History GottaCatchThemAll / VideoGames

** Every Mario RPG ever made is the same. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' has Star Pieces, ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' has Star Spirits, ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor The Thousand-Year Door]]'' has Crystal Stars, ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has Pure Hearts, ''[[VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar Sticker Star]]'' has pieces of the Sticker Comet, ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has pieces of the Beanstar, ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Partners in Time]]'' has pieces of the Cobalt Star and ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'' has Star Cures. All are crucial, although their importance varies.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' has Spirits, taking over the role of trophies in the previous games. There's several ways to find them; most spirits have to be battled in either World of Light or the lucky-dip Spirit Board, several can only be purchased in the World of Light shops, a few can only be gotten be releasing spirits and using the cores they leave to summon different ones (which then means you have to get the spirits you released again), some are earned by leveling specific spirits to 99 so they can be enhanced into a new form, and a select few are locked behind Challenges that need to be completed before you earn them and have them start appearing normally. Spirits can also be snagged from the Vault shop, and received as rewards in modes like Classic Mode, Home-Run Contest, and Online Tourney. A special category of Spirits, Fighter Spirits, can only be gotten via Classic Mode or the shop in the Vault; these can't be equipped, and instead represent the fighters themselves. ''Ultimate'' also has regularly-occurring events that introduce more spirits to the game, which last for a few days at a time; while the events are limited-time, the spirits eventually get added to the base game a few months later. Additionally, there's the [[VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Partner Pikachu and Partner Eevee]] spirits and [[VideoGame/DragonQuestXI Tockles]] spirit, which were exclusive to {{Old Save Bonus}}es of their respective games, but they were made obtainable through normal means in updates (2.0.0 for the former, and 6.0.0, only fightable on Hero's Spirit Board, for the latter). As of the ''Cuphead'' event in 7.0.0, there are 1,401 unique Spirits.

** Possibly their most daunting collection task of all lies in the CompilationRerelease, ''Rare Replay'', a celebration of their 30th anniversary that features 30 of their games from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360. Along with the games are the milestones (5 per pre-Nintendo 64 game, 10 for the post-Nintendo 64 games), which feature tasks that one must do in the games themselves. Competing one gets you a stamp. Some of them are easy enough, while collecting them all usually requires the individual OneHundredPercentCompletion of that game. The older games (which usually suffer from NintendoHard) are given cheats and a rewind feature to make them easier, but even that can make the individual games be very time-consuming on their own, particularly the external games which are based on the Achievement Gamerscore earned from them, requiring 75% of it. On top of all of that, there are 80 snapshot challenges (5 per pre-Nintendo 64 game) and six difficult playlists of challenges that are also required. From the extreme difficulty of ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'', to the finicky controls of the ''VideoGame/SabreMan'' games, to the extreme patience needed to get a single platinum medal in ''VideoGame/BlastCorps'', to the lengthy grind of ''[[VideoGame/PerfectDarkZero Perfect Dark Zero’s]]'' multiplayer achievements, to the gargantuan collection task of ''Jet Force Gemini'' listed above, the task of collecting all 330 stamps and proving yourself as an “Ultimate Fan” is one that requires incredible endurance and lots of time.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', you needed to collect eight melodies throughout the game (although this wasn't obvious). In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', most of the game consisted of visiting "Sanctuary" locations, and collecting... eight melodies, with the endgame beginning the moment you collect the eighth (although you can do this out of logical sequence). Finally, a big part of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' was pulling needles. The catch was, [[spoiler:your literal EvilTwin was too]].

* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': The first game is strictly this, collecting Power Cells to advance the plot.

** Power Stars in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64,'' ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''; and Shine Sprites in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine.'' Different forms of PlotCoupons with the same format: 120 in the game, and you need 50, 60 or 70 (depending on the game) to reach the final battle with Bowser. Also, some of the Stars and Shine Sprites can only be earned by collecting at least 100 Coins (yellow in the first two games, purple in the following two). In ''Sunshine'', they take it a step further by making the player hunt for blue coins. Normally, blue coins are just uncommon coins worth five normal coins, but in this game, they're collectables. 30 in each of the seven levels with another 19 in the main area, 1 in the tutorial area, and 10 in the final area. The point of that is that a shop on Delfino's pier will trade a Shine Sprite for 10 blue coins, meaning that one-fifth of the game's Shine Sprites are dependent on blue coins.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' In the UsefulNotes/GameboyColor remake, every monster randomly drops a medal; first Bronze, then Silver, then Gold. Getting enough of them gives you access to Bonus Dungeons. Getting all of them makes the Grandragon fall asleep. Wait, what?

** Figurines, detailing every character, boss, and the baddie in the game; some you only find in Hidden Places, and others you need to clear the levels with good performance for. Speaking of which...

** Jack's House: Accessible between Levels or in them, you'll find all the game's special features here, such as all the cutscenes you've seen the soundtracks you've collected, your figurine collection, and the outfits you've collected. Speaking of which...
** [[YourRewardIsClothes Outfits]]: Clearing the game unlocks up to four alternate outfits for Jack, depending on how well you do. Clear the game with an overall score of C or higher to get Pajama Jack, B or higher to get Dancing Jack, A or higher to get Thespian Jack, and a perfect S, along with both of the Secret Chapters cleared, to get Phantom Jack. Oh, yeah, and even if you get a perfect S the first time, you still have to beat the final boss four times to get all the outfits.

* Demons in ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', and Personae in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series. Enjoy filling the Compendium! In later games, Demons and Personae's skill sets are entirely customizable allowing the player to even save their custom layouts. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has this with the Exotic Material and [[spoiler: Cosmic Eggs]]

** ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' has this through TheGreatRepair, as the characters have to collect the missing twelve parts of an ancient ship to intercept and stop the BigBad from landing an asteroid towards Earth. And in turn, one of the ship parts can only be earned after rescuing all 282 Tribals in the game, a difficult task for which all levels have to be extensively explored. Among optional stuff, there are many hidden capacity upgrades for the weapons, [[HeartContainer extra Gemini Holders]] (though these can be gathered during the first trip if the player pays attention to the surroundings and optional areas), the hidden Bonus Totems which unlock extra content for multiplayer, and the Medals won in the Floyd minigames (of which the exceptionally difficult Expert-rank ones are necessary to unlock one more character in multiplayer).

** ''Horizon 5'' brings this [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] by introducing the Car Collection, which acts as a Pokédex for petrolheads. While there is no actual reward for collecting every single car[[note]]Each month new cars are added to the game, so 100% the collection will be impossible until the developers say so[[/note]], there are rewards for completing the collection of each manufacturer, ranging from XP points to another car from a manufacturer.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' takes it UpToEleven with ''880'' Power Moons to collect (though you only need 500 to unlock all levels), with the option to buy additional moons with coins, for a total of 999 Moons. Each normal level in ''Odyssey'' also has 50 to 100 purple coins to collect, which are necessary to buy all of each respective level's collectibles.

* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' is inspired by collectathon platformers for the N64 and [=PS1=], and thus features the [[PlotCoupon Time Items]], [[NiceHat hats]], attack pins, and even more unusual things like Mafia neckties.

** ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': The original game is comparatively humble, as each regular world has only 100 musical notes, 10 Jiggies (and of these, one is always earned by rescuing 5 Jinjos), and 2 Empty Honeycombs; the only catch is that the collection of musical notes is determined in how many of them are gathered without dying or exiting the level (if one of those two events occur, the player will have first to reach the previous record of notes collected and then get the rest, as that's the only way the lifetime total of notes collected in the game will rise). However, in ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'', the amount of items per world is increased, and in turn, many of them are harder to gather due to the worlds' bigger size, complexity and added interconnection (making the game less like a traditional platformer and more like a 3D {{Metroidvania}}. ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooieGruntysRevenge Grunty's Revenge]]'' dials the trope back for being a handheld game, but in ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts Nuts and Bolts]]'' it's back in full force, with a total of ''131'' Jiggies to collect, among other items (such as vehicle parts).

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': The plot has you collect the thirteen Zodiac Gods; you can also collect treasures, fish, extra abilities with the brush, and Stray Beads just for fun.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' is one of only three N64 games that was so detailed and complicated in gameplay that it needed the RAM Expansion Pak to play (and the only one of the three that didn't have Rareware in a dominant part of the development), and one of the reasons is the vast number of collectibles. In addition to Pieces of Heart (52, the most in any game in the series), weapons, songs, wallets, Stray Fairies, bottles (six, another record to date), and various other odds and ends, the game has 28 masks (including the 4 collected from bosses, as they're merely plot coupons) to collect. Only six of them are necessary to complete the main storyline[[note]]The Deku Mask, the Goron Mask, the Zora Mask, the Garo Mask, the Captain's Hat, and the Gibdo Mask[[/note]] (though some others make it easier), but the other 18 are necessary for 100% completion. The very last one in particular is accessible only by collecting all of the other masks.

*** The figurines to complete the Nintendo Gallery. You have to take pictures of every character, enemy (with some exceptions), and boss in the game, for a total of 134. [[PermanentlyMissableContent And some of them have limited appearances, so beware]]. It was easier to complete in the HD remake, as one could even find the formerly missable pictures via Miiverse...until Miiverse was shut down, of course. Knuckle is especially infamous; the only way to make him appear is to collect all five of the Tingle Statues, which are hidden in five of the game's dungeons. In the original version, the only way to find them is with the Tingle Tuner, which will react when you get close. But you need a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance to use that. Then you have to place a Tingle Bomb at each appropriate spot, and only once you've found all five will Knuckle appear for you to take his picture on Outset Island. And that's not the worst part, which is twofold: in the original game, it was possible to permanently miss one of the statues, meaning you needed to wait for the NewGamePlus to complete the quest. And in the remake, the Tingle Tuner doesn't exist. So, what did the devs put in to help you find the statues instead? '''Nothing,''' meaning that unless you have an incentive to bomb every slightly suspicious location in every dungeon, you can only find the Tingle Statues [[GuideDangIt if you look up where they are]]. Though at least that also means that there's no trick to finding him afterward; instead of finding him on Outset and 'proving yourself' through a few odd tasks, he simply appears on Tingle Island.

*** 40 Blueprints (each of them increases time limit of the final level's TimedMission by one minute and can be exchanged for Golden Bananas).