10 Bleak Game Over Screens That Crushed You

Throughout the eighties and nineties, Rareware was at the forefront of the gaming scene. Their colourful and challenging releases generated much attention on the NES and SNES. Yet their jump to the Nintendo 64 was another big leap forward, bringing new franchises and projects.

With Banjo-Kazooie, Rare once again proved they were an immensely talented studio under Nintendo's banner. Yet despite being fairly kid-friendly by nineties standards, the studio injected their own share of darker moments. Up to that point, most platformers treated the player with a simple game over screen. You either started back from your last checkpoint or from the beginning in other cases. Banjo-Kazooie was different.

With 3D platformers becoming a massively successful genre, the team were able to add some additional elements to the experience. In addition to widely varied levels and platforming challenges, losing all your lives triggered an additional scene. What happened if they dynamic duo failed their mission? You were shown just that.

In a sinister twist for a kid's game, Banjo's sister is turned into a mutant as game over flashes on the screen. As Gruntilla uses her infernal machine to steal her looks for herself, younger players at the time were treated to the consequences of their failure.