History
The first games containing a bonus stage are widely believed to be Namco's Rally-X (1980) and Galaga (1981). In the latter, the level would begin with the text "Challenging Stage" and would feature enemies that do not attack. The player is then rewarded extra points based on how many enemies could be eliminated.
Since few modern games use points as an incentive for gameplay, most modern bonus stages reward the player with power-ups rather than points. Modern games have often blurred the traditional distinction between bonus stages and ordinary levels. Most first-person shooter games allow players to enter bonus rooms within larger (non-bonus) levels to temporarily power up. Some games have optional bonus stages which must be discovered and whose completion impacts the mechanics of the rest of the game, as in the "Star Road" levels of Super Mario World. There are bonus levels in most Crash Bandicoot games, save for Crash Twinsanity and Crash of the Titans.
Read more about this topic: Bonus Stage
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