I'll second that. There were several character threads that just got left hanging, and not in a cliffhanger sort of way.

 However, I have to say that Star Fox Adventures was worse, with it's lame "Oh wait! It was Andross all along! Cue SF64 Final Boss Battle!" ending.

Mario 64, she bakes you a damn cake!

At least the cake is not a lie!!!!

Edit: And the Princess is used to get kidnapped every weekend... so a cake is the regular reward, and a kiss...

Any Doom ending is a lame ending... (Well Doom 3 ending was below average)

Basically I cannot hold a grudge against games from the eighties or early nineties for lack luster endings. We really didn't need the kind of closure we seem to need today. Usually the congratulation, or the short and simple ending was enough. Perhaps it had to do with how white knuckle the gaming was back then. By the time you got through that epic play session you were spent, and that simple message coincided with your instant need to go relieve yourself.

What also made it understandable were the constraints of the storage medium, but with time came the expectation of some fulfilling ending. Especially since even the cart format had expanded by leaps and bounds. That said someone missed the memo in form or Rare.

Early in the lifetime of the 64 they released a game named Blast Corps. Which had that classic white knuckle experience to cherish, and an all too classic monologue ending. Truly a travesty of gaming justice. You knew Rare could have done better. What made it worse though was that you really had to work for this ending. We are talking about a game that took forty to fifty hours to complete. Had dozens of cursing fit moments, and took incredible skill to accomplish, and you got this pathetic ending. You almost felt used.

The game was great I really hope Rare makes another one at some point in the future. Perhaps for Xbox Live or perhaps it will make it to the Virtual Console. The game was a real gem, but the ending was a horrific letdown after all you went through to get it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HerRh9HS9Qs

Metroid Prime when you get less than 70% is insulting.