History VideoGame / TotalDistortion

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: The Game Over screen shows a different visual depending on the way you died. So if you're tired of "Death By Guitar Warrior", there's also "[[ManOnFire Death By Flame]]" (in which your player character gets [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath gruesomely incinerated]]) or "Your Life Force = Zero!" (happens when bat-winged skulls have [[VampiricDraining drained all your life force]]). And don't worry, the "You Are Dead" song is still present.

* SugarAndIcePersonality: Stevie Groovie, who is ''very'' picky about videos you sell to her, only paying highly if she enjoys it. The bank of monitors behind her even change to reflect her mood.

* AdvertisedExtra: Mr. Red is featured prominently on the box, but most of his actual role is at the beginning of the game.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: Johnny Fang's song "Fang Blues" ends this way.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Edgar Death. When you summon him from his grave, he only wants to sing, not harm you.

* DuelingShows: InUniverse, there's a rivalry between Stevie Groovie's ''The Groovie Hour'' and Hans Kranger's ''The Berlin Rocker''.

* {{Expy}}: Mr. Red seems to take inspiration from [[Creator/MarvelStudios Marvel]] character [[https://marvelcomicsfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Henry_Gyrich_(Earth-1010) Henry Gyrich]].

* GothsHaveItHard: Edgar Death thinks so, being a zombie and all. A radio broadcast in your tower implies that he became this by studying "mortuary science".
* GratuitousEnglish: Yuji Dude speaks in Japanese, but with the occasional English expression thrown in like "cool beans and rice" or "stone cold crazy". According to an interview, he picked up this kind of language after dating a ValleyGirl transfer student in college.

* MorallyBankruptBanker: Hans Kranger is a subversion. He hails from a long line of German bankers, and pays exorbitant amounts for good-quality videos, but finds passion in music more than money, as far as his autobiography claims.

* WhoDares: When you summon Edgar Death from his grave, he asks, "Who dares disturb my...sorrow?"
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Literally with Yuji, whose real last name is apparently "Dude".
--> '''[[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Joel]]''': Dude-[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics san]]? '''DUDE-SAN!?'''
* WolverinePublicity: Mr. Red is prominently shown on the box cover, but he only appears in-game to mock you in the start screen, and to authorize your trip home at the very end.

* GratuitousEnglish: Yuji Dude speaks in Japanese, but with the occasional English expression thrown in like "cool beans and rice" or "stone cold crazy".

** The songs for getting anything less than the top two prizes at the end of the game. The Gold TV song really goes after you for stopping short of true victory.

* DancingBear: InUniverse, your music videos' value comes from containing footage of a dangerous alternate dimension which you recorded yourself.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Your body is never shown in the game, though you can choose between a male and female voice at the beginning. Humorously, your male voice sounds like a fast-talking [[SyntheticVoiceActor text-to-speech program]] that sings its dialogue.

* EasyModeMockery: If you pick the lowest settings for difficulty and danger, both Mr. Red and your status screen will make fun of you. Heck, the guy snickers even if you pick the second easiest setting.

A 1995 AdventureGame for the [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] and UsefulNotes/{{Mac}}.

** Another of these involves a [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Macintosh]] in Hell's Garage, by [[RubeGoldbergMachine coaxing a group of eyeballs with a torch, into landing on a lever]] that unlocks the desktop after 5 rounds.

** If run on modern systems, most of the minigames run faster than players are able to keep up with, some of them with [[TimedMission time limits]]. This means players won't have enough time or reflexes to keep up with them, making the game fit this trope without locking the CPU speed through UsefulNotes/DosBox or similar emulators.

* {{Mouthscreen}}: The video on the Special VidChip contains this, mixed with footage from the intro videos.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQVO6IYaOyc "You are dead, dead, dead..."]]

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* AlternateUniverse: The intro begins on Parallel Earth #27.

* GameOverMan: The Guitar Warrior. It remains one of the most hilarious examples of this trope.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: If run on modern systems, most of the minigames run faster than players are able to keep up with, some of them with [[TimedMission time limits]]. This means players won't have enough time or reflexes to keep up with them, making the game fit this trope without locking the CPU speed through UsefulNotes/DosBox or similar emulators.

* MusicalAssassin: The Guitar Warrior, of course.

** Also, [[AbsoluteCleavage as tempting as it is]] do NOT click on Roxanne's breasts.

* DialogueTree: One of the earliest adventure game examples. Characters will remember you if you've talked to them before, and react based on what you told them previously. Averted in some situations, where [[ButThouMust all four available options are the same.]]

* PixelHunt: "Key Card X" and the door opener to Hell's Garage are hidden in extremely obscure spots. The former in [[spoiler: one of four lights near the TV portal]], and the latter inside [[spoiler: a potted plant in the LA Stage's lobby.]]

* PlugAndPlayTechnology: Occasionally you have to use video chips to upload or download footage from devices in the environment.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Hans Kranger is a subversion. He hails from a long line of German bankers, and pays exorbitant amounts for good-quality videos, but finds passion in music more than money, as far as his autobiography claims.

* UnwinnableByMistake: If run on modern systems, most of the minigames run faster than players are able to keep up with, some of them with [[TimedMission time limits]]. This means players won't have enough time or reflexes to keep up with them, making the game fit this trope without locking the CPU speed through UsefulNotes/DosBox or similar emulators.

* RecurringRiff: Possibly unintentional. Some of the game's background music reappears in a few rock songs near the end.

* TeleportersAndTransporters: Travel to alternate dimensions consumes a lot of energy, dependent on the size of the object being sent. Living creatures sent through are put into six-week comas - as such, you have to use a highly durable nutrient-fluid-filled tube when you want to travel to and from your base, and the sheer energy cost means it has to be pre-approved. (Also, the millions of dollars in energy bills it took to get your tower across put you in hock, and your tower's fuel will run dry if you can't come up with some good videos ''fast''.)