Video Game Trivia: Codes & Secrets Quiz

Answer: Sonic the Hedgehog

'Sonic the Hedgehog' debuted on the Sega Genesis in 1991. Players controlled Sonic, a blue hedgehog with super speed, racing through colorful levels while collecting rings and defeating Dr. Eggman. This unique platformer established Sonic as Sega's iconic mascot and launched one of gaming's most enduring franchises to this day with many sequels and even movie adaptations have been developed.

To enable level select, at the title screen, press Up, Down, Left, Right. You will hear a sound effect play that sounds like a ring being collected. After that, hold A and press Start and a level select screen will appear.

The photo shows a jet breaking the sound barrier at sonic levels of speed.

Answer: Vice City

'Grand Theft Auto: Vice City' launched in 2002 for PlayStation 2 as the fourth main entry in the 'Grand Theft Auto' series, set in the fictional Miami-inspired Vice City during the 1980s, starring Tommy Vercetti, a mobster building a criminal empire after a drug deal goes awry. The game features an open-world design with driving, shooting, and mission-based gameplay, with over nine hours of '80s music soundtrack to accompany you via the in-game car radio. Vice City became one of the best-selling games of all time and is considered a landmark title that helped popularize the open-world crime genre.

By inputting a series of buttons or keys anytime during gameplay depending on which platform you're playing on, you can trigger these cheats which will aid in dealing with tougher missions.

Answer: RollerCoaster Tycoon

'RollerCoaster Tycoon' is an amusement park construction and management simulator first released for Microsoft Windows in 1999. Gameplay revolves around completing scenarios which are specific goals that are required to be achieved in a certain period of time in order to progress further and unlock other scenarios.

Players must strategically spend money by allocating how much staff will be employed to help run the park, coaster size, number of concessions stands etc. Guest satisfaction ratings are also another integral variable that impacts your park's popularity which are influenced by metrics such as nausea tolerance, admission prices, preferred ride intensity, hunger, thirst etc. Pleasing your guests is incentivized as they are your primary cash flow which is needed for investing in research if you wish to unlock new rides and improvements to your park. The legacy of 'RollerCoaster Tycoon' has spawned several spinoffs and sequels.

Renaming your guests can confer useful advantages or just plain nonsense! Simply click on a guest or hired staff, rename them to the exact code with proper spacing and capitalization, and the effect activates. Some effects of renaming guests include faster go-karts by inputting 'Michael Schumacher', 'Chris Sawyer' which will grant you 10,000 in game currency and there are many more names you can experiment with.

Answer: Find Mewtwo in the Unknown Dungeon and capture him

Mewtwo first debuted in 1996 in the iconic 'Pokémon Red/Blue' video game released for Game Boy and has been a series mainstay since. This elusive and mysterious Pokémon is entry number 150 in the Pokedex. According to Pokedex entries in 'Pokémon Red', 'Blue', and 'Yellow', Mewtwo's backstory originated in a Team Rocket laboratory via genetic engineering of Mew's DNA which led to the artificial creation of the secret experiment Mewtwo, who then managed to escape the laboratory and flee.

Mewtwo is found within the depths of the Cerulean Cave aka Unknown Dungeon, accessible only to powerful trainers who have defeated the Elite Four and have become Pokémon champions. To navigate to Mewtwo within this cave, you will need to learn the move surf to traverse water sections in this maze-like dungeon in order to reach Mewtwo who is hidden at the lowest floor. This secret encounter is a tough battle, and it's strongly recommended to save your game before facing off with Mewtwo because you only get one chance to capture Mewtwo!

Answer: Resident Evil

Specifically, 'Resident Evil HD Remaster' is the remake of the first 'Resident Evil', first published in 1996, in which you can unlock this secret message. 'Resident Evil' is a survival horror genre series developed by Capcom that revolves around characters surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other mutated creatures. It's based on the pharmaceutical company Umbrella Corporation's illegal viral bioweapon research that repeatedly escapes containment and causes outbreaks.

Invisible Enemy mode is a challenging gameplay mode unlocked via two different conditions: Completion of the story mode on Normal or Hard difficulty with BOTH of the playable characters Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine or invisible mode can be unlocked by simply completing the campaign on Real Survival mode, an enhanced difficulty story mode that is not so simple to perform. What makes invisible mode particularly difficult, is that all enemies are completely invisible and are only briefly visible when attacking, oh and you have to complete the game in less than five hours with the auto-aim feature disabled on your weapons which compounds the difficulty of this mode. Players must rely on strategy and skill if they want to have any hope of completing this feat.

Successful completion of invisible mode in under five hours will grant the player a congratulatory message dubbed the 'Director's message.' The message from director Shinji Mikami, thanks players for playing through the game, salutes them as remarkable players, and reflects on memorable experiences the player endured during the course of the story mode. Along with the message, players also unlock a congratulatory bonus image and concepts of unused costumes.

If you ask me, I would expect some more tantalizing rewards for completion of such a gruelling task!

The photo for this question refers to the logo of Umbrella Corporation; the biotech pharmaceutical giant featured prominently in the 'Resident Evil' franchise.

Answer: A Luigi costume

Considered a trailblazer in the platformer genre, 'Super Mario 64' launched in 1996 (Japan) and 1997 (North America/Europe) for the Nintendo 64, showcasing the first 3D gameplay of the iconic Mario franchise from Nintendo. 'Super Mario 64' was extremely successful commercially and holds the distinction for the best-selling Nintendo 64 title of all time.

'Super Mario 64' features the eponymous Mario who is tasked with saving yet again another damsel in distress, namely Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. 'Super Mario 64' is set in an open-world 3D environment on the castle grounds and the interior of Bowser's castle which functions as a hub world of sorts, with levels being accessible by jumping through portraits hanging on the wall. The objective is to collect power stars which are hidden within stages and the castle itself or unlocked by achieving certain tasks in the various levels, tasks that may include killing a set number of enemies, collecting coins or solving puzzles. Collecting enough power stars allows you to unlock new levels and upon reaching 70 power stars, the final level is unlocked allowing you to take on Bowser.

Going above and beyond and collecting all 120 power stars will grant the players several rewards. A cannon outside the castle (previously covered by a grate) becomes accessible, allowing you to shoot Mario to the roof of the castle where you'll find Yoshi. Speaking to Yoshi rewards Mario with 99 lives and activates a special invincible Triple Jump which makes Mario immune to enemy attacks and fall damage during the third jump. Additionally, the player will also unlock a bonus dialogue after defeating Bowser, where his speech will change slightly and, in my opinion, the most amusing reward is the penguin you race in Cool, Cool Mountain becomes even bigger, making it harder to beat him on the slide.

You cannot get a Luigi costume, which is a shame as there is no sign of him in the game at all!

Interestingly in 2020, a Nintendo source code leak confirmed that Luigi did have a model in early development, proving he was planned for the game before being cut which was a long-held theory by fans who believed the presence of a blurry plaque on the star statue in the castle courtyard read "L is Real 2401," which was interpreted as proof that Luigi could be unlocked as a secret character.

The photo depicts a rendition of Princess Peach's castle where the game takes place.

Answer: Contra

The famed iconic Konami Code!

While the Konami Code was actually first created for the game 'Gradius' in 1986, it became widely popularized and associated with 'Contra' when the NES version was released in 1988, where entering the code on the start screen gave players thirty extra lives instead of the standard three. Because 'Contra' was a much bigger hit in the U.S. than 'Gradius', the link between it and the Konami Code stuck in the minds of a generation of gamers.

The game's name "Contra" was inspired by the Nicaraguan rebel fighters called the Contrarrevolucion (or Contras), who were fighting against the communist Sandinista Junta in Nicaragua during the 1980s. The game even features a soundtrack tune called "Sandinista," named after the adversaries of the real-life Contras. 'Contra' falls under the genre of a run and gun side-scrolling third person shooter and was originally developed for arcade in 1987 before being ported to the NES in 1988.

Answer: The Sims

Several titles in 'The Sims' series offers this cheat by inputting different variations of the word rosebud which will grant the player the game's currency of simoleons.

'The Sims', dubbed the 'The People Simulator from the creator of 'SimCity'', first released for Microsoft Windows in 2000. The series revolves around creating and controlling virtual people called "Sims" who live in customizable homes within suburban settings. Players guide their Sims through daily life through building relationships, pursuing careers, developing skills, decorating homes, and fulfilling needs like hunger, hygiene, social interaction, and fun. Each main game has spawned numerous expansion packs that add new features like pets, seasons, careers, vacation destinations, supernatural elements, and more.

The Sims speak in a gibberish language known as 'Simlish' and it's quite amusing listening to various expressions and phrases spoken by the Sims. They can form relationships, get married, have children, throw parties, and even engage in romantic activities ('WooHoo'). Sims can die in various ways as well, from fires, drowning, starvation, electrocution, and more creative deaths depending on the game version and they can even come back to haunt you after their demise! The sandbox style of gameplay and abundant creativity in 'The Sims' has resulted in the series being very popular in the 'modding' community and casual gamers alike.

The image references the green 'plumbob' icon of 'The Sims' that hovers above each selected avatar in the game.

Answer: Wolfenstein: The New Order

'The New Order' is a first-person shooter that thrusts players into an alternate 1960s dominated by frighteningly advanced Nazi war machines. B.J. fights back with plasma weaponry and high-powered lasers that tear through metal and enemies in gory fast-paced combat. The battlefield is dominated by mechanical monstrosities like Panzerhunds, hulking robotic dogs protected by heavy plating and equipped with mounted weapons and Super Soldiers, cybernetically enhanced killing machines with superhuman strength clad in bulletproof armor.

'Wolfenstein: The New Order' developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda in 2014, is the sixth installment in the 'Wolfenstein' series. 'Wolfenstein: The New Order' takes place in an alternate history universe and follows protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz, an American soldier who wakes in an asylum from a prolonged coma 14 years after suffering a head injury from a failed campaign against the Nazi regime in 1946. B.J awakes to find the Nazis have prevailed and have conquered the globe using advanced weaponry. After the asylum he's in is raided by Nazis, B.J. joins the resistance to fight back against the regime.

The game featured a clever 'easter egg' where players could collect beds scattered throughout the levels. When you interacted with these beds, protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz would fall asleep and experience nightmare sequences that were actually playable levels from the third game in the Wolfenstein universe, 'Wolfenstein 3D' released in 1992.

The photo clue depicts the swastika, a symbol heavily associated with the Nazi regime.

Answer: Die Hard Vendetta

'Die Hard' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan based on the 1979 novel 'Nothing Lasts Forever' by Roderick Thorp which has since spawned several titles in the franchise.

'Die Hard: Vendetta' was a first-person shooter where you played as John McClane fighting terrorists in various locations. The game was originally released for GameCube and later PlayStation 2, and it was based on the 'Die Hard' film franchise featuring Bruce Willis's iconic character John McClane. Notable features in this game included Hero Time, when activated you could slow down time to line up shots and dodge incoming fire in dramatic fashion akin to bullet time in the 'Max Payne' series and hostage situations where you had to be extra careful to not hit innocent civilians while attempting to dispatch the hostage-taker which added a strategic element to the gameplay.

The game featured various cheat codes that could be entered on the main menu, including one for unlimited health/invincibility.