squadmate lampshades the trope.
*** The second of which involves fighting your way to the turret controls of a ship to turn-on automated turret fire, after which the stage becomes a hold the line scenario while the player or his squad members turn on the guns.
*** Both stages are timed missions with no on-screen clock, with the player only having a computer voice out the ship's increasingly dire status until the player completes the objectives or [[NonstandardGameOver the ship explodes.]]

* Every level of ''MadWorld'' has a thirty-minute time limit. If you don't get to the boss before time's up, you lose. This is ''far'' more than enough time, so the only reason you'd ever run short is to see how the announcers will mock you for dawdling.

* In the Super NES game ''VideoGame/ThePeaceKeepers'' (''Rushing Beat Shura'' in Japan), when you enter the plane's cockpit near the end of the Alan Bradley Airport stage, a time bomb on board is set at 15 seconds and you must destroy the plane's controls before then. If you do not destroy the controls before the timer runs out, the bomb will explode and cause the plane to crash, forcing you to go through the streets instead of the plane's destination. The "boat" stage (The Crazy Horse) is also a timed mission in which you must destroy the white Orbot before the timer reaches zero. If you do not destroy the Orbot in time, then the ship will sink and you will be taken to Ozymandias Island instead of Sukiyaki Lane.

* ''[[AfterBurner Afterburner Climax]]'' has two invisible-timer bits, namely the parts where you have to hunt down the prototype plane and the B-2. If you fall too far behind you would miss out on them, but even if you kept them in sight, if you didn't splash them in time the mission will still make you let them go. The B-2 chase is particularly annoying because you need to gun it down.

*** ''Dead Money'' has a timed escape at the end, with the detonation timer on the Courier's bomb collar being triggered after they kill Elijah or seal him in the vault.

[[folder: Action Adventure]]

* The very final part of ''Videogame/ClashAtDemonhead'', where you're tasked with disarming the [[DoomsdayDevice Doomsday Bomb]]. You either have six tries or an indeterminate amount of time (which ''speeds up'' every time you fail to complete it) to get it right, or the bomb will explode. There are also no clues whatsoever to help you figure out which slot each of the [[strike:seven]] six medallions goes in, as the sequence is randomized with each playthrough. Have fun, and TryNotToDie!

* The NES game ''TimeLord'' is a completely timed mission, in which the player begins the game on January 1, 2999 A.D. and must complete all the levels before January 1, 3000 A.D. If the player does not fulfill his mission in time, then he will self-destruct with the time-travel system, after which the game will end.
* In the NES game ''AirFortress'', you must infiltrate each of the eight Air Fortresses and locate a large glowing orange core called the "Power Reactor". From the time you shoot out the Power Reactor you have approximately two minutes to find the level's escape hatch, which contains your ship, and escape the Fortress [[SelfDestructMechanism before the whole place explodes]]. ExactTimeToFailure is averted, but you can judge how much time you have left by the decreasing stability of the environment. Initially, the whole Fortress goes dark; after a short period of time, it begins to quake and rumble; soon thereafter the rumbling gets worse and the lights begin to flash on and off, and finally this intensifies until the explosion occurs and you are completely engulfed in a white screen, at which point the game ends. It is helpful to locate and determine the path to the escape hatch in advance, but [[GuideDangIt not every level grants you this opportunity]] due to the reactor itself blocking the escape path.
* All three [[MultipleEndings endings]] in ''CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' are determined by how much [[InUniverseGameClock in-game time]] passes during your play-through. Once you become aware of this, the day-and-night cycles help to pressure you into completing the game as quickly as possible, as well as planning and timing your routes in order to buy the items you need in order to progress as soon as possible (Time only passes when outdoors, and shops and townspeople can only be accessed during day-time). The status screen has a number next to the in-game time representing how many days have passed: 16 and over, 8 to 16, and within 8 each determine which of the three endings you will get.

[[folder: Action Game]]

* The ''[[InvertedTrope inverse]]'' happens in ''VideoGame/WildGuns''. The timer indicates the time remaining in the level before the miniboss appears, and each enemy you kill lowers it further. A rare case where you ''want'' the timer to go down in order to proceed.

[[folder: Adventure Game]]

* The ''SpaceQuest'' series has several timed missions:

** In ''SpaceQuest 2'', after taking care of the BigBad and stopping his plans, you have about five minutes to escape the station before it burns up in the atmosphere of Labion. [[spoiler: That time limit is even more pressing if you were kissed by the alien, as you need to finish before its baby bursts through your chest.]]

* In ''ConquestsOfCamelot'', in the ending sequence, if you don't find the Holy Grail in time, you'll die from [[spoiler: the rat bite's poison]].

[[folder: Beat Em Up]]

* In the Super NES game ''VideoGame/{{The Peace Keepers}}'' (''Rushing Beat Shura'' in Japan), when you enter the plane's cockpit near the end of the Alan Bradley Airport stage, a time bomb on board is set at 15 seconds and you must destroy the plane's controls before then. If you do not destroy the controls before the timer runs out, the bomb will explode and cause the plane to crash, forcing you to go through the streets instead of the plane's destination. The "boat" stage (The Crazy Horse) is also a timed mission in which you must destroy the white Orbot before the timer reaches zero. If you do not destroy the Orbot in time, then the ship will sink and you will be taken to Ozymandias Island instead of Sukiyaki Lane.

[[folder: Driving Game]]
* ''{{Carmageddon}}'' and its sequel have a countdown, but pedestrians and collisions yield so much time that you are likely to finish the game with 30-40 minutes on any setting other than "hard", and because your car is indestructible in the first game and ''almost'' indestructible in the sequel, you [[ForegoneVictory cannot lose]] unless you deliberately go AFK.

[[folder: Fighting Game]]

[[folder: First Person Shooter]]
* The final escape in the last level of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''.
* Additionally, though there is no timer for the final level of ''Halo 3'', [[spoiler: the environment of the unfinished Halo ring will tumble and collapse after a set period of time, forcing the Master Chief and the Arbiter to keep driving forward without stopping.]]

* The ''MetroidPrime'' series wouldn't be complete without a timed mission:

[[folder: Hack And Slash]]
* There are two notable [[TimedMission Timed Missions]] in ''{{Drakengard}}''. The first involves you running through a fortress full of enemy soldiers attempting to rescue the DistressedDamsel before the BigBad kills her ([[spoiler:[[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose She's always dead by the time you show up, but not beating the level in time nets you a]] NonstandardGameOver]]). The second is [[GenreShift the final boss fight.]]

[[folder: Light Gun Game]]
* The aptly named ''TimeCrisis'' series is essentially one gigantic timed ''game''. All of its incarnations are usually broken up into a series of brief intervals where the player(s) have 40 seconds for the most part to eliminate all of the enemies onscreen. Failure to do so will result in the player(s) losing a health point.

[[folder: Miscellaneous Games]]
* The PSP game ''[[VideoGame/HalfMinuteHero Half-Minute Hero]]''. Every single level must be completed in 30 seconds (unless you turn back the clock) or it's game over. The final level requires you to beat the game in 300 seconds (5 minutes) with ''no option to rewind time''.

* ''CityOfHeroes'' has its share of Timed Missions - however, to be fair, it usually places them in enclosed zones or interior spaces to limit how much running about the hero or heroes have to do. It gets aggravating though when completing a mission immediately triggers a timed mission without the player being warned (even more annoying when the timed follow up mission involves defeating a foe that cannot be defeated without a large team). Fortunately the Devs have been removing or modifying these in ''City of Heroes'' and such mission combos are almost non-existent in ''City of Villains''. In any case, the timer is usually two or three times the length needed (provided you start straight away).

* [[MabinogiFantasyLife Mabinogi]] has quite a few... They are usually quite generous with the clock though.
* Every single Mission in EVE Online is this. They even have 2 separate timers. First, after a certain amount of time, you just lose a bit of extra payment, which isn't that bad. Then, 1 week after accepting the mission, it expires and you can get a new one.

[[folder: Platform Game]]

** Taken to [[PlatformHell sadistic extremes]] in various [[ROMHack ROM Hacks]]. With only scant amounts of time allotted for certain levels, players get forced into careless or hasty moves.

** [[CaptainSNES "What does a bomb go off or something?" "No, you just-a die."]]

* Every ''{{Metroid}}'' game (except ''Metroid II'') uses this trope at least once, and the vast majority of them are triggered by a LoadBearingBoss. ''MetroidPrime'' mildly subverted this, however; a timed mission at the start is standard fare, but the expected timed mission after the final boss turns out to just be a {{Cutscene}}.

* In the original ''PrinceOfPersia'' the '''entire game''' is a timed mission, giving you one hour to complete it. (This is increased to two hours in the SNES version, since it has more levels.) You have an infinite number of lives, but get sent back to the beginning of the level when you die. An indicator at the bottom of the screen shows the time remaining at regular intervals, and at every death. Interestingly, the clock stops when you defeat the final boss, even though you still have to walk a bit from there to SaveThePrincess. The same happens when you are dead (although staying AFK for too long will [[NonstandardGameOver cause the game to restart from the title screen]] - indicated by the blinking "PRESS A BUTTON TO CONTINUE" prompt)
** Likewise, the sequel ''PrinceOfPersia 2: The Shadow and the Flame'', though the game timer doesn't start until after the first several levels.
* ''MegaManZero'' had timed {{Boss Battle}}s, as well.

* With few exceptions, each stage in ''{{Purple}}'' has a time limit running out of which kills you.

[[folder: Puzzle Game]]

[[folder: Real Time Strategy]]
* Timed missions occasionally happen in Main/RealTimeStrategy games. It's rare that a RTS timed mission will fail completely if the timer runs out, though; the effect is more often along the lines of "destroy this secondary base before the timer runs out and it won't send the engineers to repair the bridge, which will make it easier to destroy the main base as it won't get reinforcements". If the timer runs out before you've killed the first base you'll have to fight it, the other one and the reinforcements all at the same time, and the game will get harder. Some players deliberately wait for the timer to run out before engaging the enemy because they love the challenge. See also Main/UnstableEquilibrium.

* ''WorldInConflict'' has many, many time-based objectives. Some of them are secondary, some don't even have a timer on screen, but several are mission-critical. One mission is timed entirely, another one is pretty much over when the timed objective is achieved.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: The Frozen Throne'' has one in the Night Elf campaign, in which you have to kill 4 summoners (all thankfully in the same place) before they finish casting a spell.
* ''{{Starcraft}}'' has at least one in the expansion campaign. Kerrigan has to recapture the Matriarch before the Protoss can teleport her away. [[spoiler:Finishing with more than 5 minutes remaining out of the original 25-minute timer unlocks the secret mission]].
** ''StarcraftII'' has a lot of timed missions, though not always in an explicit "timer on screen" way. For instance, one mission has you assault trains that are sent through the area in regular intervals (depending on the difficulty). You are only allowed to miss a few trains, too (again depending on difficulty). Others are loosely timed by factors such as opponents trying to reach the same goal as you do, or certain conditions that make the mission harder to beat the more time passes (such as clearing out buildings infested by zerg that send out masses of infested terrans at night, or escorting a number of civilians as more and more zerg land on the planet).

* For some reason passing understanding the default setting in the ''TotalWar'' series is to have time limits on tactical battles. This can be particularly frustrating if one is attacking a settlement because wall-taking and street fighting are much slower than field battles, mostly because units refuse to break and run. Thankfully the time limits can be turned off.

[[folder: Rhythm Game]]
* In addition to being [[LuckBasedMission Luck-based]], the "Guitar Battles" in ''GuitarHero III'' are also timed. At the end of the song, you lose by default.

[[folder: Role Playing Game]]
* The fights with Demyx in ''KingdomHearts [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII 2]]'' tend to be easy, right until the moment a time limit to defeat a certain number of his minions is arbitrarily invoked. Especially annoying as only a particular special move seems effective regardless of how strong the player actually is.

* In Oboro-maru's mission in ''LiveALive'', in order to rescue the prisoner, you have to defeat a certain boss, but in order to actually kill him, you need to kill the spirits he maintains, otherwise he will rejuvenate, You only have a limited amount of time before all spirits reappear, making this very tedious.

* ''RomancingSaGa'' was full of them: Especially the Fatestone missions (you had to get them before a certain number of battles fought or you would be unable to get them)

** ''FFV'' used the mechanic two more times, once when the summon beast Odin gives you sixty seconds to defeat him before he hands you a game over, and once when you have the option to dive into a sunken tower to retrieve the crystal piece for the bonus class Mimic. This latter one is especially tricky because to ''get'' the crystal, you must face a PuzzleBoss, taking up more of your time. [[spoiler: And even ''more'' sadistic is the fact the solution to said fight is to wait three minutes until the boss submits.]]

* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' where [[spoiler:Ultros the octopus, who wishes to interrupt an opera scene by dropping a weight on one of the - moving - main characters on stage]], explicitly states "This is heavier than I thought! It'll take me five minutes to drop it!", and you have [[ExactTimeToFailure exactly five minutes to stop him]].

* ''KnightsInTheNightmare'' has its battlefields limited by number of turns, and every turn on a one-minute timer. Interestingly, this 'time' resource only counts down while charging up an attack or if the Wisp hit by an enemy bullet. Makes sense, as the Wisp is a spiritual entity trying to complete its objectives before it runs out of energy and ceases to exist.

* ''MassEffect'' has a few timed objectives. However, they are designed so that most players will succeed with time to spare if they are even halfway competent. The exception is the race to reach the Conduit at the end of Ilos. Without a timer, the player would probably attempt to engage the geth armatures defending the Conduit. The timer forces the player to simply floor it, usually reaching the Conduit with around 10 seconds to spare. And you can fail with 10 seconds left if you lag, because it seems to be 40 REAL TIME seconds.

[[folder: Shoot Em Up]]
* In ''StarControl II'' if you don't finish the game before the Kohr-Ah genocide your world, the game is a loss.

[[folder: Simulation Game]]
* Speaking of timed missions in every level, there are the ''TraumaCenter'' games. It's part of what makes the games so wonderfully NintendoHard. It ''is'' somewhat justified though, as you're performing emergency surgery. ''Trauma Team'' does away with the timer for most missions, since they're not necessarily emergency procedures.

* One of the [[ScrappyMechanic flaws]] of ProjectSylpheed. Every single mission in the game is this, but they don't bother to tell you that until the very final mission or some of the DLC missions. Adding insult to injury, the main missions of the game all have ten minute time limits regardless of difficulty, but the DLC missions give you '''''THIRTY'''''. Makes you wonder what Game Arts and SETA were thinking with this logic in mind.

[[folder: Sports Game]]
* Every mission in ''[[BackyardSports Backyard Skateboarding]]''.

[[folder: Stealth Based Game]]