History Main / AWinnerIsYou

* Beating ''Franchise/SpiderMan & Venom: Separation Anxiety'' nets you a picture of Carnage and text saying "GAME COMPLETED".

* The obscure 2018 [[IndieGame indie game]] ''[[http://www.sockman.es/ 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/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. Feel free to work out what her suicide means, but your guess is as good as anyone's.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragon Super Double Dragon]]'', being an ObviousBeta, lacks any actual plot and features a generic text-only ending before the credits after the defeating the [[BigBad final boss]]. The Japanese version doesn't even have that; you just get the credits.

* 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. [[ObviousBeta On a 32X]].

** The original arcade game technically has no end, unless you count a glitch in the programming that corrupts the screen at level 256. The frustration experienced by exhausted ''Pac-Man'' players is accurately summed up in [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/187076 this flash cartoon by James Jouni]].

* In ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'', completing White Vanilla / Light Mode with a Z rank, as hard as it is, merely "awards" the player with disdain from the simulation's proctor(s):

* 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. ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheSpaceMutants'' isn't much better--you get some text saying you saved Springfield and dialog from the alien invaders as they inexplicably decide to make Bart an intergalactic hero, followed by a shot of the family visiting [[RushmoreRefacement Mount Rushmore, which now includes a Bart head]].

* ''VideoGame/ChoRenSha68K'' ends with a simple "Mission Complete" message...but only in versions of the game before ver. 1.10. The new ending in 1.10 [[spoiler:is a rather surreal extended sequence where, upon defeating the FinalBoss, the player finds themselves in a completely new plane and is welcomed back to "the real world".]]

The game's tagline ("An Adventurer is You") is a reference to the TropeNamer.

* XBLA MindScrew-fest ''Space Giraffe'' concludes each level with phrases such as the TropeNamer and "[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 But our giraffe is in another castle]]", along with a few others.

* ''VideoGame/ShadysPoopong'' 20th Anniversary Edition's BossRush mode ends with a direct reference to the TropeNamer.

* ''[[Webcomic/{{Girly}} Cutewendy]]'' did a reference to the TropeNamer [[http://cutewendy.com/go/56 here.]]

'''As this is an EndingTrope, most spoilers are unmarked. Beware if you wish to be spared some awful disappointment in seeing your favorite games here.'''

* The TropeNamer is ''VideoGame/ProWrestling'', where you receive the same Engrish conglaturatory message after winning a match. The actual "You Win!" screen consists of a picture of two trophies and your fighter (with one title belt on his waist, and another in his hand), and the message "Congratulations! You are V.W.A. V.W.F. Champion!", while the music repeats endlessly.

** The 3D sequel ''Pacmania'' (or at least the Acorn Archimedes port of the same) eventually just comes up with a message which tells the user there are no more levels.

* The ending of ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 Donkey Kong Land]]'' consists of nothing but "Congratulations." followed by the credits. Yep, not even an exclamation mark.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' managed to earn widespread notoriety for its ending - a choice between three different options that have ''implied'' results, but which ultimately boil down to choosing the colour of the big setting-wrecking space explosion, resulting from a mixture of ExecutiveMeddling, the departure of Drew Karpyshyn, and his successor going behind the backs of the rest of the writing team. Thankfully the Extended Cut at least ''attemped'' to repair some of the damage it did to Bioware's reputation and make the various endings actually provide closure.\\

* In ''VideoGame/TheSacredArmourOfAntiriad'', the ending consists of just a short message that loops through the status box (with not even a splash picture to accompany it):
-->THE OPPRESSORS ARE DEFEATED YOUR RACE IS FREE PRESS FIRE TO PLAY AGAIN

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' has a decent ending for the Altair plot, but the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture modernish-day]] plot gives the player [[spoiler:some cryptic scribblings on the wall, the threat of death hanging over the still-imprisoned protagonist]], and about 8 billion [[SequelHook unanswered questions]].

* ''VideoGame/MickeyMousecapade'': After the FinalBoss, Mickey and Minnie exit the castle into a wooded area, and the mystery friend is... Alice in Wonderland! TheEnd.

** When ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' was repackaged for the SNES as ''Super Mario All-Stars'', you do get to see the Princess kissing Mario (or Luigi). If you defeat the slightly harder difficulty, the text is different.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' features a slightly different ending than the original game. For starters, Peach's sprite has been improved, the ending text is different, and the background will turn blue with the seven Mushroom Retainers from the previous Worlds surrounding Mario and Peach. Unfortunately, when the game was remade for the SNES and GBC, they simply used the same ending they used in the remake for the original ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros.]]''. Compare the [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/fds/a/supmar2.htm Disk System version's ending]] with the ending in the [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/a/smas_ll.htm SNES]] and [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/gbc/a/mariodx2.htm GBC versions]]. This ending is also used for the arcade cabinet remake ''Vs. Super Mario Bros.'', and the Japan-exclusive ''All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros''.
* The ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' fangame "Invictus" has a bonus level where you have to do a preposterous number of shell-jumps (over a hundred; doing just ''one'' takes quite a bit of practice) in a row to reach the top of a gigantic tower. If you pull this off, all you'll find at the summit is a small room with a text-block that says "Oof! Uhh, nice job... I guess."

* In ''Asterix and the Magic Cauldron'', the ending is just a message saying "[-BY TOUATIS YOU HAVE DONE IT.-]" Most ''Asterix'' {{Licensed Game}}s end with at least a static image of an [[FoodEnd ancient Gaulish feast]], but the developers of this one not only didn't fit that in but couldn't even spell "Toutatis" correctly.