Best and worst final levels in oldschool games

[OSPC]

Best: Sabotage at Soulforge (Thief 2)

This is the longest and hardest level in the entire series, taking most players at least two hours to complete (if they don't rage quit in frustration). Garrett refers to it as a suicide mission in the intro cutscene, and he wasn't exaggerating. What I love about this mission is that it features some of the most creative challenges in the game, and forces the player to carefully manage and use everyone of their resources to survive. Karras is also a great antagonist and his constant rambling throughout the mission kept it feeling fresh.

Worst: Where Am I? (System Shock 2)

Where to begin with this level? It's completely unnecessary, disappointingly short, more annoying than challenging, and the final boss battle is a joke. On the bright side, the ending cutscene is absolutely hilarious, but very out of place in a horror game.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Dunno about best final level, but Icon of Sin in Doom 2 is one of the worst levels I have ever played. Basically run to the switch while an unmovable head summons monsters, then wait till the platform in the middle of a toxic pool has stopped raising. Press enter to have it lower, get in and while it is going up, shoot rockets inside a hole in the head.

Rinse and repeat until Romero's Head is dead. Also, good luck with the summoned monsters.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

Really hard to top the end of System Shock 2. May in fact be the best game with the worst ending. An 10 out of 10 banger until the final 15 minutes.

And then they did it again in Bioshock!

 

[Deleted member 8861]

System Shock 2... Yep, can't get worse than that. Seems to be common with these games, few of them have cathartic endings.

 

[Deleted member 6263]

Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master

Best that comes to mind quickly. Up to this point I had been pretty loose with my platforming and timing, just barely getting by and not getting too bothered by any deaths - and then this level just knocked me on my butt and demanded I pay attention. Everything about it - the final climb up to Neo Zeed, dodging electric walls and shrinking rooms, no actual human baddies but giant death machines in your way. Man it felt good to see that fortress fall down.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

I came in here thinking Old School meant something...erm...older.

But okay, if we're going with the criteria of, I dunno, at least two generations ago. Then I'm going to say Halo: Combat Evolved's final stage is up there among the best. Now mind you, it's not all that orginal. There's a clock, it counts down, you escape, everything explodes. Been done plenty of times before in Metroid and Resident Evil.



But man, Halo just nails that epic sense of urgency. With the flood fighting the Covenant and Master Chief escaping with the warthog. Brilliant.

 

[retroman]

Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master

Best that comes to mind quickly. Up to this point I had been pretty loose with my platforming and timing, just barely getting by and not getting too bothered by any deaths - and then this level just knocked me on my butt and demanded I pay attention. Everything about it - the final climb up to Neo Zeed, dodging electric walls and shrinking rooms, no actual human baddies but giant death machines in your way. Man it felt good to see that fortress fall down.

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Man, now I want to play Shinobi III again. Wonderful game! And yeah, that final level is a lot more fun than Revenge of Shinobi's frustrating maze level.

 

[TubaZef]

Dunno about best final level, but Icon of Sin in Doom 2 is one of the worst levels I have ever played. Basically run to the switch while an unmovable head summons monsters, then wait till the platform in the middle of a toxic pool has stopped raising. Press enter to have it lower, get in and while it is going up, shoot rockets inside a hole in the head.

Rinse and repeat until Romero's Head is dead. Also, good luck with the summoned monsters.

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DOOM 2 is up there as one of my favorite games ever but have to agree there, as much as I love 90's id Software, they were pretty bad at making boss fights.

 

[DrArchon]

DOOM 2, System Shock 2, and Bioshock should all be made examples off to teach developers to not put final bosses in FPS games unless you absolutely have that shit down.

Heck, throw Halo 2 in there as well for good measure.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

I wanna go with Venom in Star Fox 64. Finally reaching Andross and defeating him and then making a great escape felt so damn good.

Halo 2 had the worst ending in it's time for me. The idea of a game ending on a cliffhanger seemed so for me. The campaign was so great(even with a bullet sponge final boss). To have it all robbed with a cliffhanger ending pissed me off to no degree. Thankfully halo 3 closed it off amazingly and thankfully halo 2's campaign was so replay-able and it's multiplayer so groundbreaking

 

[Deleted member 3208]

This reminded me of another terrible fight: El Oscuro in Rise of the Triad Dark War.

When you first face him, he is invulnerable. Literally. You can't damage him. If you try to attack him, he will counter with the same missile. So what you must do? Wait till he gets tired and then transform into a kind of snakelike head.

Then you must chase him with many missile monks attacking you until you arrive his lair. Finally you can damage him and kill him when he is in some lava pools. Kind of easy the fight is.

But wait, you got a bad ending. Why? Well, in the lair, the Oscuro has dozens of offsprings eggs in different areas. And you need to kill them before killing El Oscuro. And you can't even reach one of the areas unless you find the flight powerup or do a rocket jump. Then, after you do kill ALL the offsprings, and kill El Oscuro, you finally beat the game.

Anyways, after the lackluster final episode, you couldn't expect a good final boss fight.

 

[SPRidley]

The worst in the 3d mario series is super mario sunshine volcano boat level and shit bowser in a bath.
Absolutely lowest point in the main mario series.

 

[No42.05W70.2]

I always hated the water level in Zelda OoT. I just remember it being so confusing bc every room looked the same.

 

[Deleted member 7883]

I came in here thinking Old School meant something...erm...older.

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but the latest game mentioned ITT prior to your posting was Thief 2, which came out nearly 20 years ago... and is over a year older than halo 1

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

but the latest game mentioned ITT prior to your posting was Thief 2, which came out nearly 20 years ago... and is over a year older than halo 1

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Yeah kind of crazy how many games came out then.

 

[spineduke]

Can't think of a best, but Far Cry (the first one) had some horrible corridor levels with a lot of enemies, and barely any cover at the very end - I made the mistake of playing the game on hard difficulty, and it took an immense amount of save scumming and cheesing to get anywhere near the end. Horribly unbalanced, and reminded me of how devs didn't always playtest harder difficulty modes.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

DOOM 2, System Shock 2, and Bioshock should all be made examples off to teach developers to not put final bosses in FPS games unless you absolutely have that shit down.

Heck, throw Halo 2 in there as well for good measure.

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I finished Rage 2 last night and it had a shitty final boss as well. I don't think they're inherently a bad thing in FPSs but I can't remember the last time I played one and I thought it had a good final boss. I don't like the idea of grinding down a huge health bar like it Destiny but I don't really like 'attack the weak spot to reveal its core' or whatever that a lot of bosses go for. The final boss in Bioshock 1 was awful because it was so easy and pointless, but the final 'boss' of Infinite was awful too because they built up Songbird as this amazing antagonist for the whole game and then the final boss is a shitty wave tower defence thing while

Spoiler: Bioshock Infinite ending

Songbird dies in a cutscene

.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Some Gradius games (and by extension, some Parodius games) have really disappointing final bosses that don't do anything at all, or they do very little, and you just shoot at them until they die.

A disappointing final boss is actually one of the staples of the series, lol.

 

[Don Fluffles]

Best: Final Fantasy IV & VI hit all the right emotional highs for a finale. Puyo Puyo Tsuu & Sun are true comedy gold.
Worst: Ys Book II, while not as bad as others, drags on a bit too long for Solomon Shrine. Monkey Island 2's finale was an overly complicated retread of the first game with an ending that felt more like an insult than a joke.

 

[Jimnymebob]

 

[Deeks]

Xen's a classic.

 

[RedBaron17]

Worst: StarTropics.
I mean, I guess the title was already giving it away but it bummed me out that after playing through all these awesome tropical/magical locations they go ahead and pull the ancient aliens twist and send you to a freaking space ship.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Xen's a classic.

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A classic case of a terrible ending to a great game? If so, I agree.

 

[Transistor]

Dunno about best final level, but Icon of Sin in Doom 2 is one of the worst levels I have ever played. Basically run to the switch while an unmovable head summons monsters, then wait till the platform in the middle of a toxic pool has stopped raising. Press enter to have it lower, get in and while it is going up, shoot rockets inside a hole in the head.

Rinse and repeat until Romero's Head is dead. Also, good luck with the summoned monsters.

Click to shrink...

Yep. I love Doom 2, but it really is such a shitty level.

 

[steejee]

Focusing on some NES ones:

Great:
Metroid. Tourian nails everything in Metroid 1 and Super Metroid (never played Metroid 2, on my todo... Poor 3DS is neglected)
Zelda II. The Great Palace was amazing. Like Metroid, it nails the music, the sense of foreboding, the feeling that *this* really is the end.

Terrible:
TMNT: Oh god this level was just a mess. Never did beat it.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

Mega Man 2's final level was odd. I don't know if it belongs on this list, but it was eerie walking through that tunnel with no music, just the sounds of devastating acid drips from the ceiling, which as it turns out, you can cheese by hanging on the right wall as you fall into the area.

Someone mentioned the Technodrome from TMNT. Absolutely awful. And it's hard enough just to even get to this level. Then you're trying to find Scythes to unload on the bosses and it's like, holy crap.

 

[Tavernade]

Does Kanto in Pokemon Gold/Silver count since it was debatable post-game content and not a final level (though, if I recall, you could go anywhere you wanted freely once you unlocked it)? It was so good it's basically ruined people's ability to understand what reasonable post Elite 4 content in Pokemon games is.

 

[Oreiller]

The last third of Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines is an absolute travesty. Never seen a game shit the bed so badly.

 

[OSPC]

The last third of Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines is an absolute travesty. Never seen a game shit the bed so badly.

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There are a few good levels, but you're right for the most part. The Golden Temple and Venture Tower are the worst offenders.

 

[Hecht]

As much as I love FF3, the final dungeon is insane.

Long dungeon, Major boss fight, then transported to the last last dungeon where you have to fight four bosses (and random enemies) before you fight the final boss.

Oh and there is no way to save.

 

[Vince-DiCola]

As much as I love FF3, the final dungeon is insane.

Long dungeon, Major boss fight, then transported to the last last dungeon where you have to fight four bosses (and random enemies) before you fight the final boss.

Oh and there is no way to save.

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This is why I never beat FF3. I would have had to grind for hours just to stand a chance.
Fuck that noise

 

[DHR54]

One of the best final levels for me is the last level in Contra 3 The Alien Wars.

short but sweet level that turns into a boss gauntlet right up to the final level. good stuff.

 

[SephLuis]

As much as I love FF3, the final dungeon is insane.

Long dungeon, Major boss fight, then transported to the last last dungeon where you have to fight four bosses (and random enemies) before you fight the final boss.

Oh and there is no way to save.

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I still have absolutelly no idea how the fuck did I ever passed that gauntlet in the DS version.
I remember beating Cloud of Darkness and that's it.

 

[Hecht]

I still have absolutelly no idea how the fuck did I ever passed that gauntlet in the DS version.
I remember beating Cloud of Darkness and that's it.

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Cloud of Darkness in the DS version is exponentially more difficult than the Famicom version. In the original all it does is spam Flare Wave, which hits everyone for like, 2K, so you just have to keep up heals while attacking. The DS version gets like, what, 3-5 attacks per round?

 

[Cyclonesweep]

Advance Wars final mission was a pure bullshit and so unfun.

 

[Willin]

Not sure if this counts as a "final level" but fuck this shit.

 

[dskzero]

While I agree SHODAN is a terrible boss fight in System Shock 2, the final level was a really cool throwback if you had played the first game.

The Van Buren though? The entire ship is an absolute mess and it's the worst part of the game.

 

[Deeks]

A classic case of a terrible ending to a great game? If so, I agree.

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Yeah, I meant as in a classic example

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

The last segment of Earthbound isn't something ill probably ever forget

 

[Douche McBaggins The 4th]

Dragon warrior ii for nes. Road to Rhone is Japanese for fuck you.

 

[Aegis Renfro]

Eff you, game.
Not only because of this virtually impossible-except-under-certain-circumstances jump, but also because it's the only section of the game that forces you to beat 3 bosses or get sent back to the beginning of the level. Not 6-4 beginning... 6-1 beginning.


"Best"? I don't know. How about Half-Life 2 or Contra 3