Finishing moves, infinite lives, extra ammo and more: cheat codes make us feel like hackers in real life and Gods in the games we play. Let’s head back to our childhood with some of the best cheat codes ever.
10 Big Head Mode in ‘NBA Jam’
Do it: At the ‘Tonight’s Match Up’ menu, hold the Up, ‘Turbo’ and ‘Steal’ buttons.
Love it: What’s better than court-spanning jumps, fire-engulfed sports equipment and smack-talk dunking? Ballooning players’ heads to 3x their original size, of course.
9 Spawn a Tank in ‘GTA3’
Do it: During game play press circle 6x, R1, L2, L1, triangle, circle, triangle.
Love it: The GTA games are just about shooting shit up and banging hookers in the digital moonlight anyway, so why not just buck the conventions of normal game play and spawn a giant tank from the sky that’s completely impervious to damage and able to launch big, fat missiles directly into the opposition?
8 Everything Unlocked in ‘Turok 2: Seeds of Evil’
Do it: Enter ‘BEWAREOBLIVIONISATHAND’ into the cheat menu.
Love it: Prepare yourself, for you, my friend, are about to unleash havoc on every prehistoric baddie in the jungle: it’s cerebral bore time!
7 Blood Mode in ‘Mortal Kombat Genesis’
Do it: Enter A,B,A,C,A,B,B on the ‘Code of Honor’ screen.
Love it: Unlock all the sweet blood, gore and superfluous carnage of the original arcade game.
6 The Konami Code in Various Games
Do it: Up 2x, down 2x, left, right, left, right, B, A, START.
Love it: Just about every NES-era Konami title makes use of this one, giving 30 lives to play with in games like Contra and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
5 Level Skipping in the ‘Doom’ Games
Do it: During game play, type in ‘idclev#’ with # being the desired level.
Love it: Can’t find that $&!@& red key? Just enter this code and you’ll be instantly transported to the level of your choosing. Perfect for bypassing some of Doom’s more poorly designed ones.
4 No Clipping in the ‘Doom’ Games
Do it: During game play, type in ‘idclip.’
Love it: Want to travel outside of the level map, walk through walls or even hide inside of them? This is the perfect code for the surreal experience of being able to traverse time and space (okay, mostly space) in every 90’s Doom game ever made.
3 Unlock a Second Quest in ‘Legend of Zelda’
Do it: Put ‘ZELDA’ as your name when creating your character on the second play through.
Love it: You’ve just beaten Legend of Zelda and you feel like a king among men. Now, go back and feel like an idiot douche when you get your ass handed to you in punishingly tough dungeons and maps!
2 Debug Mode in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
Do it: Press Up, C, down, C, left, C, right, C, START and then hold A while on the title screen.
Love it: This crazy ass cheat code allows the player to move objects, change the frame rate speed, change Sonic and walk right through enemies among other weird and experimental game alterations.
1 All Weapons in ‘Goldeneye’
Do it: Go to the cheat menu and press down, left, up C, right, L+down, L+left, L+up, left C, left – and then hold C down.
Love it: C’mon, you know you just want to walk around thumping grenades off of walls with your grenade launcher, spraying non-stop bullets with your hyper-fast RCP90 and double golden-gunning your way through hordes of enemy soldiers. You’ve just reached gaming nirvana.