Unearthing the Cursed PS1 Ending of Y2K’s The Grinch
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
A look back at the genuinely unsettling low-poly ending of the year 2000 PS1 game The Grinch, highlighting internet archival finds and early 3D gaming nightmares as covered by Polygon.
Holiday nostalgia usually involves cozy sessions with comfort games, but internet archivists have dug up a piece of early 3ridged gaming history that delivers pure psychological horror instead. As originally detailed by Polygon in their deep dive into the Y2K cash-grab adaptation, The Grinch for the original PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, and PC remains an absolute fever dream. Published by Konami to tie in with the live-action Jim Carrey film, the title forced players to help the green icon wreck Whoville after losing his blueprint schematics. Most players bounced off the rough platforming and middling reviews back in the day, meaning very few actually witnessed the title's bizarre conclusion.
Thanks to gaming historians and social media archival clips, modern audiences can now witness the sheer nightmare fuel of the standard ending without enduring the frustrating gameplay. After a voice performance that sounds distressingly like a heavily intoxicated Jim Carrey, the Grinch suddenly embraces the holiday spirit and returns every stolen gift to the town square. What follows is a masterclass in low-poly terror, featuring Cindy Lou Who flapping ribbon-like jellyfish arms and facial textures clipping wildly through geometry as silent Whoville children belt out a cheerful tune. It is the kind of unintentionally unsettling artifact that only the early 3D era could produce.
For the absolute masochists who managed to 100 percent the game, a secret reward awaits that bends reality even further. Pushing past the horror unlocks a bonus ending featuring a fully rendered motorcycle and a Whoville racing minigame, proving that early 2000s licensed tie-ins were willing to throw any bizarre idea at the wall. You can read the full retrospective and breakdown over at Polygon, but thankfully, YouTube archives mean we can appreciate these cursed digital relics safely from a distance.
Tags: Retrogaming, PlayStation, Polygon, Gaming History, Classics
Original article: Polygon