Top 10 Scariest Game Over Screens

Ah, the age of the coin-op, where standing arcade machines would do just about anything to make you keep plugging in those quarters. Case in point? This game over screen from the awesome "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs," a fondly remembered tie-in to the comic franchise and cartoon series of the same name. Here, one of the game's big baddies holds a gun point blank to the losing character's face, in a first person view. Should you not continue the game after a twenty second countdown...well, you're eating lead baby, making it "game over" permanently!

Sometimes, the simple and direct approach is the best. The creators behind one of 1989's most challenging, difficult and frustrating games clearly knew this when they designed this game over screen. "Friday the 13th" features obtuse controls, a non-intuitive map screen and a villain who's nigh-on unbeatable if you don't know what you're doing. As a result, you're gonna die. A lot. "Friday the 13th" seems to know this fact, and came up with an ultra-memorable final screen to hammer home the point that you're just not gonna get Jason Voorhees. "You and Your Friends Are Dead: Game Over" is the message, and we really couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Ok, so jump scares are cheap. They're designed that way purposefully to scare us. After all, the odds are pretty good that having something jump up out of nowhere, without warning, will get us frightened out of our wits every single time. The "Five Nights at Freddy's" franchise does this all too well, and could be seen almost as a benchmark of sorts; a way to measure how successful a game is at getting its jump scare point across. As such, the series has scared the crap out of kids and adults alike via its use of murderous animatronic animals with soulless eyes, lurching up and signaling that the game is OVER, pal. Let us know when it's ok to open our eyes, ok?

Ok, so our next entry is sort of a combo deal, with both Crash Bandicoot's numerous deaths and the final screen working together to create something unique. The most interesting thing about losing in this third Bandicoot outing is how much detail the developers put into animating all of the ways Crash can bite the dust. Some are humorous...such as Crash losing his pants, while others showcase just how many ways the little guy can be chomped, stomped, sliced and diced. Finally, after all is said and done, villains Uka Uka and Cortex appear to intimidate the player, and respond differently depending on whether you choose to continue or not.

Capcom strikes again with their infamous "put in another quarter" routine. This time, it's all about the "Final Fight" franchise, the classic side-scrolling beat 'em up that puts your characters in very real danger, should you perish along the way. Here, your chosen hero is bound and set up within some not-so-elaborate death trap, such as rising water or the burning fuse of deadly dynamite. Should you find your pockets empty of coins (or just have somewhere else to be) you can feel free to let the clock run out and watch Guy, Haggar, Cody and more bite the bullet. Hope you're proud of yourself.

Survival horror is always a great place to look for a truly scary game over screen, and the 2015 title "SOMA" certainly didn't disappoint fans of this "love it or hate it" genre. The ending here is a bit more abstract in nature, with lights, sound and creepy noises all coming together in a kaleidoscopic and hallucinogenic collage. If that didn't scare you into submission, then the matter-of-fact message of "You Died" should hammer home the final point: that "SOMA" is determined to give you nightmares at any cost.

"Shadow of the Colossus" was so popular and well received when it was originally released back in 2005, that fans clamored for another go with a remake developed over a decade later. What do both of these iterations have in common? The simple, yet awesome screen pops up when the game's title character, Wander, fails in his quest to destroy all sixteen titular colossi. These victorious enemies simply show up and stare you straight in the face. There's no fancy animations and no gross-out sequences, just an almost meditative and palpable fear as you're faced with your own mortality. Sometimes the direct approach is best.

Ok, so we love Link. Like, really love the little guy. That said, we hate seeing anything bad happen to the hero of Hyrule, so the next game over screen on our list hits us where it hurts. Sure, we were bothered by the return of Ganon in "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link," but that was kid stuff compared to the apocalyptic game over screen in "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask." The noise, the dust, the deafening explosion and Link being blown to kingdom come. It's all too much for us to handle, and it's an ending we really only want to watch once.

The "Arkham" series of Batman games are massive achievements, and have crossed over to fans from the console worlds on through to followers of DC's comic books and cinema. One of the reasons this series is so beloved is the attention to detail paid to The Caped Crusader's Rogue's Gallery, with each of Batman's enemies receiving multiple taunts and speeches to give at Bruce Wayne's demise. Some are darker and more violent than others, but they're all memorable, and animated to perfection. The fact that each character gets multiple takes at punishing the Bat also gives the games excellent replay value. See if you can watch them all!

Every modern gamer is likely familiar with the "Resident Evil" franchise, the series which almost single-handedly popularized the "survival horror" genre. We say "almost," because the world of "Resident Evil" is actually indebted to the 1989 game "Sweet Home," which was based upon the cult Japanese horror film of the same name. The game over screen of that title was surprisingly grim and gruesome for the time, two sentiments which were beefed up big time when "Resident Evil" took the reins in '96. The slow zooms, the graphic deaths and that ominous "You Died" messaged etched in blood red: they were the game over screens that truly made us afraid of the dark.