Since the very beginning of Nintendo, the company has sprinkled hidden Easter eggs in their games that are often hard to catch a glimpse of without doing some research. From spotting Mario in Punchout!! to playing as Master Hand and Crazy Hand in Super Smash Bros Melee, the fan base has excitedly eaten up every egg they could find.
Though these subtle surprises are relatively easy to find now by using the internet, retro gamers would have to spend days searching for them, something many gamers take for granted in the modern era. Despite these differences, no truly thorough gamer ever plays through any Nintendo game without keeping their eye out for another classic Easter egg, and these are the best out there.
The Metroid Ship In Donkey Kong Country
Out of all the things players were expecting to find in 2014’s Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Samus Aran’s Starship from Metroid wasn’t one of them, but what exactly would Samus be doing there?
Perhaps she is picking a fight with everyone's favorite group of apes or just dropping in for some bananas. Regardless, the ship is almost completely camouflaged in the background of the game’s first level, Busted Bayou. By a wide gulf and a counter-weighted crate with the first ‘KONG’ letter inside, this one is pretty easy to miss.
The Posters In Ocarina of Time
Renowned as one of Nintendo's best games ever, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has some of the most loyal and detail attentive fans in gaming history, making Easter egg hunting a requirement for each avid player.
After meeting Princess Zelda for the first time as Young Link, if a player is inclined to peer up a specific window in Hyrule Castle, small posters of Mario, Luigi, and Bowser can be seen. This irable reference would seem to be one highlighting the accomplishments of Nintendo since the characters are an exhibition in the castle.
Francis' Room In Super Paper Mario
Once the player has gotten to World 3-4 in Super Paper Mario, they will have the chance to scope through Francis’ legendary gaming merchandise, though Francis himself may benefit well from going outside and touching some grass.
His shelf carries several Easter eggs, such as Yoshi eggs and dolls of Pennington and Princess Peach. The greatest of the items he obtains, however, is undoubtedly his wide variety of Nintendo consoles. Fans of the gaming company wish they could have the NES, SNES, purple GameCube, Game Boy, Virtual Boy, and Wii that Francis had.
Newspaper Featuring Mario In Punch-Out!!
Mario may not be the good man he’s made out to be in this hilarious Easter egg. As worshipped as he is for saving Mushroom Kingdom, the iconic plumber seems to be ignoring some of his past responsibilities.
In Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!!, debatably one of the best sports games on the NES, part of Mario’s private life seems to have been exposed. After beating Super Macho Man, a certain someone with a mustache can be seen in one of the newspaper entries, the caption under his picture reading, “Daddy, come back home!”
Play As Master Hand In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Facing Master Hand and Crazy Hand was an absolutely aggravating endeavor for most casual players of Super Smash Bros Melee, especially with their large and overpowered fingers lashing out with deadly yet comical advances.
The good news is, by having your controller plugged into the third slot of the GameCube while pressing the A and B buttons at the same time, any player can take back all the pride they lost from battling the fiendish bosses. With this awesome Easter egg, controlling Master Hand is as easy as it is deeply satisfying.
Play As The Duck In Duck Hunt
Ever wanted to play as a duck in a video game? No? Well, that’s a shame, because embodying the duck in Duck Hunt is great fun. While dodging bullets shot by faceless people, using this Easter egg can get pretty intense.
To reveal this game mode, the player just has to plug their controller into the second port on the console in “Single Duck Mode.” Experiencing how the game’s ducks feel when instead of being the shooter is an interesting change in perspective to say the least and escaping unscathed is a challenge in itself.
Link And Samus In Super Mario RPG
Super Mario RPG is not only regarded as one of the most classic and best retro RPGs of all time but has a ton of Easter eggs scattered about the many locations in the game, two of which are significantly memorable.
The first can be found after staying in the Rose Town Inn for the first time, where Link is seen asleep in a bed. Speaking to him causes the “secret discovery” sound effect from The Legend of Zelda to be played. Furthermore, once obtaining the fifth star in the game, Samus is spotted sleeping in the guest room of Mushroom Kingdom’s castle, resting up for “Mother Brain."
Hidden Room In A Link to the Past
Some Easter eggs take years to discover, but this one is on another level altogether. After winning a contest held by Nintendo Power in the 1990s, a man named Chris was granted the opportunity to put his name in a future NES game.
The Legend of Zelda game that was chosen to feature his name recently ed its 30th anniversary, A Link to the Past. In this hidden room, which could only be revealed by utilizing Pegasus Boots to build the speed needed to reach it, laid 45 Blue Rupees with a plaque that said “My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, OK?”
Luigi's Eerie Shadow In Luigi’s Mansion
By far the darkest Easter egg in any Nintendo game is found within the spooky masterpiece that is Luigi’s Mansion. The fan-favorite game puts Luigi completely out of his element in a soul-inspiring and courageous way.
Boo loves to play with Luigi’s head throughout the game, but there are times when he goes way too far. During a scene where Luigi answers an insidious phone call, his shadow can be seen suspended in midair when at a certain camera angle. Though it could very well be the work of a glitch that was kept in the game, the eerie feeling it produces hits close to home.
10 Games Hidden Inside GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007, the closest thing to playable violence on the N64, is a game that has tons of cool dynamics and exploitative cheat codes that enhance the gaming experience tenfold.
This game is worth every penny for more reasons than one. Perhaps the most awesome qualities of GoldenEye are the secret emulator hidden within its programming. Ten whole games are buried beneath walls of code just waiting to be the player’s entertainment, only accessible by running the famous game with an N64 emulator.