History RankInflation / VideoGames

* GuitarFreaks and DrumMania both have grading systems that go up to SS. The full grading scale is: E for failing a song, A-D for good to poor performance, S for great performance or a Full Combo with Goods, and SS for a Full Combo without Goods (i.e. a Perfect or Great on every note). In addition, hitting every note with a Perfect results in an Excellent, with the text overlaid on top of the SS.

* In {{Osu}}, the grades of performance starts from D, then C, B, A, S, and SS at the highest (SS means 100% accuracy). And if one uses Hidden or Flashlight mod when playing, they can get a silver S or SS with the usual requirements, written as SH and XH (respectively) in the "Historical Statistics" section of a player's web profile.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' evaluates boss fights by time, damage taken, number of parries, amount of Super meter, and difficulty. The scale is usually C- to A+, but one can achieve an S-Rank after unlocking Expert difficulty. There is also a secret P-Rank for the "Run & Gun" stages, earned by doing a PacifistRun. Finally, there is a percentage completion rating that goes up when bosses are beat and items are collected, but earning those S and P-Ranks boosts it over 100%.

* While it doesn't affect gameplay at all, the story mode in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear XX'' [[RandomPowerRanking ranks its characters on a scale from D to S++]], as well as a couple characters simply not given a ranking due to being entirely too dead to cause anyone any trouble. The only four characters that actually make S-Rank or higher are, in order of increasing power, TheDragon (I-No), the AuthorAvatar (Sol Badguy), an unstoppable Elder Vampire that ''founded'' the Assassin's Guild (Slayer), and a gentle, innocent girl who is a PersonOfMassDestruction and possibly a MessianicArchetype (Dizzy). However, these rankings are not so much as based on power as they are a threat to the Postwar Administration Bureau.

* While it doesn't affect gameplay at all, the story mode in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear XX'' ranks its characters on a scale from D to S++, as well as a couple characters simply not given a ranking due to being entirely too dead to cause anyone any trouble. The only four characters that actually make S-Rank or higher are, in order of increasing power, TheDragon (I-No), the AuthorAvatar (Sol Badguy), an unstoppable Elder Vampire that ''founded'' the Assassin's Guild (Slayer), and a gentle, innocent girl who is a PersonOfMassDestruction and possibly a MessianicArchetype (Dizzy). However, these rankings are not so much as based on power as they are a threat to the Postwar Administration Bureau.

[[folder: Action-Adventure]]

** Creator/RetroStudios [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns own]] [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze entries into the series go up to 200%, reached by getting getting all the KONG letters, betting the entire game to unlock [[LevelInReverse Mirror]] [[OneHitPointWonder Mode]], and beating all the levels in that mode.

** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'': '''D'''ull, '''C'''ool!, '''B'''ravo!, '''A'''bsolute!, '''S'''tylish!
** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry2'': '''D'''on't worry, '''C'''ome on!, '''B'''ingo!, '''A'''re you ready?, '''S'''howtime!!
** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'': '''D'''ope!, '''C'''razy!, '''B'''last!, '''A'''lright!, '''S'''weet!, '''SS'''howtime!!, '''SSS'''tylish!!
** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry4'': '''D'''eadly!, '''C'''arnage!, '''B'''rutal!, '''A'''tomic!, '''S'''mokin'!, '''S'''mokin '''S'''tyle!!, '''S'''mokin' '''S'''ick '''S'''tyle!

* A very similar ranking system is used in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' (also designed by ''Devil May Cry'' and ''Viewtiful Joe'' creator Hideki Kamiya): each "chapter" is divided up into multiple "verses," for which you can earn stone, bronze, silver, gold, platinum or ''pure'' platinum medals or trophies. Again, you don't need a perfect run of platinum verse medals to earn a platinum chapter trophy, but only by completing ''every'' verse quickly enough, with a sufficiently high combo score, and without taking any damage, can you get the pure platinum trophy for that chapter.

* Although it doesn't really affect gameplay one way or the other, the ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}s'' rank their operatives from C Class to Special-A Class. While C Class Striders are the low men on the totem pole, by no means is that a marring of their skill; they alone are said to be [[OneManArmy the one-man equivalent of an entire special forces team]], and it only becomes more and more crazily superhuman from there on. Strider Hiryu, the protagonist, is one of the Special-A Class Striders (the elites and the only members allowed to wield the group's signature [[CoolSword Cypher]] [[HotBlade blades]]) and is distinguished among his peers for being the youngest to attain such a rank.

[[folder: Fighting Games]]
* Meta-example. Fighting game CharacterTiers are often labeled as such with D usually being the lowest, then C, B, A and finally S for the highest of the high. Some games will have characters as low as F rank or characters considered so strong that they're ranked as S+ or SS rank. Please note that while characters ranked as high as S+ and SS can sometimes be considered [[GameBreaker game breakers]], not all of them are banned from tournaments. Games with a very large range in tiers can end up going beyond D, especially if it doesn't use + or - (Ex. the current Smash 4 tier list goes from S to ''H'').

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Ragna the Bloodedge]] is considered an SS-Class Criminal by the Librarium.

[[folder: First Person Shooter]]

[[folder: Racing Games]]

[[folder: Role Playing Games]]

[[folder: Rhythm Games]]

[[folder: Shoot 'Em Up]]

[[folder: Other]]

* Rare's ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' games used a percentage completion rating that never stopped at 100%. ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 DKC]]'' stopped at 101%, ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest DKC2]]'' stopped at 102%, and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble DKC3]]'' wasn't complete until you had 103% (and 105%, which requires [[GuideDangIt inputing codes]] for a SelfImposedChallenge). Collecting enough DK coins in ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' elevates Diddy Kong above Mario in video game hero status.

* ''VideoGame/WiiPlay'' and [[Videogame/WiiPlayMotion]] will award the player medals going from Bronze to Platinum for each minigame if they get past a score in said minigame. It also works like an AchievementSystem, as the medal is displayed indefinitely on the select screen.

* ''{{jubeat}}'' has a grading system as follows: an E is a complete and utter failure, a D means you failed but weren't too far away from a clear, C means you cleared by the skin of your teeth (Final score between 700000-799999 points), a B requires you to already have a passing score before your LifeMeter bonus is added at the end of the song (Final score between 800000-849999 points), then A (850000-899999 points), S (900000-949999 points), SS (950000-974999 points), SSS (975000 - 999999 points), and finally EXCELLENT for a completely perfect run (which actually replaces your grade and even your clear status, instead of being added on as in [=GuitarFreaks and DrumMania=] above).

* The ranked battle system in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' starts you at the lowest rank of C- and goes up 9 ranks all the way to A+. The Version 2.0.0 patch adds S and S+ ranks above A+.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' goes for a B, A, SA, GA, PA, MH ranking scale; ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' goes D, C, B, A, SA, GA, PA, UH. ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' sucks. ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' goes D, C, B, A, AA, AAA, S. It should be noted that getting a high rank in ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' has nothing to do with performance, though.

** This ranking system was introduced back in ''Fatal Fury 3'', and with exception of its immediate sequel, it actually affected who you would fight as a final/bonus boss, and if your character's ending could be seen.

** If you lose the first match under any cirumstances, your overall grade is G (and your score is zero). It's possible to get a G for an single fight, but it has to be an absolute whitewash. MSF is a major plateau but far from impossible. There are no tricks to it; you just have to know the engine inside and out, be able to take on anybody and anything, and execute flawlessly. The grades get more generous the further you go, so if you dominate Gill, it's possible to get MSF for both that fight and overall.

* ''{{Beatmania}} IIDX'':

* ''DungeonFighterOnline'''s rank system for clearing dungeons is based on how well you can pull off combos, with the lowest being F and the highest being SSS.

* The ''RogueSquadron'' games had medals for each mission based on time taken, kills, ally/wingman deaths, accuracy, player deaths etc. With levels that went from no medal (almost impossible for a competent player to actually get due to being that easy) to bronze through gold (generally quite difficult) to Ace/Platinum (depending on the game) which was next to impossible using the standard ships for most missions (though a couple of notable exceptions had easier requirements for ace than gold). In many cases, however, the bonus ships were {{Game Breaker}}s, having weapons which could destroy large numbers of foes in one shot, boosting the accuracy, enemies killed and, occasionally, time stats hugely. And, in one game, these secondary weapons auto-regenerated, so you couldn't run out, unlike the secondaries on the other ships.

* In ''RockBand'', a score 50% above the cut-off for a 5-star performance - typically requiring a near flawless performance - will also garner you golden stars, but [[HardModePerks only if you play on Expert difficulty]]. The percentage above the cut-off for drums is slightly lower since drummers miss out on some notes during their overdrive activation.

* The ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' VisualNovel has a section with the stats for all of the [[AllMythsAreTrue Servants]], from E to A with the usual plus/minus modifiers. Rank A is basically on the level of True Magic (impossible miracles). There's also the EX rank, which is shorthand for "unclassifiable" powers that, due to their nature, simply don't fit on the Ranking scale.[[note]]One example given is Magic Defense. E through A rank Magic Defense dictates how well a Servant can survive magical attacks. An EX rank Magic Defense would indicate that magical attacks are made to ''miss them entirely'', so it's not even a function of "defense" at all, strictly speaking.[[/note]] The special armaments of Servants, the Noble Phantasms, also come with ranks; [[{{Nasuverse}} Canonically]], a C-rank Noble Phantasm is about the same level as an A-rank regular weapon.

** [[AllThereInTheManual Databooks]] on the NasuVerse state that the Mage's Association ranks its members from First to Seventh (seventh being the lowest). For people who have achieved feats beyond that, like the sisters [[LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai Touko]] and [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Aoko]], they get colors Orange and Blue, respectively. The closer your color to the primary colors red, blue, and yellow, the more amazing your achievement.

* Several of Creator/{{SEGA}}'s rhythm games -- ''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'', ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA Arcade'', ''Hatsune Miku Project mirai'', and ''CHUNITHM'' -- allow you to go slightly over 100% by performing certain kinds of actions to gain "extra credit" points. This can result in weird situations where you are at 100% or higher despite having at least one judgement that isn't Perfect (''maimai''), COOL (''Project DIVA''), or JUSTICE CRITICAL (''CHUNITHM''); ''maimai'' in particular gets around this by having separate recognitions for 100%+ runs (the SSS grade, which in and of itself is also an example of this trope) and for actual All Perfect runs.

* Several of Creator/{{SEGA}}'s rhythm games -- ''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'', ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA Arcade'', ''Hatsune Miku Project mirai'', and ''CHUNITHM'' -- allow you to go slightly over 100% by performing certain kinds of actions to gain "extra credit" points. This can result in weird situations where you are at 100% or higher despite having at least one judgement that isn't Perfect (''maimai''), COOL (''Project DIVA''), or JUSTICE CRITICAL (''CHUNITHM''); ''maimai'' in particular gets around this by having separate recognitions for 100%+ runs (the SSS grade, which in and of itself is also an example of this trope) and for actual All Perfect runss.

* Several of Creator/{{SEGA}}'s rhythm games -- ''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'', ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA Arcade'', ''Hatsune Miku Project mirai'', and ''CHUNITHM'' -- allow you to go slightly over 100% by performing certain kinds of actions to gain "extra credit" points. This can result in weird situations where you are at 100% or higher despite having at least one judgement that isn't Perfect (''maimai''), COOL (''Project DIVA''), or JUSTICE CRITICAL (''CHUNITHM''), so several of these games have separate recognitions for the grade corresponding to 100%+ and for all-Perfect/COOL/JC performances.

* Rare's ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' games used a percentage completion rating that never stopped at 100%. ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1 DKC]]'' stopped at 101%, ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKonQuest DKC2]]'' stopped at 102%, and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble DKC3]]'' wasn't complete until you had 103% (and 105%, which requires [[GuideDangIt inputing codes]] for a SelfImposedChallenge). Collecting enough DK coins in ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' elevates Diddy Kong above Mario in video game hero status.