The 10 HARDEST Unlockables To Get In Nintendo Games

10 Hardest Unlockables in Nintendo Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at the hardest unlockables in Nintendo games, whether they be characters, items, modes, or otherwise.

The Sound Off Badge

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” (2023)

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” follows similar footsteps to its predecessor, including an ultra-hard final level that brutalizes even the most skilled players. But before you can get to it, and therefore earn the game’s secret badge, you’ve gotta put in the work. Players need to find every Wonder Seed, every Flower Coin, and reach the top of the goal post for every level. Then you have to do the same for all levels in the Special World, no small feat. You then have to conquer the last stage, The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon, one of the most difficult challenges in any Mario game. Your effort earns you the Sound Off Badge, which turns all sound effects into acapella noises.

The Sword of Kings

“Earthbound” (1995)

When it comes to tough unlockables, the RPG genre has you covered. “EarthBound,” one of the most famous in Nintendo’s catalog, is a prime example. The game features the Sword of Kings, an item that gives a significant damage boost to Ness’ ally, Poo. You can only unlock it by fighting Starman Supers, enemies that only appear in the Stonehenge Base. Unfortunately, you have to fight quite a lot of them. The sword only has a 1-in-128 chance of appearing, less than a single percent. Jeff, another ally, has an ability to see and steal items enemies may be carrying, which does alleviate some of the stress. But there’s no guarantee that’ll help with the grind.

Golden Gun

“GoldenEye 007” (1997)

The N64’s groundbreaking FPS is still fondly remembered for its multiplayer. But the single player campaign could actually get a little tough, especially when playing on the highest difficulty, ‘00 Agent.’ This adds more objectives and enemies to every level while also limiting your resources and having you take more damage. By beating every other level this way, the secret ‘Egyptian’ level would be unlocked, as well as the chance to gain the overpowered Golden Gun. In a certain room, you’d have to walk across floor tiles in a specific order to nab it at the end. This would unlock the weapon in multiplayer, allowing whoever got it the chance to one-shot everyone else.

Zero Suit Samus Artwork

“Metroid Dread” (2021)

It’s no secret that “Metroid Dread” is a hard game on its own. But unlocking all the artwork in its galleries takes the patience of a saint. Players can get certain pieces of art after collecting 100% of the items and upgrades for each of its eight areas. That certainly takes quite a bit of time. However, other pieces representing Samus’ past adventures are only unlocked after beating the game on specific difficulty levels and within certain time requirements. There are 6 in total, with the most challenging being unlocked after beating the game on Hard Mode in under 4 hours. Only after gaining all of them will you get the final piece of Samus in her Zero Suit.

The Super Suit

“Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars” (1996)

One of the more unique elements in Mario’s first RPG were action commands during battle. Pressing the right button at the right moment could have you deal more damage, or take less from an enemy. One of Mario’s signature attacks was the Super Jump; by pressing the attack button right when Mario landed on an enemy’s head, he’d continue to jump until you missed. However, in Monstro Town, there is an NPC that challenges you by making 100 consecutive jumps. Your timing obviously has to be sublime, and messing up can be downright disheartening. The Super Suit you earn is definitely worth it, as it gives major boosts to Mario’s stats and protects against status effects.

Playing on Foot

“Star Fox 64” (1997)

In “Star Fox 64’s” Versus mode, players could face off against friends in Arwings, tanks, or on foot. But that last one took a lot of effort to unlock. You’d first have to unlock Expert Mode by earning a medal on every level in the campaign. Each stage has different numbers of enemies you need to defeat to earn its medal, but you also have to ensure all three of your companions are still flying alongside you by the end. After earning that highest of difficulty settings, selecting it and earning another medal on Venom, one of the more difficult levels, would get you this secret multiplayer feature.

The Bomber’s Ring

“The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages” (2001)

The “Zelda” series has many unlockables that require a lot of work. Most of them are hard due to how much time they take. But when it comes to purely testing your skill, and your ability to keep calm, the Bomber’s Ring from “Oracle of Ages” is tough to top. The only way to get it is by playing one of the most notoriously frustrating minigames in the series: a rhythm game where Link follows a Goron’s dance instructions. You must play on Platinum Difficulty, and must perfectly match the moves across 8 sequences, all of which are quite long. Even still, your prize is a random ring you must get appraised, meaning there’s no guarantee you’ll get the Bomber’s Ring even if you do win.

Mii Outfit B

“Mario Kart Wii” (2008)

Unlocking characters in “Mario Kart” isn’t usually that big of a hassle. Most players can unlock them simply by racing. In the Wii installment, it wasn’t a character that gave us grief, but a costume for our Miis to race in. There were a couple of ways to earn the Mii Outfit B, which dressed male Miis like one of the plumbers and female Miis like one of the princesses. You could play a combined 5,100 races and battles, or win 5,000 online matches, both major time commitments. Or you could unlock all Expert Staff Ghosts across the 32 tracks, only done so by beating each of the regular ones. While this final method theoretically took less time, that didn’t make it easy.

Ho-Oh

“Pokémon Colosseum” (2003)

There are certain Pokémon that are a pain to catch across the mainline games. But the level of commitment it takes to unlock the legendary Ho-oh in the GameCube spin-off, “Colosseum,” is honestly ridiculous. The game revolves around snagging Shadow Pokémon, those that have been corrupted and which you must purify. In addition to beating the game, players must purify all 48 possible Shadow Pokémon. Afterwards, you’ll head to the aptly named Mt. Battle, where you must take a team of six, without changing any of them, through 100 increasingly tougher battles. Only after all that grinding will Ho-oh appear in your PC.

Xavier

“Fire Emblem: Thracia 776” (1999)

The “Fire Emblem” franchise is full of characters with obscure methods for unlocking, though Xavier is the king of them all. Appearing in “Thracia 776,” already considered one of, if not the most difficult game in the series, the general is possible to recruit in Chapter 18. He and several of his men have had loved ones kidnapped by the villain, and so you must free those civilians first. But you also have to take those civilians with you into battle and have them speak with the specific knight they’re related to. Of course, there are also regular enemies that can easily kill them and ruin the whole process. The knights that turn good can accidentally kill their former allies, also ruining the process. Oh, and the only party member that can recruit Xavier is Leif. With so many ways for it to go wrong, the whole thing is a lesson in frustration.

Which of these gave you the most trouble in unlocking? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great Nintendo videos!