Top 20 Nintendo Secrets It Took YEARS to Find

“Golf” (1984)
The Nintendo Switch has quickly become one of Nintendo’s most successful consoles in recent years, and inarguably one of the best consoles ever made. I'm literally waiting for my Switch to charge so I can hit my farm in Stardew when I’m done writing this entry. This curiosity about the console has led to some modders and tech-savvy players exploring the system’s files, and one modder unearthed a hidden gem, a copy of the classic 1984 NES game “Golf” tucked away in the Switch’s programming. Gamers speculated that this meant the Switch was heading towards emulation later in its lifetime, and turns out they were correct!

“Super Mario 64” (1996)
Alright, let’s step into some creepy territory, some spooky times. Typically, when you pause a game, everything freezes, giving players a moment to strategize, catch their breath, or just take a break. But what if not everything actually stops? THAT’S RIGHT! TOY STORY VIBES! In Super Mario 64, there’s a subtle yet unnerving detail many players might have overlooked. When you pause the game, some characters don’t freeze completely. Instead, they keep blinking, staring right at you with an unsettling gaze... Is this Silent Hill!?

“Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town” (2003)
Exploring Japanese mythology in games isn’t exactly new, but diving into the darker elements of Japanese culture and folklore in a cute farm sim? That’s wild. In Animal Crossing, there’s a hidden Easter egg that’s sure to unsettle players. If you’re awake at 3:33 AM, you’ll spot a pair of red eyes, appearing to be an alien, staring back at you from the TV. Meanwhile, in Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, at 4:44 AM, a message reading "shi" pops up on the screen and repeats continuously. Shi means deceased, did I mention that already?

“Super Mario Bros” (1985)
While there’s no Demogorgon or telepathic pre-teen in sight, there is a secret world in Super Mario Bros that mirrors the familiar realms we’ve seen while playing. Called Minus World, this bizarre level in the NES version is also listed as World -1 in the game’s menu. However, unlike the other levels, it’s not all as it seems. The Minus World is a twisted reflection of World 7-2, but the exit pipe at the end of the level doesn’t lead to progress, it sends you right back to the start. No thanks, I’ll just go to the real upside down.

“Super Mario Galaxy 2” (2010)
In Super Mario Galaxy 2, there’s an area called Shiverburn Galaxy, full of lava pits and black holes. On the cliffs of this treacherous place, you’ll spot a trio of mysterious figures watching you ominously as you pass by. They appear alien, and with freecam hacks, this was basically confirmed. But, hackers who dove into the files found they were called "HellValleySkyTrees." Tree or not, this marks one of the first times Mario's worlds delve into supernatural themes. And I’m here for it.

“Various Nintendo Games”
What would gaming be without music? What would The Last of Us be without the nylon string guitar? what would Mario Kart be without brass? Can you imagine iconic titles like Halo, Kingdom Hearts, or Mass Effect without their memorable soundtracks accompanying their most pivotal moments? One of the most renowned composers in gaming is Kazumi Totaka, and his most enduring legacy might not be widely known: Totaka's Song. This secret tune appears in over twelve games, but it can only be unlocked by completing specific tasks in each title, many of which have taken players years to discover, like in Luigi’s Mansion where it starts to play after 3.5 minutes of inactivity on the controller settings screen. Almost impossible to come across if you aren’t specifically looking for it.

“Perfect Dark” (2000)
One of Nintendo's weirdest features is actually quite disturbing. In Perfect Dark for the N64, players could plug in and use the Game Boy Camera. Hidden within the game was a feature that many might not know about, as it was eventually cut from the final release. This feature allowed you to take a picture of anyone, friends, family, or even strangers, and import it into the game, where it would be superimposed onto an enemy character for you to destroy. It’s hard to fathom who thought this was a good idea, shooting your parents and friends.

“Pokemon Red and Blue” (1996)
There are hacky ways to get your hands on Mew in Pokemon Red and Blue, but as it turns out there is actually a way to catch Mew in the game without resorting to cheating devices like Game Genie or GameShark. In 2003, a glitch was discovered that lets you catch any Pokémon in the game, including the elusive Mew. This glitch relies on another bug called the Trainer-Fly glitch, which occurs when you encounter a rival Trainer within their line of sight and then escape. For certain Trainers, who have a specific range where they can spot you, there’s a moment where you can still open your Start menu and use a Field move. If you use Fly or a similar move to escape, the game will think you’re starting a battle, but instead, you’re flying away. This causes the game to misread certain values, triggering the glitch. To get Mew, you’ll need to follow a few more steps, including battling a specific trainer. Is it worth it? A smart person wouldn’t ask.

“Metroid” (1986)
Here’s a password in the original Metroid that wasn’t widely known till the internet was invented. Referred to as "Narpas Sword," the code is entered as “NARPAS SWORD0” followed by a string of zeroes on the password screen. Whatever its meaning, the code unlocks nearly everything. Samus’ health won’t drop below 30, she has unlimited missiles, and all of her weapons and abilities are unlocked. But that’s not all. Completing the game in this mode allows you to start again, this time in the Zero Suit... Don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it-Nice! Sorry.

“Super Mario 64” (1996)
Believe it or not, even as late as 2014, fans were still uncovering secrets in Nintendo’s iconic Super Mario 64, the groundbreaking 3D platformer that brought the plumber into a new dimension. At some point (also well after release), players discovered a coin on the Tiny-Huge Island course that couldn’t be collected. Unlike the other 191 coins in the level, this one was unique as it was completely unreachable. This golden coin was buried beneath the ground, making it physically impossible to grab. However, in 2014, 18 years later, someone finally managed to collect it. By using emulation tweaks like slow motion, we were able to see what could be done if human limitations like skill and reflexes weren’t a factor. Unfortunately for me, those limitations will be with me for life.

“Super Punch-Out!! (1994)
It’s always been a missed opportunity that players couldn’t take control of some of the more memorable characters, like Bald Bull or Mad Clown. Fast forward 28 years, to the discovery of this hidden trick that allows you to play as these characters. The first step is to access a secret stage select menu using a newly discovered code. Once on the character info screen, the second player should press B and Y while the first player presses Start or A. And just like that, you can finally live out the dream of being bashing your friends in Punch-Out!!

Bubble Bobble is a beloved classic from the 80s arcade era, with 99 levels and a wealth of hidden secrets, the game is packed with odd occurrences that players once thought were triggered completely at random. However, when the game’s ROM was examined more than a decade later, hackers uncovered a much deeper system at work. Bubble Bobble actually tracks a wide variety of player actions, like the number of bubbles you've blown and popped, and how many times you’ve jumped, using these stats to determine the power-ups that appear. In the late 90s, these stats were mastered by speedrunners, and used to cheese the game like a margherita pizza.

“Street Fighter Alpha 2” (1996)
When Akuma appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha series, the developers toned him down to make him more balanced. To satisfy fans of the original games, they introduced a more extreme version, called Shin Akuma as a boss, showcasing the character at his full potential. Fast forward 25 years after the impressive SNES port of Street Fighter Alpha 2, where players dug into the game’s code and uncovered a way to play as Shin Akuma. Get ready to dominate, because he’s quite bloody strong.

“Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” (1998)
Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64 hit shelves in 1998, and while the game featured numerous cheat codes, there was one particularly special secret kept hidden from the public. Tucked deep within the game’s data was a code to unlock the Naboo Starfighter. At the time of release, no one would have understood the significance of this, as episode 1 hadn't been released yet. To unlock it, players had to input two separate passwords, and once done they would discover a piece of future Star Wars lore, which I guess nobody did. We had to wait till LucasArts said “Hey, try this, losers.”

“Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness” (1999)
Back in the day, if you were playing a Konami game, there was a good chance you'd come across a secret by entering the famous Konami Code. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness took a unique spin on the code. Discovered 25 years after the game’s release by JupiterClimb, this version requires you to use the Nintendo 64's yellow buttons for the directional inputs, but with a twist: you need to press everything twice. So instead of just "up, up, down, down," you’ll have to do "up, up, up, up, down, down, down, down." Then, instead of pressing Start, you hit the Z trigger. Doing this unlocks all characters, along with their alternate skins, and grants access to the game’s hard mode. How dare they change the code! That’s sacrilege.

“GoldenEye 007” (1997)
Developer Rare tucked away numerous glitches and hidden game modes in their titles, many of which were discovered while the N64 was still in its prime. However, one GoldenEye secret didn’t surface until 2012, fifteen years after the game’s original release. It turns out that Rare had a team experimenting with the possibility of emulating titles from the ZX Spectrum, the British home computer launched in 1982. The code they developed for this project was hidden in the game files of GoldenEye. Instead of removing it before release, Rare simply patched over it, leaving the emulator hidden within the game cartridge.

“Donkey Kong” (1983)
The developer who programmed Donkey Kong for the rarely used Atari 400 home computer managed to conceal his initials so well that they remained undiscovered for 26 years. To reveal Landon M. Dyer’s initials on the title screen, players must die with a score that contains a specific combination of digits, lose their last life by falling, and then set the game to difficulty level 4. Who would have guessed that? Well, probably Landon the ego-maniac. Just put your palm in concrete like a normal person, you nerd.

“Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!” (1987)
The classic NES boxing game revolves around pattern recognition and learning to read your opponents’ attack cues. Remarkably, one such cue went unnoticed for an astounding 22 years! When facing Bald Bull, the usual strategy is to interrupt his Bull Charge. However, in a 2009 interview, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed a simpler method, by paying attention to the background, you can spot an audience member taking a picture with a camera flash. When the flash goes off, land a body blow to knock Bald Bull down for the count. How mad did that make Punch-Out fans? Because I feel second hand anger.

“Super Smash Bros. Melee” (2001)
About seven years after the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee, players discovered a hidden feature that allowed them to play as the series’ mysterious boss character. There are a couple of methods to activate this, but they both involve plugging a controller into the third port, not selecting a character, and leaving the cursor on the name entry screen. While it's possible to control Master Hand, it’s more of a novelty than anything substantial. Master Hand can’t be used in Classic Mode, and just playing as the character can cause the game to crash in certain situations, potentially even corrupting your save data. Typical white guy... I don’t know what that means but when I wrote it, it made me laugh.

“The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past” (1991)
In 1990, Nintendo held a contest through their Nintendo Power Magazine, offering fans the chance to have their name featured in an upcoming NES game. The winner, Chris Houlihan, had his name included in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo. However, despite the contest's notoriety, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that anyone realized WHERE Houlihan’s name was hidden in the game. His name appeared on a plaque in a secret room so well-hidden that players could only find it by glitching Link’s position in the game. Thanks, Nintendo Power Magazine, but I’d have preferred a gift card.