14
May
Games invent worlds with rules, and in these worlds, secrets are magic. Tricks and codes are the perfect way to appendage value to a game without having to mess with the basic flow of it. Easter eggs about as old as gaming itself, adding intrigue and establishing a playful line of communication between player and designer. The most fun secrets lead to unlocked game elements, rewarding you for your hard work playing (or looking up codes) with new tools and functions, but the best of those are the unlocked characters. The examples below show three famous badass unlocked characters, each accessible in totally different ways, each interacting with the player in different ways as well.
1. Minion (Twisted Metal 2)
With six massive tires and the firepower of a small battalion, Minion was fitting as a final boss. As much as running for your life to avoid being crushed was fun, playing as Minion was even better. It was the perfect kind of thing to unlock after having worked through the game. There’s always been something fair and nice about being able to use/acquire that which you defeat in games, and Minion’s a perfect example.
Special Abilities
- Can crush other cars
- Powerful machine guns
- Heavily armored
How to Unlock
Press L1, Up, Down, Left at the vehicle selection screen.
2. Reptile (Mortal Kombat)
As the first unlockable/secret character in a fighting game, Reptile was the ultimate in mystery ninja cool. Scorpion and Subzero had their own thing going, and then this weird green guy would pop out every now and then with rather cheeseball clues as to how to find him. I liked that there was yet another ninja in the game, but it did seem like just another example of palette swap laziness (at least, until later on in the series when he was made more lizardish). Overall, though, it spiced things up. With a secret unlockable riddle-giving ninja character, how can you go wrong, really? Only a hidden in the first Mortal Kombat, his popularity earned him a real spot in the lineup for subsequent games in the series. Later hidden characters in Mortal Kombat world include Smoke, Jade, Noob Saibot, and others, but Reptile really started it all.
The ninja color-swap precedent established by the ninja turtles is to blame.
Special Abilities
- Can spit acid
- Can throw forceballs (projectiles)
- Fatality: Exposing his lizard face, then tearing off his opponent’s head with his tongue and eating it
How to Unlock
In single player mode, wait until a shadow covers the moon in The Pit stage, and win two flawless victory rounds. You’ll fight Reptile in the pit below.
3. Sheng Long (Street Fighter II)
As the story went, Sheng Long was the former teacher to both Ken and Ryu. Electronic Gaming Monthly, in their April 1992 issue, played an April Fools joke on their readers, claiming that you could fight him in the arcade version, but only under very specific and nearly impossible circumstances. The hoax was a huge success, with players all over the world dumping loads of quarters into the local coin-op to be the guy who pulls it off. Sheng Long’s legacy inspired the character Akuma, who appeared in later games in the Street Fighter series. While it’s maybe a bit unfair to put him in place of an actual unlockable character, that the joke was pulled off so well earns a spot in history.
Special Abilities
- Can use all the abilities of all the other characters
- Flaming dragon punch (before Ken got it in later versions)
How to Unlock
The full description’s in the pic below, but basically, you had to go through the entire game without getting hit once, then spar with the final boss for 10 rounds without either of you hitting each other. As if!
Tags: video games
May 15th, 2008 at 10:05 am
I’m pretty sure that Sega has ruined an entire generation of children. I still play street fighter on genesis, sitting there eating a bowl of fruity pebbles, with a star wars belt on. How gangsta is that? The answer is super gangster!
May 15th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I am pretty sure Lu Bu is the coolest character ever unlocked. “There is no one who can stand before me”
May 15th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
No way, Vincent Valentine is so in that Top 3.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
In order to face off against Reptile in MK you not only need to get two flawless victories while shadows fly over the moon, but you must also do so without blocking at all during the round, followed by a mandatory fatality. You can turn on moon shadows with a code in the Genesis version…
May 16th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Sheng Long was an April Fools Joke that EGM way too successfully pulled off. He does not exist. More research was needed for this article.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:48 am
The article does state that he does not exist. Did you bother to read the entire thing?
May 16th, 2008 at 7:52 am
@Roddy:
More research was needed before your comment.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Roddy did you read the article? It says it wasn’t real, you need to do the research
May 16th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Maybe you should read the article before claiming that more research is needed…
“Electronic Gaming Monthly, in their April 1992 issue, played an April Fools joke on their readers, claiming that you could fight him in the arcade version, but only under very specific and nearly impossible circumstances. The hoax was a huge success, with players all over the world dumping loads of quarters into the local coin-op to be the guy who pulls it off.”
May 16th, 2008 at 8:12 am
@Roddy:
If you read the article at all, you would’ve seen that it’s exactly what the reported. Mythical, not real, but so well pulled off it deserved this place.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:43 am
if you read it properly he does say that he was an april fools joke and that evn though he is..the amount of people who was fooled earned him the spot
May 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Hey Roddy, the article clearly states that Sheng Long was a joke played by EGM. Maybe more READING should be done before writing your comments.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Roddy… He says in the article that it was fake…=/…
May 16th, 2008 at 9:30 am
read the article douche (Roddy) they said you cant unlock him but that because it was such a succesful joke they are printing him there. You need to do more research before pissing Bullshit out your mouth.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:05 am
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May 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Roddy: More reading and less skimming was needed for your comment.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Jesus, everyone freaked out on Roddy. The poor guy is probably turning off his computer right now and calling the whole internet, “bitches”.
I feel for you Roddy. Have a Popsicle, buddy.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Roddy: More reading of the article was needed by you.
They tell you that it was a hoax in the article. Jeez.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
@ Roddy:
Maybe you should read the article before commenting at three in the morning. Just a thought.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
# Roddy Says:
Sheng Long was an April Fools Joke that EGM way too successfully pulled off. He does not exist. More research was needed for this article.
Apparently, more READING is needed for this article. It says that it is a bit unfair to put him IN PLACE OF AN ACTUAL unlockable character.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:22 am
“# Roddy Says:
May 16th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Sheng Long was an April Fools Joke that EGM way too successfully pulled off. He does not exist. More research was needed for this article.”
Umm… Roddy, maybe you should read articles before commenting on them.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Why bother making a list like this if you are only going to mention three characters? There have been a ton of other games with unlockable characters. It is too bad because this list had a great chance of being excellent.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Maybe the 13 people who posted AFTER roddy was disproved should have look to see if they were being redundant before they posted.
Fucktards.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Since Roddy has decided not to reply, I will reply in his stead, with the following comment:
Successful Troll is Successful.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
no reptile
smonke
May 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
i mean smoke
May 16th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
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May 16th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
DAMN IT RODDY!!
May 16th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
@ Everyone:
You should read all comments before posting one. I just read 15 posts telling Roddy to read the article.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
@Roddy
Hey maybe you should read more carefully! The article clearly points out that the character was a hoax.
@Roddy
Hey maybe you should read more carefully! The article clearly points out that the character was a hoax.
@Roddy
Hey maybe you should read more carefully! The article clearly points out that the character was a hoax.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Anyone remember Ermac? He was Mortal Kombats Sheng Long. I think they actually put him in one of the later ones, but he started as a rumor/hoax. Turned out Ermac was short for “earned Machine Credits” or something like that….
Hope they didn’t mention him in the article and I didn’t notice, or everyone will focus they’re rage on me instead of Roddy
May 16th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Roddy you poor bastard, you made my day
May 17th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Reptile as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat did not have ANY of the listed special abilities. He instead had both Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s special abilities, eg. spear throw, ice projectile. I never did play any of the Twisted Metal series. So even assuming you got all of the info on that correct, as you pointed out, (and several comments presumably reacting on 20 years of pent up aggression towards Rowdy Piper for insulting Mr. T on Piper’s Pit reiterated), Sheng Long was never an unlockable character (or a character in any game ever); your list is at best 1.5 for 3 and therefore isn’t in my list of 3 Coolest internet lists.
May 17th, 2008 at 7:35 am
WA THE HELL RODDY?!
hah jus wanted to join in
May 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
RODDY YOU GOTTA READ THE THING!!!
May 18th, 2008 at 10:19 am
RODDY YOU WRECKED IT FOR EVERYONE! I”M HAVING TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS! THE ARTICLE SAID IT WAS A HOAX AND NOW YOU ARE GETTING A MILLION COMMENTS ON WHAT A DILL-ROD YOU ARE! LOL!
These comments are pwn3d
May 18th, 2008 at 10:20 am
RODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYY JEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNKKKKIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSS!
May 18th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Fine. I’ll say it. Roddy, you suck balls.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:10 am
um, sheng long was a hoax, jeez, do some research before you write an article.
.
(yea, i know, i read the damn thing, just trying to take some flak off of poor roddy >_<)
May 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am
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May 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Jesus Christ, you people are assholes! Why don’t you fuck your dad and his wife (his sister)!
May 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
How thoroughly mature of you Roddy.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Roddy, I really think you should read things before you make stupid comments like that. Idiot
May 19th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
shut up and suck my cock roddy!!
May 19th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
RoDdY
I iz up in yo howse,
drankin yo mowntin doo.
Lol, this roddy thing is like a mini-meme, seriously. I love it!
May 20th, 2008 at 1:17 am
roddy this roddy that…
why not change the subject…
May 20th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Okay, I’ll change the subject for you rodd- I mean, nuff…
Sub Zero is way cooler than Reptile.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I’m going to agree to disagree, Minion is awesome, but Reptile and Sheng Long? Come on …
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:44 am
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June 13th, 2008 at 2:38 am
I have that copy of EGM and I am willing to roll it up and shove it in the arseholes of all you spamming virgin fucknods out there. It is a bit dry and old but your tiny round holes should be able to take it.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:28 am
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