Gamespot has a feature on the former videogame company, SNK. While I was never big into console gaming (as it required a purchase of a console, which I was not allowed to have since I already had a NES), I remember the game Ikari Warriors quite vividly. I believe that's the first time I understood what it meant for a game to lack a story.

So Ikari Warriors is just a simple side scroller, or rather front scroller, game where you shoot everything in sight. The game was insanely difficult, especially with my being an 10-year-old). However, I had learned through browsing game cheat books that there was a secret way to have unlimited continues (I think it was A,B,B,A, Start) and with that tip, I decided to take on the world with my lone Rambo. So I sit in front of the TV for a whole 4 hours (which at that time was outrageous, but nothing compared to my spending 12+ hours in front of a monitor nowadays) playing the game, thinking that there was some finish to the game that I could see. But alas that wasn't the case.

After I beat the 4th stage, the game promptly started over at the beginning of the 1st stage. No message that I can recall. Nada. I was one disappointed kid, and scarred for life.