10 True Video Game Endings You Gave Up On
7. Ghosts 'n' Goblins - True Ending
Picture the scene.
It's the '80s. You have finally triumphed over Ghosts 'n' Goblins at the arcade, having pumped a federal reserve's worth of quarters into the machine due to the game's sadistic difficulty. And your reward is... to be told you have to do it all again, like the dance monkey you are.
Seriously. That actually happened. The above picture is taken from the original Ghosts 'n' Goblins arcade ending, which reveals that the final boss is actually an illusion. If you want to beat the real devil, you have to go through the entire game one. More. Time.
Bloody hell, Capcom! Given how much money it takes to power through the game even once, it's hard to imagine anyone had pockets deep enough to see the game's true ending.
People nowadays (rightly) rag on gaming's insistence on nickel-and-diming players with tosh like loot boxes and battle passes, but Ghosts 'n' Goblins shows that gaming has always suffered from the machinations of corporate vultures.