History Main / AWinnerIsYou

* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'':
** In ''Soulcalibur III'', after beating the NintendoHard final level in ''Chronicles of the Sword'', complete with a [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard difficult]] FinalBoss, gets you the following:
--->''Emperor died. The Evil Sword and the Holy Sword disappeared into darkness. The empire collapsed, and the people were left only with devastated lands and the memories of the terrible war. The people, however, eventually forgot the hardships. They rebuilt the raised (sic) village and sowed new seeds upon the destroyed fields. Then, by the fire side, they told the tales--the tales of the great ones who spilt their blood upon those lands...''
** Custom characters in ''Soulcalibur IV'' get four different endings, all of them fairly underwhelming. They show your character either obtaining Soul Edge, Soul Calibur, both swords, or destroying them both along with text claiming your fighter will "go down in history for centuries."

* The plot of ''VideoGame/ChakanTheForeverMan'' has the title character cursed with immortality as a result of defeating Death in a fight. He can only rest in peace after he's destroyed all supernatural evil, and so the game has him fight through NintendoHard stages in order to rid the world of evil. After beating the game, he is still not allowed to die, as Death informs him that there is still plenty of evil all across the universe, leading to one last boss battle. Lose, and you merely get the message "Rest will come another day." Win, and you are rewarded with the sight of an hourglass that never empties. Which makes sense, [[FridgeBrilliance as you've just killed Death]], but that doesn't make it any less rage-worthy. If you wait on the hourglass screen for a long time (a long, long, long, ''looooooong'' time,) eventually the words [[SequelHook "Not the end"]] will appear on the screen before kicking you back to the title screen.

* ''[[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Kirby 64]]'' features a variant on this - it has a very difficult BossRush, in which you must defeat all 7 of the game's bosses in a row without any form of healing, and you were forbidden to absorb any enemies' powers. Bear in mind that 6 hits will kill you. Normally, after beating this, you simply get a screen showing Kirby's friends throwing him happily into the air with the word "Congratulations!" under the image. But if you beat it without taking a ''[[NintendoHard single hit]]'', you get a screen showing [[spoiler: Kirby wearing various body parts of the defeated bosses, as though it were his personal trophy, with the word "Perfect!" under the image.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{NARC}}''. After defeating the game's NintendoHard BigBad, Mr. Big, players are rewarded only with the message, "You have completed the NARC training mission... CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEA RECRUITER", then it goes right to the Enter High Score screen.

* ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' does this. Although there was never a clear plot (which spawned [[EpilepticTrees so much fan speculation and theory]] on [[MindScrew what the heck is going on]]), the ending just pretty much leaves you feeling that you did all that effort of [[GottaCatchThemAll finding all the different effects]] for nothing. [[spoiler:Giving up all the effects in the ritual room in the dream world, the main character wakes up to find a stepladder, which was definitely not there before, on her apartment balcony. If you walk her up to it, she uses it to jump off the balcony -- in doing so revealing that she has been DrivenToSuicide. The DownerEnding is quickly cut to the credits the moment she jumps. The sequel disguised as a reimagining implies that the whole first game is a DreamWIthinADream as the beginning is that the main character, walking outside, discovers a bloodstain on the ground and awakened inside her room again]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Dizzy}}'': As per the page quote, completing ''Dizzy: the Ultimate Cartoon Adventure'' starts some autoscrolling text which reads:

* ''Full Auto 2'''s ending consists of a short cutscene showing the final boss blowing up, after which it skips directly to the credits.

* While the arcade version of ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}'' [[NewGamePlus loops indefinitely after level 8]], the NES version ends after the fourth mission (16th level) with the [[BlindIdiotTranslation Engrish]] message "Your all misson is all over. Your great player. Thank you for playing. This game was ended".

* Also parodied in one of the [[MultipleEndings non-canonical endings]] of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue''. Believing that the large computer beneath Blood Gulch controls reality itself, Sarge begins to assault it when it's obvious that Red Command isn't going to back him up in destroying the Blue team. Sarge begins to rejoice, then asks [[MindScrew "What the hell am I looking at?"]] when the computer displays badly translated text informing him that's he's won and rolls credits composed entirely of Japanese names. It's implied from there that the whole series was one extremely long, very weird ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' match on Xbox Live.

* In the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft18aR5lqjk Hong Kong Phooey]]'' game released on the Amiga and other home computers, after mowing down a load of bad guys you reach what appears to be the final (and only) boss, but if you try to attack him or even just touch him, the screen goes black and shows a picture of Spot the cat (Hong Kong Phooey's sidekick from the cartoon) along with this message: "As usual Hong Kong Phooey messes things up but luckily Spot is there to save the day. Congratulations.". That's the end of the game. You don't even get to fight the end boss!

Unrelated to ALoserIsYou.

Unrelated to ThisLoserIsYou.

The website [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210803040051/http://www.c64endings.freeolamail.com/ C64endings.co.uk]] contains examples of ending from hundreds of UsefulNotes/Commodore64 games, and each one is rated; those which are rated 4 or lower are typically examples of this (not even including the "No Ending" section).

* ''Game Over'' for the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC and UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum presents nothing but a black GameOver screen upon completion.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game based on ''VideoGame/EightMan1991'': After beating the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere completely random]] final boss, you get a five-second cutscene (which is just the intro played in reverse) and a screen saying "Congratulation!".

* The ending CD soundtrack for the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} version of ''Liberation: Captive II''. For a game which takes weeks or months to complete, the old man is underwhelming in his praise: "Exposing the corruption took courage. You have done ''well''!"

** ''Super Boy'', an UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' from Korean bootleg publisher Zemina, has a "ToBeContinued" message at the end of World 4-4, followed by [[EndlessGame the game repeating from World 1-1]]. ''Super Boy II'' does the same, except that the message is "END." ''Super Boy III'' has an actual ending screen.

* ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'': "Congraturations!! Now you save Ki and the adventure is over," followed by a short list of credits. The UsefulNotes/PCEngine remake, with greater attention to the storyline in general, has a longer ending.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures''. Clearing a stage nets you the text "STAGE CLEAR! CONGLATURATION !!", a reference to the infamous ''[[VideoGame/Ghostbusters1984 Ghostbusters]]'' [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game which the [[WebVideo/AngryVideoGameNerd AVGN]] reviewed.
* ''VideoGame/ArielTheLittleMermaid'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis ends with a screen showing Ariel, Triton, Flounder and Sebastian posing in front of a rainbow, with the message: "Congratulations! You have defeated Ursula!"

* The ending for the ''VideoGame/DennisTheMenace'' LicensedGame for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] depicts [[BigBad Switchblade Sam]] being hauled away in a wagon pulled by Ruff while Dennis, Joey, Margaret, and Mr. Wilson stand under "THE END".

* In ''VideoGame/TheKillingGameShow'', complete all the levels, and you get a text-only screen proclaiming: "'''CONGRATULATIONS'''--You have completed The Killing Game Show! It looks like the Price WAS Right after all!" Never mind the price; shouldn't even a [[DeadlyGame deliberately sadistic game show]] offer a more substantial prize for winning? (The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis version, ''Fatal Rewind'', uses a somewhat different ending message, but the presentation is the same.)

* The NES game ''VideoGame/MilonsSecretCastle'' ends with a "Thank you!" As the game has no MercyInvincibility, which allows you to be killed quite quickly when cornered, and a million {{Guide Dang It}}s around every corner, this can hardly be said to be anywhere near satisfying. The UsefulNotes/GameBoy version of the game does actually end with cutscenes depicting a Link-esque Milon marrying the princess, who has an uncanny resemblance appearance-wise to Zelda.

* Like it's maze game counterpart, ''VideoGame/PacLand'' has [[EndlessGame no ending]], looping back to Trip 5 except harder once you complete Trip 8 and so-on. The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 port, however, adds an ending after you complete Trip 8, but it's just the game congratulating you before cutting to the cast of the game waving at the player before it desplays "The End".

** If you beat ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheWorld'' without collecting all the special Krusty items you just get Krusty telling you "Great work there, Barto... But it's too bad you didn't find all the unique Krusty items. We had a special surprise planned for you. Oh, well. Don't blame me -- You didn't do it!" If you do complete the game with all the special items, you just get a cheap animation of Bart throwing cream pies at Burns and Smithers on Krusty's show. And that's just the [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] version. The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and UsefulNotes/GameGear versions do away with the MultipleEndings, meaning all you get after defeating the final boss is a screen reading "Well done. You have defeated the evil Mr. Burns."

** Subverted in the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and UsefulNotes/GameGear versions of ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit Sonic 2]]''. Regardless of whether you get the [[MultipleEndings good ending or the bad ending]], the game still slaps you in the face afterwards with the GameOver screen, complete with its losing jingle. Not exactly a great reward for beating the game.

** ''VideoGame/SonicLabyrinth'' for the UsefulNotes/GameGear: beat the game without collecting all the Chaos Emeralds, and you are greeted with "CONGRATULATIONS! ALL ZONES CLEAR!! BUT IT IS NOT PERFECT!" What is your reward for beating the game with all the emeralds? The ending sequence is recoloured and the text instead says "IT IS PERFECT! WONDERFUL!!!"
* The UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC version of the fiendish Mastertronic game ''Soul of a Robot'', sequel to ''Nonterraqueous'', is legendarily poor. The aim of the game is to destroy a "master computer" which controls your planet - but when you enter the final room, instead of a boss fight you're treated to a tiny, crude line drawing of what appears to be a typewriter. Flashed on the screen for roughly two seconds before the inevitable message "Congratulations! Now go and play the original Nonterraqueous". Thanks a bunch.

* The ''[[VideoGame/TaleSpinSega TaleSpin]]'' LicensedGame for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis rewards the player(s) for completing eight worlds with [[NintendoHard Sega Hard]] sidescrolling, [[MacGuffin cargo crate collecting]], ShootEmUp and boss battle elements with a shot of Baloo and Kit in front of Higher For Hire above the words, "Congratulations! You win the city contract" as balloons fly into the sky.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Valis}} Super Valis IV]]'', between levels, shows one random still shot with a message that varies in wording but always says that Lena has finished the last act or defeated the last boss and is ready to take on the next act, all of which is redundant information. This is pretty lame considering that most ''Valis'' games, including the the UsefulNotes/PCEngine version of ''Valis IV'', have extensive cutscenes between levels. The actual ending of the game, however, is more substantial.

** ''Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh'', at least the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC version, is little better, with two lines of text just saying: "Congratulations you have completed Arkanoid II" before entering your name for the high scores table (which you can do even if you lose).

* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfTheWizard'', after Roas kills the dragon, he leaves the dungeon to find the rest of his family waiting. They all walk over to the house, and wave to the player, and cuts to the credits from there. The original UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} version doesn't even have any of this, skipping straight from the FinalBoss to the credits.

* ''VideoGame/AndroDunos'' for the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo ends with a message telling you "PLEASE TRY THE NEXT STAGE". But even if you play on the hardest difficulty and [[HardModeFiller loop]] the game, the endings stay the same.

* ''Mission Genocide'' for the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC gives no indication for completing the last level other than a line of text saying "WELL DONE!!" as it loops back to Level 9.

* One of the games that come inside the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem console is "Safari Hunt", where the player must shoot several animals and score enough points to pass each level. If you pass the last level, you receive the same song one gets for failing to pass a level but with the message "Good Playing - Game Over" instead of "Game is Over".
* The UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} port of ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander]]'' ends with a half-hearted "Congraturation! You are great star fighter" from the commander, before cutting to a "The End" screen asking if you want to play again.
* The obscure UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 shoot'em-up ''Sinistron/Violent Soldier'' ended with a bunch of pictures of the various levels of the game and a black screen saying "Congratulation!".

* In the arcade version of ''VideoGame/TimeSoldiers'', when you defeat the FinalBoss, the screen freezes and superimposed above the credits is this message: "You destroyed the Gylend and rescued all warriors." The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem version reduces the message to just "Congratulations!" over a black screen.

* The ending to ''XDR: X-Dazedly-Ray'', a frustratingly difficult shooter for the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive, shows the player's ship flying back to Earth, followed by a screen saying, "Congratulation. Now, You're Hero." Then it loops back to the first level.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game based on ''VideoGame/EighthMan1991'': After beating the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere completely random]] final boss, you get a five-second cutscene (which is just the intro played in reverse) and a screen saying "Congratulation!".

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind]]'' has a particularly infuriating one: "I win! I win! Well, I guess you helped."

* Data Design Interactive's UsefulNotes/{{shovelware}} games are even worse in regard to this trope: [[NoEnding they merely send you back to the title screen]] immediately upon completion of the last stage.

* The [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] [[VideoGame/FelixTheCat Felix the Cat video game]] is a great game, but the ending is very underwhelming. What's your reward for beating Professor? You get to see Felix free the tied-up Kitty Kat, and get the message "Congratulations! At last FELIX! You rescued Kitty!" and Kitty saying "I love you, Felix!" and seeing Felix fly Kitty back home as THE END pops up—you don't even get to see any credits, and pressing start sends you back to the title screen. The UsefulNotes/GameBoy version is even worse—Felix just walks right up to Kitty, and the game cuts to a bland THE END screen that you can't exit out of.

* The U.S. release of ''VideoGame/{{Karnov}}'' for the NES ends with a simple white text on a black screen reading "Congratulations!! The End". Apparently, they couldn't even be bothered to {{Bowdlerise}} the original plot or the ending, where Karnov is rewarded for defeating the BigBad by becoming the successor to {{God}}.

* Like it's maze game counterpart, ''VideoGame/PacLand'' has [[EndlessGame no ending]], looping back to Trip 5 except harder once you complete Trip 8 and so-on. The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 port, however, adds an ending after you complete Trip 8, but it's just the game congradulating you before cutting to the cast of the game waving at the player before it desplays "The End".
* The NES game ''Fox's WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'', while a decent game representation of the cartoon series, features one of the most pathetic game endings ever. After defeating the final boss, Captain Hook, the player is "rewarded" with a full-screen image of Peter and the words "I win. It's so much fun being Peter Pan."

* The NES ''TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'' game is another case of a glorified Game Over screen. Wherein losing the game results in a large "YOU LOSE!", beating the game results in a large "YOU WIN!" Same graphics and everything.

** If you beat ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheWorld'' without collecting all the special Krusty items you just get Krusty telling you "Great work there, Barto... But it's too bad you didn't find all the unique Krusty items. We had a special surprise planned for you. Oh, well. Don't blame me -- You didn't do it!" If you do complete the game with all the special items, you just get a cheap animation of Bart throwing cream pies at Burns and Smithers on Krusty's show. And that's just the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] version. The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and UsefulNotes/GameGear versions do away with the MultipleEndings, meaning all you get after defeating the final boss is a screen reading "Well done. You have defeated the evil Mr. Burns."

* The obscure 2018 [[IndieGame indie game]] ''VideoGame/{{Sockman}}''--a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/ManicMiner'' for the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum--ends with a single screen of the collectible garments flying around [[PlayerCharacter Domin "Sockman" Dominguez]], along with tallies of the number of deaths, jumps, coins, and garments collected, as well as the total player time. Given that it's a SpiritualSuccessor to a game released in [[The80s the 1980s]], this may or may not be intentional, but it still manages to be memorable via the closing song, a parody of "Mr. Sandman" which was also present in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_SqiM1uO3I the trailer]].

* In the [[UsefulNotes/GameBoy Game Boy]] version of ''VideoGame/TazManiaSunsoft'', beating the final boss earns you a still of Taz with congratulations on beating the zoo keeper. Then it tells you that you scored zero points (because it's impossible to score any points during that final level/boss fight and points don’t roll over from other levels), followed by a thank you and credits.

* For how tough ''VideoGame/DeathRoadToCanada'' is, the ending of the game just has the main characters walking around a looping background as the credits play, and a small blurb gives an inconsequential WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.

* ''VideoGame/DragonSlayer'', at least in the UsefulNotes/GameBoy version, ends with the message, "You are the greatest Dragon Slayer! See you next game!" Considering the game doesn't bother to explain who the player character is supposed to be, it's perhaps to be expected.

* As if ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'' wasn't tedious enough, here's the ending.

* ''Creator/JimHenson's VideoGame:MuppetAdventureChaosAtTheCarnival'': After Kermit the Frog finally rescues Miss Piggy from Dr. Grump, all that happens is Miss Piggy floating down to Kermit and saying, "Oh thank you! Oh thank you! [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike But it sure took you long enough!]]" Getting ''chastised'' for winning the game is really something else. At least it's in-character for [[ItsAllAboutMe Miss Piggy]].

* After finally finishing level 80, ''Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy ([[DolledUpInstallment released in a different guise as]] ''Mickey Mouse'') has Bugs walking slowly into the middle of the screen with the message "Congraturations! You are good player!" and his standard "level won" animation.

* The first ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' has an exploding island and then says simply "[-CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE DESTROYED THE VILE RED FALCON AND SAVED THE UNIVERSE. CONSIDER YOURSELF A HERO.-]" The unanswered question is [[FridgeLogic "Why should I have to consider myself a hero? Doesn't anyone else?"]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' for the NES, a game which is generally considered near-[[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unwinnable]], ends with the Engrish message "Conglaturation!!! [[BlatantLies You have completed a great game.]] And prooved the justice of our culture. Now go and rest our heroes!" This actually fixed one spelling error ("grate" for "great") that was in the ending text of the Japanese version -- or, more precisely, what was ''supposed'' to be the ending text in the Japanese version, which has a bug that selects the wrong character table and displays no message other than "りり" (which MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext whether or not you know any Japanese).

* ''Creator/JimHenson's Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival'' is a NintendoHard NES game with a ''very'' unsatisfying ending -- after you, as Kermit the Frog, finally rescue Miss Piggy from Dr. Grump, all that happens is Miss Piggy floating down to Kermit and saying, "Oh thank you! Oh thank you! [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike But it sure took you long enough!]]" Getting ''chastised'' for winning the game is really something else. At least it's in-character for [[ItsAllAboutMe Miss Piggy]].
* The ending of the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 ''[[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Pink Panther]]'' game is just a still image of the title character sunning himself on a FarSideIsland, with no way to return to the title screen or do anything but reboot. As if that's not bad enough, a bug in the code allows the player to go straight to the island ''without beating the game first''.

* ''VideoGame/StopTheExpress'', the old UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum classic by Creator/HudsonSoft, finishes with the message "CONGRATURATION! YOU SUCSESS!" and a shot of your guy in the front of the train. Then it loops back to the start, presumably for more [=SUCSESSful=] action.
* The ending in the arcade version of ''[[VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider]]'' is nothing special, but in the [[PortingDisaster home computer ports]] by U.S. Gold it was replaced by a cop-out ending in which the whole game is revealed to be [[AllJustADream a training simulation]], just because the programmers couldn't fit the final boss battle into the ports.
* After completing the surprisingly fun ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'' video game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation, you're treated to a brief clip from the movie, a screen that says "Congratulations", and a voice-over from a Rosie O'Donnell sound-alike congratulating you. Yep, that's it.

* ''WesternAnimation/BebesKids'' for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] ends with two images: one of the theme park going up in smoke with the text "FUNWORLD! FUNWORLD!", and one of Peewee meddling with a wire with the text "PEEWEE, DON'T !!!" before rolling the credits. No congratulatory message. The game is awful enough as it is, so it should come as no surprise that the ending is unsatisfying.

* The ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft18aR5lqjk Hong Kong Phooey]]'' game released on the Amiga and other home computers is both criminally short and has a terrible ending. After mowing down a load of bad guys you reach the final (and only) boss... if you can call him that. He's a giant guy holding a rocket launcher who just stands there doing nothing, not even moving. If you try to attack him or even just touch him, the screen goes black and shows a picture of Spot the cat (Hong Kong Phooey's sidekick from the cartoon) along with this message: "As usual Hong Kong Phooey messes things up but luckily Spot is there to save the day. Congratulations.". That's the end of the game. You don't even get to fight the end boss!

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2: When you finish you are merely asked "Wanna play again?", and the characters float there until you make a choice. If you say no, you get to sit through bland credits. No skipping.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' on SNES and Genesis has a total of 44 levels of monotonous gameplay, levels that go on far too long and endless waves of enemies. If you play all the way to the final level and end up defeating Thrakkozog, what do you get? [[spoiler:The Tick yells "Spooooon!", and then you see the exact same "THE END" title card that you see if you run out of lives and continues, followed by the credits.]] [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/d/tick.htm See for yourself.]]

* ''Taekwon-Do'' for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] has cutscenes in its story mode after you win every tournament. However, after you win the last match of story mode, the game simply fades to black and rolls the credits. One would think the last match beginning with your opponent ''[[PunchedAcrossTheRoom kicking the referee into the scoreboard]] and [[UnexpectedGameplayChange trying to beat you to a pulp]]'' would have merited a proper ending.

* The Sega 32X port of the original ''Videogame/{{Doom}}'' stands out as having probably the worst ending in the franchise. After defeating the last level -- which doesn't even have a final boss fight, or anything else to make it stand out -- the game abruptly cuts to the credits, which scroll over a bland wooden-textured background as a terrible arrangement of "Sweet Little Dead Bunny" plays, followed by the message "ID Software salutes you! The horrors of hell could not kill you. Their most cunning traps were no match for you. You have proven yourself the best of all! Congratulations!" and the EnemyRollCall (severely cut down from the PC version). Unless you beat the game using cheats and/or the level select at the main menu (which a lot of players did, seeing how it had no save feature), in which case the credits roll as normal and then the game crashes to... a DOS prompt. On a 32X.
** The Atari Jaguar and [=3DO=] ports of the first game have the same underwhelming ending text as the 32X port, but they at least have better-looking text and backgrounds, and aren't accompanied by the horrible music of the 32X ending. And there are no DOS prompts in sight.

* ''VideoGame/IsleOfTheDead'', a cryptic mess of an FPS, ends with nothing more than a blink-and-you'll-miss-it animation of the main character escaping the island on a life raft.

* Pirate original games developed for now-defunct systems such as the NES and original UsefulNotes/GameBoy deserve special mention. Suffice to say a single screen with a misspelled congratulatory message is the norm, while some don't even bother with ''that'' and just unceremoniously boot you back to the title screen.
** One of the more infamous examples is the port of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}} Spirits'' to the NES, which does actually attempt to recreate the original SNES game's ending, but in place of the original's credits it is captioned "[[BlindIdiotTranslation THEND]]".
** Especially bad with Super Game, who usually opted for NoEnding instead. Ironically, most of their games were surprisingly good aside from that issue.

** ''VideoGame/{{Somari}}'''s ending is effectively the last screen from the bad ending of ''VideoGame/{{Sonic the Hedgehog|1}}'', where Robotnik juggles the Chaos Emeralds; the only differences are that the message now reads "The End, [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} I Will Be Back]]" and you have to reset the game to continue playing it. This is especially infuriating because the Chaos Emeralds are nowhere else to be found in the game.
** In the Famicom pirate port of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaaEbwSHzEg Earthworm Jim 2]]'' by Shin-Shin Electronics, the "ending" is really just a "The End" message with the cows from the password screen added. It's better than the Super Game version, which doesn't even attempt to have an ending.
* There's an [[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/speccyspoilers/ entire website]] devoted to endings (many of which are examples of this trope) on the Sinclair UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum computer.
* There's one for UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, [[http://www.c64endings.co.uk/ too]].
* The ''VideoGame/JurassicParkSNES'' example above is just one out of ''many''. When you beat a ''JP'' game, you usually get a small, often lazy {{cutscene}} of the hero escaping the dinosaurs' island in a boat or helicopter. And ''maybe'' you'll see some dialogue. ''VideoGame/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' was a ''little'' more creative -- for HundredPercentCompletion the player gets a CompletionMockery clip of Creator/JeffGoldblum recommending they should "Go outside!" and get a life!

* ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'': "Congraturations!! Now you save Ki and the adventure is over," followed by a short list of credits. It really doesn't help that this comes at the end of one of the hardest and most cryptic arcade games of its time, possibly ever. The UsefulNotes/PCEngine remake, with greater attention to the storyline in general, has a longer ending.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game based on ''VideoGame/EighthMan'': After beating the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere completely random]] final boss, you get a five-second cutscene (which is just the intro played in reverse) and a screen saying "Congratulation!".

* Blue's quest in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier''. Once you deliver the finishing blow to the final boss, the picture freezes in mid-strike and fades to black and white as "THE END" appears on it. This is especially egregious, as ''[=SaGa=] Frontier'' is an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]] for the [=PlayStation=], and its storyline wasn't exactly minimal; it certainly isn't minimal for the endings to the six other characters' quests, some of whom have MultipleEndings each. There's actually a reason for this, however; [[spoiler:despite being so according to game mechanics, that isn't the finishing blow. As revealed in the [[AllThereInTheManual accompanying book]], Blue/Rouge and his friends never win the battle, and indeed, it can't be won. Blue and Rouge weren't being prepared to ''defeat'' the King of Hell -- or at least make SealedEvilInADuel. That is, they were being trained to keep him busy for the rest of eternity, so he couldn't finish the invasion.]]

* Blue's quest in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier''. Once you deliver the finishing blow to the final boss, the picture freezes in mid-strike and fades to black and white as "THE END" appears on it. This is especially egregious, as ''[=SaGa=] Frontier'' is an [[RolePlayingGame RPG]] for the [=PlayStation=], and its storyline wasn't exactly minimal; it certainly isn't minimal for the endings to the six other characters' quests, some of whom have MultipleEndings each. There's actually a reason for this, however; [[spoiler:despite being so according to game mechanics, that isn't the finishing blow. As revealed in the [[AllThereInTheManual accompanying book]], Blue/Rouge and his friends never win the battle, and indeed, it can't be won. Blue and Rouge weren't being prepared to ''defeat'' the King of Hell -- or at least make SealedEvilInADuel. That is, they were being trained to keep him busy for the rest of eternity, so he couldn't finish the invasion.]]\\
The "reason" is because the developers ran out of time to implement everything they wanted, including a whole scenario, some much-needed elaboration on the universe and its workings, and, of course, Blue's ending. The plot they originally planned was for Blue to battle Hell's Lord for all eternity until he was saved by ThePowerOfFriendship.

* ''VideoGame/ToyStory'' for the Genesis and Super NES. This [[NintendoHard rather difficult]] game ends with a couple still images from the movie (with some text underneath) and then... a black screen with multi-colored text saying, "Congratulations! You've won Toy Story. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for playing." Roll cast and credits. Uhhhhh, hooray? On top of that, while the Genesis version at least has a remix of "You Got a Friend in Me" to accompany this, SNES players are "treated" to nothing but stark, depressing silence.\\
The sequel isn't much better. After you beat the game, you get an incredibly brief clip from the movie, and then a still of Buzz and Woody that simply says "Game Won." Then it cuts right back to the title screen.

* While ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrim'' mostly averts this, by having a different ending for every character, finishing with DLC-exclusive Wallace Wells just gives you a picture of him in a chair. This is one of the reasons that most people were disappointed with the Wallace Wells DLC (the other being that he's just a re-skinned Stephen Stills).

* ''Isle of the Dead'', a cryptic mess of an FPS and a strong contender for the worst one of all time, ends with nothing more than a blink-and-you'll-miss-it animation of the main character escaping the island on a life raft.

* The obscure 2018 [[IndieGame indie game]] ''VideoGame/{{Sockman}}''--a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/ManicMiner'' for the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum--ends with a single screen of the collectible garments flying around [[PlayerCharacter Domin "Sockman" Dominguez]], along with tallies of the number of deaths, jumps, coins, and garments collected, as well as the total player time. Given that it's a SpiritualSuccessor to a game released in [[TheEighties the 1980s]], this may or may not be intentional, but it still manages to be memorable via the closing song, a parody of "Mr. Sandman" which was also present in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_SqiM1uO3I the trailer]].

* ''VideoGame/EndlessSpace'' originally featured a popup that says "You are victorious ! Would you like to continue playing?" followed by a pie chart showing the final numbers (Planets, research, ships, etc). And then back to the main menu. Disappointing, considering how gorgeous the opening intro for each faction is. The endings were later updated, with a different picture and text depending on the condition - a Diplomacy Victory shows your leader standing at a podium in a United Nations-esque building, for example - along with the addition of race-unique defeat screens showing bombed -ut homeworlds.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': Upon reaching the endgame year, an infobox pops up which declares which empire won the game with the most points, followed by a spreadsheet of the other remaining empires. That's it. Possibly justified: the player has likely encountered several crises and momentous events throughout the course of the game, with suitable fanfare when they overcame them. The endgame year is just an arbitrary point for the game to say, "You're done now," (with the player still being able to keep playing if they so desire).

* ''VideoGame/Stellaris'': Upon reaching the endgame year, an infobox pops up which declares which empire won the game with the most points, followed by a spreadsheet of the other remaining empires. That's it. Possibly justified: the player has likely encountered several crises and momentous events throughout the course of the game, with suitable fanfare when they overcame them. The endgame year is just an arbitrary point for the game to say, "You're done now," (with the player still being able to keep playing if they so desire).