8 Intense Video Game Moments Where You HAD To Die

8. Prince Of Persia 2: The Shadow And The Flame

Before there was Jake Gyllenhaal, before there was Sands of Time, before there was even Ubisoft's meddling fingers, there was a simpler time of a Prince in Persia rendered with 8-bit kitschy graphics, fighting his way through treacherous caverns and terrible monsters to return to his rightful place beside the Princess of the land. How lovely.

In the second entry in the franchise, The Shadow and the Flame, there comes a point when the Prince must leave his mortal body to take hold of the titular blue flame to defeat the evil Jaffar.

Entering the room with said torch triggers the warning of "He Who Should Steal The Flame Must Die," and as it turns out, it's not a simple exaggeration of how much these bird people love their fire: you've got to take the words quite literally.

Instead of simply trying to grab the fire like any old peasant, the Prince must let himself be killed by the singular birdman enemy standing guard - and, most difficult of all, not skip the death cutscene. Doing so will make your soul jump out your body, set ablaze with the flame, and gain the reverence of birdmen the world over. Not so bad for purposeful death eh?