Christina Rose

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left Right, B, A…❤️ As a kid I called the Konami Code the “Contra Code.” I played with friends and instinctively recall “Select, Start” at the end, which gives 30 lives for 2 players. Yet “Select” scrolls to the 2 player option and “Start” is necessary to start the game. Thus, it’s technically not part of the code. Pressing only “Start” after goes to 1 player mode with 30 lives. Notably, the 1st Nintendo Power issue’s “Classified Information” section explicitly included “Start” when disclosing the sequence. The Konami Code was initially created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto while testing the arcade to console port of Gradius, which he found too difficult. (It also “includes” Start to start the game.) There, it gave access to all power ups ups. Why it stayed in Gradius is unclear, and it appears in future Konami games, most famously Contra. It confers 30 lives in Contra, Life Force, and others, and is sometimes called “the 30 Lives Code.” The effect can vary in different games. As kids, knowing the code was like magic. We imparted it to our friends like a fabled wisdom. Like riding a bike, I’ll never forget it, and I smile inputting it now just as much as I did as a child. No shame in it—Nintendo codes were and still are rad. Homages to the Konami Code outside of gaming are ubiquitous, including in Wreck it Ralph, unlocking Amazon’s “Super Alexa,” and even unlocking a chiptune version of the National Anthem on a Bank of Canada website! Also, Contra’s soundtrack is so good…I hope I’m not the only dork who takes a moment to jam out to it 🤭

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