Konami Code

The Konami Code is a special combination of buttons that appears in several Konami games, including the Ganbare Goemon series. Since it was first revealed, the code has become part of popular culture in general, even appearing in many non-Konami games and diverse media, like clothing, advertisements and non-gaming related software.

History

The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System 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", because of its nearly necessary use in the game.

The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who was developing the home port of the 1985 arcade game Gradius, an horizontal 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). The code was still present in the released version after Hashimoto forgot to remove it. Players discovered and shared the code. The Konami Code was thus included in the series' other sequels and spin-offs.

The code has been subsequently re-used in a large number of other games and is now used in the Opera web browser to activate hidden advanced settings.

Input

The code is usually entered during the title screen before the game demo begins, and the player must press the following sequence of buttons on the game controller to enable the cheat:

Usage in the Ganbare Goemon series

• Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake (Super Famicom) — At the end of Sasuke's world, he races a giant robot in the Goemon Impact. During this event, the player has to press the D-Pad in the directions marked on the metal walls that block their progress to raise them. The first pattern is ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → which is the Konami Code without the ending "B, A" sequence.
• Ganbare Goemon: Sarawareta Ebisumaru! (GB) — After having a Game Over, the screen then switches to the Continue Screen. Inputting the Konami Code (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A) here gives the player access to the Sound Test Mode, where they can listen to all the music tracks in the game.
• Goemon: Shin Sedai Shūmei! (PS) — Pausing the game and then entering the code Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, X, and Circle Goemon's Weapon Level is MAX.
• The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Super NES) — A villager will reference the code by telling the player "If you press up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, it will do nothing."

External links

• Konami Code at the Konami Wiki.