On that note, some video games wouldn’t be as great as they are if not for their developers. These folks know what fans want occasionally and the ones that deliver epic-themed games can’t avoid praise. That said, some video game developers love to leave brief but engaging secrets and Easter eggs for players to discover with others. Therefore, we’re here to highlight some of the best video game Easter Eggs of all time. From the hidden Super Mario 64 paintings in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to the beating heart of Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto 4, there’s a boatload of discoveries worth highlighting here. Of course, there are many secrets and hidden Easter Eggs we may have forgotten. Feel free to share your favorite gaming Easter egg in the comments below. We’ll get it added on here when we can.
Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid
Before titles like Doki Doki Literature Club and Undertale toyed with fans’ heads, Hideo Kojima and Konami aimed to do the same to their players in the original Metal Gear Solid game. Despite the antagonist not being a challenging opponent, this brief stunt made him a person worth fearing because of his fourth wall-breaking mental fortitude. In it, players were greeted by the villain Psycho Mantis. He takes over the mind of your comrade Meryl as dastardly music plays in the background. This was only the beginning as Psycho Mantis uses his mental powers to read the data off your memory card. Whether you’re playing the game on the Nintendo Gamecube or the original PlayStation, you cannot escape Mantis’s Esper powers. It was a neat stunt that left players in fear or in awe at the sight. If you’ve never played the original Metal Gear Solid and want to hear Mantis critique you on your video game repertoire, I suggest playing it.
The beating heart of Liberty – Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto IV gave fans a treat with its wonderful characters, engrossing narrative, and fun online multiplayer game mode. It set the stage for the future of the franchise, whilst giving fans something memorable in return. At the heart of the game’s New York setting lies Liberty City. What if I told you that you can find the city’s, legitimate heart? It turns out, players could travel to a location that shows them the city’s living and breathing heart. In GTA IV, players must travel to the Statue of Happiness, an artistic work of the Statue of Liberty. You’ll find the city’s heart by entering a door that is labeled “no hidden content this way,” which isn’t mysterious sounding at all. Anywho, players must enter a non-solid door. Then, they’ll be greeted by a large and genuinely disturbing heart held up by chains. This unexplainable phenomenon feels horrifying and mysterious. Players will grow anxious seeing the heartbeat and hearing the sound effects will send chills down their spine. Don’t expect anything to happen if you shoot at it, though.
Credit To Warren Robinett – Adventure
The 2018 film Ready Player One is well-known for including many Easter eggs and cameos of characters and items from across media history. One of its rarest inclusions that were integral to the storyline was its homage to Atari’s 1979 video game, Adventure. This was an action-adventure game where players must recover the Enchanted Chalice that an evil magician stole and hid inside the kingdom. It’s an entertaining title made up of thirty rooms littered with obstacles, enemies, and mazes to overcome. It offered skill levels of three different varieties. Level one was the easiest while level three was the most challenging. Not only was Adventure one of the first games to give players a resurrection (continue game) ability, but it also harbors the first gaming Easter egg. At some point in the game, players must move down a corridor. This will allow your character to enter a room. Players will be greeted by the phrase “Created by Warren Robinett.” While this may not sound significant to players nowadays, it meant a lot to people back in 1979. This was a time when game developers didn’t receive much recognition for their work. Therefore, Adventure developer Warren Robinett inserted this phrase in the game and the idea of gaming Easter eggs was born.
Konami Code – Gradius (Origin)
Metal Gear Solid isn’t the only Konami title to give players a wonderful experience. Before Action Replays and Gameshark, cheat codes had been inserted in games to give players an edge on the title they were playing. While some were shown in broad daylight, other titles required players to discover the phenomenon for themselves. Gradius not only introduced the iconic Konami Code, but it’s an Easter egg that gives players some needed assistance. To enact this code, players must head to the title’s start screen and input the code. The code is Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, and Start. This code grants you additional weapons and upgrades. The code’s creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto, unfortunately, passed away in 2020, but his legendary code found its way into other Konami titles like Contra, Metal Gear, Castlevania, and Dance Dance Revolution respectively. Fortnite would utilize this same code for one of their events, showing how much of an impact this had on the gaming industry at large.
Secret Characters – NBA Jam
While some gamers prefer realistic sports titles like NBA 2K and Madden NFL, some tend to head toward the direction of arcade-like Sports games like NFL Street or NBA Jam. These games feature overexaggerated takes on the sports they’d tribute and gave fans a new interpretation of each sport. NBA Jam encompassed everything fans loved about arcade games. This title delivered fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping basketball gameplay with a side of cartoon-like mischief and cheesy dialogue. This game had an assortment of quirky basketball maneuvers for players to use to defeat their friends on the basketball court. One of the game’s highlighted quirks was the Easter egg found in it. Among the game’s athletes, players could find secret characters that stood out like a sore thumb. In the console release of Midway’s NBA Jam Tournament Edition, players could find many strange but laughable hidden characters from President Bill Clinton to Will Smith from the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air. You’d have to insert specific codes to see this sight for yourself. Given the game’s nature, it was a comedic stunt that’ll surely get a laugh out of you.
Reptile Fight – Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat is a brutal game full of controversy. It was one of those titles that sits next to Doom in terms of causing an outcry from parents when it hit store shelves. At the same time, fans love playing as the game’s iconic cast and performing the trademark fatalities on the game’s AI opponents or their friends. The console release of the first Mortal Kombat game included some trademark characters from Liu Kang to Scorpion. However, there were hidden character fight players fans didn’t expect to encounter. Reptile is one of the series’s beloved ninja antagonists because of his disgusting yet epic abilities. While he’s not playable in the original game, fans found a way to challenge him in the 1992 console release. To fight Reptile, players must start a new game and reach the pit stage. You must obtain two flawless victories back-to-back. Unleashing a fatality on your opponent in the second round will net you the opportunity to face Reptile in the spike pit. It’s a neat fight and one that shocked most players in 1992.
Playable Crash Bandicoot – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Crash Bandicoot was PlayStation’s answer to Mario and one of Naughty Dog’s first forays into the gaming landscape. Unfortunately, Crash stopped existing in the gaming world but would receive slight “blink and you miss it” cameos in PlayStation’s marketing ploys and titles. Although Crash’s no longer a Sony-owned character, it didn’t stop his creators from paying homage to him. In Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, players were thrilled to see how Nathan Drake’s storyline would wrap up. However, many Uncharted fans didn’t expect Crash Bandicoot to appear in Nathan’s send-off title. In the early part of the game, Nathan and his spouse Elena spend quality time together. During one of their chatters, Nathan decides to play Crash Bandicoot. However, it’s not him playing the game, but the player themselves. While it’s not for a long play session, fans were happy to see Naughty Dog acknowledge the game that put them on PlayStation’s fans’ radars.
Armed Rats – Max Payne
Max Payne was a fun third-person shooter game with an engrossing narrative, an excellent cast, and an intriguing world. It follows an undercover DEA agent named Max Payne, a troubled man who is framed for murder and gets hunted by numerous people. It’s a dark narrative with a strong start. It’ll keep players on the edge of their seats. Despite its stellar narrative and fun gameplay, Max Payne houses many Easter eggs that range from cool to bizarre. The armed rats’ Easter egg leans toward the latter category. It’s a hilarious and chilling phenomenon that’ll leave players scratching their heads. To find themselves in the armed rats’ domain, players must be on the Part 1-Chapter 2 levels, Live from the Crime Scene. In the chapter’s starting area, there’s a hole in the wall. You must throw a grenade into the hole and wait for the explosive to detonate. You’ll get a message saying, “I had declared war against rats.” You’ll progress through the level until you reach a stair platform. If you can get close enough to the rates running around, they will equip themselves with a Beretta or Desert Eagle. These rats have no qualms about shooting at you or each other. It’s a hilarious exchange that will make you puzzled.
Super Mario Portraits – The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are two fabulous games to release during the Nintendo 64 generation. Both games pushed Nintendo’s beloved protagonists to new heights. Although both worlds have somewhat crossed in the path concerning Link’s Awakening and Super Smash Bros., fans have never seen Link and Mario go on an adventure in a canonical game. That said, many Ocarina of Time fans were shocked to see portraits of Mario, Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, and Bowser in Princess Zelda’s courtyard. The portraits feature these characters performing iconic poses and quirky facial expressions. It encourages fans to concoct many bold theories concerning Zelda’s knowledge of the Mushroom Kingdom. At the same time, others found it to be a nice nod to Miyamoto’s beloved series. Although there are many other Nintendo-themed Easter eggs inserted in Ocarina of Time, this one takes the cake.
Arkham City Map – Batman Arkham Asylum
Imagine placing a map in a game that reveals the location of your follow-up title. This is a stunt that baffled many DC Comic fans during their play session of Rocksteady Studios’ 2009 title, Batman Arkham Asylum. The game itself offers fun combat, wonderful adaptations of Batman and his villains, and an incredible narrative. On the other hand, many didn’t expect to be greeted with a glaring hint about the developers’ next gaming project. In the game, players must head into the warden’s office inside Arkham Mansion and blow up the left wall by the fireplace. You’ll be greeted by a secret room and inside lies the blueprints to a city-sized expansion of Arkham Asylum. The amusing part about it all is that the developers had to inform players of the room’s existence. No one ever found the room themselves. As with many gaming series, this generated huge anticipation for their next title and left players baffled. So, there we have it, our pick for the best video game Easter eggs through the years! What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
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