The most annoying sound effects in gaming history

What's that annoying sound? That's the cry of Staraptor, the final Starling Pokemon. And don't think this was an easy choice: the Pokemon series now boasts more different pocket monsters than ever, all of them with a battle cry that sounds like a fax machine being tortured. But not all of them make you wince quite like Staraptor's high-pitched squawk.


Above: Now, if only we could make it disappear

How bad's it going to get? Ambitiously, the Pokemon games have been attempting to synthesize the calls of made-up animals ever since they were being cranked out on the primitive Game Boy sound chip. Bizarrely, now that they're being played on the DS – a much more advanced system – they haven't gotten any better.

Make it stop! If you're willing to go through the game without bringing Starly to its ultimate potential, you need never hear this horrific noise at all, unless you're challenged by another trainer with one. In the meantime, there are about 5,999,999 other horrid noises to withstand.