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The VC Advantage: Treasurevania
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Score used to be important in video games. With the rise of Guitar Hero and the Xbox Live Achievement system, it's coming back, but it went out of style for a long time. High scores made a lot of sense in the arcade (which has also gone out of style) since other people played the machines and could thus compete to overtake your three-letter tag as that machine's leader. Home games adopted scoring for two reasons: first, in the older games, there was no other way to determine progression. After twenty minutes of Asteroids, without a score there'd be no evidence that you'd done any better than someone playing for thirty seconds. The game never changes, never reveals new content, and never ends. Score was a very simple way to allow you to progress. Of course, competitive sport-based games like Pong required scoring as a basic gameplay mechanic.Later (NES and beyond) games adopted scoring mostly as a holdover from classic arcade games. Games like Super Mario Bros. were more about experience than performance, and progress could be tracked by ... actual progress. You moved from place to place, and didn't need some arbitrary number to tell you how far along you were. Even the first Mega Man game had a score display.The first Castlevania arguably didn't need a score counter at all. Not dying was more than enough of an achievement to wear as a badge of honor. Besides, it already featured another counter in the game (hearts) that also incremented by picking up items. Later Castlevania games adopted experience points, which are exactly like points except that their accrual actually improves your avatar's abilities, but pre-Symphony of the Night games all awarded points for killing enemies and collecting items.Some of the items, in fact, did nothing but improve your score.
The VC Advantage: Overdone
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Eternal Champions is one of the best Genesis-exclusive fighting games -- by default. We remember liking it a lot, but now that we look back on it, we realize that we were probably stupid and insane. Or just smitten with the ridiculous voiced taunts found in the game -- more time was spent with a friend trading "punk"s and "SIMPLETON"s than actually competing. Looking back, we see that it's pretty much everything wrong with EXTREME mid-90's comic books combined with way too much Mortal Kombat influence. Given enough time, we may be able to rediscover the classic fighter we thought it was, but right now we're just appalled with Sega and with our past selves.Check out this video featuring all of the game's "Overkill" stage kills, and be transported back to a time when this kind of stuff was not only okay to put in a video game, but somebody thought it was a good idea to do so. Back then, we were all so enamored with Mortal Kombat that no amount of over-the-top game violence was enough. Now, in a post-1993 world, it's somewhere between hilarious and horrifying. So much so that the video is featured after the break. Champions fans will notice that the video is actually the Sega CD version of the game. There was no reason to deprive you of the few extra Overkills that come along with the update, we figured, along with the Sudden Deaths, which are ... some other kind of stage kill.. Also, we couldn't find a video of the Genesis version. But mostly the first one that makes us sound nice. Be warned, the content may be considered offensive -- but there's nothing we could do about that nu-metal soundtrack.
The VC Advantage: Staircase of the Moon
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Super Castlevania IV afforded players more control than any previous Castlevania. You could whip in eight directions, and even let the whip dangle from your hand. You could swing from strategically-placed grappling points. For the first time, subweapons were given their own button. Until the PC Engine Dracula X came along, Super Castlevania IV had the freest movement of any Castlevania game yet. This no doubt left an impression on frustrated players happy to be able to whip up for once, and contributes greatly to the continued enjoyment of Castlevania IV by many over the NES games.But the move that is most responsible for Super Castlevania IV's specialness, in our eyes, was not related to whipping. In fact, it was probably unintentional. By holding back while ascending or descending a staircase, you could make Simon face the direction opposite his movement, while the forward stair-climbing animation continued. In essence, Simon would moonwalk up the stairs. It's not technically a code, but it is somewhat of a secret that is accessed by pushing buttons in the game, so we feel it's close enough to a code for the VCA.
The VC Advantage: A Very Special Anniversary Edition
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.It's another special celebration this week at Wii Fanboy, and we thought that we would do something special in this week's VC Advantage, involving one of the most iconic Virtual Console games -- in fact, one of the most iconic video games of all time. Even though Super Mario Bros. didn't come out in the U.S. until Christmas, it's the canonical Nintendo game and thus seems like a perfect candidate for the Wii anniversary week VCA.Two (more) caveats before we delve into our subject matter: first, we'd like to bring up the point that not all secrets are cheats, and not all are intentional. Some of the most interesting discoveries in video games were put in there totally by accident, or are the result of someone's imagination. Second, the images and subject matter of today's VCA are as not safe for work as unaltered Super Mario Bros. footage can be.
The VC Advantage: Puyo permutations
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Puyo Puyo, Compile's series of falling-blob puzzle games, currently has two iterations on the American Virtual Console. Neither of these games contain the words "Puyo" or "Puyo" in their titles. But Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine are Puyo through and through(yo). Which automatically means that they're cute and enjoyable Tetris/Columns-esque puzzle games. And (insert segue here) here are some codes for them.Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (GEN)Skip to the final boss: Yes, it's weird that a puzzle game like this has level passwords. It's even weirder for it to have bosses. Should you want to experience the weirdness for yourself, you can take advantage of the fact that level passwords are delightfully easy to share on the Internet -- much more so than, say, save files. To access the final boss, enter the following password: for easy mode, enter Yellow, Has, Blue, Blue. For normal, enter Purple, Yellow, Has, Clear. Hard: Has, Clear, Purple, Has. Hardest: Red, Red, Clear, Yellow.Kirby's Avalanche (SNES)Custom options menu: Hold down all four face buttons on controller 2 during gameplay, then reset the game. Go into the options menu and more options will appear, including level select and a sound test. We cannot guarantee the utility of this code; in fact, it's a bit of a research interest for us. Does the soft reset of the Virtual Console work like a real reset? If this code works, it does![Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Video Armageddon
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.In honor of the highest-profile Virtual Console release in quite a while, we thought we'd do a special video presentation today. Super Mario Bros. 3 has the "honor" of having one of its best secrets screamed about by Fred Savage and Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis in the climactic sequence of a major motion picture. One that, we admit, has temporarily relieved us of our feelings of nostalgia, and made us very glad that we no longer reside in the 1980's. We can't think of too many movies in which the deus ex machina is a hidden item in an NES game. Therefore, The Wizard, as painful as it can be to watch, is pretty much the Official Movie of the VC Advantage by default. Grab your popcorn and your Power Glove and settle in for (seven minutes of) The Wizard!
The VC Advantage: Spooky Halloween edition
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Today is the perfect day to look at some of the spookier games on the Virtual Console, and then help you face your fears and take them on. It would certainly have been a good day to talk about Ghosts 'n Goblins games, as well, but ... we already did that. Uh, as part of our Halloween special, here's a link to that old VC Advantage! It's ... uh, back from the dead!Luckily, awkward backlinks aren't the only thing we can present for our Halloween edition of The VC Advantage. There are still some gruesome games we have yet to cover! And that means that it's now totally scary time! Turn out all the lights and stuff! We're making weird "oooooo" spooky noises, but you can't hear it, because we'll have written this hours ago by the time you're reading it, and also we're not in the same room as you!Splatterhouse (TG16)Hard mode: What's scarier than a game in which the main character dies, over and over and over again, forced to relive the same horrific period of a few seconds before he's ripped apart yet again by disgusting, nightmarish monsters? Probably a lot of stuff. Dentistry comes to mind. Loneliness. But what's scarier in the context of video game alterations caused by input of preprogrammed button sequences? Probably still some stuff. To access hard mode, hold Select at the title screen until the word HARD appears. Castlevania (NES)Hard mode: Yes, it's another hard mode, but this one seems pretty notable. We had no idea that Castlevania even had one of these, and we doubt anyone else ever would have were it not for cheat devices and ROM hacking-- because you access Castlevania's hard mode by completing the game, and that is impossible. Of all the games to put a hard mode in. Also we heard that if you finish the hard mode, Koji Igarashi will ride a Medusa head to your house and give you a million dollars. And nobody will ever know if that's true.Kid Chameleon (GEN)Level skip: Kid Chameleon isn't really that scary, but it is about dressing up in costumes. And that is the true meaning of Halloween (also, candy, which is delicious, when eaten.) To skip straight to the last boss, find some blogs above the flag in the Blue Lake Woods level and jump to the last one. Then press down, right, jump, and special.[Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Ax Battler
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage. Golden Axe has some weird inconsistencies regarding names. First, the name Golden Axe implies that there would be some kind of golden axe in the game. But the axe-wielding character's axe is silver. And, more confusingly, the axe-carrying warrior is not the guy named "Ax Battler"-- he uses a sword. We don't care if people don't like the Golden Axe games anymore. We still love playing them. We love riding chicken monsters as a huge cat-guy. We love the "bleah" sound all the enemies make when they die in Golden Axe II. Golden Axe (GEN)More Continues: At the character selection screen, hold down-left, A, and C. Release all the buttons and press Start. You'll have nine continues, which should help make up for all the jerks hitting you in the back while you're in the middle of a combo. Also the jerks running and jumping into you when you're trying to ride the chicken monster. The hard part is releasing the buttons at the appropriate time to choose your character (Gilius Thunderhead, of course) since holding down-left causes you to cycle through characters.Golden Axe II (GEN)Tons of magic: This glitch requires a little bit of inconvenience, but it's totally worth it. When the boss music starts to play in one of the first four levels, hold the A button and don't release it until the screen turns black. During the bonus stage, don't press any buttons at all. When the next stage starts, you'll have 255 magic points. If you try to use more than your character's maximum in one spell, you'll freeze the game. Altered Beast (GEN)Beast select: There don't seem to be any cheats for the once Japan-and-Sega Channel-exclusive Golden Axe III, so we decided to sub in another Genesis game that features anthropomorphic monster guys. This code will let you play as any of the game's beasts, including the rolling bear guy! At the title screen, hold all three buttons, then press Start. You'll be taken to a menu in which you can choose the beast transformation for each of the game's five stages!
The VC Advantage: One ship
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Everyone likes shooters, except for people who don't. And even they might, if they played the right one! We like them anyway, and guess who picks the games for the column? That's right, a groundhog looking at his shadow a random number generator us. Besides, shooters are really hard, and it's nice to have some kind of advantage. Here are some codes for a very small sample of the VC's many shooters.Gate of Thunder (TG16 CD)Stage Select: Whenever we see the name Gate of Thunder, all we can think about is the KISS song "God of Thunder." So instead of cleverly trying to work it in to the text here, we're just going to link to it, and then tell you how to select stages in Gate of Thunder. Sometimes the direct approach is the best approach. To access the stage select, press I, II, II, I, select, I, II, I, II, select, select, run.Xevious (NES)Skip the Fortress: We've kind of avoided playing Xevious in the last few years, since our only contact with the game was the annoying Atari 7800 version. Luckily, the NES version is less annoying and totally worth looking into-- if nothing else, as one of the first vertical shooters. It's possible to skip the Andor Genesis fortress by pausing the game right before getting to it, then unpausing it. We miss pause-glitch cheats! R-Type (TG16) More continues: Today, we're going to help you learn two surprising things about R-Type. First: you can give yourself more credits by holding select and jamming on the I button at the title screen. Here's the second thing.[Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Art of Unlocking
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.We planned to do a blowout of Neo Geo cheats in celebration of the all-Neo Monday, but forces conspired against us. First, there just aren't that many codes for the Neo Geo games released this week. That's the biggest problem. Second, Neo games may not even display properly on your TV, meaning that a lot of people may not even be able to play them, much less play them using advanced cheaterly techniques.So, instead of a blowout, you get ... two unlockable characters in Art of Fighting.Unlock Mr. Karate: Do you want Mr. Karate? Then when you reach him in the single-player mode, lose. (Which, against SNK bosses, is the default state.) Start a two-player game and Mr. Karate will be available.Unlock Mr. Big: It's true*. You can play Art of Fighting with the band responsible for the hit ballad "To Be With You". They all move in unison. It's a little weird. You access Mr. Big in the same way you play with Mr. Karate: by losing to him, then starting a two-player game.*By "true", we mean "not true".[Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Shout at the Devil
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.This week's theme is simple: it's Devil's Crush. That's more than enough to sustain its very own VC Advantage, because Devil's Crush is amazing. As far as we're concerned, it's more than enough to sustain its own site. It's definitely our favorite VC download so far (barring new developments like Sin and Punishment). So we thought we would look at some ways to enhance your enjoyment of this absolute masterpiece even further. Sound Test: Sound tests in games are usually no big deal, but Devil's Crush's theme song is so mind-blowingly rokken that we'd be happy to just leave it on for a few hours and turn the TV off. Naxat Soft has anticipated this desire, making the main theme number 01 in their list of sounds. To access the Sound Test, pause the game and then hit select to bring up the high score list. Press up, right, down, left, and then I, and the first high score will be replaced by the sound test.
The VC Advantage: Grass skirts and skateboards-- a winning combination
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Hudson's Adventure Island series stars a real-life Hudson executive called Takahashi Meijin, who is known as "16shot" for his famous ability to push buttons 16 times a second. In the game, he's a chubby kid in a grass skirt who finds weapons and stuff in enormous eggs. Just like in real life. (The game made a little more sense when it was called Wonder Boy and starred someone who didn't have a real job). What is it with Hudson and putting real people in their games? Takahashi Meijin may be able to jam on some buttons, but you can influence his fake life with cheat codes. Advantage: you.Adventure Island (NES): Continue: Close to the "G" sign at the end of stage 1, jump up and down to make an egg appear, which contains the Hudson Bee. You can then continue your game by holding any direction and pressing start.New Adventure Island (TG16): Level Select: New Adventure Island is only new now in comparison with the original NES game. Given that it came out in 1992, it's a pretty Old Adventure Island itself. Press left, left, I, right, right, II, up, down, up, down at the title screen to select levels in this (much better, actually) semi-remake.
The VC Advantage: Kinda like a pirate
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.There is a notable lack of pirate-themed games on the Virtual Console. It's not that there aren't enough swashbuckling games on supported systems-- there's everything from the good (Uncharted Waters) to Sküljagger (Sküljagger). It makes it hard for us to do our job, which is writing a thematically-appropriate VC Advantage on Talk Like a Pirate Day. So, in the absence of real high-seas adventure, here are cheats for a couple of vaguely pirate-esque games. Just go with it.Bonanza Bros. (GEN):Invincibility Glitch: Bonanza Bros. is a game about two burglars-- the pirates of the land. In order to flout even the game's laws and take advantage of a glitch, just step on a rake right before you're about to be hit by a bullet. You'll turn invincible until your next item pickup.Super Metroid (SNES): Refill Energy Tanks: Everybody knows about this one already, and it's not much of a cheat, but more of a secret. But Super Metroid is rife with Space Pirates-- the pirates of space-- and thus fits perfectly in today's VC Advantage. To refill your energy tanks, you can use the "Crystal Flash" technique, which requires at least 10 Missiles, 10 Super Missiles, and 11 Power Bombs. It also requires that you have less than 49 Energy. Select Power Bombs and activate the Morph Ball. Hold L, R, Shoot, and down. You'll detonate a whole bunch of stuff and regain energy.[Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Dungeon Exploiter
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage. We were inspired to talk about some Turbografx-16 games again this week when we remembered one of our favorite secrets ever: the secret Dungeon Explorer ending. We aren't sure if we ever finished the game the real way; the secret ending is so much funnier and more awesome than any "straight" ending could be. We don't want to spoil it for you, because you should experience it for yourself. But we couldn't do the whole post about Dungeon Explorer (well, we could), so we decided to throw some codes for a couple more role-playing-esque Turbografx-16 games in, specifically, the Neutopia games, which you were under strict orders from Dave not to download.
The VC Advantage: Pithecanthropus cheaterurus
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.The Bonk series isn't especially hard. In fact, in the tradition of other mascot platformers, the games are designed to be playable by pretty much anyone (with the exception of Air Zonk, which, like any shooter, is pretty challenging). But that's no reason not to use these codes and mess around with the games. Some of the codes even make the game more difficult. Any excuse to talk about the Bonk series is a worthwhile one, anyway. More of you should be playing these games.Bonk's Revenge (TG16): Bonus Level Select: At the difficulty menu, hold button II, then press Run. You can play any of the bonus levels from this menu. Of course, the whole game is like one big bonus level, and if you'd played it, you'd know that. Oh, and now we're crying.Bonk III: Bonk's Big Adventure (TG16): Cheat Mode: Bonk III has a pretty extensive cheat mode that allows you to start at any level (even the bonus levels), change the height of your jumps and even the speed of the game. To access the cheat mode, highlight "QUIT" in the start menu, then hold down and left on the control pad, hold buttons I and II, and press RUN. You may have to press Select a few times to move the cursor back down to QUIT before pressing Run.Air Zonk (TG16):Expert Mode: On the "Configuration" screen, hold right and press Select to access the Expert Mode. The difficulty settings are all labeled with flavors: sweet, spicy, bitter; we don't know what flavor would correspond to Expert Mode, except for maybe the taste of blood. Oh, but that's kind of gross and extreme for a kid-friendly game. Let's say "Yucky Mode."[Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: Take a key for coming in!
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.The Ghouls 'n Ghosts games are famous for being extraordinarily difficult. They punish you with dastardly enemy placement and unavoidable attacks in the middle of jump arcs, providing a need for memorization unseen in modern gaming, outside of the shmup genre. Nobody has ever completed a Ghouls 'n Ghosts game, and leading scientists estimate that it will be over four million years before humanity develops a Red Arremer-sensing lobe in the brain, leaving us ill-equipped until then to aim javelins at flying demons.Don't be fooled by Internet bravado. Anyone claiming to have completed one of these games is lying, in an attempt to overcompensate for the fact that they break into embarrassing crying fits thirty seconds into the first level. With those poor souls (pretty much everybody) in mind, here are codes for the two available Ghouls 'n Ghosts games on the VC.
The VC Advantage: Totally sweet
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Everyone loves ninja, except for 1980's Europe. It's hard not to be taken with their style of dress, their pre-Bond gadgetry and, most of all, their silent ruthlessness. But gamers have grown up with a different kind of ninja: the kind who walks around a (usually futuristic) city in broad daylight wearing a dark mask and uniform, displaying blatant disregard for stealth in his battle against giant robots or ghosts or freaking birds. Much like real-life ninja used anonymity and darkness to flout bushido, we enjoy using codes to violate the established laws of our favorite ninja games. This week's VCA features a selection of codes from the Virtual Console's already ninja-rich library. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES):Share Boomerangs between turtles: It takes some serious Turtles devotion or NES nostalgia to convince yourself to play this game for more than five minutes, so we think it's a good idea to give you a little help. Short of a Make the Game Stop code that involves turning off your system, there's not too much that can be done, but there is at least a glitch that allows you to use the same set of boomerangs with multiple turtles. It's easy, too: just throw the boomerangs, switch turtles, and catch them.Ninja Spirit (TG16): Level Select: This is only appropriate for appreciating each level of the sumptuous Ninja Spirit as an individual work of art. We'll know if you use the level select code to fast-track through the game. We'll know and we'll tell IREM. And they'll cry. Press II, I, II, II, I, II, hold Select and press Run to access the level select menu.Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (GEN): Unlimited Shurikens: This code, also seen in Revenge of Shinobi, is one of the most iconic and satisfying cheats in any game, because it's so simple to input and remember, and it is immediately visually recognizable. In the options menu, if you set the number of shuriken to 00 and leave the cursor there, after a few seconds the "00" will morph into the symbol for infinity. Neat! [Codes via GameFAQs]
The VC Advantage: NAR's Revenge
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Until recently, the famous "JUSTIN BAILEY" password (JUSTIN BAILEY followed by a line of dashes) was assumed to be a deliberate cheat code, designed by the programmers of the American version of Metroid (the Japanese version was a Disk System game and thus didn't need passwords). However, this has turned out not to be true. It's just a random code that happened to work. The Metroid Database verified this by examining the code in their Metroid Password Generator, and finding that the effects are a function of the individual symbols used-- that it works like any other Metroid password rather than as a cheat code. It just happens to have the cool effects it does.
The VC Advantage: Getting it out of the way
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.It would be impossible to write a weekly column about classic game codes and leave out the most famous code of all. It's the first code anyone thinks of when they hear about game cheats, and it's become an enduring symbol of classic video games. You know this code by heart; you may even have a t-shirt bearing its pattern. That's right, we could only be talking about one famous cheat code.The A, B, B, A continue code from Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road. Oh, or the Konami code. That one's pretty good too. There are actually only two games available on the American Virtual Console that use the Konami code, and they're both Gradius games.Gradius (NES): Pressing up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, then Start while paused gives you a load of powerups. All of them, in fact, but Speed Up and Double. Gradius III (SNES): Gradius III is significantly trickier about the code. Entering up, up, down, down, left, right, left, rightB, A, Start will give you all the powerups and then kill you. You must use the L and R shoulder buttons instead of left and right on the directional pad. Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES) refers to the code in Zone IV, when a character informs you that "if you use the code 'Up Up Down Down L R L R B A', nothing will happen." He is correct.The Japanese VC has a few more Gradii on which the code works.Gradius (PC Engine): Pressing up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, II, I works just like it does in NES Gradius.Gradius II (PC Engine): Entering up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, II, I at the title screen enables all powerups, as usual. Gradius II (Famicom): The code has two uses in this game: entering up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, then Start at the title screen grants you thirty lives, like in the beloved and missed Contra. Entering the code while paused enables powerups like in other Gradius games.There are plenty of other games that use this legendary button sequence, but right now on the VC it's the Gradius code. What's your favorite Konami-code-carrying game?
The VC Advantage: Buried Treasure
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Battle Lode Runner (TG16)Level Skip: The best way to deal with a level that's too hard is, of course, to move on to a harder level! For that matter, why bother playing the game at all? Just skip ahead to the good part: the part where you exit the level and feel triumphant. If there's anything that puzzle games are about, it's instant gratification with no work whatsoever. Pause, then hit Select 24 times, then exit the level. Finding a code on the Internet is just as much of a puzzle as the actual game, right? Right?Like many codes, timing is important for this level skip. You must make sure that someone enters the room immediately after you enter this code, so they can see you successfully complete the level.Gunstar Heroes (GEN)Hidden Move: Perform a half-circle motion on the controller (back to down to forward) and then hit B to do a slide move. This may alter your normal Gunstar Heroes strategy somewhat, as the precision required to input this move disrupts the normal "hit all the buttons on the controller as fast as you can before hyperventilating" method of playing such frenetic action games.Dynamite Headdy (GEN)Hard Mode: Unlockable hard modes are the anti-cheat. You enter codes to discover them, but, naturally, they don't make the games any easier. Of course, poor Headdy's life is already one tortuous hardship after another. How would you feel if you were constantly under attack, your only defense to rip off your own head and lob it at your attackers? You wouldn't feel anything, actually, but Headdy does, and that's his sad lot in life. So, in a way, this Hard Mode is merciful to Headdy, as it grants him a restful death after only one hit. As the player, you may feel different emotions toward Headdy's repeated demise, but how could you understand? Your head's securely attached and non-modular. To access the Hard Mode, press Start at the title screen, then press C, A, left, right, B. Press and hold start through the opening scene.[Codes via GameFAQs]
