History Main / JokeLevel

* ''[[VideoGame/NavelOps Warship Gunner 2]]'' has a short campaign that's unlocked after beating the core game where you have to do things like take your bridge crew on dates, destroy a land instillation to prevent someone from singing karaoke, "defeat" a BossRush by pointing out that [[NoFourthWall the PS2 could never support that many ships on the screen at one time]], and fight a dried giant squid.

* The SecretLevel of ''VideoGame/BatmanDoom''. See its work page for a more detailed description.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series had joke-areas via a random encounter system in their 2D games, the only 3D title to retained this was ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' with the "Wild Wasteland" selectable character trait. Encounters include things like coming across a pile of dead [[Franchise/StarTrek red shirts around a crashed shuttle]] and being attacked by a post-apocalyptic gang with a ''[[Series/TheGoldenGirls Golden Girls]]'' theme.

* The MassEffect series starts as a political thriller SpaceOpera that goes full LovecraftLite CosmicHorror by the time the first game is halfway through. It plays everything straight and most jokes are completely in character as your squad of [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarkers]] react to the CrapsackWorld around them. Then comes the Citadel DLC, the last DLC of the original trilogy, which begins BreakingTheFourthWall and acts like an action comedy full of homages to sci-fi and action movies. It's subtler than many examples on this page since it doesn't look cosmetically different, but the change in tone is clear.

* ''VideoGame/SoundVoltex'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcX3Hik_uCA "Nyan Cat."]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' series had joke-areas via a random encounter system in their 2D games, the only 3D title to retained this was ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' with the "Wild Wasteland" selectable character trait. Encounters include things like coming across a pile of dead [[Franchise/StarTrek red shirts around a crashed shuttle]] and being attacked by a post-apocalyptic gang with a ''[[Series/TheGoldenGirls Golden Girls]]'' theme.

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic 6'' has a secret dungeon that mirrors the layout of developer New World Computing's office, complete with villagers named after employees and goblins named after the bosses.

* ''NightSky'': The vividly coloured "Slightly Nonsense", which is a stark, sunny contrast to the moody sunsets of the preceding worlds, and requires all of the [[StarShapedCoupon secret stars]] to access.

* ''NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStormGenerations'' has The Tale of Killer Bee, which consists of 4 fights with absolutely zero plot justification, sandwiched between Killer Bee rapping about how awesome he is and who he's going to fight next. It certainly fits the "clashing with the overall mood of the game" part of the description. Beware of the surprise SNKBoss at the end though!

* ''VideoGame/AbobosBigAdventure'' has a level based on ''Urban Champion''. The champ's attempts to hurt you are ineffective, and he's a total pushover. It ends with a sequence direct from ''MortalKombat'' (a game that wasn't on the NES).

* The otherwise humorless arcade light-gun game Police Trainer has, amid a very difficult set of levels, a section in which you have to shoot moving doughnuts and cups of coffee.

* The ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' series had joke-areas via a random encounter system in their 2D games, the only 3D title to retained this was ''Fallout: New Vegas'' with the "Wild Wasteland" selectable character trait. Encounters include things like coming across a pile of dead [[Franchise/StarTrek red shirts around a crashed shuttle]] and being attacked by a post-apocalyptic gang with a ''[[Series/TheGoldenGirls Golden Girls]]'' theme.

* ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'' has worlds which get progressively darker in tone.[[note]]Forest, Hospital (obviously long abandoned), Salt Factory (with random missiles...), ''Hell'', and it gets worse from there.[[/note]] When you finally finish the game, you unlock the [[BrutalBonusLevel Cotton Alley]], which is bright, pink, and full of cheery music and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou things trying to murder you horribly]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' series had joke-areas via a random encounter system in their 2D games, the only 3D title to retained this was ''Fallout: New Vegas'' with the "Wacky Wasteland" selectable character trait. Encounters include things like coming across a pile of dead [[Franchise/StarTrek red shirts around a crashed shuttle]] and being attacked by a post-apocalyptic gang with a ''[[Series/TheGoldenGirls Golden Girls]]'' theme.

* ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'' has worlds which get progressively darker in tone[[note]]Forest, Hospital (obviously long abandoned), Salt Factory (with random missiles...), ''Hell'', and it gets worse from there[[/note]]. When you finally finish the game, you unlock the [[BrutalBonusLevel Cotton Alley]], which is bright, pink, and full of cheery music and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou things trying to murder you horribly]].

* ''VideoGame/SoundVoltex'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcX3Hik_uCA "Nyan Cat"]].

* ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' has a SecretLevel with the layout of a ''VideoGame/PacMan'' stage called "Wolf Pack", complete with ghosts that chase you, as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZn9tX_yeKc here]].

** [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Not The Cow Level]] is a secret zone only accessible from Kanai's Cube. It's a pasture overrun with Infernal Bovines and home to an unusually large number of chests and gold-spawning bodies, accompanied by the same music as the Cow Rift.

** The ''Reaper of Souls'' expansion added Rifts which are challenging dungeons filled with randomly generated enemies. Rarely it can generate the Cow Rift, a shout-out to the Cow Level. It is filled with [[ALoadOfBull bipedal cows]], the boss is "Lord of Bells", and the entire thing plays to twangy ranch music.

** And then topped in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BgOeK72jSs Whimsyshire]]. After going through the steps to unlock it, the player is teleported to a mystical land of dancing flowers, smiling clouds, and ''lots'' of rainbows. Also doubles as a TakeThatAudience after all the complaints that the early screen shots [[FanDumb weren't dark enough.]]

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic 6'' had a secret dungeon that mirrored the layout of developer New World Computing's office, complete villagers named after employees and a goblin named after their founder.