A Nintendo Entertainment System.; Credit: Mark Ramsay/Flickr Creative Commons

There have been plenty of video game movies over the years, but there have been far fewer actually good ones. "Ready Player One," based on the 2011 video game-inspired novel, has the chance to be a great one thanks to the announcement that Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct.

That book was inspired by classic video games, and was written using classic video game cheats to play parts of classic games and write them into his book, author Ernest Cline said in a recent talk. That got us thinking about the classic video game cheats and secrets that stuck with us from our younger days playing classic video games — here's our top 11.

1. The Konami Code

Up up down down left right left right B A start! This code became such a part of video game culture that it got its own name. It was popularized in various games made by Konami, particularly Contra, leading to it also being known as the "Contra Code" for its ability to give you 30 lives in the game. Before the Internet, it was spread through gaming magazines and word of mouth — it was so influential that there are still developers who put it in their games. (There's even an entire Wikipedia page of games, both from Konami and others, that use the Konami Code. It's even been used on some websites.)

What is the Konami Code

2. Street Figher II Turbo's turbo

The game that I actually used a code for the most as a kid, the Super Nintendo code down, R, up, L, Y, B on the second controller didn't give you any advantages — it just kicked the speed up. By default, you had a few selections for how fast the game would be, but you could multiple that several-fold with this code, letting you and your friends battle at what at the time felt unbelievably fast.

3. Super Mario Bros.'s Minus World

This one doesn't involve a code, but players managed to discover what was deemed a glitch in the game that put you into a messed up version of another level, dubbed by fans the Minus World due to just "-1" instead of a full level number appearing at the top of the screen. There was no way to escape the glitched level, no matter how hard you might try, sending you to play it over and over again until your time ran out or you were killed by enemies. Still, modern players have found that you can go on thanks to various computer emulators and the like; see some of the worlds beyond below:

Minus World video

4. Metroid and Justin Bailey

Fans early on discovered that the password JUSTIN BAILEY allowed you to start with all of the available weapons along with plenty of life and ammo. Fans didn't know whether Justin Bailey was a reference to an actual person, just a code coincidence or something else, but that didn't stop them from eagerly playing through with this code. It also removed lead character Samus Aran from her armor, allowing players to discover that the game's star was an early female lead character, even if her armor didn't clue players in before the end of the game without the code.

Justin Bailey video

5. Doom's God mode

By typing the letters iddqd in PC game Doom, players could enable God mode, making them essentially invincible and letting them power through the early first-person shooter. The code had been available in developer id's earlier game Wolfenstein, but hadn't been quite as easily accessible. So, if you ever need a power boost when you're fighting on Mars, Doom has the answer. (Unfortunately, we don't believe this provides any extra protection for NASA's Mars rovers.)

6. Mortal Kombat's Reptile

The developers of Mortal Kombat made a battle against Reptile unbelievably hard for Mortal Kombat fans, including putting some randomness into whether doing what you were supposed to do to unlock the character would even work. Still, players happily pumped in extra quarters for the chance to face off against Reptile, a character with a look that mirrored that of characters Sub-Zero and Scorpion, just with a different color. Players had to achieve a Double Flawless victory on the Pit level, finish the match using their fatality move, and there also had to be a silhouette flying past the moon in the background — which only happened every sixth game.

Mortal Kombat: Reptile

7. The Legend of Zelda's Second Quest

The Legend of Zelda was a pretty challenging early adventure game, one of the first releases for the Nintendo home video game console. When you beat the game, you were given the option to go on a "Second Quest," which was a tweaked version of the game you just played except waaaaay harder. However, if you thought you were the coolest kid on the block and were so awesome you didn't need a warmup, you could name your character "ZELDA" (in one of the more obvious cheats in video game history) and skip ahead to that Second Quest from the start. You would then likely cry from how hard it was and start another new game with a different name.

8. NBA Jam's celebrity secret characters

A variety of celebrities from sports, music, and even politics were available by putting in various initials combined with buttons on the controller. These included then-President Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Warren Moon and more. That tradition has been continued in more recent NBA Jam games, with President Obama and others available for your video gaming pleasure.

9. GoldenEye's extra modes

There were a wide variety of cheat codes for GoldenEye, widely considered one of the all-time great first-person shooters. Sure, you could use codes to unlock different levels, but the reason these codes are remembered is because it gave you all sorts of new ways to play against your friends. The game also had an actual cheat menu that would appear if you accomplished one of a variety of goals, and from that menu you could cheat extra hard by using your controller to unlock things like a paintball mode, turbo mode, modes with both giant heads and teeny-tiny James Bonds and more.

10. Sonic The Hedgehog 2's Debug Mode

The Sonic debug mode is the perfect example of why so many games included cheats back in the day: They were often for the developers to be able to more easily play the games while looking for bugs and doing other testing. Sonic 2 let you get to an actual debug mode by playing various sounds from the level select screen (1, 9, 9, 2, 1, 1, 2, 4, for your reference), then pressing start and holding the A button. Developers later put them in for fun and intended them for the players to discover, but some of the early cheat codes were just meant for developers — but players proved more intrepid than they may have anticipated.

Sonic debug mode

11. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: Go straight to Mike Tyson

There was actually a password mode in this game — before games had the option to save, plenty of games gave you codes that let you get back to where you were before. This is one of the examples from that darker time, where whether you played through opponents like Glass Joe and Bald Bull or not, you could try your changes against Lightning Mike (at least until the video game's license ran out and he was replaced in future editions with the way less exciting "Mr. Dream"). You better have had a pen and paper ready when your friend started yelling at you 007 373 5963 for you to use on your own copy of the game — no sharing. The game is hard enough that even Mike Tyson had some trouble fighting himself:

Mike Tyson vs. Mike Tyson

Let us know in the comments the classic video games — and the classic cheat codes and secrets — that inspired you.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

As of Nov. 13, get an Xbox wireless controller in Velocity Green at QVC for $34.99. That's $30 off.

Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok are obviously two very different players, but attack coach Tony Brown views them as the same when it comes to driving the Springbok attack.

Thompson and Luukkonen considered day-to-day, Sabres blueliner out long-term.

One half of the La Poche Bleue podcast and former Montreal Canadiens player Guillaume Latendresse has announced he is taking a break.

Benin Republic coach, Gernot Rohr has tipped Super Eagles forward, Lookman Ademola to win the 2024 African Footballer of the Year award. The 71-year-old German described Lookman as a fantastic player. Rohr spoke ahead of Benin’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier with Nigeria on Thursday in Abidjan. “For me, Lookman is the best […]

He’s fantastic – Rohr names player to win African Footballer of the Year

England skipper Harry Kane has hit out at several players who withdrew from the national team ahead of their Nations League crucial matches against Greece and Ireland, saying that country must always come before club football. England play Greece away on Thursday followed by Ireland three days later at Wembley but nine players, some of […]

Get ready to make this warhouse a warhome.

Phil Spencer, Microsoft's Gaming CEO, has revealed in a new interview that the company is considering more studio acquisitions, and releasing more titles on PlayStation consoles

EA FC 25 players have a whole new Team of the Week to find in packs, with amazing upgrades for Jude Bellingham, Mo Salah, and Marie-Antoinette Katoto

Georgia coach Kirby Smart had lots of praise for backup safety Jake Pope on Tuesday, just days after he criticized the player for appearing to celebrate with fans from the opposing team.

Five players accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a London, Ont., gala celebrating their 2018 world junior hockey win will now stand trial beginning in April 2025, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Andy Farrell welcomes the pressure last week's All Blacks loss has put on Ireland and admits some players are "lucky enough" to be given an immediate shot at redemption against Argentina.

1. 'Absolutely box office...': Michael Vaughan picks this Indian player to watch out for in Australia  The Times of India
2. Jasprit Bumrah pitted against India's biggest Australian nemesis; 'confrontation' to overshadow Kohli vs Cummins battle  Hindustan Times
3. IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli played down as Adam Gilchrist lists key match-ups for BGT 2024-25  Cricket Addictor
4. Shami’s absence a major blow for India in BGT, says Paul Adams  Morung Express
5. Michael Vaughan predicts key battles for Border-Gavaskar Trophy, pits Bumrah against India's nemesis  MSN

Sergio Suarez Jr., founder and CEO of Tackle AI, shares how he built a successful tech company from the ground up.

The traders’ body also accused the quick commerce platforms of using “vertical agreements” to control supply, pricing, and distribution, causing significant harm to competition in the market

Here are 10 players whose names you may know but who spent easy-to-forget days in Colorado.

Most fans still have a difficult time picturing Jose Bautista wearing anything besides a Blue Jays uniform. In the future, few will be able to name the three organizations Bautista played for in 2018. Some athletes will always be remembered for wearing one uniform in one city, and Bautista is one of those.

Here are some key matchups to watch as the Eagles host the Commanders in Week 11 on Thursday Night Football.

Sometimes a League of Legends match doesn't go on as smoothly as you predicted, with players throwing offensive comments at each other for some stupid reason. In the end, all is quickly forgotten, everybody disconnects from that game and goes on to the next one, hoping to have better teammates. Well, this isn't the case of the 19-year-old Justin Carter that found himself in jail after responding to another player’s comment on fa...

Simply Uk Gadgets . Biglietto Augurio S Valentino. ... Offerte Regali Lodi - Confezioni Bomboniera - Simply Uk Gadgets - Biglietto Augurio Battesimo ...

Dr. Roto reveals two Tampa Bay Rays to look closely at in your 2016 Fantasy Baseball draft!

Dr. Roto lists one player from each position that he believes is overrated heading into the 2016 Fantasy Baseball season.

Dr. Roto discusses two Texas Rangers to keep an eye on heading into the 2016 Fantasy Baseball season!

Dr. Roto reveals a must-own catcher he will be targeting in all Fantasy Baseball drafts this season!

Dr. Roto discusses two players from the Toronto Blue Jays Fantasy Baseball owners should keep an eye on in 2016!

Dr. Roto reveals his second Visionary Fantasy Baseball player in consecutive days!

Dr. Roto breaks down two players you may want to target from the Washington Nationals in your 2016 Fantasy Baseball draft!

Published at LXer: Dome Keeper is a real gem with a simple yet highly satisfying gameplay loop, and it seems it's done well for Bippinbits. Even though they're working on the incredible looking...

Published at LXer: If you have been around for a longtime, you probably have seen how audio players have evolved over the years, some have stuck to the old 90s approach, some have gone for a more...

Published at LXer: The hardware monitoring "HWMON" subsystem updates for Linux 6.12 added some new drivers as well as adding new device support to some of the existing drivers. Read More......

Published at LXer: The Audacious open-source audio player, a descendant of the XMMS media player, has been updated to version 4.4.1, a release that introduces several new features and improvements....

Do you have a website? If yes, do you have videos on that website? If yes, are you directly embedding videos from YouTube on your website? PROBLEM IS YouTube is free, BUT eats/diverts your traffic by suggesting videos on top of your video and directly embedding YouTube videos, which makes your business website look cheap […]

As per the research report titled Global Podcasting Market Size study, by Genre, by Format (Interviews, Panels, Solo, Conversational) and Regional Forecasts 2020-2027 available with Market Study Report LLC, global podcasting market is expected to witness unprecedented growth during 2020-2027.

According to the business intelligence report, emphasis among podcast production studios on the distribution and production of their content on audio platforms such as Spotify, coupled with emergence of high bandwidth, and personal digital assistants are augmenting the growth of global podcasting market size.

Increasing penetration of internet as well as smartphones, inclination towards audio and music content, growing acceptance of audio broadcasting content, and escalating demand for podcasts are stimulating the global podcasting market outlook. Citing an instance, the IDC (International Data Corporation) recorded shipment of around 369.8 million units of smartphones by vendors in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Leading players that define global podcasting industry trends are TuneIn Inc., Stitcher Radio, Spotify AB, SoundCloud, Entercom Communications Corporation, Pandora Media LLC, Megaphone LLC, iHeartMedia Inc., and Apple Inc.

On the contrary, storage space issues and high costs associated with podcasting are expected to impede the industry expansion throughout the analysis timeframe.

DVD Players UK Multiregion DVD Players

[New Zimbabwe] Dynamos are seemingly set for a mass exodus of players when the ongoing season ends in two weeks.

[This Day] Benin Republic's Cheetahs are putting everything into their preparations to face Nigeria's Super Eagles to possibly seal their qualification for the AFCON 2025.

Get the comprehensive player rosters for every MLB baseball team.

‘Both individuals and businesses from across the country and overseas are increasingly wanting to have a share in the market’

Wimbledon 2023 wrapped up with a men’s final tennis masterclass, and social media didn't miss out on the action.

This week, the guys read the 2011 novel Ready Player One. The book, itself an homage to video games and the 80s, prompted discussions of human personhood, the journey of the spiritual life, and how love can pierce through our obsession with the illusory. They close with their Top 5 Classic Video Games.

look in the direction you want to move, open and close your mouth to go faster #

Rory McIlroy hopes the presence at the Dunhill Links Championship of the men involved in talks aimed at ending the split in men's professional golf is a "good sign".

He says female rugby players at the centre of allegations over WRU contract talks can meet him.

Cliftonville striker Caitlin McGuinness is named October's player of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association.