I am a huge fan of video games. Whether it plays safe like Nintendo or has some great takes and unique features like Sony the one thing they all have in common is that they have their fair share of scary moments. Now I'm ruling out Horror games as it's a given already as they are meant to be scary, but I'll somewhat include it in the article, to give some context.

In a Horror game, even a shitty one, it's to be expected to have scary moments. Games like Resident Evil, FNAF and Silent Hill to name a few. Even the most crappy one's like The PS2 Sequel to John Carpenter's The Thing have scary moments. Be it intentional moments like one of your buddies turning into a Thing (Which by the way, much like Friday The 13th should have their own multiplayer version with one or two people as the Thing....Among Us doesn't count ya sus.) or unintentional moments like when you have to check your trust meter and the pictures of your buddies are twitching and glitching to inhuman levels even though at this point, they're supposed to be still human.

But then there are games in many different companies of Genre's opposite of horror, but have scary moments anyway. The best part about it is, even the most family friendly of them have their high octane nightmare fuel.

Games like Earthbound where among most things you're fighting a being no one can comprehend:

Or Super Mario 64 which ghosts and Bowser aside, had it's fair share of legit jumpscares like the piano monster:

Then of course as the graphics continued to improve in games, it lead to more unique scary moments. Like any monster intro in the Zelda Games from Twilight Princess onward:

However the most scary piss your pants moment in my personal and professional opinion comes from the latest edition to another beloved Nintendo Franchise. Metroid. Now Metroid is very popular for many reasons.

Samus Aran was one of the first leading female video game characters, with the twist of her being a girl after tricking the player into thinking they were playing a male character throughout the game. Since then the character as well as the story has changed and evolved. Now this series from it's humble NES beginnings has had it's fair share of scary moments. After all it was inspired by many sci-fi horror movies such as Alien.

Now many end scene bikini jokes aside, Samus was greatly admired for being a ruthless killer, yet having a kind heart and a moral code. Yet with the exception of dying sounds in most games, she's never once raised her voice in anger. Often reacting to situations with a sense of stoicism. Not letting anything get her down despite the horrible tragedies she endured over the years.

Now I had no idea that this was made last year. As the last game I've played in the series was Other M. Unlike most people, I liked it and I consider it Canon. However due to lowering popularities I feared they'd cancel the franchise. However that was until I saw this Spoilers if you haven't played it yet:

This was a clip from Metroid Dread. Which came out last year. In this among most things Samus finds out that an evil Chozo by the name of Raven Beak, was responsible for the events of every single game that happened before this moment. Meaning he was responsible for the Metroids, the dangers, the planets blowing up and every single bad thing that has ever happened to Samus in so many games. Now at this point she has Metroid DNA in her system and the ability to drain energy from any organic or inorganic material that generates it. Raven Beak thinks he's killed her by choking her to death. Not only does she live, but she is pissed beyond expectations. Gripping the bastard by his face through his broken helmet and violently devouring the life energy. All while also absorbing the energy of his space ship sending them both plummeting to the planet. Take away the fact that she has metroid powers and because she latched onto him, he can't get her off him. This was Samus Aran, one of the kindest most compassionate Nintendo Characters, whom never even let the death of her parents bring her down. She has gone full fight or flight, has completely snapped and is gouging out Raven Beak's eye with one hand. Not even once using her weapons, but her bare hand. All while glaring daggers at him, screaming bloody murder and transforming into a humanoid metroid.

This moment scared the living hell out of me. I have never seen Samus that pissed off before, it makes me appreciate there's no way to bring fictional characters to life, because I would not want to meet her in that mood. And while these games have their scary moments, I would say this tops it. This was 40 years Franchise time and who knows how many years in-universe of pent up, unbridled, raw, predatory rage. She was pissed, she was hungry and he goaded her one too many times. I cannot wait to see how they try to top this one.

What game moments scare you?