Video games have a lot of easter eggs, and I mean a LOT of them. An easter egg, for those who don’t know, are little things in games that the developers put to get a good joke out of some people in order to get a good laugh, but they make it hidden is so much hard to find places, that it you would never be able to find it unless you went out of your way to get it. So, today, I want to share with you over fifty easter eggs that I found to be interesting. Before we starts, some rules. Only one game per franchise, just so I can make it even harder on myself. Lastly, I am including games I have not played onto this list as well. With that said, let us start the list.
#50: Hidden Credits from Adventure
Adventure was an old Atari game where you play as a square finding keys to a castle. However, this game is known for having something special. If you have the bridge, take it inside the black castle, and then use three items to make the room flicker. After that, use the bridge to get to the secret room in the chamber. You’ll then find an item on the ground. Pick that up and take it to the hallway underneath the golden castle. Once there, the dot will make a barrier disappear. Use an item to get through the barrier (Any item will do). Once there, you will then find the credits of the developer's name in the game. I know it isn’t much, but you got to remember. This was the first easter egg ever, and it’s a pretty good one if you ask me. You can’t go wrong with starting off a list with the first easter egg in gaming history
#49: Raz’s Corpse from Alice: Madness Returns
Has anyone ever wondered why there has never been another Psychonauts game? Well, don’t worry, with this easter egg, we can finally get some answers, though you may not like it. In Chapter 4 of the Red Queen’s Castle, after falling down a cavern, you will see a small keyhole you need to shrink down and climb though. Once you do that, you will see the floor is able to be destroyed. Break it and you will then come across the skeletal remains of Raz, sitting in his armchar. There’s also a recover memory bottle in front of him. I haven’t played the game, so I don’t know what that means. What I do know is that this is why we will never have a Psychonauts 2.
#48: Giant Rat from Mirror’s Edge
This one is both easy to do, but also easy to miss. Kinda like all easter eggs. During the level, Kate, Part D, use a sniper rifle and zoom in on the first corner the truck turns around on. Once it turns the corner, hit the engine of the truck. Once you do that, look over at the building on the street the furthest away. There, you will see two orange signs. Zoom in on the right one, where you will then see nine white circles. Shoot the one in the middle and then, a huge rat will start running down the street as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog. I think the funniest thing is how the people down below don’t seem to care about a giant rat running down the street. I guess there are just worse things to see in the world of Mirror’s Edge.
#47: Donkey Jim Kong from Earthworm Jim
For a code, this is a pretty interesting one. In the game, Earthworm Jim, if you press the button combination, Down, C, B, A, A, A, A, B, C at the right moment, Earthworm Jim’s head will then turn into the head of Donkey Kong. The only difference is that Donkey Kong now has an arrow shot through his head in a cartoon like fashion. This is probably due to Donkey Kong Country coming out around the same time as this game did, getting more attention, leaving Earthworm Jim in the dust, and Sega did this to spite Nintendo. Well, considering their rivalry in the 90’s, Sega did like to go all out with their game campaigns against Nintendo.
#46: Arkham City Map from Batman: Arkham Asylum
Here is a way to get hype for a game that no one knew about when they first found out about this easter egg. Inside the Arkham Mansion, you will find the Warden’s Office. Nothing special, really. That is until you spray Explosive Gel on a certain spot on a certain wall in the office. If you do it right, it will open up another room in the office, revealing plans by Quincy Sharp to build a new maximum security prison on the north side of Gotham. And this prison would go on to be called Arkham City. That is right, they actually showed everyone the sequel to this game in an easter egg. And if everyone knew how good Arkham City would come to be when it was released, they would have all lost their minds.
#45: Elevator Party from Crysis 2
For a game series I have never played, I am sure we all know this lovely easter egg. In the mission, Dead Man Walking, after destroying the helicopter, take the elevator to the top floor. Once there, do NOT go right. Instead, go left to another elevator. However, it won’t open, so go around the corner, and find a small power box. You need to press X (Xbox version), and activate it. If it turns red, you did the right thing. Once you have finished that, head back to the broken elevator, where the button will be red. Press the button, and you will be greeted with two soldiers dancing in a rave complete with smoke and lights. This is so stupid, and I love it
#44: Monkey Family from Halo 3
This shouldn’t be so creepy, but guess what? It is, I’m afraid. During the very first mission of the game, if you explore around the area for a bit, you will find a small ledge to walk along. If you look along the wall of this small walkway, you will then come across a monkey family of four, one of them holding a small bear. And all they do is sit there, looking. Also, if curiosity gets the better of you, and you decide to shoot them, they actually bleed. Creepy, I know
#43: Robbie the Rabbit from Silent Hill 4: The Room
Oh boy, we finally made it to one of the terrifying easter eggs on this list. In this game, if you look through the keyhole of Eileen Galvin’s room, you will see a Robbie the Rabbit doll sitting on her bed. At first, it doesn’t look that bad. However, after Eileen rushes to the hospital, it still looks as if Robbie will not do anything. BUT, if you so happen to look back through the keyhole, Robbie will now be looking right at you, and pointing at you in a menacing way. I have to say, it’s a pretty good scare for a game like Silent Hill, which, obviously, is used to scaring people like that.
#42: Dead Altair from The Witcher 2
You gotta love game easter eggs that give the finger to other games. And that is exactly what The Witcher 2 did. During the prologue, if you head to the large iron gates, you will find a dead body lying on the ground right next to it. The body is wearing a white suit, and the man was killed by falling into a cart of hay. And not only that, but when you find it, you will increase your assassination attribute by one. So naturally, this is the body of Altair from Assassin’s Creed. And here you thought people could be friendly to other game franchises
#41: Mario Theme Whistle from Viewtiful Joe
So, after all of the franchise bashing and company rivalry with the other easter eggs on this list, it’s nice to see an easter egg that actually pays tribute to another franchise. In this game, if you have a bomb, hold it in. But, instead of kicking it, hold onto the button longer than usual. If you do so, Joe will start kicking the bomb around like a hacky sack. But the best part is that, if you hold it long enough, Joe will start to whistle part of the Mario theme. That is just so simple, yet so amazing. And if you do this while in mid-air, he’ll sing a different part of the song. This is just so wonderful to hear one of the most iconic songs in gaming in a game like this… Not in the PS2 version. SORRY!
#40: Jason Voorhees from Dead Island
Despite me not being the biggest fan of this game, I gotta say, this is one of the coolest easter eggs in a zombie game. After going off the main highway across the Overpass Camp, you will find a small house with crucified victims of Jason. There, you will find Jason himself, and he isn’t the happiest to see you. Jason is a lot stronger than any other enemy in the game, even killing players in one hit if you aren’t lucky. He is also very fast, and can catch up with you easily. However, if you manage to have the strength (And patience) to kill him, you will be able to enter his slaughterhouse filled with blood and dead bodies…. but you’ll get the chainsaw, so it will be so worth it, despite the hundred times you died.
#39: Cheese Wedges from Perfect Dark
This is quite easily one of the more stranger easter eggs on this list. In this game, there are cheese wedges littered everywhere in the game. And when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. Well, everywhere that is hard to find or reach. They’re hidden on the fifth floor of the first level, near the experiment CPU in the second level, fourth floor near the dragon of the third level, and basically many more places. Why are these cheese wedges scattered around the game? What is there purpose? Who cares? It’s an easter egg and it’s pretty silly for a game this serious.
#38: Singing Pikmin from Pikmin 2
This is quite a nice little easter egg that sounds really well done. Originally, a song titled Ai No Uta was planned to be put into the game, but was taken out before the game was released. However, it wasn’t taken out entirely. After you find all Pikmin types, you need to have twenty of each type of Pikmin. Once you do, they will all start singing the tune to the song Ai No Uta, and this was the only way before the internet came along that you could actually hear a song like this. I would say this song is so happy and lively, but with the English lyrics saying “Today once again, we’ll carry, fight, multiply, and be consumed”... Yeah, I think you get the point
#37: Giant Squid from Assassin’s Creed II
For an easter egg, I’m surprised they took the time to make a cutscene for it. If you make it to the Assassin Tomb underneath Santa Maria della Visitazione, you will find a large body of water. Once you pull the lever to activate the swinging poles to get you through the level, you need to look at the water instead. If you do so for long enough, a cutscene will play, showing a giant squid swim by. It will also show another cutscene if you pull the lever again and look at the water again, where the squid swings a tentacle at you. It may not be much, but seeing that they put effort into making a cutscene for it is kinda interesting.
#36: Giant Bunny from Saints Row 2
For a game that had quite the open world, there wasn’t much outstanding easter eggs. Thankfully, this one stood out incredibly well. In order to find this easter egg, you need to take a boat and ride around to a different combination of islands. On these islands are a few arrows, that point you to another arrow. Once you have finished finding the arrows, your boat will disappear and you will be left in the water, where you will find a giant purple bunny coming out of the water. It’s not much, but it’s pretty interesting. He even appears again in Saints Row: The Third on a freighter ship, captured in a net. I guess this rabbit is the Loch Ness Monster of their world.
#35: UFO from Grand Theft Auto V
There are quite a lot of UFO and alien easter eggs in this game. In the beginning of the game, when you are chased by the police, if you swerve off the road near the frozen lake, you can find an alien frozen underwater. However, the UFO ones are where it’s at. There is one crashed underwater, with an open hatch. There is one above the hippie commune in Sandy Shores above the clouds, which has an FIB logo on the front of it. There is also one above Fort Zancudo, which is always flying above 80% altitude. But the best one can be found on Mount Chiliad. After getting 100% completion of the game, come to the top of the mountain and you will find a message saying “Come back when your story is complete”. After coming to the top with all things done, wait until 3:00 A.M. and a large UFO will appear over Mount Chiliad. I gotta say, it is really worth going through the entire game. Not the rewards, or the invincible as hell cars, NO! This one random easter egg is the true prize for all my hard work.
#34: Abstergo Logo from Far Cry 3
We all know Ubisoft for being the worst of the worst, but when it comes to video game easter eggs, they do not disappoint. During one of the Lost Expedition missions, Jason is tasked with finding files around an office, some of which having Abstergo logos from Assassin’s Creed. Man, games really like making Easter Eggs about Assassin’s Creed, huh? But, there’s more. Once you find all of the files, you are given a letter that says that people are trying to discover the Pieces of Eden, like in Assassin’s Creed. You are also given an elevator code that says 122112 which is the date for the Apocalypse in Assassin’s Creed, 12/21/12. Wow, those Assassin’s Creed easter eggs are pretty common, huh?
#33: Nuking the Fridge from Fallout: New Vegas
We’ve seen plenty of games poking fun at other games, so let’s see a game poke fun at a movie. If you haven’t seen the Indiana Jones film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, good……. But seriously though, in the film, there was a scene where Indiana Jones survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge. Somehow, this was possible. But Bethesda saw that this was as stupid as many did, and decided to put this in the game. Only, instead, it didn’t end so well. So, if you find a fridge with a skeleton inside of it, with an Indiana Jones hat right next to it. Looks like that whole fridge stunt didn’t work out after all
#32: Isaac Clarke from Skate 3
Despite Skate 3 being one of the most unintentionally funniest games of all time, it actually manages to have a pretty interesting character you can play as. If you go into the game and type in the code “deadspacetoo”, you will be able to actually play as Isaac Clarke from Dead Space. I guess this is what he does when he isn’t dismembering Necromorphs
#31: Atari Games from Call of Duty: Black Ops II
I’m going to try my hardest to not start a heated argument between haters and even bigger haters. So, naturally, back when Activision made Atari games, they actually decided to put them into this game, but it wasn’t just simple to find. To find these games you can play, you had to start a private match on the Nuketown map. After that, you had to shoot all of the heads off of the mannequins in ninety seconds. If you shot them all in time, head back to the Nuketown sign and look at it. Here, you will see the Activision logo. Once you interact with it, you can play games like H.E.R.O, Kaboom!, Pitfall, and River Raid, all with an Atari controller. You also can’t be killed while playing, so have fun with your old Atari games in a new age first person shooter
#30: LMD from Donkey Kong
When I tell you that this is an easter egg that was just a couple of initials of the creator, it may not sound so special. But how long it took to be found is what makes this one truly special. To find this easter egg, you need to set a new highscore with either 37,000, 73,000, or 77,000. After that, kill yourself until you run out of your lives, but you must make sure your last death is from falling. After that, you need to set the game difficulty to 4. After that, wait for the demo screen to pass through once. After that, you will finally find the creator's initials. It may sound incredibly useless, but what makes it so special is that it actually took over twenty six years just to find it. For an easter egg, that’s pretty legendary. Most easter eggs can’t last that long thanks to the internet, but still, pretty impressive Landon M. Dyer
#29: Notched Pickaxe from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Oh boy, it’s a Minecraft reference. If you happen to climb up to the top of the Throat of the World (And I mean very TIP of the mountain top), you will soon find this pickaxe stuck in a rock waiting for someone to find it. This weapon looks like any other pickaxe in the game, but has the ability to grant 5+ smithing and can do shock damage to enemies. Obviously, this is named after Notch, the creator of Minecraft, which uses plenty of pickaxes. As fun as this is, it isn’t the best Minecraft easter egg in a game…… Foreshadowing much.
#28: Secret Island from Goldeneye 007
Back when this game came out, everyone loved the first person elements and the fun multiplayer. However, they also noticed that they were given an easter egg a few minutes in the game. In the first level, while you are walking along the dam, you may noticed a small silhouette of something out in the ocean. Of course, in order to get a better look, you need to hack the game with a Gameshark and jump across the water to the small island, which is a island with giant turrets on it. What makes it special is that this was an island that was originally going to be put in the game, but they scrapped the idea. However, instead of taking it out of the game, they just moved it out of the way where no one could get to it. Well, it’s a creative way of getting rid of something, I’ll give them that.
#27: Alien TV from Animal Crossing: New Leaf/Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
I decided to put both of these games on here because they both have pretty similar easter eggs. I’ll start with Harvest Moon. If you stay awake until 4:44 A.M., if you walk over to your TV, it will start spewing out a whole bunch of alien text that is kinda out of place in a Harvest Moon game. However, Animal Crossing went a step further. At 3:33 A.M., if you go over to the TV, it will turn on for a brief moment, showing aliens coming from their UFO and showing a close up of their face. I swear, these Nintendo games love their aliens, don’t they.
#26: Creator Commentary from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Who needs some special features in a disc when the creators themselves can talk about the game to you. In Metroid Prime 3, you can use the database on the ship to punch in some codes for important things. However, if you type in the right set of numbers, you can actually hear commentary from the creators of the game. Typing in 1385 gives you commentary from Kensuke Tanabe, who asks if you are enjoying the game. Type in 3648 to hear Kenji Yamamoto talk about the old Metroid music. Type in 4617 to hear Yoshio Sakamoto talk about how Metroid is fun. Type in 8354 to hear Shigeru Miyamoto tell you to play Metroid to the end. And type in 2751 to hear Satoru Iwata talk about being the Nintendo President (God bless that glorious man)
#25: Ghost from Hitman: Contracts
Contracts may not be the most loved of the Hitman franchise, but when it comes to easter eggs, it’s definitely the best (Or that one Ice Cream Truck one from Absolution). In the mission, Traditions of the Trade, when you walk inside the hotel, go right until you find a door that says “Wing Closed”. What you want to do is pick the lock while no one is looking. Once you walk inside, open the double doors, and you will be in a long hallway. Walk down this hall, and you will see a ghost out of the corner of your eye. But that’s the first part. You can see the ghost looking at you from the bathtub. You will also be able to find a police officer who is investigating a murder scene, where the ghost will be in the room next door. And in the room with the shotgun, you can see the ghost looking at you through the mirror. It’s a pretty creepy easter egg, but such a popular one, and for obvious reasons
#24: Marco Polo from Uncharted 2
Despite that this entire game has a lot to do with the real Marco Polo himself, they actually decide to go with the pool game named after him. In chapter 6, you will come across a small pool, which you can actually jump into. Once inside, Nathan will then shout “Marco”, and Chloe will start to chastise you for this. Eventually, she will just give up and say “Polo”. It’s actually really funny for a game like this, and I am glad they put this in a game that is all about Marco Polo
#23: Milla’s Backstory from Psychonauts
For a game that is all happy and hilarious, you wouldn’t think there would be something THIS dark. Anyway, Milla is a party loving girl, and once you go in her mind, that is exactly what you see. Just a huge party going on in her head. However, if you fly around, you will find a small opening near by. However, Milla tells you not to go in there. Inside this room is a small chest, which by opening it, Milla tells you it’s a party killer. So, naturally, curiosity gets the better of you and you jump right in, only to find a room filled with spirits around the room saying “Help us, Milla”, and “It hurts”. You will also find a small book, showing that Milla once worked at an orphanage and cared for all the children, until it burned down, killing them all. Remember, this is a freaking comedy game.
#22: Who Are You Running From from Gameboy Camera
Oh my god, what in the name of all that is holy is this nightmare. Anyway, the Gameboy Camera was a small device for the Gameboy that was incredibly useless because all it would was take badly rendered photos of anything, and you still had to buy the Gameboy Printer to use it, so why you would want that, I don’t know. Especially when it has these nightmares on it. On the menu screen, for some reason, there is a button that says Run. If you press this button, you will be greeted by a nightmarish face that says “What are you running from”, and will freeze the game with a loud 8-bit sound in the background. These faces have different varieties, but all of them are just horrifying. Now I have even more reasons not to buy a Gameboy Camera. Because of crap like this.
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#21: Singing Turrets from Portal 2
At the end of Portal 2, after defeating Wheatley and being told to leave the facility by GLaDOS, you will then meet a choir of Turrets, who all sign a beautifully orchestrated opera on your way out. As beautiful as it is to see it, you can actually see it before you get to the ending. In Test Chamber 16 in Chapter 3: The Return, there is a small gap in a wall. if you look through it, you will be able to see a group of turrets practicing for the ending opera that was supposed to be seen at the end of the game. Granted, this entire game has a whole bunch of amazing easter eggs, so why did I choose this one above the rest? …. I don’t know, really
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#20: Nicole is Dead from Dead Space
In Dead Space, you play as Isaac Clarke, on a space mining facility, the Ishimaru, trying to find a way off of it, while also looking for Nicole, Isaac’s girlfriend, who is on the facility. Throughout the game, you will see Nicole send you messages, and eventually, she will try to help you out during the campaign. However, near the end of the game, it is revealed that all of this was just a hallucination by The Marker, and that Nicole had killed herself since the beginning of the game. Or, you would have been able to see it from the start. In the game, the chapter names are all able to spell out the game’s ending. Let’s put them together. New Arrivals, Intensive Care, Course Correction, Obliteration Imminent, Lethal Devotion, Environmental Hazard, Into the Void, Search and Rescue, Dead on Arrival, End of Days, Alternate Solutions, and Dead Space. Put the first letter of the chapter names together, and you will see that they all spell out to N.I.C.O.L.E.I.S.D.E.A.D. Wow, and to think E.A. was creative back in the day
#19: Haunted Castle from World of Warcraft
In the world of World of Warcraft, there is a place known as the Ruins of Lordaeron. Granted, it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, this is one of those Ghost Hunters kinds of things, because this place is crawling with specters. Around the entire place, you are able to hear the people in this place speaking the last things they did before they were all killed. And in the throne room, you are able to hear the king screaming as he was killed by his own son in the throne room. Surprisingly, this is all based on the game, Warcraft 3, which was released before World of Warcraft, with the events that took place in this castle taking place out in that game, and now, it is put into World of Warcraft, in this terrifying easter egg. I guess I can’t really be shocked with the same game with an easter egg of satanic children
#18: Disco Party from Stanley Parable
For a game as weird as Stanley Parable, an easter egg like this was…. actually expected. So, after following the Narrator’s instructions and going to the secret Mind Control Facility, you must press all three buttons until you see the elevator. Instead, do NOT go on the elevator, and press all of the buttons in a reversed order. Once you pressed them all, all of the monitors in the room with change to bright neon colors while disco music plays. I would say that goes against everything that Stanley Parable stands for, but I’d be lying.
#17: Giant Golden Fire-Breathing Chicken from Gears of War 3
No, I am not making that up. This is the actual name of the easter egg. Anyway, in Act 1-1, when you arrive to the dock area with the first COG Tags. Here, you will see four large pipes. If you yell into them all, you will be able to see.. a chicken… Huh? But trust me, that’s not all. If you decide to shoot it, it will transform into a giant golden fire-breathing chicken that attacks you. I would say this is stupidly funny, but it is Gears of War. Also, killing this thing on Insane Mode with 4 Players earns you the Cluckshot, a gun that you get delivered to you by a chicken. And I thought Fable had a chicken obsession
#16: John Romero from Doom II
We all know John Romero as the creator of Doom and the legend that revolutionized the gaming world with Doom. So, when we made it to the end of Doom II, we never saw this coming. The final boss tells you something backwards that’s hard to hear, but if you listen close enough (Or reverse it), you will hear him say “To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero”. For a while, no one knew how to do this. But, as it turns out, in order to truly beat the games “real” final boss, you had to use a cheat to pass through the walls. Once you defeat the boss, you can actually walk right through him, where you are greeted to the decapitated head of John Romero on a pike, which you then shoot to damage. Well, I guess now gamers can take their rage out on him for Daikatana.
#15: Headcrab Zombie Speech from Half-Life 2
Another easter egg that required reversing the speech. In Half-Life 2, you will be greeted with Headcrab Zombies, people who are now controlled by the Headcrabs to attack other people. As terrifying as that is, you can also hear the Headcrab Zombies say something, but since it’s in reverse, it’s kinda hard to hear. But once you reverse it, the Headcrab Zombies say “Help, God, help. Help me”. So, with this, we are able to prove that the people are actually alive as the Headcrabs are attached to them, and they want it off. Great, another nightmare inducing easter egg.
#14: Sarcastic Announcer from Wave Race: Blue Storm
For a game that is all about boat racing, you wouldn’t expect an easter egg this beautifully hilarious. In the game, if you press Z on the Audio Settings, and then press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, X, Z. If you managed to do it all right, you will hear a sound effect. After that, go and pick Ryota Hayami, and you will then be greeted to a sarcastic announcer, who always insults you and talks bad about you over the intercom. I should be mad, but this is just too funny.
#13: Utter Hell from Diablo II
This is actually a lot harder to do than I thought, but when you do it, boy is it worth it. So after you defeat the final boss of this game, you need to combine Wirt’s Leg with a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube while on the Rogue Encampment. After this, a red portal will open for you to walk through. After that, you will end up in a small field, where you will then be attacked by creatures called Hell Bovine, which are cows that stand on two legs and attack you with axes. And there is also the Cow King, who is basically the same, only slightly stronger. This is so stupid and horribly unnecessary, but I love it anyway
#12: Lost Island from Just Cause 2
I have never seen Lost…. just throwing that out there. Now, in Just Cause 2, there is a small island on the northwest side of Panau. If you drive there by a boat or helicopter, it will be destroyed instantly. Once you land on the island, you will realize there are no markers, so transporting here is impossible. The entire place, however, is a huge reference to lost. It even has the SEARCH written on the beach, a small hatch located on the island, and of course, it has a huge smoke monster that comes and attacks you whenever it sees you. I know Just Cause had a huge overworld, but I didn’t think it was huge enough to make an entire island it’s easter egg.
#11: Secret Developer Room from Chrono Trigger
This is one that I am shocked actually exists, and many are also shocked. In the game, you are able to go and fight the main villain, Lavos, at any time you want. However, if you beat the game once, all of your equipment from then will transfer to the next game, allowing you to carry all of your items to the next game. By that, I mean you can destroy Lavos far before you’re supposed to. And if you do it fast enough, you will be able to head back to the End of Time, where you will meet a group of creatures, who are all actually the developers of the game, and are celebrating an end-game party… I wish I was making that up. After you spoke to everyone, you will head to the VIP room, where you will come face to face with the character designer Akira Toriyama, composer Nobuo Uematsu, and supervisors Yuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi, who congratulate you on beating the game so fast, and give you a REALLY fast credit sequence, since you did just spend your time talking to the staff themselves. A pretty hard to find but well done easter egg if you ask me
#10: Out of this Dimension from Star Fox
Oh man, another ending easter egg. Though, unlike Chrono Trigger, where it was kinda silly, this one is a bit more disturbing. So, after you get past Level 3 of Corneria, and it will take you to Level 3 asteroid belt. Here, you need to shoot the second giant asteroid you see. Once you do that, a giant bird will show up. You then need to fly into it, which will then send you back to the map screen, where it says Fox is “out of this dimension” and you then end up in a space area where there are moons with faces, glittering stars, oh, and there is a giant slot machine as a boss which takes a lot of hit points to kill. And when you do manage to kill the Slot Machine, instead of taking you back, you then stay here, as the game says “The End” once the Slot Machine is dead, giving you an alternate ending where Fox is stuck in this dimension and will never be able to return to Coneria… Why you’d go out of your way for something like this, I have no idea.
#9: Hadouken from Mega Man X
Have you ever wanted to find an easter egg where you actually had to die in order to get it? No. Well, too bad, because Mega Man X does it. After you collect all of the upgrades and defeat all eight of the bosses, you then need to get through Armadillo’s stage. Before going through the boss door, what you want to do is jump off of the ledge four times and kill yourself. After you do this in the right order, head through the boss door. Here, Dr. Light will then give you the power called the Hadouken. With the Hadouken, you are actually able to defeat all enemies and even bosses in just one hit. Not even the final boss of this game stands a chance against the Hadouken. I guess it really is that powerful to where an evil android can’t take it.
#8: Minecraft Cave from Borderlands 2
Remember back during the Notched Pickaxe easter egg where I mentioned another Minecraft easter egg I liked better. Well, here it is. In this game, you must head to the Caustic Caverns in Chapter 9 and head to the northwest corner of the map, called the Guardian Ruins. Here, you will find two tracks with minecarts on them. Go right from the tracks until you find a ledge, and then jump on that ledge. After you jump down, turn around and you will find some dirt blocks. Once you walk over to them, start punching them and then, you will find concrete blocks. Break those as well and you will then enter a cave, filled with Creepers that you have to fight, as well as a giant Creeper called a Badass Creeper. Kill it, and you will receive a special Minecraft skin for your character. It’s random each time. I gotta say, these games really do love their Minecraft
#7: Still Alive Jukebox from Left 4 Dead 2
There are usually easter eggs in games that usually hide jokes of other franchises the company makes in other games of theirs. This one right here is a very special one. During Chapter 1, go into the bar and you will find jukebox. You can press X to get a song, but if you continue to press X, you will then be given eventually play the song Still Alive from Portal. What makes this so funny is how both Portal and Left 4 Dead are completely different. Portal is a light hearted puzzle game, while Left 4 Dead 2 is a dark survival horror game. I guess that is what makes this easter egg so good then, huh.
#6: Captain Blackeye from Banjo-Tooie
For a character who was so incredibly minor in this game, he actually managed to be quite popular for his one little easter egg in the game. If you go to Jolly Roger’s Lagoon, you can find Captain Blackeye sitting at the bar. If you talk to him three times, he will threaten to attack you. On the fourth attempt, he will actually try, but being too seasick, he will just fall over. He will then ask you to go and get him water. After this, you can still talk to him. He will then say that he was originally going to be staring in his own game, but a bear that looked a little bit like Banjo stole his glory from him. What makes this so amazing is that this is actually a reference to the game Dream: Land of Giants, a game that Rare was going to make, but due to slow development, got cancelled. Captain Blackeye was going to be the antagonist, but since the game was scrapped, he now sits here in Banjo-Tooie, drinking his days away. Life really isn’t fair sometimes.
#5: The End from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
We all know The End fight was the best Metal Gear Solid boss fight, if not the best video game boss fight, for having perfect ambience, well done fighting techniques, and literally taking an hour to beat him. It was awesome. However, what if I told you there was a way to beat him the unfair way. In the HD collection (To my knowledge anyway), you can find The End resting on a pier outside of a facility. If you shoot him before he is wheeled away, you can actually kill him right then and there to avoid a boss fight with him later. Why you’d want to do that, I don’t know. And then there’s when you actually fight him. If you believe that he is just too hard for you to beat, there is actually an easier way to do it. If you save the game here, and then come back to it two weeks later (Or change the date on your PS2), you will find that The End had actually died of old age. I’m not even making this up. Then again, this is a Hideo Kojima game. He’s always going all out with his secrets.
#4: Snake’s Codecs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Thank god this is Smash Bros, otherwise I’d be breaking my one game per franchise rule. Anyway, in order to get this easter egg, what you need to do is head to the Shadow Moses level as Snake, and press the taunt button VERY fast. Once you do this, Otacon, or anyone for that matter will call Snake and tell them about the character he is fighting at the moment. And he says some of the funniest stuff, like commenting on how many times Peach gets kidnapped, to even being hypocritical about Link carrying around a bunch of items. And this also was used to create the same thing with Pit in Smash Bros. 4, but this will always be better for starting it. Also, it’s Snake. What’s not to love?
#3: Chris Houlihan Room from Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Yep, this is another easter egg with a huge history behind it. And this is even more interesting. Back in September 1990, Nintendo Power had a contest where they would have a drawing for those who entered a contest to have their name featured in a NES game. To enter, one would have to send a photo of the player encountering Warmech in Final Fantasy and sending it to Nintendo Power headquarters by October 15th of that year. The winner was none other than Chris Houlihan. However, the contest soon faded into obscurity… until a few years later, in the SNES era, when A Link to the Past came to be. There are over five different methods to finding this room, but the one that most people use involves Link using the Pegasus Boots to dash from the Sanctuary to the Sewer Passageway. If done right, Link will end up in the Chris Houlihan room, which is a room filled with a bunch of blue rupees and a note from Chris saying “My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, okay?” I gotta admit, for a secret easter egg like this, it is just impressive and I love it, just like I love everything else in A Link to the Past.
#2: Totaka’s Song from Various Games
Now, this may be breaking the rules a little, but there are some games that are new to this, so…. Besides, this easter egg is legendary. Anyway, Totaka’s Song is based off of the Nintendo music designer, Kazumi Totaka. This song was first used in the game X on Gameboy, but didn’t start getting popular until Mario Paint for the SNES, when you click on the O on the title screen. After that, it appeared in almost everything Nintendo. You hear it on the Game Over screen in Super Mario Land 2. You hear it in the frog filled villa in Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. You hear it on Trial Mode in Yoshi’s Story. Even in some more obscure games like For the Frog the Bell Tolls, and XScape. This little song has become a legend among Nintendo titles and is still used today in games like Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere for a while
(SPOILERS)
#1: Nuclear Bomb from Braid
We all had some fun here with the easter eggs on this list. Remember all the laughs and scares we had? Well, time to do some serious stuff now. Throughout all of Braid, there are a total of seven stars you need to collect, which are hard to find, but when you find them, you are able to achieve the easter egg. After you got the stars, head to the last level, where you are able to rewind time to hit the first lever. After doing that, do the same to the second lever. After you manage to do that, head to the chandelier, and get onto it, where it will lift you up to the princess. However, instead of anything you’d expect, she begins to flash, move around the place, and then explode completely in a blinding light? At first, you’re trying to piece together what had just happened. I mean, you did just go around collecting all of the nearly hard to collect stars, only to give you something like that. Well, trust me. This goes much farther than you would think. This game has the main character, Tim, as a scientist, and the princess exploding, not to mention a quote in the game by Kenneth Bainbridge, who was the director of the Manhattan Project, all point to one thing. This is all showing the events of the nuclear bomb, and how, since this is a game where you can rewind time, all of the scientists involved with the nuclear bomb wish to rewind these events to prevent it from ever happening. This may not be much in the world of easter eggs, but how Braid uses this one in such a way is deserving of the number one spot on this list.
Well, there you have it. Did you enjoy the list? Tell me what you thought of it. With that said, I will see you all next time
#50: Hidden Credits from Adventure
Adventure was an old Atari game where you play as a square finding keys to a castle. However, this game is known for having something special. If you have the bridge, take it inside the black castle, and then use three items to make the room flicker. After that, use the bridge to get to the secret room in the chamber. You’ll then find an item on the ground. Pick that up and take it to the hallway underneath the golden castle. Once there, the dot will make a barrier disappear. Use an item to get through the barrier (Any item will do). Once there, you will then find the credits of the developer's name in the game. I know it isn’t much, but you got to remember. This was the first easter egg ever, and it’s a pretty good one if you ask me. You can’t go wrong with starting off a list with the first easter egg in gaming history
#49: Raz’s Corpse from Alice: Madness Returns
Has anyone ever wondered why there has never been another Psychonauts game? Well, don’t worry, with this easter egg, we can finally get some answers, though you may not like it. In Chapter 4 of the Red Queen’s Castle, after falling down a cavern, you will see a small keyhole you need to shrink down and climb though. Once you do that, you will see the floor is able to be destroyed. Break it and you will then come across the skeletal remains of Raz, sitting in his armchar. There’s also a recover memory bottle in front of him. I haven’t played the game, so I don’t know what that means. What I do know is that this is why we will never have a Psychonauts 2.
#48: Giant Rat from Mirror’s Edge
This one is both easy to do, but also easy to miss. Kinda like all easter eggs. During the level, Kate, Part D, use a sniper rifle and zoom in on the first corner the truck turns around on. Once it turns the corner, hit the engine of the truck. Once you do that, look over at the building on the street the furthest away. There, you will see two orange signs. Zoom in on the right one, where you will then see nine white circles. Shoot the one in the middle and then, a huge rat will start running down the street as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog. I think the funniest thing is how the people down below don’t seem to care about a giant rat running down the street. I guess there are just worse things to see in the world of Mirror’s Edge.
#47: Donkey Jim Kong from Earthworm Jim
For a code, this is a pretty interesting one. In the game, Earthworm Jim, if you press the button combination, Down, C, B, A, A, A, A, B, C at the right moment, Earthworm Jim’s head will then turn into the head of Donkey Kong. The only difference is that Donkey Kong now has an arrow shot through his head in a cartoon like fashion. This is probably due to Donkey Kong Country coming out around the same time as this game did, getting more attention, leaving Earthworm Jim in the dust, and Sega did this to spite Nintendo. Well, considering their rivalry in the 90’s, Sega did like to go all out with their game campaigns against Nintendo.
#46: Arkham City Map from Batman: Arkham Asylum
Here is a way to get hype for a game that no one knew about when they first found out about this easter egg. Inside the Arkham Mansion, you will find the Warden’s Office. Nothing special, really. That is until you spray Explosive Gel on a certain spot on a certain wall in the office. If you do it right, it will open up another room in the office, revealing plans by Quincy Sharp to build a new maximum security prison on the north side of Gotham. And this prison would go on to be called Arkham City. That is right, they actually showed everyone the sequel to this game in an easter egg. And if everyone knew how good Arkham City would come to be when it was released, they would have all lost their minds.
#45: Elevator Party from Crysis 2
For a game series I have never played, I am sure we all know this lovely easter egg. In the mission, Dead Man Walking, after destroying the helicopter, take the elevator to the top floor. Once there, do NOT go right. Instead, go left to another elevator. However, it won’t open, so go around the corner, and find a small power box. You need to press X (Xbox version), and activate it. If it turns red, you did the right thing. Once you have finished that, head back to the broken elevator, where the button will be red. Press the button, and you will be greeted with two soldiers dancing in a rave complete with smoke and lights. This is so stupid, and I love it
#44: Monkey Family from Halo 3
This shouldn’t be so creepy, but guess what? It is, I’m afraid. During the very first mission of the game, if you explore around the area for a bit, you will find a small ledge to walk along. If you look along the wall of this small walkway, you will then come across a monkey family of four, one of them holding a small bear. And all they do is sit there, looking. Also, if curiosity gets the better of you, and you decide to shoot them, they actually bleed. Creepy, I know
#43: Robbie the Rabbit from Silent Hill 4: The Room
Oh boy, we finally made it to one of the terrifying easter eggs on this list. In this game, if you look through the keyhole of Eileen Galvin’s room, you will see a Robbie the Rabbit doll sitting on her bed. At first, it doesn’t look that bad. However, after Eileen rushes to the hospital, it still looks as if Robbie will not do anything. BUT, if you so happen to look back through the keyhole, Robbie will now be looking right at you, and pointing at you in a menacing way. I have to say, it’s a pretty good scare for a game like Silent Hill, which, obviously, is used to scaring people like that.
#42: Dead Altair from The Witcher 2
You gotta love game easter eggs that give the finger to other games. And that is exactly what The Witcher 2 did. During the prologue, if you head to the large iron gates, you will find a dead body lying on the ground right next to it. The body is wearing a white suit, and the man was killed by falling into a cart of hay. And not only that, but when you find it, you will increase your assassination attribute by one. So naturally, this is the body of Altair from Assassin’s Creed. And here you thought people could be friendly to other game franchises
#41: Mario Theme Whistle from Viewtiful Joe
So, after all of the franchise bashing and company rivalry with the other easter eggs on this list, it’s nice to see an easter egg that actually pays tribute to another franchise. In this game, if you have a bomb, hold it in. But, instead of kicking it, hold onto the button longer than usual. If you do so, Joe will start kicking the bomb around like a hacky sack. But the best part is that, if you hold it long enough, Joe will start to whistle part of the Mario theme. That is just so simple, yet so amazing. And if you do this while in mid-air, he’ll sing a different part of the song. This is just so wonderful to hear one of the most iconic songs in gaming in a game like this… Not in the PS2 version. SORRY!
#40: Jason Voorhees from Dead Island
Despite me not being the biggest fan of this game, I gotta say, this is one of the coolest easter eggs in a zombie game. After going off the main highway across the Overpass Camp, you will find a small house with crucified victims of Jason. There, you will find Jason himself, and he isn’t the happiest to see you. Jason is a lot stronger than any other enemy in the game, even killing players in one hit if you aren’t lucky. He is also very fast, and can catch up with you easily. However, if you manage to have the strength (And patience) to kill him, you will be able to enter his slaughterhouse filled with blood and dead bodies…. but you’ll get the chainsaw, so it will be so worth it, despite the hundred times you died.
#39: Cheese Wedges from Perfect Dark
This is quite easily one of the more stranger easter eggs on this list. In this game, there are cheese wedges littered everywhere in the game. And when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. Well, everywhere that is hard to find or reach. They’re hidden on the fifth floor of the first level, near the experiment CPU in the second level, fourth floor near the dragon of the third level, and basically many more places. Why are these cheese wedges scattered around the game? What is there purpose? Who cares? It’s an easter egg and it’s pretty silly for a game this serious.
#38: Singing Pikmin from Pikmin 2
This is quite a nice little easter egg that sounds really well done. Originally, a song titled Ai No Uta was planned to be put into the game, but was taken out before the game was released. However, it wasn’t taken out entirely. After you find all Pikmin types, you need to have twenty of each type of Pikmin. Once you do, they will all start singing the tune to the song Ai No Uta, and this was the only way before the internet came along that you could actually hear a song like this. I would say this song is so happy and lively, but with the English lyrics saying “Today once again, we’ll carry, fight, multiply, and be consumed”... Yeah, I think you get the point
#37: Giant Squid from Assassin’s Creed II
For an easter egg, I’m surprised they took the time to make a cutscene for it. If you make it to the Assassin Tomb underneath Santa Maria della Visitazione, you will find a large body of water. Once you pull the lever to activate the swinging poles to get you through the level, you need to look at the water instead. If you do so for long enough, a cutscene will play, showing a giant squid swim by. It will also show another cutscene if you pull the lever again and look at the water again, where the squid swings a tentacle at you. It may not be much, but seeing that they put effort into making a cutscene for it is kinda interesting.
#36: Giant Bunny from Saints Row 2
For a game that had quite the open world, there wasn’t much outstanding easter eggs. Thankfully, this one stood out incredibly well. In order to find this easter egg, you need to take a boat and ride around to a different combination of islands. On these islands are a few arrows, that point you to another arrow. Once you have finished finding the arrows, your boat will disappear and you will be left in the water, where you will find a giant purple bunny coming out of the water. It’s not much, but it’s pretty interesting. He even appears again in Saints Row: The Third on a freighter ship, captured in a net. I guess this rabbit is the Loch Ness Monster of their world.
#35: UFO from Grand Theft Auto V
There are quite a lot of UFO and alien easter eggs in this game. In the beginning of the game, when you are chased by the police, if you swerve off the road near the frozen lake, you can find an alien frozen underwater. However, the UFO ones are where it’s at. There is one crashed underwater, with an open hatch. There is one above the hippie commune in Sandy Shores above the clouds, which has an FIB logo on the front of it. There is also one above Fort Zancudo, which is always flying above 80% altitude. But the best one can be found on Mount Chiliad. After getting 100% completion of the game, come to the top of the mountain and you will find a message saying “Come back when your story is complete”. After coming to the top with all things done, wait until 3:00 A.M. and a large UFO will appear over Mount Chiliad. I gotta say, it is really worth going through the entire game. Not the rewards, or the invincible as hell cars, NO! This one random easter egg is the true prize for all my hard work.
#34: Abstergo Logo from Far Cry 3
We all know Ubisoft for being the worst of the worst, but when it comes to video game easter eggs, they do not disappoint. During one of the Lost Expedition missions, Jason is tasked with finding files around an office, some of which having Abstergo logos from Assassin’s Creed. Man, games really like making Easter Eggs about Assassin’s Creed, huh? But, there’s more. Once you find all of the files, you are given a letter that says that people are trying to discover the Pieces of Eden, like in Assassin’s Creed. You are also given an elevator code that says 122112 which is the date for the Apocalypse in Assassin’s Creed, 12/21/12. Wow, those Assassin’s Creed easter eggs are pretty common, huh?
#33: Nuking the Fridge from Fallout: New Vegas
We’ve seen plenty of games poking fun at other games, so let’s see a game poke fun at a movie. If you haven’t seen the Indiana Jones film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, good……. But seriously though, in the film, there was a scene where Indiana Jones survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge. Somehow, this was possible. But Bethesda saw that this was as stupid as many did, and decided to put this in the game. Only, instead, it didn’t end so well. So, if you find a fridge with a skeleton inside of it, with an Indiana Jones hat right next to it. Looks like that whole fridge stunt didn’t work out after all
#32: Isaac Clarke from Skate 3
Despite Skate 3 being one of the most unintentionally funniest games of all time, it actually manages to have a pretty interesting character you can play as. If you go into the game and type in the code “deadspacetoo”, you will be able to actually play as Isaac Clarke from Dead Space. I guess this is what he does when he isn’t dismembering Necromorphs
#31: Atari Games from Call of Duty: Black Ops II
I’m going to try my hardest to not start a heated argument between haters and even bigger haters. So, naturally, back when Activision made Atari games, they actually decided to put them into this game, but it wasn’t just simple to find. To find these games you can play, you had to start a private match on the Nuketown map. After that, you had to shoot all of the heads off of the mannequins in ninety seconds. If you shot them all in time, head back to the Nuketown sign and look at it. Here, you will see the Activision logo. Once you interact with it, you can play games like H.E.R.O, Kaboom!, Pitfall, and River Raid, all with an Atari controller. You also can’t be killed while playing, so have fun with your old Atari games in a new age first person shooter
#30: LMD from Donkey Kong
When I tell you that this is an easter egg that was just a couple of initials of the creator, it may not sound so special. But how long it took to be found is what makes this one truly special. To find this easter egg, you need to set a new highscore with either 37,000, 73,000, or 77,000. After that, kill yourself until you run out of your lives, but you must make sure your last death is from falling. After that, you need to set the game difficulty to 4. After that, wait for the demo screen to pass through once. After that, you will finally find the creator's initials. It may sound incredibly useless, but what makes it so special is that it actually took over twenty six years just to find it. For an easter egg, that’s pretty legendary. Most easter eggs can’t last that long thanks to the internet, but still, pretty impressive Landon M. Dyer
#29: Notched Pickaxe from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Oh boy, it’s a Minecraft reference. If you happen to climb up to the top of the Throat of the World (And I mean very TIP of the mountain top), you will soon find this pickaxe stuck in a rock waiting for someone to find it. This weapon looks like any other pickaxe in the game, but has the ability to grant 5+ smithing and can do shock damage to enemies. Obviously, this is named after Notch, the creator of Minecraft, which uses plenty of pickaxes. As fun as this is, it isn’t the best Minecraft easter egg in a game…… Foreshadowing much.
#28: Secret Island from Goldeneye 007
Back when this game came out, everyone loved the first person elements and the fun multiplayer. However, they also noticed that they were given an easter egg a few minutes in the game. In the first level, while you are walking along the dam, you may noticed a small silhouette of something out in the ocean. Of course, in order to get a better look, you need to hack the game with a Gameshark and jump across the water to the small island, which is a island with giant turrets on it. What makes it special is that this was an island that was originally going to be put in the game, but they scrapped the idea. However, instead of taking it out of the game, they just moved it out of the way where no one could get to it. Well, it’s a creative way of getting rid of something, I’ll give them that.
#27: Alien TV from Animal Crossing: New Leaf/Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
I decided to put both of these games on here because they both have pretty similar easter eggs. I’ll start with Harvest Moon. If you stay awake until 4:44 A.M., if you walk over to your TV, it will start spewing out a whole bunch of alien text that is kinda out of place in a Harvest Moon game. However, Animal Crossing went a step further. At 3:33 A.M., if you go over to the TV, it will turn on for a brief moment, showing aliens coming from their UFO and showing a close up of their face. I swear, these Nintendo games love their aliens, don’t they.
#26: Creator Commentary from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Who needs some special features in a disc when the creators themselves can talk about the game to you. In Metroid Prime 3, you can use the database on the ship to punch in some codes for important things. However, if you type in the right set of numbers, you can actually hear commentary from the creators of the game. Typing in 1385 gives you commentary from Kensuke Tanabe, who asks if you are enjoying the game. Type in 3648 to hear Kenji Yamamoto talk about the old Metroid music. Type in 4617 to hear Yoshio Sakamoto talk about how Metroid is fun. Type in 8354 to hear Shigeru Miyamoto tell you to play Metroid to the end. And type in 2751 to hear Satoru Iwata talk about being the Nintendo President (God bless that glorious man)
#25: Ghost from Hitman: Contracts
Contracts may not be the most loved of the Hitman franchise, but when it comes to easter eggs, it’s definitely the best (Or that one Ice Cream Truck one from Absolution). In the mission, Traditions of the Trade, when you walk inside the hotel, go right until you find a door that says “Wing Closed”. What you want to do is pick the lock while no one is looking. Once you walk inside, open the double doors, and you will be in a long hallway. Walk down this hall, and you will see a ghost out of the corner of your eye. But that’s the first part. You can see the ghost looking at you from the bathtub. You will also be able to find a police officer who is investigating a murder scene, where the ghost will be in the room next door. And in the room with the shotgun, you can see the ghost looking at you through the mirror. It’s a pretty creepy easter egg, but such a popular one, and for obvious reasons
#24: Marco Polo from Uncharted 2
Despite that this entire game has a lot to do with the real Marco Polo himself, they actually decide to go with the pool game named after him. In chapter 6, you will come across a small pool, which you can actually jump into. Once inside, Nathan will then shout “Marco”, and Chloe will start to chastise you for this. Eventually, she will just give up and say “Polo”. It’s actually really funny for a game like this, and I am glad they put this in a game that is all about Marco Polo
#23: Milla’s Backstory from Psychonauts
For a game that is all happy and hilarious, you wouldn’t think there would be something THIS dark. Anyway, Milla is a party loving girl, and once you go in her mind, that is exactly what you see. Just a huge party going on in her head. However, if you fly around, you will find a small opening near by. However, Milla tells you not to go in there. Inside this room is a small chest, which by opening it, Milla tells you it’s a party killer. So, naturally, curiosity gets the better of you and you jump right in, only to find a room filled with spirits around the room saying “Help us, Milla”, and “It hurts”. You will also find a small book, showing that Milla once worked at an orphanage and cared for all the children, until it burned down, killing them all. Remember, this is a freaking comedy game.
#22: Who Are You Running From from Gameboy Camera
Oh my god, what in the name of all that is holy is this nightmare. Anyway, the Gameboy Camera was a small device for the Gameboy that was incredibly useless because all it would was take badly rendered photos of anything, and you still had to buy the Gameboy Printer to use it, so why you would want that, I don’t know. Especially when it has these nightmares on it. On the menu screen, for some reason, there is a button that says Run. If you press this button, you will be greeted by a nightmarish face that says “What are you running from”, and will freeze the game with a loud 8-bit sound in the background. These faces have different varieties, but all of them are just horrifying. Now I have even more reasons not to buy a Gameboy Camera. Because of crap like this.
(SPOILERS)
#21: Singing Turrets from Portal 2
At the end of Portal 2, after defeating Wheatley and being told to leave the facility by GLaDOS, you will then meet a choir of Turrets, who all sign a beautifully orchestrated opera on your way out. As beautiful as it is to see it, you can actually see it before you get to the ending. In Test Chamber 16 in Chapter 3: The Return, there is a small gap in a wall. if you look through it, you will be able to see a group of turrets practicing for the ending opera that was supposed to be seen at the end of the game. Granted, this entire game has a whole bunch of amazing easter eggs, so why did I choose this one above the rest? …. I don’t know, really
(SPOILERS)
#20: Nicole is Dead from Dead Space
In Dead Space, you play as Isaac Clarke, on a space mining facility, the Ishimaru, trying to find a way off of it, while also looking for Nicole, Isaac’s girlfriend, who is on the facility. Throughout the game, you will see Nicole send you messages, and eventually, she will try to help you out during the campaign. However, near the end of the game, it is revealed that all of this was just a hallucination by The Marker, and that Nicole had killed herself since the beginning of the game. Or, you would have been able to see it from the start. In the game, the chapter names are all able to spell out the game’s ending. Let’s put them together. New Arrivals, Intensive Care, Course Correction, Obliteration Imminent, Lethal Devotion, Environmental Hazard, Into the Void, Search and Rescue, Dead on Arrival, End of Days, Alternate Solutions, and Dead Space. Put the first letter of the chapter names together, and you will see that they all spell out to N.I.C.O.L.E.I.S.D.E.A.D. Wow, and to think E.A. was creative back in the day
#19: Haunted Castle from World of Warcraft
In the world of World of Warcraft, there is a place known as the Ruins of Lordaeron. Granted, it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, this is one of those Ghost Hunters kinds of things, because this place is crawling with specters. Around the entire place, you are able to hear the people in this place speaking the last things they did before they were all killed. And in the throne room, you are able to hear the king screaming as he was killed by his own son in the throne room. Surprisingly, this is all based on the game, Warcraft 3, which was released before World of Warcraft, with the events that took place in this castle taking place out in that game, and now, it is put into World of Warcraft, in this terrifying easter egg. I guess I can’t really be shocked with the same game with an easter egg of satanic children
#18: Disco Party from Stanley Parable
For a game as weird as Stanley Parable, an easter egg like this was…. actually expected. So, after following the Narrator’s instructions and going to the secret Mind Control Facility, you must press all three buttons until you see the elevator. Instead, do NOT go on the elevator, and press all of the buttons in a reversed order. Once you pressed them all, all of the monitors in the room with change to bright neon colors while disco music plays. I would say that goes against everything that Stanley Parable stands for, but I’d be lying.
#17: Giant Golden Fire-Breathing Chicken from Gears of War 3
No, I am not making that up. This is the actual name of the easter egg. Anyway, in Act 1-1, when you arrive to the dock area with the first COG Tags. Here, you will see four large pipes. If you yell into them all, you will be able to see.. a chicken… Huh? But trust me, that’s not all. If you decide to shoot it, it will transform into a giant golden fire-breathing chicken that attacks you. I would say this is stupidly funny, but it is Gears of War. Also, killing this thing on Insane Mode with 4 Players earns you the Cluckshot, a gun that you get delivered to you by a chicken. And I thought Fable had a chicken obsession
#16: John Romero from Doom II
We all know John Romero as the creator of Doom and the legend that revolutionized the gaming world with Doom. So, when we made it to the end of Doom II, we never saw this coming. The final boss tells you something backwards that’s hard to hear, but if you listen close enough (Or reverse it), you will hear him say “To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero”. For a while, no one knew how to do this. But, as it turns out, in order to truly beat the games “real” final boss, you had to use a cheat to pass through the walls. Once you defeat the boss, you can actually walk right through him, where you are greeted to the decapitated head of John Romero on a pike, which you then shoot to damage. Well, I guess now gamers can take their rage out on him for Daikatana.
#15: Headcrab Zombie Speech from Half-Life 2
Another easter egg that required reversing the speech. In Half-Life 2, you will be greeted with Headcrab Zombies, people who are now controlled by the Headcrabs to attack other people. As terrifying as that is, you can also hear the Headcrab Zombies say something, but since it’s in reverse, it’s kinda hard to hear. But once you reverse it, the Headcrab Zombies say “Help, God, help. Help me”. So, with this, we are able to prove that the people are actually alive as the Headcrabs are attached to them, and they want it off. Great, another nightmare inducing easter egg.
#14: Sarcastic Announcer from Wave Race: Blue Storm
For a game that is all about boat racing, you wouldn’t expect an easter egg this beautifully hilarious. In the game, if you press Z on the Audio Settings, and then press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, X, Z. If you managed to do it all right, you will hear a sound effect. After that, go and pick Ryota Hayami, and you will then be greeted to a sarcastic announcer, who always insults you and talks bad about you over the intercom. I should be mad, but this is just too funny.
#13: Utter Hell from Diablo II
This is actually a lot harder to do than I thought, but when you do it, boy is it worth it. So after you defeat the final boss of this game, you need to combine Wirt’s Leg with a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube while on the Rogue Encampment. After this, a red portal will open for you to walk through. After that, you will end up in a small field, where you will then be attacked by creatures called Hell Bovine, which are cows that stand on two legs and attack you with axes. And there is also the Cow King, who is basically the same, only slightly stronger. This is so stupid and horribly unnecessary, but I love it anyway
#12: Lost Island from Just Cause 2
I have never seen Lost…. just throwing that out there. Now, in Just Cause 2, there is a small island on the northwest side of Panau. If you drive there by a boat or helicopter, it will be destroyed instantly. Once you land on the island, you will realize there are no markers, so transporting here is impossible. The entire place, however, is a huge reference to lost. It even has the SEARCH written on the beach, a small hatch located on the island, and of course, it has a huge smoke monster that comes and attacks you whenever it sees you. I know Just Cause had a huge overworld, but I didn’t think it was huge enough to make an entire island it’s easter egg.
#11: Secret Developer Room from Chrono Trigger
This is one that I am shocked actually exists, and many are also shocked. In the game, you are able to go and fight the main villain, Lavos, at any time you want. However, if you beat the game once, all of your equipment from then will transfer to the next game, allowing you to carry all of your items to the next game. By that, I mean you can destroy Lavos far before you’re supposed to. And if you do it fast enough, you will be able to head back to the End of Time, where you will meet a group of creatures, who are all actually the developers of the game, and are celebrating an end-game party… I wish I was making that up. After you spoke to everyone, you will head to the VIP room, where you will come face to face with the character designer Akira Toriyama, composer Nobuo Uematsu, and supervisors Yuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi, who congratulate you on beating the game so fast, and give you a REALLY fast credit sequence, since you did just spend your time talking to the staff themselves. A pretty hard to find but well done easter egg if you ask me
#10: Out of this Dimension from Star Fox
Oh man, another ending easter egg. Though, unlike Chrono Trigger, where it was kinda silly, this one is a bit more disturbing. So, after you get past Level 3 of Corneria, and it will take you to Level 3 asteroid belt. Here, you need to shoot the second giant asteroid you see. Once you do that, a giant bird will show up. You then need to fly into it, which will then send you back to the map screen, where it says Fox is “out of this dimension” and you then end up in a space area where there are moons with faces, glittering stars, oh, and there is a giant slot machine as a boss which takes a lot of hit points to kill. And when you do manage to kill the Slot Machine, instead of taking you back, you then stay here, as the game says “The End” once the Slot Machine is dead, giving you an alternate ending where Fox is stuck in this dimension and will never be able to return to Coneria… Why you’d go out of your way for something like this, I have no idea.
#9: Hadouken from Mega Man X
Have you ever wanted to find an easter egg where you actually had to die in order to get it? No. Well, too bad, because Mega Man X does it. After you collect all of the upgrades and defeat all eight of the bosses, you then need to get through Armadillo’s stage. Before going through the boss door, what you want to do is jump off of the ledge four times and kill yourself. After you do this in the right order, head through the boss door. Here, Dr. Light will then give you the power called the Hadouken. With the Hadouken, you are actually able to defeat all enemies and even bosses in just one hit. Not even the final boss of this game stands a chance against the Hadouken. I guess it really is that powerful to where an evil android can’t take it.
#8: Minecraft Cave from Borderlands 2
Remember back during the Notched Pickaxe easter egg where I mentioned another Minecraft easter egg I liked better. Well, here it is. In this game, you must head to the Caustic Caverns in Chapter 9 and head to the northwest corner of the map, called the Guardian Ruins. Here, you will find two tracks with minecarts on them. Go right from the tracks until you find a ledge, and then jump on that ledge. After you jump down, turn around and you will find some dirt blocks. Once you walk over to them, start punching them and then, you will find concrete blocks. Break those as well and you will then enter a cave, filled with Creepers that you have to fight, as well as a giant Creeper called a Badass Creeper. Kill it, and you will receive a special Minecraft skin for your character. It’s random each time. I gotta say, these games really do love their Minecraft
#7: Still Alive Jukebox from Left 4 Dead 2
There are usually easter eggs in games that usually hide jokes of other franchises the company makes in other games of theirs. This one right here is a very special one. During Chapter 1, go into the bar and you will find jukebox. You can press X to get a song, but if you continue to press X, you will then be given eventually play the song Still Alive from Portal. What makes this so funny is how both Portal and Left 4 Dead are completely different. Portal is a light hearted puzzle game, while Left 4 Dead 2 is a dark survival horror game. I guess that is what makes this easter egg so good then, huh.
#6: Captain Blackeye from Banjo-Tooie
For a character who was so incredibly minor in this game, he actually managed to be quite popular for his one little easter egg in the game. If you go to Jolly Roger’s Lagoon, you can find Captain Blackeye sitting at the bar. If you talk to him three times, he will threaten to attack you. On the fourth attempt, he will actually try, but being too seasick, he will just fall over. He will then ask you to go and get him water. After this, you can still talk to him. He will then say that he was originally going to be staring in his own game, but a bear that looked a little bit like Banjo stole his glory from him. What makes this so amazing is that this is actually a reference to the game Dream: Land of Giants, a game that Rare was going to make, but due to slow development, got cancelled. Captain Blackeye was going to be the antagonist, but since the game was scrapped, he now sits here in Banjo-Tooie, drinking his days away. Life really isn’t fair sometimes.
#5: The End from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
We all know The End fight was the best Metal Gear Solid boss fight, if not the best video game boss fight, for having perfect ambience, well done fighting techniques, and literally taking an hour to beat him. It was awesome. However, what if I told you there was a way to beat him the unfair way. In the HD collection (To my knowledge anyway), you can find The End resting on a pier outside of a facility. If you shoot him before he is wheeled away, you can actually kill him right then and there to avoid a boss fight with him later. Why you’d want to do that, I don’t know. And then there’s when you actually fight him. If you believe that he is just too hard for you to beat, there is actually an easier way to do it. If you save the game here, and then come back to it two weeks later (Or change the date on your PS2), you will find that The End had actually died of old age. I’m not even making this up. Then again, this is a Hideo Kojima game. He’s always going all out with his secrets.
#4: Snake’s Codecs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Thank god this is Smash Bros, otherwise I’d be breaking my one game per franchise rule. Anyway, in order to get this easter egg, what you need to do is head to the Shadow Moses level as Snake, and press the taunt button VERY fast. Once you do this, Otacon, or anyone for that matter will call Snake and tell them about the character he is fighting at the moment. And he says some of the funniest stuff, like commenting on how many times Peach gets kidnapped, to even being hypocritical about Link carrying around a bunch of items. And this also was used to create the same thing with Pit in Smash Bros. 4, but this will always be better for starting it. Also, it’s Snake. What’s not to love?
#3: Chris Houlihan Room from Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Yep, this is another easter egg with a huge history behind it. And this is even more interesting. Back in September 1990, Nintendo Power had a contest where they would have a drawing for those who entered a contest to have their name featured in a NES game. To enter, one would have to send a photo of the player encountering Warmech in Final Fantasy and sending it to Nintendo Power headquarters by October 15th of that year. The winner was none other than Chris Houlihan. However, the contest soon faded into obscurity… until a few years later, in the SNES era, when A Link to the Past came to be. There are over five different methods to finding this room, but the one that most people use involves Link using the Pegasus Boots to dash from the Sanctuary to the Sewer Passageway. If done right, Link will end up in the Chris Houlihan room, which is a room filled with a bunch of blue rupees and a note from Chris saying “My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, okay?” I gotta admit, for a secret easter egg like this, it is just impressive and I love it, just like I love everything else in A Link to the Past.
#2: Totaka’s Song from Various Games
Now, this may be breaking the rules a little, but there are some games that are new to this, so…. Besides, this easter egg is legendary. Anyway, Totaka’s Song is based off of the Nintendo music designer, Kazumi Totaka. This song was first used in the game X on Gameboy, but didn’t start getting popular until Mario Paint for the SNES, when you click on the O on the title screen. After that, it appeared in almost everything Nintendo. You hear it on the Game Over screen in Super Mario Land 2. You hear it in the frog filled villa in Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. You hear it on Trial Mode in Yoshi’s Story. Even in some more obscure games like For the Frog the Bell Tolls, and XScape. This little song has become a legend among Nintendo titles and is still used today in games like Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere for a while
(SPOILERS)
#1: Nuclear Bomb from Braid
We all had some fun here with the easter eggs on this list. Remember all the laughs and scares we had? Well, time to do some serious stuff now. Throughout all of Braid, there are a total of seven stars you need to collect, which are hard to find, but when you find them, you are able to achieve the easter egg. After you got the stars, head to the last level, where you are able to rewind time to hit the first lever. After doing that, do the same to the second lever. After you manage to do that, head to the chandelier, and get onto it, where it will lift you up to the princess. However, instead of anything you’d expect, she begins to flash, move around the place, and then explode completely in a blinding light? At first, you’re trying to piece together what had just happened. I mean, you did just go around collecting all of the nearly hard to collect stars, only to give you something like that. Well, trust me. This goes much farther than you would think. This game has the main character, Tim, as a scientist, and the princess exploding, not to mention a quote in the game by Kenneth Bainbridge, who was the director of the Manhattan Project, all point to one thing. This is all showing the events of the nuclear bomb, and how, since this is a game where you can rewind time, all of the scientists involved with the nuclear bomb wish to rewind these events to prevent it from ever happening. This may not be much in the world of easter eggs, but how Braid uses this one in such a way is deserving of the number one spot on this list.
Well, there you have it. Did you enjoy the list? Tell me what you thought of it. With that said, I will see you all next time