Nintendo's classic EarthBound impresses from start to finish, but what really impresses is, in fact, the finish.  While most RPGs of the era would dazzle players with a little closure and a cut scene or three, EarthBound goes beyond the extra mile with its ending sequence.  Players are allowed and encouraged to revisit every single location in the game in order to talk with the residents and inhabitants of the world.  Most of them have new things to say that reflect the changed state of the land after Ness and his friends defeat the ultimate evil.  It's possible to spend hours exploring the end of EarthBound.  You want real closure?  This is how you do it.  Over at EarthBound Central, Tomato has chronicled the differences between the aftergame content of EarthBound and its Japanese counterpart, Mother 2.

In all, I wound up taking like 2,500 screenshots which took forever to go through, weed out, put together, write up stuff about, and all that. I also think I wound up being extra picky on some of the more minor things, so with all that in mind, be prepared to do a lot of reading.

One of my favorite little bits about the ending sequence features a spectacular attention to detail.  Early in the initial Twoson town portion of the story, Ness can rent a bicycle.  He can only ride the bike when he's alone, so once Paula joins him, the bike becomes inventory clutter and is best stored away.  Since Ness is never again by himself during the course of the adventure, he has to stop riding the bike.  However, during the ending, Ness's friends leave him one at a time as you take them all home.  Eventually Ness is left alone once more, so it's possible to dig the bike out of storage and take it for a ride.  If you head for the Deep Darkness swamp from late in the game and ride the bike through the muck, then you'll hear a new sound effect that isn't heard anywhere else in the game.  It's only used here at this one instance.  Most players will probably miss that, but it's just another example of why EarthBound is so special.