Top 10 Disturbing Game Over Screens

Top 10 Disturbing Game Over Screens

As if the fact we lost wasn’t punishing enough… Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today, we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Disturbing Game Over Screens!

For this list, we’re not so much as just looking at game over screens, but the ones that really add insult to injury…or the other way around.

#10: “Conker’s Bad Fur Day” (2001)

Conker may have an adorable appearance, but anyone who has experienced this “Bad Fur Day” knows that looks can be deceiving. Should Conker break off his last piece of chocolate, one of three game-over screens will be shown. One shows his picture on the side of Panther King’s milk carton and another shows Conker, bound and gagged, serving as a table leg for the rest of his life. The most shocking one, however, is when the weasels report back to the Panther King with a bag of Conker’s bloody bits. Between the silence and our state of shock, this particular screen stands out, as it shows just how vicious the Panther King can be.

#9: “Mortal Kombat 4” (1997)

Don’t get us wrong, “Mortal Kombat” has some of the coolest fatalities in gaming, and each new entry shows there’s more than a thousand ways to die. “Mortal Kombat 4” seems to believe in overkill. After suffering defeat, your fighter will be shown failing down a seemingly never-ending pit of darkness. When the countdown reaches zero, the camera will shift, and your fighter gets impaled on a bed of spikes. Ooh! That’s brutal! You can hear the bones breaking on that one!

#8: “Final Fight” (1989)

Okay, we’ll admit this one is little cartoony in presentation, but what makes it disturbing lies in the character animation. Just look at them! They all seem legitimately terrified for their life! It almost makes you feel horrible and want to keep playing the ga—WAIT A MINUTE!! We see what’s going on here! Look, guys, we’d love to press continue and save you from the Looney Tunes-looking dynamite, but we’re all out of quarters. At least none of you guys are drowning or getting crushed by a bed of spikes because that’s a worse way to die—and they did that in the sequels. Dammit, now we feel extra guilty…

#7: “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” (2000)

There’s a lot of much nightmare fuel going on in this game, from Skull Kid’s creepy laughter to the unsettling dialogue like “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” For those of us who feared the stressful time limit, the game over cutscene is the most terrifying. First off, you have the malicious-looking moon crashing into the Earth. This isn’t just the end of Termina; it’s the end of the entire planet! After a massive wave of fire kills Link, the last thing we see is Majora’s Mask fading into the flames. Lovely.

#6: “Batman: Arkham” series (2009-15)

The “Batman: Arkham” games have some of the coolest game over screens in gaming. Having the villain tease and taunt you makes for a memorable game over screen. As neat as it is, there is something rather sinister about them, especially when you die by the hands of Scarecrow and Killer Croc. The environment is shrouded in darkness and aside from the villain talking, there’s nothing but silence. On top of that, the camera angle insinuates that we’re seeing them from Batman’s unconscious body, which is disturbing to even imagine.

#5: “Metroid Prime” trilogy (2002-08)

As we’ve seen with “Majora’s Mask”, Nintendo is not afraid to put in some disturbing images and sounds in their otherwise “kid-friendly” games. The “Metroid Prime” trilogy is a whole different ball park. The action is always tense, the boss battles certainly make us feel like we’re in life or death situations…and the death feels all too real. Before we’re asked if we’d like to continue, we hear a painful scream from Samus…then we see that life support systems are offline and the systems power down, leaving us in total darkness. That’s just in the first two games. “Corruption” gives some subtlety to the gore, which somehow makes it all the scarier.

#4: “Resident Evil 2” (1998)

There are more ways to die “Resident Evil 2” outside of being eaten alive by zombies, with each death being more brutal than the last. Where should we even begin? You can have your throat torn out by rabid dogs, impaled by a mutant creature, beaten to death with a pipe, even being swallowed by a giant alligator in the sewers! What makes these deaths more frightening is that the only noise you hear are the screams and the gushing of blood. Yes, game, we can see we died. Thanks for the nightmares…

#3: “Silent Hill 3” (2003)

Sometimes, you don’t need graphic details and violence to scare a gamer. While “Silent Hill 3” has its fair share of savage deaths, from getting hit by a speeding train to falling into a dark abyss, the most terrifying game over screen involves the Attendant of God, Valtiel. Once you are slain by the other creatures, Valtiel will be seen dragging your body, ready to hang you with the nurses. Of course, we can’t forget the tantalizingly slow death of staying in the bloody mirror room. Agh, I’m getting chills just from thinking about these…

#2: “Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)” (1988)

Oh, “Ninja Gaiden”, you kicked our ass just as much as you did in the console versions. While it’s the oldest game on the list, it doesn’t mean it didn’t scare the ever-living crap out of us. Upon losing your last life, you’re taken to a screen where you see Ryu Hayabusa strapped down with a screeching buzzsaw slowly descending, ready to tear into his torso. Once the countdown reaches zero, you hear Ryu die and a cheesy tune only the ‘80s can provide.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions…

“Cadillacs & Dinosaurs” (1993)

“Banjo-Kazooie” (1998)

“Metal Gear Solid” series (1998-2015)

#1: “X-COM: UFO Defense” (1994)

The “XCOM” series has been known for demanding a high level of strategy from players. While most games would simply say “Game Over” or show a gruesome cutscene (like the other entries on this list), “XCOM: UFO Defense” says, “Nope! You’re going to sit there and we’re going to make you feel your failure!” First, you’re told how the government has fallen apart and nations will have to deal with the invasion all on their own. Then, with eerie music in the background, you read that humans are being eradicated, with the final sentence reading, “You have failed to save the Earth.” Geez, talk about adding insult to injury…