5 Totally Insane Video Game Bonus Levels

battle2-600x317 The Bonus Level is a fixture in gaming as old as the industry itself: after slashing, stomping, running, shooting, or spellcasting your way through a barrage of obstacles and enemies, you've earned a reward. A brief respite free of danger, and full of "free" loot, or restoratives, as a way of rewarding you for your toiling through peril. Whether you were Mario, squeezing through an innocent pipe to find a room full of coins, or Link, blowing up a suspicious crack in a dungeon to stumble upon a room filled with Rupees, the idea is fairly simple, and has been used plenty of times, across all platforms and genres. Not surprisingly, every now and then, game-makers get creative with the concept... or just go all-out nuts. Although Bonus Stages are primarily a trademark of Platform games, and Retro 2D ones at that, occasionally a modern developer will throw in a quirky level for kicks. As such, it stands out even more when you see the presence of one in a modern game. You're perfectly free to add your own, debate the topic, or question my sanity in the comment box below, but here are 5 bonus levels that took the concept and ran a marathon with it...
 
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I'm a technologically savvy Sony Gamer born in the epic city of New Orleans, currently pursuing a degree in Mass Communications in South Carolina. When not losing hours of my life with a controller in my hand, I'm probably losing hours of my life typing endless words into a keyboard, my attempt at this thing called "technology journalism". Hi there.