One of the best parts of a video game is the ending, but who has the time to go back and play through every game? Let me introduce you to Game Over: The Early Years, the weekly show where we dive into classic games and spoil both their stories and endings. From the biggest hits to obscure classics, we're taking a look at some of the best and most memorable conclusions in video game history.

A couple weeks ago, I reviewed a game called Rigid Force Redux, which was a fairly standard side-scrolling shoot 'em up that was clearly inspired by Irem's long-running R-Type franchise. But what stood out about the game wasn't all the stuff the developer obviously ripped-off, but rather how mind-numbingly boring the story and cinemas were. It didn't need to be that way, and to show you that, I want to use the first-generation PlayStation game Philosoma to prove a point. While this 25-year-old shooter may not have reinvented the genre, what it did well was demonstrate how a so-so game can be improved with a few awesome cinemas and an explosive finale. Turn back now if you don't want to know what happens next, because today we're going to spoil the story and ending for Philosoma on the PlayStation. This is Game Over: The Early Years!


Still want more endings? Then I recommend you discover 23 Endings: The Early Years, the holiday series that ran during the 2017 holiday season. We cover Ninja Gaiden, Street Fighter II, Super Mario Bros. 2, Ghostbusters, Golden Axe, Metroid, Double Dragon, Flashback, Final Fight and many more!

And while you're just clicking on stuff at random, I suggest you head over to the Defunct Games YouTube page and subscribe to the channel. We're posting new episodes of Game Over: The Early Years every Monday, along with brand new game reviews throughout the week.