Support NeoGAF

[Mellahan]

Gradius for the NES was released 30 years ago today. It was the first video game to include the code we all know and love:

The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the NES[9] but was popularized among North American players in the NES version of Contra, for which it was also dubbed both the "Contra Code" and "30 Lives Code".

The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was developing the home port of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, a scrolling shooter released on the NES in 1986. Finding the game too difficult to play through during testing, he created a cheat code to give the player a full set of power-ups (normally attained gradually throughout the game).

What are your favorite Konami code moments?

 

[Nudull]

GAF.

 

[potatohead]

I tried using it on my PS4 but it didn't make the graphics any better...

But maybe it didn't work because there's no A or B buttons... damn.

 

[Hayama Akito]

What are your favorite Konami code moments?

This.

 

[Menitta]

I tried using it on my PS4 but it didn't make the graphics any better...

But maybe it didn't work because there's no A or B buttons... damn.

inb4 neo joke.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I always thought that code was for Contra only cause that's the only game I ever used it on. Amazing how I still remember that code by heart

 

[Heero5]

30 years, 30 lives.

 

[thekonamicode]

I am a fan.

 

[Soulflarz]

Still keeping my GAF gold perks!

 

[Nephtes]

The Konami code..the only way I ever managed to beat Contra when I was 7... (And still to this day).

Man, old Konami sure was great...

 

[potatohead]

inb4 neo joke.

My friend just told me I need to use a Xbox 1.5 actually.

 

[Lindsay]

Dun think I've used this code even once in my life an even as famous as it is I dunno the combination without looking it up. Konami games back then and today just never were for me! Shame its such a widely known an beloved thing yet todays games are largely cheat code free -_-

 

[Doctre81]

Wow... I'm old.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

The best code.

 

[tilomite!]

Lol, needed that code with plenty of Konami's game back then. Great times.

 

[FuriousOne]

Lots of fond memories using that code.

 

[natsuyasumi]

According to an old EGM or something entering the code into the TG16 version of Ordyne would supposedly trigger the message "I AM NOT KONAMI." Can't find a screenshot though. More obscure than I thought!

Very quickly (late '80s, probably) Konami started booby-trapping the code so that using it would do things like kill you or power you down. I want to say SNES Gradius III did that? And sometimes there was an alternate version of the code that did work, perhaps substituting the L and R buttons for the d-pad left and right. At that point they were kind of diluting the code's "brand" IMO.

 

[Truckondo2.0]

I remember Gradius 3 on SNES had two Konami codes to use. Old Konami was great!

 

[Blues1990]

My favourite use of it was in the film, 'Wreck-It Ralph', as part of the code King Candy uses to enter the vault where Sugar Rush's data codes are kept. I rarely like videogame-related jokes, but this one was pretty clever.

 

[Neoxon]

Ah, good times.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

30 years of the code and people still get it wrong.

 

[Rebel Leader]

30 years of the code and people still get it wrong.

It depends on the game.

So, it's right.

 

[Pigs]

The Palm Pre unlocked developer mode when you typed out the Konami code.

 

[mugurumakensei]

And now thanks to achievements, cheat codes are basically dead☹️

 

[Occam]

And now thanks to achievements, cheat codes are basically dead☹️

You misspelled micro-transactions.

 

[xorx]

Too bad the Konami of today is nothing like the Konami of 30 years ago.

 

[sixteen-bit]

happy anniversary

 

[UpUpDownDown]

Never heard of it.

 

[RedToad64]

And now thanks to achievements, cheat codes are basically dead☹️

You misspelled micro-transactions.

More like modern technology made cheat codes a thing of the past. We don't need cheat codes for level selects because save data exists.

 

[B1gg_Randall]

My favourite use of it was in the film, 'Wreck-It Ralph', as part of the code King Candy uses to enter the vault where Sugar Rush's data codes are kept. I rarely like videogame-related jokes, but this one was pretty clever.

I didn't catch that. Nice.

 

[Compsiox]

More like modern technology made cheat codes a thing of the past. We don't need cheat codes for level selects because save data exists.

umm cheats were for more than level selects...

 

[SparksterMeta0]

Gotta give props for Cartoon Network or, more directly, Gumball's creators for this:
https://youtu.be/En9mOsIV3nU

I didn't know Gradius used the Code before Contra. It was definitely useful to max out your power ups if or when you die. The catch was that the number of times it works is based on the number of stages you cleared, iirc.

 

[Violence Jack]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 for NES was my first experience with the code.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Contra. Lots and lots of Contra.

 

[A.E Suggs]

Never heard of it.

So you never look left, right, left, right before crossing a street? I don't believe you.

 

[OmahaG8]

I played so much 2 player Contra as a kid I didn't even realize until years later it didn't end Select->Start.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

It depends on the game.

So, it's right.

The "start" isn't part of the code. It just ends with BA. start is an incidental part of the menu process. You can see this active in Gradius when you get all your powerups while still paused, then when you unpause it just continues.

Gradius III was my favorite though since doing it normally nuked you so you had to use the shoulders for L and R.

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

My favorite use of the Konami code was in Parodius on the SNES.
Because it made your ship power up to the max.
For two seconds.
And then you explode.

Spoiler

You had to input the code differently, as in X, X, B, B, Y, A, Y, A, Down, Right, Start, to get the power ups without dying.

Fit right within the humor of the game. Love it.

 

[afternoon delight]

Just thinking of Contra makes me sweat.

 

[Ultimadrago]

Konami Gold

 

[vatstep]

If anyone has an Amazon Echo, try saying the code to Alexa.

 

[ffdgh]

Thanks for the gaf gold.

 

[Kurt]

Gradius was the main game where i did use that code

 

[PleaseBeGentle_]

You should try it on Neogaf to get a sneak peak of Neogaf Gold!

(Unless you one of those plebians that use adblock )

Spoiler

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A ENTER

Spoiler

Don't ban me for letting out the secret

 

[Japanmanx3]

GAF.

.