# The best of video game intros **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523 "2007-04-03T03:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/1 "2007-04-03T03:48:44Z")
[Command and Conquer: Red Alert](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85tMFIA6Dy0) Hitler getting chronoshifted by Einstein. The slow build up Hell March’s footsteps. Then a tank smashes through a wall just as the guitar hits. Still gives me chills when I watch it. [Mechwarrior 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X3GD0UnBCk) A blank screen. Sounds of radio distress. Then - CRASH! - a mech’s foot stomps into the scene. I think I spent more time watching the intro than playing the game. It looks lame now, but it was amazing for its time. [Ninja Gaiden](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rkaiKYEkDQ) One of the first games to use cutscenes. When I was a kid, the concept of a nintendo game telling a compelling story was amazing. Poor ninjas. What are your favorites? ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/2 "2007-04-03T04:00:05Z")
[Fallout](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkBNKa2KXZE) and [Fallout 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3PXiV95kwA). ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/3 "2007-04-03T04:14:19Z")
War… war never changes. Great intros, I can’t believe I left them out. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/4 "2007-04-03T04:31:40Z")
[System Shock 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMiSSlwioM0) “L-l-l-look at you hacker, a p-p-pat-p-pathetic creature of meat and bone. Panting and sweating as you r-run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machiiiiiine?” [Thief: The Dark Project](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uR8pcqV_HY) “Ye shall not rob from the house I have built, or commit any theft or unrighteousness, lest ye be struck down and driven into the earth forthwith, and the land of the heathen consume you.” ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/5 "2007-04-03T04:55:41Z")
Ninjas have kidnapped the president. [Bad Dudes - has there ever been a more succintly perfect set-up?] ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/6 "2007-04-03T05:08:58Z")
[QUOTE=panamajack] Ninjas have kidnapped the president. [Bad Dudes - has there ever been a more succintly perfect set-up?] [/QUOTE] I may not be a bad enough dude to rescue President Ronnie, but I laughed out loud the first time I read that setup. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/7 "2007-04-03T05:28:55Z")
[Zero Wing.](http://tinyurl.com/2r44d2) of course. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/8 "2007-04-03T05:35:31Z")
Final Fantasy 6, remade for the PS. The SNES intro is still there, but they’ve put some jawdropping movies in as well. Chrono Cross has a beautiful intro with haunting music. ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/9 "2007-04-03T06:22:29Z")
I think it was actually “The President has been kidnapped by ninjas.” C’mon, these are important snippets of narrative, let’s try to keep it accurate. 🙂 **Modern Favorites:** [Gran Turismo 4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vrVpyJKhFw) - Something about an operatic interpretation of the GT theme overlaid on a slow-mo race prep and then kicked into high gear by Van Halen simply can’t be beat. Always gives me race-adrenaline goosebumps. [WarCraft III](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f96hKqkY_Y) - Favorite Blizzard intro. Great use of storytelling elements, music, and cinematics. Short and to the point, and leaves an impact. [Half-Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqbdtsK6NI) - I struggle to think of a game whose intro didn’t break from the perspective of the player’s character and began actively within the narrative itself. The sequel’s intro was certainly a technical improvement but took a different approach in that it didn’t restrict you to a tour of the environments you’d essentially be visiting throughout the game. **Classic Favorites:** [Another World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j4gO9sR7zs) (Out Of This World in the U.S.) - Taught us not to drink soda while conducting particle accelerator experiments. Or was that, not to conduct particle accelerator experiments during lightning storms? I always forget. [Vengeance of the Kilrathi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAoVX_VWWs) - Probably the first truly cinematic game I ever experienced. I remember first hearing 8-bit sound and speech coming from speakers on a computer and, being 11, I was suddenly in another world. [Sam & Max Hit The Road](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yWnnk9fyJE) - Heavy on credits, but I love the voice acting. The new chapters lack something both in artistic touch as well as the voice acting. Nick Jameson’s urban gangster-inspired Max is truly missed. [The 7th Guest](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOy3KBBnoRw) - FMV FTW. This puppy ushered in the era of CD-based computer gaming, and probably full motion video in gaming, for that matter. Considering that it was also a delightfully twisted classic makes it the killer app of the 90’s. Screw Windows 95. [Star Control II (PC Intro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4GB3FeqQVk) & [Ending)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F55msxPTgk) [(3DO Intro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4PwHiSE6-A) & [Ending)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uofLSzn8o84) - For me, it doesn’t get much better than the 3DO ending to my favorite game of all time. Intro was a bit hokey with the voiceover though. Still waiting for that next adventure on the Mark II all these years later … **Some PC classics that I can’t find intros to:** Creature Shock - Involves a very large spaceship seemingly piloted by a single woman and no apparent crew in the farthest reaches of the solar system. This ship happens upon an asteroid and is attacked by the asteroid, which is actually an alien _disguised_ as an asteroid. Or perhaps, in the asteroid. It cripples the ship and damages its engine, leaving her fate unknown as she launches a distress beacon into the inky depths of space. Had no music, primitive animation perhaps even for its time, and some hokey voice acting, yet it creeped me out with its desolate ambience. A triumph of atmosphere over style _or_ substance. Ghost Bear’s Legacy - Follows closely in the vein of MW2 as mentioned in the OP, with a small Mech being ambushed by a much larger Mech buried and lying in wait under the snow of a cold arctic world. There are others, I’m sure, but I’ve gone on long enough for now … ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/10 "2007-04-03T08:39:31Z")
That 7th Guest intro is as creepy as I remember it. The way that lady’s face turns into a skull when she smiles… I think I’m going to sleep with the light on tonight. This thread is starting to depress me. What happened to PC games? These weren’t made THAT long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/11 "2007-04-03T08:45:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni] Final Fantasy 6, remade for the PS. The SNES intro is still there, but they’ve put some jawdropping movies in as well. Chrono Cross has a beautiful intro with haunting music. [/QUOTE] Which reminds me, I think Final Fantasy II (not sure of the number for its Japanese equivalent) had the best intro of all the Final Fantasies. The music during the airship invasion kicked ass, and it makes the intro movie to FF3 (6?) look slow in comparison. This is before the series turned all “emo” and I struggled to keep interest. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/12 "2007-04-03T09:36:19Z")
_Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War_ has a great intro. Ditto on MW2 and Fallout 1/2. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/13 "2007-04-03T10:50:29Z")
[Kingdom Hearts I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m30efJe84t8) [Super Smash Bros. Melee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsRQJ6fMJH4) aka How much nostalgia can we pack in 90 seconds? It turns out, a hell of a lot. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/14 "2007-04-03T12:43:50Z")
[Interstate '76](http://youtube.com/watch?v=hVN87KS7LRw) In-game engine being used to make a cutscene. (Mostly. Not sure about the spinning mine.) Visible suspension on the cars. Tight editing… and a hell of a way to start a story off. Never get out of the car. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/15 "2007-04-03T12:48:13Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] Thief: The Dark Project “Ye shall not rob from the house I have built, or commit any theft or unrighteousness, lest ye be struck down and driven into the earth forthwith, and the land of the heathen consume you.” [/QUOTE] Still my favorite, that art team was fantastic. Makes me want to play the whole series again. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/16 "2007-04-03T13:26:11Z")
Ahhh, memories. In modern games, Marvel : Ultimate Alliance has a tight little intro movie that launches you right into the action. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/17 "2007-04-03T14:17:32Z")
A dynasty of kick-ass fighting game intros: [Soul Calibur (Dreamcast)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZx3R_iVKY) [Soul Calibur 2 (PS2)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gi4PV70gdE) [Soul Calibur 3 (PS2)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZx3R_iVKY) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/18 "2007-04-03T14:26:34Z")
[QUOTE=Carnick] [Mechwarrior 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X3GD0UnBCk) A blank screen. Sounds of radio distress. Then - CRASH! - a mech’s foot stomps into the scene. I think I spent more time watching the intro than playing the game. It looks lame now, but it was amazing for its time. [/QUOTE] That’s the first one I thought of. I’d like also to nominate the sequel (it was more of a whole new game than an expansion pack), **Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bear’s Legacy**. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/19 "2007-04-03T15:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] That’s the first one I thought of. I’d like also to nominate the sequel (it was more of a whole new game than an expansion pack), **Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bear’s Legacy**. [/QUOTE] Hell, I don’t think it even looks lame now. It was awesome, when I saw that, I had just gotten my first “career” job and so I bought a PC specifcally so I could play that game. The very end, where the machine gun runs out, and the helpless mech gets headshotted is just classic. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523/20 "2007-04-03T15:20:45Z")
I thought Final Fantasy VIII had a pretty awesome intro, with the choral music and the segue directly into the fight with Seifer. I also happen to think FF X is pretty nifty, too. And 9…but I love the idea of a theatre ship and WANT ONE SO BAD IT HURTS. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-video-game-intros/398523.md?page=2)