| Best Ending
Ninja
Gaiden
Pathos, love,
loss, redemption and revenge: No other 8-Bit game even comes close to the
melodrama and cinematic excellence of the ending for Ninja Gaiden. As Ryu
Hayabusa, you had set out to avenge the death of your father only to find
yourself embroiled in an FBI plot to recover powerful demon statues. At
the end of your journey, you make a horrible discovery; the father you
thought you had lost actually was possessed by a demon statue and you,
his son, just mortally wounded him. With hues of Return of the Jedi, you
hold your father in your arms as he exhales his last breath. Afterwards,
you leave the dark tower with the foxy female FBI operative with whom you've
been working with and she calls the FBI agent Foster. You then discover
that Foster had only been using Ryu to get to the demon statues and he
orders the operative to kill Ryu and take the coveted statues. Ryu overhears
this and promises to make Foster pay for his duplicity. In a bittersweet
conclusion, Ryu turns to the Blade Runner-esque Sean Young look-a-like,
kisses her, and then asks her for her name. They embrace and watch
the sun dawn on a new day.
Runners up:
Bionic
Commando
 If
more NES games ended with patriotism, profanity and Hitler's (actually
it's "Master-D's") head blowing up, Bionic Commando wouldn't be such a
clear choice. But after fighting your way through Axis forces and Master-D/Hitler
calling you a "Damn fool," and after swinging down a precipice, shooting
your bazooka while in mid-air at Hitler's helicopter and being treated
to a slide show effect of Hitler's bloated face exploding, the choice was
clear. Race through the base afterwards as it's about to "explod" (sic)
and save the original Commando star, Super Joe. As the credits roll, you
realize the man you saved, Joe, is actually telling you the story in the
year 2010.
StarTropics
 Three
cubes join together and a Vulcan-like race pops out. What more do you want?
The ending to StarTropics is utterly wacky and surprisingly long. A spaceship
blows up. You almost drown. A Dolphin saves you. Everyone in town congratulates
you. Then you piece together these three cubes and seven Argonian children
appear wanting banana cream pie, so you ask them if they want to go fishing.
The credits roll, but the ending is still not over. Cinema screens scroll
across your TV detailing the exploits of your journey. In fact, the cinemas
are so comprehensive, they start recounting the ending sequence you just
saw. Finally--finally--the game ends with a shot of our hero, Mike,
shoving a banana in each ear. Classic.
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