10 Video Games That Messed With Your Saves

While Earthbound's save-erasing shenanigans were easy to justify (pirates should have an objectively worse experience than players who actually bought the game), Banjo Kazooie's salt-the-earth approach to cheaters was a tougher pill to swallow.

While BK (Banjo Kazooie, not Burger King) was happy to let players cheat their way to infinite items and lives, it was less forgiving of the player messing with Gruntilda's Castle (the game's hub).

Anyone caught opening doors they shouldn't have, or unlocking worlds they didn't yet have access to, would get a warning from the impressively-be'chinned witch: "Stop this cheating, Grunty says, or your Game Pak I'll erase!" She isn't joking - one more hub-altering cheat and she follows through on her threat, deleting the player's save data.

Honestly, this anti-cheating measure is a lot less justifiable than Earthbound's anti-piracy tactics. Once someone buys a legal copy of a single-player game, they should be able to cheat to their heart's content. It's their game, and they're not affecting anyone else's experience - why not let them play it how they want? And why even include that cheat if you're going to punish people who use it?

Given that this "feature" was erased from the Xbox Live edition of Banjo Kazooie, it's clear Rare came to feel the same way. Small comfort for those N64 players who incurred Grunty's wrath, though...