Video Game Moments Which Freaked Me Out as a Kid (in Games That Weren't Even Scary)

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Well it's Wednesday of our Halloween-themed week, and so here's my turn at a loose tie-in. Halloween usually concerns all manner of things freaky, and as I'm a bit of a video game fan (as if that surprised you), I'd thought I'd share with you some of the moments from my gaming past which freaked me out. The thing is, I never really played mature or horror games when I was a kid (and rightly so!), so none of the games listed here were creepy games.


MissingNo, The Glitch Pokemon | Pokemon Blue (Game Boy)

Pokemon was a beautiful disaster- a masterpiece of a handheld RPG defined mainly by it's addictive gameplay and distinctive, collectable monster designs- and, to a lesser extent, defined also by it's penchant to roll over and wet itself thanks to its multitude of glitches. Perhaps one of the most memorable and iconic glitches in video game history is MissingNo, the "missing number" Pokemon.

Y'see, this guy wasn't even a Pokemon. What "MissingNo" was was a place holder value used in an area where no other Pokemon were programmed to appear. So basically, MissingNo was Nintendo's answer to the Blue Screen of Death. Through some jiggery pokery which involved listening to an old man with a caffeine addiction (seriously), you could surf half-land-half-water up and down the Eastern coastline of Cinnabar Island and encounter Pokemon that would not normally be found anywhere other than specific locations (and Pokemon which blatantly couldn't swim). You would also find Pokemon with obscenely high levels and, most bizarrely, glitched-up messes. These glitches were either called M' or MissingNo, and they used to creep me out.

Back when I was a kid, I didn't understand that MissingNo was an unintentional glitch. Instead, I had this legendary secret of a "hidden Pokemon" revealed to me as though it were ancient folklore, by my best friend in primary school. Once I had found it I could not stop going back to it, captivated by the horror it instilled within me. Why I found it creepy I don't really know- I guess you had to be eight years old and in love with Pokemon to really get it.


Croft Manor's Butler | Tomb Raider 3 (PC)

My sister decided she wanted Tomb Raider 3 for the PC back when we were kids. I guess it was a video game character she could identify with since she was- well- female, I guess. However, the truth is that my sister never got past the mansion in Tomb Raider 3, since this was her favourite bit, exploring all the different nooks and crannies, while I did my bit by trying to see if I could immolate Lara Croft by having her stand in her own fireplace.The story mode was never even touched.

One thing that perplexed us both about Croft Manor was why its butler felt the need to follow us around like a bad smell- and presumably that bad smell was the odour of formaldehyde, judging by his severe decrepitude. Feeling that this guy should either have been pensioned off or donated to a museum a long time ago, my sister and I decided to do what anyone would do with an elderly slave- shut him in the freezer. That's right, Lara Croft's walk-in freezer was readily accessible for you to store your butler right next to your joint of beef, and could be locked from the outside with the flick of a switch.

The problem is, he kept coming back.

You basically could not escape this guy, his innate desire to fulfill his built-in function stronger than any locked door or bout of hypothermia. Naturally this creeped us out as kids- because as far as I knew, if I shut my sister in the garden shed, she wasn't getting out.


The Boss on Level 2 | Streets of Rage (Sega Mega Drive)

 

Streets of Rage was a whole lot of fun, as you marauded your way through criminal-infested streets and waded through waves of generic, jar-headed goons with knives, whip-wielding dominatrixes and punk rockers in green leather jackets that reminded me of the Ninja Turtles. The bosses in Streets of Rage were usually a challenge, getting typically harder as the game went on. However, it appears a psycho designed the boss for Stage 2, and thought "screw it, let's throw 'em in at the deep end"- because that one was a complete nightmare to beat.

I don't have a clue what the boss's name is or if he even has one, but the guy is a maniac. He looks like Freddy Kreuger on a miner's strike, dressed in denim overalls and equipped with clawed gloves. The guy darts around the screen in a Margaret Thatcher-induced rage and is hell-bent on shredding you into bitesized chunks- presumably so he can eat your flesh after he's devoured your soul through your nostrils. I always hated fighting this boss, and he freaked me out every time.

Any Time My Mega Drive Crashed |  Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Mega Drive was an awesome-inspiring feat of 16-bit artistry, and was the pinnacle of video gaming at the time. I got my first when I was six years old, along with the original Sonic the Hedgehog, and I loved it.

... Except when it crashed on you and made horrible loud buzzing noises.

The Mega Drive was invincible, but it wasn't immune from a couple of moments of madness, where the game would freeze, and the last sound bite it played would be transmitted as a jarring, buzzing noise through your nasty old box TV. Luckily, blowing in the cartridge always fixed it, right?

The Final Boss | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive)

 

I've still not decided yet whether Sonic 2 is the best Sonic game ever yet, but either way it was awesome. Despite the many hours I poured into it as a child, however, I very rarely made it to the end boss- mainly because I found Metal Sonic alone to be a difficult challenge before that. Sonic bosses were always a big deal to me, and I always get to them quivering with nerves, and wishing my dad would do that bit for me as I feared complete and utter failure.

So, you slug your way through all those levels, through an array of boss battles, you slay a Metal Sonic, and you have basically like three lives, no continues and not even a single ring to keep you alive- and then Dr. Robotnik reveals that he's been playing with you for the past few hours, and is actually capable of decimating you in one fell swoop, and out he comes in a giant robot version of himself. Oh heck. He marches towards you with slow, lumbering, deliberate steps, and with every step you're more and more sure that he is going to murder you.

I was very seldom able to beat this guy. He was huge, he had a few equally effective ways of ending your life, and that marching, 16-bit battle music used to freak me out for some reason. It was like taking on Darth Vader with your bare hands (and a lack of the Jedi Force).