8 Rare Video Game Cheat Codes

Seldom-seen cheat codes from some forgotten games.

Cheat codes have a way of getting around; the good ones rarely stay hidden for very long.  Nearly all old-school gamers know how to play Metroid with a clothing-optional Samus Aran, and the Konami code is more widely known than the Hammurabi code.  Still, some cheat codes are not as well known as others.

King’s Quest III

PC

If you press Alt-D, the game enters a debug mode.  From here, you can enter “tp” (for “teleport”), followed by a number, and you’ll be moved to the room that has been assigned that number by the Sierra developers. Careful though; your character remains in the same position when you teleport, so you may end up in the sky, underwater, or inside a wall Amontillado-style, and you’ll have to restore your game.

Thief

PC

Enter “BLUEMOON” at any time during gameplay to enable a distinctly Thief-style God-mode, where you get the cover of dark shadow no matter how much light is in the room.   Enemies will still notice you if you unsheathe a weapon, however.  A CS major I knew at college got this straight from a developer at Looking Glass Studios who worked on the Thief game engine!

Pong

Arcade

Even the grandpappy of video gamery has some tricks up its sleeve.  Glen Crebbles at the arcade museum Marquee Moon in Alameda, California confirms that this works for the original arcade cabinet only, not for home consoles: make sure the game has at least two credits, then tap the red “game start” button six times in quick succession.  This enables a so-called “expert mode” where both players’ paddles are invisible.  It’s essentially unplayable, and Glen says it hasn’t been determined whether this was an intended feature, or just a bug.

Nintendogs: Vengeance

DS

This second entry in the popular Nintendogs franchise has several amusing Easter eggs.  The denizens at 2channel who found this one insist it only works with a Corgi dog (which is great because they’re the cutest breed anyway).  So choose a Corgi and play the game as normal until you find the Santa Claus hat.  Put it on your dog, then walk him 16 times in a row without feeding him any biscuits — it doesn’t matter how short the walk is.  The Corgi will immediately gain the Class 3 heavy arms permit, meaning you don’t need to bother with any of that awful licensing.

Rock Band: Creed World Tour

XBox 360/Playstation 3

The most annoying thing about this game was always the inability to change the default appearance of the band.  I get that they were going for an accurate look, but if we’re being honest, much of the appeal of Rock Band games is the freedom to dick around with your facial hair and wardrobe.  French gaming mag Gamekyo discovered the following cheat code that conveniently addresses this annoyance: first, back out to the main screen and switch to “Neophyte” mode (you can change it back later).  If you’ve already hired a manager, fire him, then visit church.  Hit the “Ditch Appurtenances” icon in the top-right of the screen, back out of church, then go to “Choose Venue”.  You’ll see three new venues unlocked: Budokan, Veteran’s Stadium, and Crebbles Arena.  Select Budokan by having your drummer hit the snare.  Now you can change your wardrobe and appearance as much as you like.

Update: it seems this also adds a song to your basic set list, Passover favorite “Scott Stapp Sings Da Yaynu”.

Sherman Hemsley Presents: Ice Fishing

Sega Master System

No one I know was ever able to get past the Ukraine stage, where you have only three minutes to catch 15 perch.  It was essentially impossible.  Only many years later did I find the code to cheat my way past it: after you beat Sweden and enter the tackle shop, enter the following code using the 2-player controller: Up/Left/Down/Right/1/1/2/2, then UNPLUG that controller. The shopkeeper is then replaced with an 8-bit Marla Gibbs (it looks nothing like her), and she will sell you a “Turbo Great” hand auger for 300 kroner.  Ukraine is then a piece of cake.

Fighter

Atari Jaguar

Let’s be honest, Enemy wasn’t that hard to beat, even in Adequate mode. But if for whatever reason you were having a hard time, there was a cheat code for you: right after Friend betrays you in the warehouse cutscene, pause the game (you couldn’t pause during previous cutscenes but you can here).  Hit the option button to bring up your journal — it looks normal, right?  Not quite; hit the C button and the text changes into a rebus puzzle which is pretty easily decoded as “Man+knee time+s”.  Now, when you go to Associate’s home and he asks you about the crebbling, the new answer shows up as an option, “many times”, and this unlocks your punches.  Enemy is now even easier than he was before.

Part III – Episode II: The Legend of Chapter VII

Playstation 2

The Hell-Orcs make the Sebastia sub-quest a nightmare of farming; you need to basically live in the Sebastopol bacon mines to make up for the orcs’ thievery.  And bear in mind, this game uses the Heartbeat system from the first game; in each game heartbeat (GAME, not crebble) those orcs can violate three women or one Great Steed, so you’re always playing against the clock.  GameFAQs has what turns out to be a simple solution: create 8 wheedling units, select them, then click 8 times on your mana icon using the X button instead of the square.  Voilà, at least 2 (4 if you’re lucky) strains of meningitis cripple the orcs, meaning you have around 400 heartbeats to amass bacon unmolested. Good luck!