Favorite excuse plots?

[edmonddantes]

So, most video games aren't played for their stories.

But I'm weird... I often find that the stories you're not supposed to care about are the most fascinating.

Take R-Type and all the weirdness going on with the Bydo, who I think are a time-travelling weapon from the future or something.

Another good example is King of Fighters.  For a fighting game its actually got a pretty fleshed-out storyline which continues over multiple games (the Orochi saga), with some pretty long endings to boot.  Compare to how most fighters just have a screen of text explaining "your character did something after winning."  Also it feels good to beat Rugal because he's a cheap bastard.  I actually feel like I know the characters here, which is something that I normally don't say for fighting games.

Probably my favorite excuse plot I take too seriously tho is Revolt, a Dreamcast/PC/N64/PS1 game (tho you should get either the Dreamcast or PC version) where you race RC cars.  The plot is that these toy cars inexplicably came to life and... decided to spend their life racing.  As you do.  I'm honestly thinking of writing a short story with this premise.  Like, what would happen if someone interfered with their race?  Does the race ever really end?  Do they sustain themselves somehow or is the will to race all they need?  And how do you get that one star on the stunt course?

So, what are your favorite video game plots you're not really supposed to care about but do anyway?  (Try not to include visual novels or text-heavy RPGs where you're actually supposed to care--the point is plots that are interesting by accident)

[phediuk]

Battletanx

In 2001, a virus has killed 99.99% of the females on Earth. Various countries fight over each other's quarantine zones, and end up engaging in nuclear war, destroying much of civilization. The few remaining females (called Queenlords) are held by gangs who have taken over small pieces of the world. The main character, Griffin Spade, had his fiancee Madison taken away from Queens, New York by the U.S. Government. Griffin ends up separated from his fiancee, and New York City is destroyed. He claims a tank for his own and sets out to cross the United States to find her, battling gangs as he reaches his goal.

[mainpatr]

Bionic Commando reboot.

How did they come up with the "spirit of the main character's wive actually being in his arm" nonsense?

[kaoru]

The Zelda franchise is certainly not one known for its particularly strong narrative, but I always liked the reveal that Link's Awakening is just a dream, and it's also a bit clever in that it excused how different the game was from the others.

[psygnosis8]

I robot. You can’t jump when big brother is watching you because, well, big brother said no jumping.

It’s such an uncreative way to weave that gameplay element into the story that it’s genius.

[Snake]

Bad Dudes VS Dragon Ninja. "The President has been kidnapped by ninjas! Are you a bad enough dude to save him?"

Earthworm Jim. Earthworm manages to make use of a technological super suit, now go save the princess from her evil older sister. Don't forget about that fridge in the beginning.

[GamerL]

General Chaos on the Genesis had a funny set up in the manual about two military obsessed brothers who when they were kids got in a fight over a rare comic book that they would up accidently tearing in two, now they fight a real war over it.


Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Zak wins big at a casino game and buys his own private island, he then tricks all the girls of DOA into thinking the island is where the fourth Dead or Alive tournament will be held but it's just an excuse to get them all in swimwear, playing volleyball and feeding each other strawberries, because if you had a ton of money in that world why wouldn't you use it to see those girls in swimwear?

What's also funny is I don't think the excuse of a DOA tournament is used again in the sequels, the girls just decided that frolicking on the beach was something they enjoy between fisticuffs. 

[Snake]

Rez - You're a hacker, going into the network to save the AI, Eden, from being corrupted by all the data she has to process.  How's that for anthropomorphizing binary code into a feminine entity?  

[kingmike]

Dream Penguin Story (Yume Penguin Monogatari) for the Famicom - You're a fat slob of a penguin and your girlfriend wants to dump you for a more upscale guy.
You could probably find a new and less judgmental girlfriend but then you wouldn't have a reason for the gameplay.

[edmonddantes]

kingmike - I saw the Weird Video Games episode about that (and the other two Penta the Penguin games by Konami). It was the best thing ever... tho I agree with him... its disappointing that you don't play as his girlfriend on the second loop.

Speaking of games covered by Weird Video Games, does anyone know what "Thunder and Lightning" is about or what its ending actually says? Weird Video Games pointed out the NES version seems to have a different plot from the arcade version... and at the end, the ending text seems to be written in some form of code.

[spanky]

I don't know if it's quite an excuse plot but I always thought Donkey Kong Country's plot of "Lizards steal your bananas" to be hilarious.

[kingmike]

Donkey Kong Land's plot is literally "save the banana horde again, on Game Boy!" but then DKC's plotline never really cared about the fourth wall.

[windfisch]

After some rather lame kidnapping plots (DKC 2, 3, 64) Jungle Beat finally honored that tradition: DK's whole motivation is to become King of the Jungle - by punching other Kongs into the ground and, more importantly, collecting as many bananas as possible.

It's not unlike the main plot of Warioland or Demon's Crest, where the protagonists' goals are also just power and wealth. And as DK used to be a villain himself (or at least his Grandpa/Dad) this anti-hero premise makes kinda sense.

[edmonddantes]

Apr 21, 2019 19:02:03 GMT -5 mainpatr said:

Bionic Commando reboot.

How did they come up with the "spirit of the main character's wive actually being in his arm" nonsense?

Whenever questions like this are asked my first thought is usually "drugs," but that plot reveal is too coherent in its absurdity to be the result of a high.

I guess when you're under pressure to make a game you just throw stuff at a wall and hope it sticks.  That's how some of the more awesome moments in comic books came about.