From toplessrobot, Games of the NES era barely had stories. They had premises, characters, and, if you were lucky, an ending that wasn't just YOU ARE THE GREATEST PLAYER or CONGRATURATIONS! spread across the screen. These games were simple things, and they usually had simple endings. That was fine with us. We needed only short and triumphant conclusions that showed Hitler's head exploding or Samus Aran revealing herself to be a woman (or, in the words of That Weird Kid at school, "a man with huge chest muscles"). NES games weren't supposed to disturb us or challenge us with their endings. And they certainly weren't supposed to make us feel bad.
Well, some games did just that. They were the rare NES titles that blindsided poor young players with some ugly little surprise after putting them through hours of tediously designed labyrinths or cruelly positioned bottomless pits. And so naïve children of the NES era learned a valuable life lesson: you can conquer everything that comes your way and still fail in the end. Now go ask your parents for another game, kids.
