Gauntlet on the Sega Master System.
Who came up with the idea of a game that can never be finished?!?

Somebodies going to tell me that there was an end now, but I don't believe it.

This also applies to Ghouls & Ghosts. I went round and round all the levels on that so many times, but it just never ends!!

Both great games though!
( more balanced than jeremy beadle It wasn't me..., Mon 28 Jun 2010, 12:33, 13 replies)

Ghouls n Ghosts can be completed
You go through it the 1st time, then an additional weapon is made available on the 2nd playthrough. If you get that and keep hold of it until the last level you are then allowed to take on the final boss, who is a bit of a fucker :D

Capcom at their best :D
( Jeccius Steam Borderlands 2 junkie, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 13:08, closed)

Oh I see!!
What I tended to do was lose my clothes and get turned into a duck, wander around frantically until I managed to turn back into a naked man, and through sheer luck, manage to re-acquire my armour!! I was never good enough to get all the way through without being injured/killed at some point!
( more balanced than jeremy beadle It wasn't me..., Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:48, closed)

very interesting,
but what about the game?
( The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:59, closed)

!
heh
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 17:31, closed)

The arcade version of Gauntlet had no ending, not sure about the conversions to 8-bit computers/consoles though. I do know the PC version had an ending around level 120 mainly due to a bug which caused the game to crash back to DOS. Of course, you had to get past the infamous level 59 first (another bug which required waiting around).
(ParaSitius is an Optimistic Pessimist, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 15:16, closed)

oh my...
As kids, we heard or read somewhere that there were a hundred levels or something. So once we found out the cheat that actually gives you enough life force not to die while you're still walking around the earlier levels; we knew what we had to do.

We set up a marathon session on our trusty Atari ST, the three of us taking shifts to operate both controllers (we could only dream of being able to use three- and four-player mode). It took hours, but our excitement grew as we reached L98, L99, then the fabled L100. We raced through the level as fast as we could, until the exit square came into view. As I recall, we were a little apprehensive about taking the plunge - Did we have enough health, magic bottles and keys for the final challenge surely awaiting us? Were we sufficiently rested for the immenent button-pounding mayhem? Which two of us were actually going to have the honour of playing this seldom-repeatable ultimate challenge?

We send our players leaping down the L100 exit, and with baited breath watch the loading screen telling us L101 is loading. This must be it - seems a little bit of lazy coding calling it 101, but we know the old ST has its limits. Then the title screen dissapears, showing us... level one again. Sodding Level One Again! Swiftly followed by L2, L3, at which point we give up, defeated. It seems we misunderstood "only having 100 levels" as meaning "the game is 100 levels long".

edit: being some 2 decades ago, the details are a little hazy
( The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 15:18, closed)

I had Gauntlet on my speccy
I got a cheat for it where you couldn't be killed. I got through all the tapes loading level after level. Eventually the tapes just ran out, no finish at all.
( Peej, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 16:41, closed)

I clocked the arcade version on MAME
After level 999 it goes back to the first "non-training" level (8, I think).

So, there is no end. It was disappointing (and took about a fortnight on and off).
( finnbar has officially retired, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 23:38, closed)

.
far as I can see, all video games are designed with no end. At least, I have never got to one.

I once had a SNES game, called starfox or something, that I got to the last level on, but there was this gigantic fucking monkey thing that kept killing me. I suspect that was the end, but I never got it.

I have Super Mario Bros for WII. In 6 months, I haven't even got half way through world 1. Anyone know how to kill the dragon thing in the castle?
( Not Pineapple anymore, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 8:52, closed)

Elf is about to die.

( Dervel OTBC, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:29, closed)

Red Warrior shot the food!

(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 11:21, closed)

Hahaha!

( Dervel OTBC, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 15:19, closed)

"Reb wivvawd needth fud badli"
"Reb wivvawd ith abouwt tu diye"

Sometimes, "Reb wivvawd hath limi-ed reputhiveneth"

(according to the Atari's woefully limited sound, anyway)
( The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 16:35, closed)