The Gamer's Quarter

[helicopterp]

One of the little things about games that can really tickle me is how the credits at the end of the game are presented. It can really make finishing a game just -that- much better. I can't decide whether my opinion of the game that precedes the credits influences how I feel about the preceding game or vice versa, but based on the fact that this list of memorable end-game credits corresponds to some of my favorite games in recent memory, there has to be some sort of correlation, right?

So, here are a few highlights:

1) Pikmin - After you beat the game, you are treated to a montage of all the different 'enemies' in the game in action, and a brief description of how they function within the game's ecology. It really adds a lot to the conflict inherent in beating the game (I would argue that manipulating the Pikmin to disrupt an environment is roughly analogous to slaying the majestic colossi in Shadow of the Colossus).

2) Elite Beat Agents - No special reason here other than it is another excuse to rock out to the songs from the game just one more time. "We're not going down...WITHOUT A FIGHT!"

3) Meteos - A zoomed-out version of the regular game, with the launched meteos exploding up into the credits on the top screen. There's a lot of room to play with, so there really isn't any danger of losing, but the tiny blocks and huge playing space make coming up with combos really enticing and challenging. As an especially nice bonus, the blocks you shoot during the credits go towards your totals in the score, and the rare elements you need to unlock new planets are much more common here.

4) Katamari Damacy - I saved this one for last because the credits put the entire rest of the game into perspective--important because I would argue that 'perspective' is one of the game's important themes. The end credits place the Prince on the Earth, this time rolling up all the world's countries (and a few non-nation land-masses like Greenland and Antarctica). It forces you to consider the idea of nations as things/nouns/signifiers/whatever just as arbitrary as everything else you have rolled up during the game, as though nothing that humans name is really anything more than just that: a name (and, in this case, a flag).


What other end-game credits make you not want to turn off the game just yet?
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[DaleNixon]

Super Monkey Ball! Banana collecting through the 3D letters making up the names of the creators.

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

The credit sequence is the only reason I play through Altered Beast, it's better than the actual game that comes before it. Being able to punch the names off screen makes me feel better about having to plod through an experience that is the height of banality.
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[Mister Toups]

The interactive end credits in the secret ending of Star Fox are pretty awesome.
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[dessgeega]

warioware wii has the best credit roll of any recent game i've played.

in star soldier gamecube, you actually shoot your way through the names of the staff for bonus points. any game where you continue playing through the staff roll (monkey ball included) is pretty swell.
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[nICO]