Continue Countdown

Would you rather the game swallowed your money, or your hero?

In most video games, when you meet a failure condition like running out of health or letting an escortee die in an Escort Mission, that's usually the end. You're met with the two immortal words: Game Over. It happens to everyone. Usually, the player then gets booted back to the title screen, or gets to choose whether to continue or not.

And then there's the Continue Countdown.

Some games, rather than ending the game immediately after the poor Player Character bites it, will ask a simple question: "CONTINUE?". Accompanying this will be a time limit that usually starts at 9 seconds, but variations exist. During this time, the player can either do something to get back into the game, or speed the countdown along. Once it hits 0? Game over, man! (although some games don't use "0" as a forced game over, allowing you to continue even if the countdown is at "0".

This trope has its origins in arcade games, where the amount of tries a player gets would be determined by whether they can feed coins into the machine or not. As such, if the player blew it, the game would give them a grace period to hurriedly fish out and insert another coin for another try.

Of course, while console and PC games don't have the same limitations as arcade games, thanks to being able to more easily buy and keep them, it doesn't necessarily mean that they won't have a Continue Countdown. Particularly if said game happens to be an arcade game ported to consoles. As such, one of the biggest perpetrators of the Continue Countdown is fighting games, where flagship games usually launch at Japanese arcades prior to being ported to home consoles.

Continue Countdown screens also like to show up in Freemium games for similar reasons as arcade games. While the aspect of "stop hogging the machine and make a decision already!" isn't there, this mechanic can still try to get the player to impulsively spend a revive to keep playing.

Note that in order to qualify for this trope, the countdown must be the last thing standing between the player and the game over screen. If, for example, a multiplayer brawler has one player lose all their health, triggering a time limit for the other player(s) to revive them before they die, it doesn't qualify for this trope if the game keeps going after the timer runs down thanks to the other player(s) still living.

A Sub-Trope of Game Over. Compare Guilt-Based Gaming, which may overlap if the continue screen shows the player character in imminent danger. The game may also add to the pressure with the use of Songs in the Key of Panic.

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Examples:

Beat 'em Up Games

• The continue screen for Alien vs. Predator (Capcom) gives the player a time limit of ten seconds to decide whether they want to keep playing or not. The continue screen is also different depending on which character the player is using. If Dutch Schaefer or Linn Kurosawa were chosen, then the continue screen shows a Xenomorph getting ready to attack, if the Predator warrior or Predator hunter was chosen, then the continue screen shows the Predator setting their self-destruct mechanism to go off.
• Cadillacs and Dinosaurs shows you a first-person perspective as Vice Terhune aims a gun at you, taunting you as the timer runs down. Continuing has you sock the goon in the jaw. No prizes for guessing what happens if the timer hits 0...
  "Eat lead... baby!"
• Final Fight: When one of the characters runs out of lives, the player has a limited amount of time to feed in another quarter and continue the game, with each game having a different, horrible death awaiting the player's chosen fighter if they didn't continue. The first game has them tied up in front of a lit bundle of dynamite. The second game has them stuck in a Drowning Pit. The third game has them restrained under a Descending Ceiling covered in spikes. Continuing will spare them from their oncoming grisly fate by way of a knife dropping down and severing the fuse, the water ceasing to rise, or the ceiling coming to a halt respectively.
• Ninja Gaiden (Arcade) features a particularly horrifying example, where the player sees a terrified-looking Ryu tied down with demons watching on in the background... as a circular saw slowly approaches his midsection. Not continuing before the count of 0 has the screen turn red.
• The Punisher (Capcom) has someone frantically performing CPR on your unfortunate character once their health runs down. For the Punisher, it's David "Microchip" Lieberman. For Nick Fury, it's Alexander Pierce. Continuing has them spring back up ready for more. Running out of time results in a flatline, to the despair of the reviver.
• Tecmo Knight features your player character trapped in the jaws of a nondescript monster, desperately trying and failing to prop them open to keep from being eaten. As the timer gets lower, the monster's jaws slowly close more and more, with the poor hero screaming at the count of 2. If it runs out, the game over screen has a mook taunt the player with a cry of "NO FUTURE!".

Endless Running Games

• When you die in Jetpack Joyride, you get a chance to spend a Final Blast (to give your score a small boost) or a Quick Revive (which revives you). However, you only get a few seconds to make this decision.
• When you get caught in Subway Surfers, you have a few seconds to decide if you want to spend keys to save your character and keep playing.
• Variants on Temple Run often have a timer after your character's death during which you can be revived by watching an advertisement (the first time around) or using revival items.

Fighting Games

• Fatal Fury: King of Fighters has one, where inbetween the numbers appearing, a picture of your character's beaten and bloodied face briefly flashes up. But if you happen to lose to Final Boss Geese Howard, a special continue screen appears where Geese kicks your character out of his skyscraper's window, condemning them to a Disney Villain Death unless you sink another coin into the machine. Amusingly, the character doesn't actually start falling until the count of 3.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future has your selected character standing exhausted below a spotlight while Daniel J. D'Arby calmly sits in the background. What happens at 0? He rather cruelly summons his Stand, Osiris, to steal your character's soul by turning them into a poker chip with its hefty palms, all while said character emits a Death Cry Echo. Conversely, choosing to continue will have D'Arby flash a thumbs-up and declare "GOOD!".
• The second King of the Monsters game has a countdown over a black backdrop framed with massive teeth at the top. When the timer hits 0, the camera pans up to reveal that the teeth belong to Famardy staring you down in a rather creepy fashion.
• A particular creepy one in Mortal Kombat 4, as seen here: the character keeps flailing and falling into a deep well, as the countdown keeps running. If the player does not wish to continue, the character eventually reaches the bottom of the well and is promptly impaled on some spikes.
• Street Fighter features a Continue Countdown in some capacity in just about all of its games, usually showing your beaten character off to the side as the clock counts down. The odd ones out being the first game (And to an extent, Street Fighter III^note The 3rd Strike version only, Street Fighter V' and Street Fighter Alpha 3), the former which shows a time bomb ticking down. If the player decided not to continue? Boom, while the latter three is instead has the continue screen on the portrait of the character who defeated you.
• Tekken is a big perpetrator of Continue Countdowns, usually happening over your beaten character laying on the ground, or otherwise expressing frustration or disappointment in some way.
• Many of the Capcom vs. games would have a Continue Countdown for a losing player. The second and third Marvel vs. Capcom games would even give the player a message of encouragement if they decided not to continue.
  "Don't give up! Challenge again!"
  "You're not gonna go out like that, are you? Get back in there and try again!"

First-Person Shooters

• Dying in 8Bit Killer gives the player 10 seconds to spend a credit to restart the level. Choosing to continue will make the soldier shown on the screen cock their weapon, while letting the timer hit 0 will make them drop dead for good.

Rail Shooters

• Deadstorm Pirates: When both players have run out of health, the announcer loudly counts down from thirty unless you try again. If you press the shooting button on the controller, he will count faster.
• The Time Crisis series gives you 20 seconds (9 in the first game and Project Titan) to spend a credit and gain a new set of lives, there are two options, Yes and No, inserting a coin in the arcade versions will reset the timer, pressing yes will just resume the gameplay, no prize on guessing what "No" does.
  • Weirdly enough though, the arcade version of the first game doesn't have the Yes/No options, instead stepping on the pedal to continue.
    • Additionally, continuing will reset the stage in the first game (and in Project Titan too), as opposed to just continuing as if nothing happened.
• Ninja Assault and Flash of the Blade do the similar as above, with 20-second countdown after running out of Life Meter; pressing the start button without inserting coins accelerate it and no prize on guessing what reaching zero does.
  • Flash of the Blade also does this if time runs out, similar to the first Time Crisis and Project Titan.

Platform Games

• Averted with Bubble Bobble, as running out of lives brings the player to the progress summary screen. To continue, the player must hit the start and fire buttons, before the screen changes (it's recommended that the player has to hold both buttons during the Bub/Bob's death animation).
• Freedom Planet: When you run out of lives, your playable character is shown on their knees, looking weakened, as it counts down from nine. If you run out of time, the character collapses, unable to go on.
• Garfield: Caught in the Act: Upon running out of lives, Garfield is seen trapped in a TV screen with a terrified expression, and the game counts down from 9 as you are given the option to either continue or quit. If you run out of time or select "no", the TV eats him alive and laughs cruelly.
• Jazz Jackrabbit has a continue screen where Jazz is being carried away on a stretcher by a pair of turtles. Choosing to continue makes him get up and run away.
• The continue screen for the Sega Genesis version of The Jungle Book depicts Mowgli landing head-first into a pile of dirt and struggling to get out, during which time the player is given twenty seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game. If time runs out or the player chooses not to continue, then they are sent to the Game Over screen, which depicts Shere Khan protracting his claws.
• Looney Tunes games:
  • In Taz-Mania (Sega), the continue screen depicts Taz in a temple, where the player has twenty seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game. If time runs out before the player can send Taz through the door that says "Continue", then the game ends.
  • In Taz in Escape from Mars, if Taz loses all of his lives but has at least one continue left in his inventory, the player is sent to the continue screen, where they have twenty seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game. If the player selects "Continue" before time runs out, then they get to continue the game. If they select "Exit" or time runs out, then they are sent to the Game Over screen.
  • The Game Over screen for Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers depicts Sylvester dazed with a small lump on his head and stars spinning around it, standing above the "That's All, Folks!" tagline. If the player has at least one continue left in their inventory, they are given thirteen seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game by pressing the Start button.
  • If the player runs out of lives in Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos but still have at least one continue, they have 10 seconds to decide whether to continue ("Sure, amigo") or not ("I give up!"). To pressure the player into making a decision, the countdown plays over the shadow of a cat slowly approaching a mouse hanging helplessly off a cage. Considering the Last Note Nightmare when the count hits 0, and the mournful game over screen with Speedy sadly holding his sombrero in front of him in a darkened room, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what grim fate awaits the mice Speedy couldn't save...
  • When you lose all your lives in Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday, you are sent to the continue screen, where you have nine seconds to decide whether or not you want to continue the game. If you press Start before time runs out, you get to continue the game, but if you don't, you're sent back to the title screen.
• Losing all your lives in Maldita Castilla will show you a screen counting down to Game Over unless the player chooses to keep trying.
• Mc Donald Land games:
  • The continue screen for McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure depicts Ronald standing between two doors; one on the left side that says "Password", and one on the right side that says "Continue". The player has twenty seconds to decide which door Ronald should go through. If the player has at least one continue left in their inventory, they can use the Continue door, but if they go through the Password door, then they are given a password they can use to return to the game at a later time. If time runs out before the player chooses which door to go through, then they are sent back to the title screen.
  • The continue screen for Ronald in the Magical World depicts the Fry Kids between two signs; one on the left side that says "Game Over", and one on the right side that says "Continue". They are given nine seconds to decide which sign to run past, and if they let time run out or run past the Game Over sign, they are sent to the Game Over screen, which gives them a password they can use to return to the game at a later time.
• Rainbow Islands has a plain continue screen showing a countdown, provided the player is before the Point of No Continues. Home computer versions require pre-inserting credits to play, and skip the countdown if these credits are depleted (or if only one was inserted before the game start.)
• In Ristar, the Continue screen gives the player ten seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue. The Orblets form the shapes of numbers as they count down, and if time runs out or the player chooses not to continue, the Orblets pile on top of Ristar, ending the game.
• Most continue screens in the Sonic the Hedgehog series give you ten seconds to decide whether you want to continue, typically with Sonic lying on the ground looking bored while Tails (if present in the particular game) tries to motivate him to keep going. If the choice is made to continue before time runs out, Sonic gets up and races off the screen in pursuit of Eggman/Robotnik, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, or some other baddie.
• In TaleSpin (Sega), the continue screen gives the player ten seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game. If the player does not press Start before time runs out, they are sent to the Game Over screen, which depicts Higher For Hire having been bought out by Shere Khan Industries.
• In Toy Story, if the player loses all their lives but has at least one continue left in their inventory, they are sent to the continue screen, where they are given ten seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game as Woody hangs his head in shame. If the player presses Start before time runs out, Woody raises his head and shouts "Yee-haw!" before continuing, but if they don't, they are sent to the Game Over screen, where Woody pounds his fist in defeat.
• The NES version of Felix the Cat, the game over screen gives you nine seconds to decide to continue or not, you can only pick your choice once the animation of Felix being thrown on the street is complete, if you run out of continues, it fades in to the game over background, only to fade out to the title screen two seconds later, the Game Boy version and the Sega Genesis bootleg port still has a continue screen, without the nine second timer.
• The first Video Game/Bubsy game has this if Bubsy loses his last life and has at least one continue to spare, the screen fades into the continue screen, where Bubsy is standing, doing his usual idle animation, when the timer hits "3", Bubsy does the animation he does when he runs out of time, you are given ten seconds to continue, II still has a continue screen, only without the timer, Bubsy In Fractured Furry Tales has the same continue screen logic with the first game.
  • 3D, The Woolies Strike Back, and Paws On Fire all avert this trope (the latter had infinite lives).
• "Mickey Mania"'s continue screen has Mickey falling on his back, and holding a lilac, considering you have at last one continue after losing your last life, you are given nine seconds (actually slightly less as it counts with the music's beat, atleast in the Sega Genesis version) continue and Mickey jumps right back up smiling, as if nothing happened, wait for the timer to expire, and it's game over, the NES bootleg averts this, by having no continues (but you can start with up to 30 lives to compensate)

Puzzle Games

• Several Puyo Puyo have this, particularly in the Compile-era games.
  • Puyo Puyo (1992), has one of Arle on the ground, flabbergasted she lost. By extension, Kirby's Avalanche has this too, but with Kirby flopped on the ground instead. Unlike its later iterations, the Game Over is on the countdown itself; timing it out will fade to black and into the scoreboard.
  • The continue screen for Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, the North American Dolled-Up Installment on the Sega Genesis depicts Dr. Robotnik on a stage, talking to his robots as a spotlight shines over him. The player is given nine seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game, and if the timer reaches zero, then Robotnik laughs evilly before the player is taken to the high score board.
  • In most cases^note there is a possibility of not gaining enough EXP to keep going in the game, but it's so hard to do it that it's a Non-Standard Game Over, losing in Puyo Puyo 2 spits out a "Continue?" screen that counts down from ten and gives you the opportunity to try again before the countdown ends. To add insult to injury, letting the timer run out causes a giant Puyo to fall on poor Arle.
  • Puyo Puyo Sun has wither Draco-Centauros, Arle, or Schezo stand next to the countdown before slumping in defeat when time's up.
  • Stylized countdown screens would eventually be phased out when Sega acquired the IP, with Puyo Pop (2001) and (early releases of) Puyo Puyo Fever having simple countdown screens before hitting you with the Game Over.
• Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Stackers: In Puzzle Mode, the continue screen depicts Montana Max sitting near a bomb, trying to blow out the fuse before the bomb explodes. The player has ten seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game. If the player presses Start before time runs out, they can continue at the cost of one continue. If not, the bomb explodes, ending the game.

Racing Games

• In Taz-Mania (Sunsoft), the continue screen gives the player ten seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue playing the game. If the player does not press Start before time runs out, then they are sent to the Game Over screen, which in true Looney Tunes fashion, says "That's All, Folks!".

Rhythm Games

• Starting around the mid-2010s, arcade Rhythm Games started allowing players to continue at the end of a song set by inserting a new credit before time runs out, so that they can play another session without having to log out and log back in. One notable take on this is O.N.G.E.K.I., where the player is asked to continue after every song. This is because instead of a traditional "play x songs per credit"^note where x usually equals 3, 4, or 5 loop, the game instead gives the player a set amount of "GP" when using a credit, and the player can add more GP by inserting more coins. Playing a song consumes some GP, and if you run out the song select menu timer and want to extend it, doing so will consume a little GP. If the player does not have enough GP to continue and doesn't top up by inserting more coins before time runs out, or if they just choose not to continue, their session ends and their remaining GP is converted to Money, which can be used for other features.
• pop'n music entries prior to fantasia allows continuing, which gives you 20 seconds, fantasia onwards prohibited continuing at all. (Lapistoria however doesn't need this trope, as it doesn't have a [1] as well.)
• Um Jammer Lammy NOW! (the arcade port of Um Jammer Lammy') has a continue screen, presumably when you fail, it counts from "5", it counts from normal until it reaches "2", where Joe Chin counts in fractions, like "two and a half", "two and a third", and finally "two and three quarters!" then "1", then "2", then he asks you if you're sure about your decision, then finally. ZERO.......
  ""Come on, take out another coin, and let's, continue!""
  ""Beautifully Excellentos and thank you to the next degree!" (What happens if you do continue)

Role-Playing Games

• Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Ordinarily, Ichiban going down during a battle will simply kick the player back to the street minus half their money and all but 1 hit point. But if he goes down during a story battle or dungeon, the player is shown a screen of a defeated Ichiban sprawled on the ground. From there, they have a few seconds to decide whether to retry at the cost of half their money, or return to the title screen. Despite starting from 9, the countdown is surprisingly slow. If the player chooses to continue, Ichiban jumps back up.
  "I'll get up as many times as it takes!"

Shoot 'em Up Games

• The Adventures of Batman and Robin: The continue screen features Mr. Freeze staring menacingly ahead as a clock counts down to Gotham's wintry doom.
• Running out of lives in Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony will give you 10 seconds to spend a credit to continue the level. If you're out of lives and credits, though, it's Game Over.
• Shameless Clone: As part of the games' retro aesthetic, if you lose, a countdown screen appears. It still saves your progress if it reaches zero, though.
• The Darius series, usually shows a normal continue screen where the game asks you to continue before the time reaches zero or else will be Game Over! and a normal game over screen where it shows a simple "GAME OVER" sign in the moment where you died. Super Darius II (the PC Engine CD-ROM port of Darius II) doesn't follow the series tradition, instead, shows something more traumatizing. Lose your last life and you will be sent to a completely silent continue screen where shows a timebomb-styled countdown and the game keeping saying DANGER! meaning that something really bad will happen if you don't continue. Probably you expecting the simple "GAME OVER" sign seen in the Arcade original. Well, the Game Over screen shows a huge and full-screen "GAME OVER" made up with flames. Worse, the Game Over screen won't go away until the player presses a button on the controller. Surely, this will make you no longer want to play this game for a while.

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